E Mail Comments or Questions Slide 3
Covenants and the relationship to dispensations
E Mail Comments or Questions
Covenants of God
It is with the covenants that most of the confusion has been when understanding
dispensation. A covenant is not a dispensation and a dispensation is not
a covenant but they complement each other with their respective reason of operation. The
bottom of this chart show when the covenants were given and
where they fit into the dispensations. Chart 1 shows the whole connection and chart 2 show them by themselves. Chart 3 shows
the New Covenant and
Old Covenant.
Click picture to see Chart 1
Click picture chart to print and see
Old Testament and New Testament or Covenants
Chart 3 bottom
Most only think in terms of Old Testament ( Geneses through Malachi) and New Testament
( Mathew through Revelation) because our Bibles were divided
with the words old and new and certain book were designated to that portion based on the
Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. They mark the event in relationship
to the Old Covenant and New Covenant the word covenant and testament are interchangeable.
Both these covenants relate to God's Atonement and
Redemption in the connection of the completion of Christ's sacrifice. see back on page three were we discussed this in more detail.
Their our those who
only look at God's Word from the marking of the two covenants which, lead into the need to
understand 'that covenant are not dispensations' and
'dispensations are not covenants'. Even though you can look at God's Word through the
two covenant they do not distinguish God's different administration
(dispensations with His creation) and do not give the whole facts of God's working with
man.
The confusion of the beginning of these two covenants is another point of misunderstand
in Christendom today. Many start the Old Covenant with the giving
of the law but the old was already in existence sense the Garden of Eden. Paul says in the
Epistle to the Galatians that the law was added to the Old Covenant.
God makes it clear that the law of Moses was to show man of his sin and not an Atonement
or Reconciliation provision which was brought about by the
promise of Christ, Galatians 3:17,19. There is less misunderstanding as to when the New
Covenant started.
The New Covenant started at the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to indwell
believers who receive the Gospel as truth for them, Act 2, Eph 1:13.
The problem arises however when believers make a covenant a dispensational change. The
church call His Body is the dispensation made up of Jew and
Gentile alike where all men have the same approach to God and it is through the the cross,
the work of Jesus Christ, personally receiving Him as their
substitution for their sin. The Body of Christ started after the rejection of the Nation
of Israel's sin, this occurs after Acts 7 with the judgment from Heaven
and the stoning of Steven filled with the Holy Spirit.
Israel had to be offered the New Covenant relationship before they could reject it. God
at this present time does not have the Nation of Israel in power of
leadership or His instruments for dispensing the Gospel; He has the Church His ordain
instrument. Also at Acts 2 the Nation Of Israel was not laid aside from
being that instrument yet because they had not rejected the Holy Spirit yet. Israel
rejected their commission in Acts by rejecting their responsibility to be the
instrument of God for the dispensing. They rejected it by refusal to accept it as a
Nation. Prophetically this was told it would happen and the 70 week of Daniel,
the Tribulation period would occur. However God inserted a program He had not revealed
through the prophet in the other dispensations and began a new
dispensation.
The Dispensation of Promise did not end until the final sin which cause the Nation to be laid aside, the rejection of the Holy Spirit. Latter as you study the chart you will see this more clearly.
The dispensation did not change at Pentecost, only the New covenant became operational.
The New Covenant cover all dispensations and in the first part of
Acts it related to the Nation of Israel. Therefore you can see that the Dispensation of
today did not start until the middle of Acts after Israel sinned against the
Holy Spirit.
Covenants are not dispensations and dispensations are not covenants.
Chart 3
Click picture chart to print and see
There is only one covenant of redemption with eternal
transformation in reality, which was the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ's
incarnation
(Heb 2:14,15), death, burial and resurrection. It completed (1 Cor. 15:1-4) redemption for
man by meeting God's justice. The Old Covenant was only
temporal and until the one blood sacrifice of Christ was completed historically the blood
sacrifice of animals was in operation called an Atonement (Heb 9:7-15)).
Note on Words
Atonement:
'asham OT:817, "guilt offering; offense; guilt; gift of restitution; gift of
atonement." The noun 'asham occurs 46 times in biblical Hebrew; 33 of its occurrences
are in the Pentateuch.
OT:817 'asham (aw-shawm'); from OT:816; guilt; by implication, a fault; also a sin-offering: KJV - guiltiness, (offering for) sin, trespass (offering).
OT:816 'asham (aw-sham'); or 'ashem (aw-shame'); a
primitive root; to be guilty; by implication to be punished or perish: KJV - X certainly,
be (-come,
made) desolate, destroy, X greatly, be (-come, found, hold) guilty, offend (acknowledge
offence), trespass.
Offering - The most frequent meaning of the word is "guilt offering": "And he shall bring his trespass [guilt] offering
unto the Lord for his sin which he hathATONEMENT in New Testement -katallage NT:2643, translated "atonement" in the
KJV of Rom 5:11, signifies, not "atonement," but "reconciliation," as
in
the RV. See also Rom 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18-19. So with the corresponding verb katallasso, see
under RECONCILE. "Atonement" (the explanation of this
English word as being "at-onement" is entirely fanciful) is frequently found in
the OT. See, for instance, Leviticus, chapters 16 and 17. The corresponding
NT words are hilasmos, "propitiation," 1 John 2:2; 4:10, and hilasterion, Rom
3:25; Heb 9:5, "mercy-seat," the covering of the ark of the covenant. These
describe the means (in and through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His
death on the cross by the shedding of His blood in His vicarious
sacrifice for sin) by which God shows mercy to sinners. See PROPITIATION.
REDEEM, REDEMPTION
A. Verbs.
1. exagorazo NT:1805, a strengthened form of agorazo, "to buy" (see BUY, No.
