Grace Principle

Grace Principle

        This is where God suspends, or lays aside, His own Laws in order to show His Grace on a person or a nation.  The Apostle John wrote in John 1:16-17, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  Also, the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:9, “Who hath saved us, and called us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

            Noah:  Noah and his family lived in a wicked time.  “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  Genesis 6:5.  God set aside judgment for Noah, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  Genesis 6:8.

            Abraham:  Abram was just an older man with no children in an average community.  God showed grace to him with a promise of greatness and vast lands.  God did not have to choose Abram, but he decided to show grace to him.  Genesis 12.

            Joseph:  Joseph was an arrogant and sinful young man, but God showed him grace from the life of slavery in which he had found himself.  Genesis 37.

            Moses:  Moses was a murderer and a sinful man, but God showed mercy and grace, to him, in the desert.

            Judges:  Throughout the book of Judges the people of Israel would fall into sin and God would extend grace to save them from themselves.

            Rahab:  Rahab was a prostitute and not worthy to receive God's grace until she helped the spy's of Israel and God extended His grace to her.

            David:  King David was caught up in sexual sin and then murder.  The penalty for those sins is death.  God, instead, after David's repentance, extended His grace to him.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

www.hospiceministryvolunteer.blogspot.com

www.atseminary.com

God's Glory Principle

God’s Glory Principle

             This is a principle were God will make an impossible situation just so that He can receive the glory for the outcome of that situation.  God likes to showcase His Glory and Mercy as a prelude to what He would do on the Cross!  The Apostle Paul understood this principle very well.  He told us in Romans 9:21-23.  “Hath not the potter power over the clay...if God, willing to shew wrath, and to make his power known...” 

             The Exodus:  God created all of the drama of Moses going to Egypt to free the Israelite's, all of the plagues, and the hardening of pharaohs heart to make it all seem impossible until the very end.  All of this was mainly done to maximize the glory for God, and show the Israelite's that He alone is their Savior.

            Jericho:  Joshua 6.  The city of Jericho was the strongest fortress city in Palestine.  The Israelite's could not take the city without heavy equipment.  God told Joshua something ridicules like marching around the city seven times!  All so that God could maximize the glory for Himself.

            Gideon:  Judges 6-8.  God instructed Gideon to attack a large, trained army with a very small and untrained group just to make things impossible.  God maximized the glory for Himself.

            David and Goliath:  1 Samuel 17.  God sent the little shepherd boy, called David to fight a large well trained giant.  It seemed impossible which maximized the glory for God.

             Jehoshaphat’s choir:  2 Chronicles 20:21.  King Jehoshaphat was fearful when he had gotten reports of invasion from all sides.  He called on the LORD for help, and God told him go to the place where the enemy would be, Moabites and Ammonites, and to just stand there!  They did that, singing as they went, and God had the enemy kill themselves.  God made an impossible situation in order to maximize the glory for Himself.

        Nehemiah’s Wall:  Nehemiah 6:16. Nehemiah was sent to reconstruct the walls of the city of Jerusalem.  When he saw all local political opposition and the peoples lack of will, it looked impossible.  God made it so, and provided the way to maximize the glory for Himself.

 Israel’s Light:  Isaiah 49:6. The prophet Isaiah said that Israel, and her Messiah, would be a light unto the Gentile world.  This seemed impossible at the times due to the fact that Israel was in a backslide condition!  But, seven-hundred years later Jesus did just that on the cross.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

www.hospiceministryvolunteer.blogspot.com

www.atseminary.com

Full Mention Principle

Full -Mention Principle

            The Full Mention Principle is a portion of Scripture where God speaks His mind on a certain subject.  Other areas of Scripture will, and can, deal with this same subject, but God sometimes gives the full mention of a subject in one location of Scripture.

