>Dispensationalism & Covenant Theology Chapter Three

Another way to sharpen one's understanding of the individual convictions of dispensationalism and Covenant theology, as well as distinguish their beliefs, is to compare the two systems in some of their main tenets. Notice the following subjects as delineated in each of these systems of theology. Movement from section to section may involve some overlapping in the present discussion as well as with the previous chapters.

A. Covenant Theology believes that God has one people, the Church, with two manifestations of it, one in the Old Testament and other in the New Testament. What God has been doing since the fall of man concerns the calling out of a people to be His own. Thus the saints of God of the Old and New Testament eras compose the one body of Christ.

B. Dispensationalism postulates that God has two peoples -- Israel, the Old Testament people of God (God's earthly people), and the Church, the New Testament people of God (His heavenly people) -- with a strong antithesis between the two. Never do the two meet as far as equaling each other or including the one in the other.

A. Covenant Theology states that since God has one people, the Church, He also has one plan in all the ages since the fall of Adam -- to call out this one people into one body in both the Old Testament and the New Testament ages.

B. Dispensationalism believes that since God has two peoples, Israel and the Church, He also has two plans -- a separate plan for each of these two distinct peoples. For Israel His plan is the kingdom, which is yet to come, in light of Israel's rejection of the kingdom at Christ's coming. Concerning the Church, which is only present on earth during the Church age (which is a parenthetical period until God gets back to Israel and the Kingdom), God's plan is to call out a heavenly people for Himself from the New Testament era.

A. Covenant Theology believes that God has had one plan of salvation for His one people during the outworking of His one plan since the fall of Adam. That plan of salvation is a plan of grace, in that each covenant is an outworking of the everlasting covenant of grace. The content of faith of both testaments has been the Lord Jesus Christ, though obviously, the New Testament era has a deeper concept and understanding in its content of faith concerning Christ.

Such passages as John 5:39, where Christ commanded the Jews to search the Old Testament Scriptures because they testify of Him, and John 5:46, where Christ said Moses and the prophets wrote of Him, and Luke 24:27, where Christ began at Moses and the prophets and expounded the Scriptures of things concerning Himself, convince the Covenant theologian that the Old Testament does have in its content the revelation of Christ, and therefore faith had for its content the person of Christ also. Thus to deny the faith of the Old Testament saints was faith in a Messiah is to make them completely ignorant of the interpretation of the Old Testament revelation which they had received. Thus Covenant Theology holds to one plan of salvation for God's one people as He works out His one plan throughout history since the fall.

B. Dispensationalism has been in some controversy over the years as to whether it believes in one plan of salvation or two. All modern dispensationalists would argue for one plan of salvation (salvation by faith), yet some, like Charles Ryrie have argued for a salvation by faith, yet meaning by such a statement a salvation by faith in God, without any content of Christ.¹

The controversy over whether dispensationalism has held to two plans of salvation or one may well go back to statements made by early dispensationalists. The first edition of the Scofield Reference Bible stated:

As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ. The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ.²

Lewis Sperry Chafer appears either to have made some very unguarded and unexplained statements on the subject of salvation, or he truly believed in two plans of salvation. He wrote as follows:

With the call of Abraham and the giving of the Law and all that has followed, there are two widely different, standardized, divine provisions, whereby man, who is utterly fallen, might come into the favor of God.³

Under grace the fruit of the Spirit is, which indicates the present possession of the blessing through pure grace; while under the kingdom the blessings shall be to such as merit it by their own works.⁴

In this age, God is dealing with men on the ground of His grace as it is in Christ. His dealings with men in the coming age are based on a very different relationship. At that time, the King will rule with a rod of iron. There is no word of the cross or of grace in the kingdom teachings.5

Any view of two plans of salvation, however, would be strongly denied by modern dispensationalists. They too would argue for one plan of salvation, but note the modification of that one plan of salvation as mentioned above in the view of some such as C.C. Ryrie.

A. Covenant Theology believes that since God has one people and one plan for these people and one plan of salvation concerning the redemption of this people, that God also has one place in eternity for them. That place in eternity and for eternity will be in His presence for all those who make up the one body of Christ.

B. Dispensationalism has not been in agreement concerning the eternal state of the two peoples of God. Some dispensationalists would hold that the church will sit with Christ the King on His throne in the New Jerusalem as He rules over the nations of mankind, while Israel will continue as head of the nations of earth. Thus the distinctiveness of the two peoples continuing throughout eternity is the conviction in one way or another of most dispensationalists.

A. Covenant Theology holds that the Church existed prior to the New Testament era, even back to the Old Testament period, and included all the redeemed people of God since the fall of Adam. Certainly, this view would agree, there are two testaments, but not two peoples of God. There are two different sets of ordinances for the two testaments for the local manifestation of the body of Christ, but there is still only one body. What took place on the day of Pentecost was not the birth of the Church as the body of Christ, but the empowerment of the New Testament manifestation of the body of Christ.

B. Dispensationalism believes that the Church was born on the day of Pentecost, and that it did not exist before that point of time in history. The body of Christ is strictly New Testament and not to be found in the Old Testament. The Old Testament saints do not make up or are not part of the body of Christ.

