Why does God Allow
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Should God’s existence be
proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the Bible and God Be Proven
Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does
the Bible teach blind faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
Did Miraculous Spiritual Gifts Pass Away for Christians After the First Century A.D.?
If dispensationalism is true, are there still spiritual gifts for
Christians? However, is
dispensationalism true to begin with?
As explained below, there still can be spiritual gifts at this time
since God hasn’t been working with Christians that differently since the time
of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
First, let’s examine briefly the issue
of whether spiritual gifts still exist for Christians today. As a matter of religious epistemology
(“how do we know that we know”), belief in the Bible’s text should override
belief in any personal experiences that would seem to contradict its
teachings. But Christians should avoid
always rejecting spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, in the future
as the result of demonic influence. For
example, this gift is theoretically possible even today among true believers,
although no authentic manifestations of it occur presently. Shortly
before Jesus returns, that will change.
After all, the Two Witnesses will prophesy, and they will be human
beings who will be killed before being resurrected miraculously and then ascending
to heaven (Rev. 11:3-13). It’s a poor argument to claim this gift passed
with the closing of the canon of Scripture.
That meaning that has to read into I Cor. 13's discussion of tongues
ceasing and the perfect's arrival. Rather, this text (vs. 8-10, 12)
refers to Jesus' return and/or the Restoration of All Things (Acts 3:21).
The miraculous gifts of prophesying
and speaking in other human languages could well return to the true Church of
God shortly before Jesus returns. After
all, aren’t we in the latter days, not long before Jesus returns? Wouldn’t this text (Joel 2:28-29), quoted by
Peter (Acts 2:17-18) on the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D., apply then even more
forcibly in the years to come? “And in
the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour my Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my
menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they
shall prophesy.” Notice that the
closing of the canon and this prophesied event about spiritual gifts both occur
during the same dispensation, the one between Jesus’ death and Jesus’ return. But what is a dispensation?
Let’s now examine the issue of
dispensationalism in detail.
Dispensationalism is a theological system that maintains God works with
different sets of people very differently during different periods of Biblical
history. Although other time periods are included in the schematic lists
that dispensationalists draw up, their most important distinction is
(stereotypically) the "Age of Grace" versus the "Age of
Law." The first refers to the period between Jesus' work on
the cross and the second to the period between the proclamation of God's
law at Mt. Sinai and the crucifixion. Dispensationalists normally
reject what's called "replacement theology" concerning the nation of
Israel: They believe the Jews, or even Israelites in general
(including the other tribes normally said to be lost), are still God's chosen
people, not just the church, which can have people of any race or national
origin in it. They will say God is continuing to work with the Jews
(despite the rejected Jesus as Messiah and Savior), and will continue to do so
up until the Second Coming or (in some versions) during the millennium when
Christ rules the earth directly.
Dispensationalism raises a key issue
concerning what presuppositions we should use when interpreting the Bible. The key problem with (extreme) dispensationalism
stems from how it reads into the Bible radical discontinuity about how God
works with humanity, including his guide to human conduct and morality, His
law, when that assumption isn't justified when the text of Scripture is
consulted. Should we assume that the
Old Testament's laws of God are abolished by the crucifixion unless
repeated by (basically) Paul's letters?
Or are these laws still in force automatically unless specifically and
clearly done away with by what Jesus and/or Paul said? Does someone assume that silence abolishes a
law, that God's choice to not repeat Himself in the New
Testament abolishes an Old Testament law?
But this kind of reasoning can be easily inverted:
Christians could assume no change from the Old Testament law has occurred
unless the New Testament specifically mentions it. We have the Old
Testament's statements about the Sabbath being in force, not to mention the
laws against murder, adultery, theft, etc. So the burden of proof is
on those who argue these laws are abolished (i.e., that a change has occurred),
not on those who assert they are still in force (i.e., that no change has
occurred). So if the New Testament is silent concerning their abolition,
they must still be in force!
When interpreting Paul's writings,
dispensationalists naturally tend to end up at an anti-law interpretation that
maintains the Old Testament law has been abolished or otherwise has been set
aside. Sometimes they go further than casting aside the Ten Commandments,
including literal obedience to the Fourth Commandment's Sabbath rest, by making
the Sermon on the Mount a message to the Jews, not to the church, often.
The Presbyterian/Reformed churches, in the tradition of Calvinism, normally
interpret continuity between the testaments rather than assuming difference, so
they believe the Ten Commandments are still in force, but switch the Fourth
Commandment over to Sunday from Saturday.