             Holy Spirit:  Acts 2:  In the second chapter of Acts we have the Full Mention of the Holy Spirit infilling people.  The key verses of these three chapters are 2:4. And 2:38-39.  Other Scriptures mentioning the Holy Spirit are found in Isaiah 4:4, 28:11-12, 33:14-15, 44:3; Zephaniah 3:9; Malachi 3:3; 1 Corinthians, etc.  Before, only selected people received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but in Acts 2 we have the mass infilling of thousands of people.

             Salvation:  Romans 10, 11, 12: These three chapters of the book of Romans give us the Full Mention of salvation.  The key verse of this subject is 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  The plan of salvation is found in Acts 2:38, and the application of that salvation is found the rest of the book, but salvation is explained in more detail in these three chapters of Romans.

            Christian Service:  Romans 12:  The twelfth chapter of the book of Romans gives us the Full Mention of Christian service.  The key verses of this chapter are 12:4-5, the rest of the chapter explains it in more detail.

            Duties to State and People:  Romans 13:  Paul tells the Roman Church to be obedient to the government authorities in all things, and to love people. He told them this when the government was persecuting them for being Christians.

            Judging: Romans 14:  Paul tells us to be patient with each other’s sins and shortcomings and to accept each other.  He then tells us to not do anything to make younger saints fall. This is a big subject and can be found throughout the Bible, especially in the Gospels, (Luke 6: 34-49).  But this chapter puts it all in a nutshell.

        Immorality in the Church:  1 Corinthians 5:  The city of Corinth was a port city, filled with sailors and the sinful business that surrounded this industry.  Certainly, the church in this city was made up of repentant drunks, prostitutes and con men, so Paul spends an entire chapter on this subject.

            Family relations:  1 Corinthians 7:  In this chapter Paul writes about marriage, slavery, the singles and widows.  He deals with all types of family relations which is so important.

            Rights and duties of ministers:  1 Corinthians 9:  The Apostle Paul teaches the church about the rights and duties of Apostles, pastors and any type of spiritual leadership.

            Idolatry:  1 Corinthians 10:  The Apostle Paul here deals with the practice of idolatry in the diverse Roman world in which they lived.   Idolatry is still with us today, we just worship different idols.  Abortion, sports, hobbies, jobs, or anything that unnecessarily takes up our time.

            Spiritual gifts:  1 Corinthians 12, 14:  The Apostle Paul talks about the spiritual gifts that church member receive from the Holy Spirit.  Two full chapters!  A healthy church will operate by the spiritual gifts of it's members.  It is divided by a chapter on love.  This was not an accident!  The active ingredient of our spiritual gifts is love.

             Love:  1 Corinthians 13:  The Apostle Paul teaches the church what is a Godly love.  It is a blueprint for our behavior to be based on.  It is sandwiched between two chapters on spiritual gifts.  This was not done by accident.  All spiritual gifts need to be done in love.

            Resurrection:  1 Corinthians 15:  The Apostle Paul teaches us about our resurrection by giving us Jesus Christ, and His resurrection as our example.  As He was resurrected, so shall we be resurrected.

             Christian Giving:  2 Corinthians 8, 9:  The first mention of organized giving money to God is found during the building of the Tabernacle in the wilderness in Exodus 25:2.  The people are told to give willingly and with a happy heart.  The idea of giving happily and with a happy heart is the only requirement from God, and we see this over and over again.  We see this in Exodus 35:5,21; 1 Chronicles 29:9,14; Ezra 2:68; Nehemiah 11:2.  The Full Mention is of Christian giving in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 8-9, but the key verse is 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

            Christian Liberty:  Galatians 5:  The Apostle Paul here starts this chapter telling us that we have liberty in Jesus Christ, and the last part of the chapter Paul tells us how to achieve that liberty that is available to everyone.

            Faith: Hebrews 11:  The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote a large chapter on faith.  In the proceeding chapter he tells us to come near to God.  Then he writes his chapter on faith.  Then the following chapter is who we need to have faith, God our Father.