A. Covenant Theology states that the purpose of Christ's first coming was to establish the new Israel, that is, the New Testament era or New Testament manifestation of the Church. Actually, this was a continuation of God's past plan with a definite historical change as the Church was now related to God in a new and better covenant, yet which was still a manifestation of the Covenant of Grace. The kingdom which He preached was not the offer of an earthly kingdom, but the authority of the King over the life of the one who would accept Him. Thus the kingdom Christ spoke of and offered was a present, spiritual, invisible kingdom and not an earthly and visible one.

B. Dispensationalism believes that the purpose of Christ's first coming was to establish an earthly kingdom in fulfillment of the Old Testament promises to Israel. Christ came forth preaching and offering the kingdom to the Jews, and had the Jews accepted His offer, an earthly, visible kingdom would have been immediately established.

A. Covenant Theology has no concept of a postponed kingdom because it does not believe Christ offered the Jews a literal and visible kingdom at His first coming.

B. Dispensationalism believes that the kingdom Christ offered the Jews at His first coming has been postponed until the millennium because of the Jews rejection of the King. That is to say, when God's first plan, an earthly kingdom for the Jews, was rejected, God moved to put plan one (the kingdom) in temporary abeyance, while at the same time He began the unfolding of plan two (the Church). The Church is only a parenthetical period until God can get back to plan one, the kingdom. Therefore before God returns to unfurl plan one again, plan two must be brought to a close by the rapture of the Church from the earth. The rapture will be followed by a tribulation period (thus the Church's rapture is a pre-tribulation rapture), which will bring judgment on a Christ-rejecting Gentile world and the purification of His people, the nation of Israel.

A. Covenant Theology believes the calling out of an elect people, that is, the formation of the ekklesia, has always been God's primary work. Therefore, those of covenant persuasion who hold to a rapture of the church from this world would place it at the end of the tribulation period. They would argue that it is only the dispensationalist's strong antithesis between Israel and the Church which created in historical theology a pre-tribulation rapture. That is, the dispensationalist has to get the church (plan two) out of the world before the tribulation so God can get back to plan one, the conversion and purification of Israel. On the other hand, the one holding to a covenant view may (not all do) see that God will deal with Israel again in the future, but that what He does He shall do through the New Testament manifestation of the church. Therefore, the church will pass through the tribulation and will be God's instrument of redeeming Israel, some Covenant theologians would argue. Those saved during the tribulation will be added to the one Church and will be part of the one body of Christ. These men would argue that it is not the rapture passages of the Bible which would lead a dispensationalist to a pre-tribulational rapture, but his concept of the church as standing totally antithetically to Israel and not capable of being on earth during the time God works with His so-called earthly people.

B. Dispensationalism, as it has already been stated, sees the church as the secondary work of God. Hypothetically, if there had been no rejection of the kingdom by Israel, there would have been no Church. And before God gets back to that primary work of a kingdom for Israel, the secondary work must come to an end, and it does with the rapture of the church at the beginning of the tribulation period.

A. Covenant Theology is convinced that the promises of a new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31ff are fulfilled in the New Testament.

B. Dispensationalism is divided over the fulfillment of the Jeremiah 31:31ff passages. Darby held that the new covenant in Scripture was made with Israel and Judah and not to the church. Fulfillment will be at a later time. Mention of the new covenant in the New Testament has no reference to the church.⁶ C.I. Scofield held there is one new covenant with a double application: one to the church now and one to Israel in the future.⁷ Another view believes that there are actually two new covenants in the New Testament, one with Israel and the other with the Church. The Biblical references must be divided into three distinct and separate applications. Those in the gospels which refer to the new covenant, along with the references in Hebrews 8:6, 9:15, 10:29, and 13:20 have application to the new covenant with the Church. Those references in Hebrews 8:7-13 and 10:16 would refer to a new covenant with Israel. Finally, Hebrews 12:24 would refer to both.⁸

A. Covenant Theology historically has spawned for the most part an amillennial theology. That is to say, it has defined the kingdom as strictly spiritual, invisible, and present now in this era. However, it is not correct to say that all Covenant Theologians are amillennialists. Some of recent years have been strong premillennialists. That is to say, they not only hold the kingdom to be present now in its spiritual form, but they would also hold that there will be an earthly kingdom in the future, but without the return to the Old Testament trappings which dispensational premillennialists would see. They would also hold that God will deal with Israel once again, but not outside of the Church.

B. Dispensationalism has always gone hand in hand with premillennialism, though in many senses, a different brand than one would find in a covenant premillennialist. It would be true to say that all dispensationalists are premillennialists, and that all dispensationalists are pretribulation rapturists. But it would not be true to say that all premillennialists are dispensastionalists or that all premillennialists are covenant theologians .

A. Covenant Theology views the coming of Christ as the culmination of God's one total plan - the calling out of a people for Himself based on His everlasting covenant of grace. Some believe His coming will lead immediately to the final judgment and the eternal state. Others believe His coming will be followed by the millennial period and then the final judgment of all men will take place, to be followed by the eternal state.

B. Dispensationalism sees the second coming of Christ fulfilling a manifold purpose. It consists of His coming for His heavenly people, the Church at the rapture, and it also consists of His coming in power and great glory to bring final judgment on the Gentile, Christ-rejecting nations. The two comings are separated by a tribulation period where God purifies His people, the Jews, and begins His judgment on the nations. The Second Coming in power and great glory will be followed by the millennial period, which will then lead to the final judgment of all men and then the eternal state.