Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20130331.htm

THE DOCTRINE OF DISPENSATIONALISM
Part II: A Biblical Practical Guide To Dispensationalism
  1. Introduction
    1. If, as we learned before, the Bible teaches dispensationalism, we need to identify the dispensations and learn how properly to apply all of Scripture in our era in accord with the instruction of Romans 15:4.
    2. Accordingly, we observe the following Biblical practical guide to dispensationalism:
  2. A Biblical Practical Guide To Dispensationalism
    1. By an inductive Bible study, we identify seven dispensations in the inspired Scriptures (as follows):
      1. The KJV names the dispensation of Grace, the Church era in 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2 and Col. 1:25.
      2. The dispensation of the "fulness of times" in Eph. 1:10 is the Millennial Kingdom, for it is described as the time when all things are brought under Christ's leadership, Isa. 2:2-4 Bib. Kno. Com., N. T., p. 618.
      3. If the Church era is a dispensation, the era before the Church must be at least one dispensation. However, the definition of a dispensation and our need to defend the inerrancy of Scripture demands that we divide this pre-Church era of the Bible into several more dispensations (as follows):
        1. Before the Fall, man could eat of every tree in the Garden of Eden, including of the Tree of Life, but he could not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17. After the Fall, man could not eat of the Tree of Life, and God drove him out of the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:22-24. Thus, if Scripture is inerrant, there must be a pre-Fall and a post-Fall dispensation!
        2. Before the Flood, there was no capital punishment, no carnivorous diet for man and no divine promise against a worldwide flood, Genesis 9:1-17 et al. After the Noahic Flood, these dramatic changes were instituted, so we must divide the pre-Flood from the post-Flood eras as to dispensations to maintain a consistent belief in Scripture's inerrancy.
        3. When God called Abram after the world sinned at the Tower of Babel, unlike before, He ordered Abram to separate from the pagan the world in forming a separate race of Hebrews, establishing a holy line through which God's blessings would come to a lost pagan world, Genesis 12:1-3 with Galatians 3:13-14. So, to defend the inerrancy of Scripture in explaining these differences in divine regulations, there must be a new dispensation established at the call of Abram!
        4. Before the Law, man could eat of every kind of animal and marry close family members (Cain married his sister!) where the Mosaic Law restricted these practices and added many new rules, so, in defense of Scripture's inerrancy, we must have a pre-Law dispensation that differs from the Law.
      4. Accordingly, we arrive at a total of seven dispensations in Scripture named as follows:
        1. The Dispensation of Innocence, Genesis 1:1-3:6 (Pre-Fall of Man)
        2. The Dispensation of Conscience (under sin), Genesis 3:7-8:19 (Man's Fall into Sin to the Flood)
        3. The Dispensation of Human Government, Gen. 8:20-11:32 and the book of Job (Flood to Babel)
        4. The Dispensation of Promise, Genesis 12:1-Exodus 19:2 (Abraham to the Mosaic Law)
        5. The Dispensation of the Law, Exodus 19:3 through the rest of the Old Testament [minus Job] and including the Four New Testament Gospels up to the Day of Pentecost at Acts 2:1.
        6. The Dispensation of Grace, the Church Era, Acts 2:1-Revelation 4:1 (the Day of Pentecost to the Rapture). In practice, all Acts is a transition from Law to Grace due to the great changes involved.
        7. The Dispensation of the Millennial Kingdom, Rev. 20:4-10. (The seven-year Great Tribulation in Revelation 4:1-20:3 is really a transition period from Grace to the Millennial Kingdom as the Gospel of the Millennial Kingdom is preached during that time, Matt. 24:13-14 and Rev. 11:15.)
    2. If the Bible is thus sectioned into these different dispensations [with transitions] with different rules, we need to know how to apply all of Scripture like Romans 15:4 tells us to do. We in the Church era must then screen all commands of Scripture through Church era passages before applying them today. As an example, though Exodus 20:8-11 in the Law calls us to keep the Sabbath to testify that God created the universe in six days, Colossians 2:11-17 tells us not to observe that day, with Romans 7:6 explaining that we are not under the Law. However, Romans 1:18-20 upholds God as Creator of the universe, so we apply Exodus 20:11 that God created the universe in six [solar] days and thus affirm Pure Creationism!
Lesson Application: May we obey Scripture on its practical guidance on handling all of its information.