            The Tongue:  James 3:  The Apostle James teaches us to be careful what we say and how we say it.  It is still an excellent chapter for today.

            False Teachers:  2 Peter 2:  The Apostle Peter teaches us what to look for in false teachers and the dangers and motivation of these people.  This chapter is still very much relevant for today.

            Second Advent:  2 Peter 3:  The Apostle Peter gives us an entire chapter on the promise of the Lord's coming back for His Church.

             God’s Love:  1 John 4:  All of the Apostle John's writings is a warning against Gnosticism.  This chapter he teaches us to discern the false spirit of Gnosticism.

                       

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

www.hospiceministryvolunteer.blogspot.com

www.atseminary.com 

Four-Fold Principle

Four-Fold Principle

            The Four-Fold Principle is a reflection of God’s four-fold nature in His Word.  By understanding God’s four-fold nature we will understand our own nature, which is also a four-fold nature since we are all made in God’s own image.  Here are some examples.

            The Exodus:  When it became obvious that Moses could not lead so many people alone, God gave Moses a four-fold leadership plan that reflected God’s own nature.

            1.  Moses.  Moses was the ultimate leader and the final decision maker. Every organization needs to have someone where the buck stops.  That was the roll of Moses! Every family needs to have a Patriarch to make a final decision.

            2.  Aaron.  Aaron was the leader of all the Levites and the Tabernacle.  He was the religious leader of the Israelites. The father is the family priest and he is the one to make the religious decisions of his family.

             3.  Levites.  The Levites did all of the work of priests in the service of the Tabernacle.  They did all of the work of Tabernacle service. All of us need to pray and attend church service and support the church.

            4.  Elders.  The Elders made all of the small decisions for the people. They handled all of the secular, tribal, and personal issues with the people. The Patriarch of our families need to make any decision that cannot be resolved among the family members.

            When Israel camped and rested for the night, they were guarded by the four primary tribes; Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dan.  Four tribes of Israel.

            The four trees of Israel- Judges 9:7-15:  The four trees referred to- the Fig-tree, the Olive, the vine, and the Bramble- are the four which are used to combine the whole of Israel’s history.

             1.  Fig- tree.  The Fig-tree represents the National position of Israel, from which we learn (in the Synoptic Gospels) that it withered away and has been cut down.

       2.  Olive tree.  The Olive tree represents the Covenant privileges of Israel (Romans 11):  which are now in abeyance.

            3.  Vine.  The vine represents Israel’s Spiritual blessings, which henceforth are to be found only in Christ, the True Vine (John 15).

            4.  Bramble.  The Bramble represents the Antichrist, in whose shadow they will yet trust, but who will be to Israel a consuming fire in the day of “Jacob’s trouble”- “the great Tribulation.”[1]

            Ezekiel’s vision:  The prophet Ezekiel was active during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people.  He had seen a vision.  He had seen a whirlwind, and out of this whirlwind he saw the likeness of four living creatures.  This was a picture of the nature of God and the nature of the coming Christ, who is God in the flesh.  Well, that living creature had the likeness of a man (Ezekiel 1:5).  Everyone had four faces and four wings (Ezekiel 1:6).  They had four faces in four different directions.  They each had a set of wings for each direction.

             The four living creatures had four faces.   The face of a man, lion, ox, and eagle.

            These faces represent the four natures of God.  Let’s take a look at the four faces that Ezekiel had seen.

             1.  Man.  This is the face of humanity.  When Jesus Christ arrived, He was God, but He was also at the same time a man.  He loved, He cried, He hurt, He felt hardship.  He felt and experienced all of the emotions we feel every day.  God set the ultimate example for us in His humanity.  God understands our human nature.

             2.  Lion.  This is the face of authority.  God welds authority over Satan, demons, angels and mankind.  God is our ultimate judge.  Through Jesus Christ He is our ultimate Redeemer as well, but He will judge mankind the next time He arrives.  The lion is the “king of the jungle.”  A lion has authority.  God rules and judges like a lion.  So, should we as well.