1), denotes "to buy out" (ex for ek), especially of purchasing a slave with a
view to his freedom. It is used metaphorically (a) in Gal 3:13 and 4:5, of the deliverance
by Christ of Christian Jews from the Law and its curse; what is said
of lutron (RANSOM, No. 1) is true of this verb and of agorazo, as to the death of Christ,
that Scripture does not say to whom the price was paid; the various
suggestions made are purely speculative; (b) in the middle voice, "to buy up for
oneself," Eph 5:16 and Col 4:5, of "buying up the opportunity" (RV marg.;
text, "redeeming the time," where "time" is kairos, "a
season," a time in which something is seasonable), i. e., making the most of every
opportunity, turning
each to the best advantage since none can be recalled if missed. Note: In Rev 5:9; 14:3,4,
KJV, agorazo, "to purchase" (RV) is translated "redeemed." See
PURCHASE.
2. lutroo NT:3084, "to release on receipt of ransom" (akin to lutron, "a
ransom"), is used in the middle voice, signifying "to release by paying a ransom
price,
to redeem" (a) in the natural sense of delivering, Luke 24:21, of setting Israel free
from the Roman yoke; (b) in a spiritual sense, Titus 2:14, of the work of
Christ in "redeeming" men "from all iniquity" (anomia,
"lawlessness," the bondage of self-will which rejects the will of God); 1 Peter
1:18 (passive voice),
"ye were redeemed," from a vain manner of life, i. e., from bondage to
tradition. In both instances the death of Christ is stated as the means of
"redemption.
" Note: While both No. 1 and No. 2 are translated "to redeem," exagorazo
does not signify the actual "redemption," but the price paid with a view to it,
lutroo
signifies the actual "deliverance," the setting at liberty.
B. Nouns.
1. lutrosis NT:30, "a redemption" (akin to A, No. 2), is used (a) in the
general sense of "deliverance," of the nation of Israel, Luke 1:68 RV,
"wrought
redemption"; 2:38; (b) of "the redemptive work" of Christ, Heb 9:12,
bringing deliverance through His death, from the guilt and power of sin. In the Sept.,
Lev 25:29,48; Num 18:16; Judg 1:15; Ps 49:8; 111:9; 130:7; Isa 63:4.
2. apolutrosis NT:629, a strengthened form of No. 1, lit., "a releasing, for (i.
e., on payment of) a ransom." It is used of (a) "deliverance" from physical
torture,
Heb 11:35, see DELIVER, B, No. 1; (b) the deliverance of the people of God at the coming
of Christ with His glorified saints, "in a cloud with power and
great glory," Luke 21:28, a "redemption" to be accomplished at the
"outshining of His Parousia," 2 Thess 2:8, i. e., at His second advent; (c)
forgiveness and
justification, "redemption" as the result of expiation, deliverance from the
guilt of sins, Rom 3:24, "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"; Eph
1:7,
defined as "the forgiveness of our trespasses," RV; so Col 1:14,
"the forgiveness of our sins," indicating both the liberation from the guilt and
doom of
sin and the introduction into a life of liberty, "newness of life" Rom. 6:4,;
Heb. 9:15, "for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first
covenant," RV, here "redemption of" is equivalent to "redemption
from," the genitive case being used of the object from which the
"redemption" is effected,
not from the consequence of the transgressions, but from the transgressions themselves; (d
the deliverance of the believer from the presence and power of sin,
and of his body from bondage to corruption, at the coming (the Parousia in its inception)
of the Lord Jesus, Rom 8:23; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:4; 4:30. See also
PROPITIATION.
Blood NT:129haima (hah'-ee-mah); of uncertain derivation; blood, literally (of
men or animals), figuratively (the juice of grapes) or specially (the atoning blood
of Christ); by implication bloodshed, also kindred:
KJV - blood. Heb 9:19-22 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law
to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water,
scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He
said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded
you to keep." 21 In the same way, he
sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In
fact, the law requires that
nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness. NIV
Col 1:13, 14, 20 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14In whom we have
redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: --- 20And, having made peace
through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by
him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God;
Rom 5:8,9 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin1
Peter 1:18-20 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Eph. 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
haimatekchusia NT:130 denotes "shedding of blood," Heb 9:22 (haima, "blood," ekchuno, "to pour out, shed").
RECONCILE, RECONCILIATION
A. Verbs.
1. katallasso NT:2644 properly denotes "to change, exchange" (especially of
money); hence, of persons, "to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile."
With regard to the relationship between God and man, the use of this and connected words
shows that primarily "reconciliation" is what God
accomplishes, exercising His grace towards sinful man on the ground of the death of Christ
in propitiatory sacrifice under the judgment due
to sin, 2 Cor 5:19, where both the verb and the noun are used (cf. No. 2, in Col 1:21). By
reason of this men in their sinful condition and alienation
from God are invited to be "reconciled" to Him; that is to say, to change their
attitude, and accept the provision God has made, whereby their sins can be
remitted and they themselves be justified in His sight in Christ.
B. Noun.
katallage NT:2643, akin to A, No. 1, primarily "an exchange," denotes
"reconciliation," a change on the part of one party, induced by an action on the
part
of another; in the NT, the "reconciliation" of men to God by His grace and love
in Christ. The word is used in Rom 5:11 and 11:15. The occasioning cause
of the world-wide proclamation of "reconciliation" through the gospel, was the
casting away (partially and temporarily) of Israel. A new relationship God-ward
is offered to the Gentiles in the gospel. The word also occurs in 2 Cor 5:18,19, where
"the ministry of reconciliation" and "the word of reconciliation" are
not
the ministry of teaching the doctrine of expiation, but that of beseeching men to be
"reconciled" to God on the ground of what God has wrought in Christ.