How Might a Mandated or Tested Leader Interpret New Testament Verses?

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Interpreting New Testament Verses

Someone who interprets New Testament Scriptures using Old Testament verses can be called a non-dispensationalist. When a message on any topic is presented, a perspective derived from the Old Testament establishes a foundation for analyzing pertinent verses in the New Testament. Conversely, a dispensationalist refers to someone who believes that human history is made up of consecutive eras which reflect God’s will, plan, and purpose for the believers living at that time, and subsequent biblical passages from that period are used to formulate a view about the particular subject at hand. Scriptural content from the Church Age, the age in which we currently live, would be used to develop a doctrinal consensus on a particular topic. Such will be derived from the book of Acts, the Epistles, the book of Revelation, and in some instances, the four Gospels, as it was clear that such content was written for that era.



Furthermore, a dispensationalist believes that human history is divided into seven dispensations.

●The Age of the Gentiles: a period from Adam and Eve to the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt under Moses

●The Age of Israel: from the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt under Moses to the birth of Jesus Christ

●The Age of the Hypostatic Union: from the birth of Christ to the day of Pentecost

●The Church Age: from the day of Pentecost to the rapture of the church

●The Age of Tribulation: from the church’s rapture to Christ’s Second Coming (return to earth)

●The Millennial Age: from Christ’s return to the earth to the end of His 1,000-year reign

●The Eternal State: eternity



Ever wonder where the idea of dispensations came from?

It’s from the book of Acts. Jesus was with the apostles following His resurrection during the forty days when He appeared on the earth in His glorified body before ascending into heaven.



Acts 1:6-7

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

They asked Him when Israel would be restored to self-rule as a united sovereign nation.

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Jesus said it was not for them to know when this would occur. The word times can regard time as a succession of events, one following the other in chronological order.5 The word seasons can denote an era, a system of chronological order, a time characterized by a distinctive development. This noun is frequently used to organize historical events in their dispensational categories.6 Hopefully, this provides us with a better understanding of what the words dispensational, dispensationalist, non-dispensational, and non-dispensationalist means.

In the following chapters, we’ll attempt to find perspectives generated from the tested leadership model. This model will create these traits by answering one question per chapter. Following this will be a response to the same question from the mandatory leadership model using one or more of their components from the Old or New Testament passages. Remember, a non-dispensationalist can use scriptural content from anywhere in the Bible to support their view.

But before you turn the page, I’d like to leave you with an interesting article about the origin and validity of dispensational teaching.



DOES THE FACT THAT DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY IS A RECENT DEVELOPMENT ARGUE AGAINST ITS LEGITIMACY?

While certain aspects of dispensational theology have been present throughout church history, the system of dispensational theology was not formalized until John Nelson Darby began teaching it in the mid-1800s. Dispensational theology first became popular in the days of Cyrus Scofield with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in the early 1900s.

The better part of wisdom says that, if someone is the first person in 2,000 years of church history to think of something, it should be seriously questioned. After all, if [it’s] a true and important doctrine, surely God would have revealed it to someone much earlier in church history. What are the implications of this principle for dispensational theology? Should dispensational theology be rejected because [it’s] new?

There are two key points to consider. First, while a new doctrine should be viewed skeptically, newness alone is not a sufficient reason for rejection. Every system of theology was new when it was first understood and organized. The only true test of a doctrine is whether or not [it’s] biblical. Is it taught in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16–17)? Does it contradict any clear teaching of Scripture (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17)? Agreement with the Word of God is the only foolproof standard by which to evaluate a doctrine. Dispensational theology should stand or fall by comparing it with Scripture. Its newness [shouldn’t] be the determining factor in its evaluation.

Second, while dispensational theology as an organized system is new, the concepts that comprise dispensational theology are not. The teaching of a literal millennial kingdom can be found as early as [The Shepherd of Hermas,] written in the middle of the second century AD. Belief in there being a distinction between Israel and the church in God’s program for the ages [didn’t] become prominent until Israel became a nation again in 1948. After all, how can there be a distinction between Israel and the church if [there’s] no such thing as Israel? But, even with that in mind, there were believers who rejected the idea that the church replaced Israel prior to Israel’s becoming a nation again.

The only significant aspect of dispensational theology that has little to no support in church history is the concept of the pretribulational rapture. While some see hints of a belief in a pretribulational rapture in [The Shepherd of Hermas,] there definitely was no one explicitly advocating the concept until the 1800s. This fact should cause all Bible interpreters, whether dispensational or non-dispensational, to examine the issue closely. But, again, the relative newness of a particular teaching is not the core issue. The question always has to be, is it biblical?

If dispensational theology is true , why did God wait so long before revealing it? Perhaps God wanted other more important doctrines to be developed first. Perhaps God chose to reveal dispensational theology in recent centuries due to the fact that the end times are approaching. The “why” cannot be explicitly answered, biblically. The key point is this—dispensational theology as a whole, and each of its core doctrines, should be evaluated using Scripture. It should be accepted or rejected based on whether or not [it’s] in agreement with the Word of God.7



Endnotes

5R.B. Thieme Jr., The Divine Outline of History (Houston, Texas: Berachah Tapes and Publications, 1989).

6R.B. Thieme Jr.

7“DOES THE FACT THAT DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY IS A RECENT DEVELOPMENT ARGUE AGAINST ITS LEGITIMACY?” GOT QUESTIONS 9 February 2023

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