Acts 15:11 reads, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they". It appears from the messages that have been posted on this verse that the mid-Acts position is that the preaching of salvation to Gentiles constituted a new dispensation. And that is, in my opinion, indicative of one of the great errors of the mid-Acts position. That error. put in general terms, is that the mid-Acts position fails to see that some truths are not dispensational, they are universal truths. I mean by that some truths are true of one dispensation but not true of another, that's dispensational truth. But some truths are true of every dispensation, that's a universal truth. And God's plan of salvation is not a dispensational truth, it is a unversal one.
Let's use this example of Acts 15:11 to clarify my point. Gentiles have always been able to accept God's gift of salvation. Let me give you a few Scriptures to prove that point.
1) We read in Acts 10:34, "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, 'Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons'". Obviously God had a favored nation, but in terms of salvation, God has never favored Jews over Gentiles, so that only Jews could be saved.
2) We read in Jn. 12:32, "And if I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me". If Christ draws all men to Himself that means that all men have the opportunity to receive the gift of life. To say that some, i.e. Gentiles, did not at one time have opportunity to receive the gift of salvation, is to contradict this statement of our Lord.
3) We read in Rom. 1:19-20, "because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead...." This passage tells us that God makes Himself known to man by the things that have been created. When one believes the message of the nature of God, (i.e. His "eternal power"), as exhibited in "the things that are made", one is made righteous.
There are other Scriptures that make this point, but I will leave it at that for now.
My point is that not all changes constitute a change3 in dispensations. In fact, as one considers the context of Acts 15, we see that what resulted from Peter's remarks was that the letter was sent to the Gentiles telling them that they were not to observe the Law of Moses. That is certainly a change, but because the Gentiles not observing the Law was certainly no part of the mystery of the dispensation of the mystery, we cannot assume that that change had anything to do with the change over to the dispensation of the mystery.
In Christ, |