Consider this description of how extreme
applications of dispensationalist ideas have damaged even evangelical
Protestant theology, as seen by John MacArthur: "The age of
law/age of grace division in particular has wreaked havoc on dispensationalist
theology and contributed to confusion about the doctrine of salvation. Of
course, there is an important distinction to be made between law and grace. But
it is wrong to conclude, as [dispensationalist theologian Dr. Lewis Sperry]
Chafer apparently did, that law and grace are mutually exclusive in the program
of God for any age. . . . Salvation has always been by grace through
faith, not by the works of the law (Galatians 2:16)."
So then, should we, when interpreting the Bible, assume
that God radically changes how He deals with different sets of people during
history or assume that there are more similarities than differences? What
would the Bible itself indicate? Is the Old Testament basically worthless
as a guide for Christian conduct and morality unless some statement in it is
repeated word for word in Paul's writings? After all, weren't most of Jesus'
words spoken before His crucifixion? Doesn't that make most of them
almost equally worthless for the same reason? But did Jesus Himself
interpret His own mission on earth this way, that He would make the Old
Testament law of no effect in general? What did Jesus Himself
say? "Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I
came, not to destroy, but to fulfill; for truly I say to you that sooner would
heaven and earth pass away than for one smallest letter or one particle of a
letter to pass away from the Law by any means and not all things take place.
Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these least commandments and teaches mankind
to that effect, he will be called 'least' in relation to the kingdom of the
heavens. As for anyone who does them and teaches them, this one will be called
'great' in relation to the kingdom of the heavens" (Matt. 5:17-19, New
World Translation). This is the main
text against radical dispensationalism, which maintains God works with
different groups of people in different time periods very
differently, e.g., "the age of law" vs. the "the age
of grace.” Jesus said that He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill
it. And if someone interprets the word "fulfill" to mean
something functionally identical to "destroy," then Jesus has been
made to contradict Himself.
The Apostle Paul, whose writings are the main source of the claims
that the Old Testament doesn’t matter for Christian morality, said that the Old
Testament’s examples were written for our edification as Christians (I Cor.
10:11): “Now these things happened to
them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the
ends of the ages have come.” He made a
similar point in Romans 15:4: “For
whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that
through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scripture we might have
hope.” When Paul wrote that “All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction” (II Timothy 3:16), it referred especially to the Old Testament when
looking to the preceding context. Jesus elsewhere said that we should live by
every word of God (Matt. 4:4) and that what He had commanded should be taught
to new disciples in the future (Matt. 28:19-20). Although dispensationalism does have some level of truth in it,
it tends to go much too far in rejecting God's Old Testament law, which would
include laws dealing with sexual morality and murder, in total blanket
terms.
Whether or not dispensationalism is true
leads us to this question: Has salvation always been only by grace through
faith, or did God require literal works of ancient Israel to earn or achieve
salvation? For Abraham, the patriarch, salvation must have been of grace, even
as he obeyed God's laws (Gen. 26:5), as we find in Gen. 15:6:6: "Then he
believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." Compare
Rom. 4:l-2. Noah "became an heir of the righteousness which is according
to faith" (Heb. 11:7). Did this change for Israel? Note Habakkuk 2:4:
"But the righteous will live by his faith." Also note Jeremiah 31:2,
especially when compared to Hebrews 3:18-19: "Thus says the Lord, 'The
people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness--Israel,
when it went to find its rest.'" (Compare the use of "rest" here
with Heb. 4:1-11, where it is referring to a condition of salvation
spiritually). Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, goes from Abel and Enoch to David,
implying no change occurred in how men and women are saved by repetitively
saying it was "by faith" over twenty times, finally, coming down to
verses 39-40, showing salvation was by grace then as well: "And all these,
having gained approval through their faith [not by their works!], did not
receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so
that apart from us they should not be made perfect." Notice David in Ps.
119:146: "I cried to Thee; save me, and I shall keep Thy
testimonies." Works are the fruitage of salvation here, not the means of
obtaining it. David knew in Ps. 51:17 that sacrifices (i.e. works) didn't
reconcile him to God, but a repentant attitude would: "For Thou dost not
delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou are not pleased with
burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." Paul sees David as
speaking of "the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons
righteousness apart from works: "'Blessed are those whose lawless
deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will not take into account'" (Rom. 4:6-8). For never
could anyone be saved (justified) by obeying the law, because law-keeping
doesn't expiate (wipe off) sin--only Jesus' sacrifice does that.
Clearly the doctrine of dispensationalism shouldn’t be a club wielded to abolish the possibility of miraculous spiritual gifts for Christians. Dispensationalism has some truth to it, but the discontinuity between how God worked with humanity before and after the cross shouldn’t be exaggerated.
Eric V. Snow
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Why does God Allow Evil?
Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on
Saturdays? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey
the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal
soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have
authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the
Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of
your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click
here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
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