        3.  Ox.  This is the face of labor.  God works to guide us, He worked to redeem us from our sins, and He will work with us to the end of the age.  We as Christians are also to work in the Kingdom.  The ox is a beast of burden.  The ox is an animal that works a plow or carries a load.  The ministry in the Kingdom is also work and a heavy load.

            4.  Eagle.  This is the face of spirituality.  Eagles are birds that soar high in the sky.  They are admired that they live higher than any other creature.  They are also birds of prey.  Eagles have always represented Spirituality and a higher spiritual order.  God dwells in a higher spiritual realm and as Christians, so should we.  Eagles have been known to soar to great heights, high into the heavens.  We Christians are to soar high in our spirituality in revelations, visions, prophecy, dreams, gifts of the spirit and miracles.  We are to soar high in the spiritual heavens in the presence of God.

             The Coming Christ:  The prophecies concerning Jesus Christ which are recorded in the Old Testament may be classed under four categories.

            1.  King-----------Lion----PS 2:6; Is 32:1; Dan 9:25. “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”

            2.  Servant--------Ox-------Is 42:1; 52:13. “Behold my servant...”

            3.  Son of Man---Man----Is 7:14; 9:6-7; Dan 7:13-14.  “...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son...”

            4.  Son of God---Eagle---Is 9:6-7; 40:3-9.  “...The mighty God...”

            The Branch:  Jesus Christ is set forth in the Old Testament as the Branch four different times and for four different reasons.

            1.  The Branch--King-----Lion---Jeremiah 23:5. “...I will raise unto David a righteous Branch...”

            2.  The Branch--Servant--Ox-----Zech 3:8. “...I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

            3.  The Branch--Man------Man---Zech 6:12. “...Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH...”

            4.  The Branch--LORD---Eagle--Is 4:2. “In that day shall the branch of the Lord...”

            Behold:  Jesus Christ is introduced four times in the Old Testament by the word “behold.”

            1.  Behold, the King-----Lion---Zech 6:12. “...Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH...”

            2.  Behold, the Servant--Ox-----Is 42:1. “Behold my servant...”

            3.  Behold, the Man------Man---Zech 3:8. “...behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”

            4.  Behold, your God-----Eagle--Is 40:9. “...Behold your God!”

             The Gospels:  The four Gospels reveal the four natures of God.  There is but one Gospel with four presentations.  Four pictures of one Christ are given.  The combined Gospel records set forth a personality rather than present a connected story of a life.

             1.  Matthew--Christ as King-----Lion---presented to the Jews to reveal Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

            2.  Mark------Christ as Servant--Ox-----presented to the Romans to show them the practical nature of Jesus Christ.

            3.  Luke------Christ as Man------Man---presented to the Greeks to reveal the Godly nature of the man, Jesus Christ.

            4.  John------Christ as God-------Eagle--presented to the Church to reveal the Divine nature of Jesus Christ.

            Four-Fold ministry:  In Ephesians 4:11-12 we see that the Christian Church is made up of four separate ministries that work together for the growth and health of the Church.

             1.  Apostles.  These are ministers that start new churches in non-Christian lands and strengthen existing churches.  After starting new churches, they see to it that it grows.  This can also include a church denomination superintendent or other Church leadership positions, since these positions deal with authority and growth into unchurched areas.

             2.  Prophets.  These are church members who have prophetic gift in order to strengthen an existing church.  Prophets deal with the spiritual side of ministry.

             3.  Evangelists.  These are ministers that travel the world and increase the faith and gain new converts for existing churches.  These men and women are the hardest working members of the Church.

             4.  Pastors/Teachers.  These are ministers or members who oversee a church.  Pastors and Teachers do the same ministry.  These members deal with people and their problems.  They minister to the human side of the Church.  They teach and preach the Gospel.

            1.  Apostles------------Lion---Authority

            2.  Prophets------------Eagle--Spirituality

            3.  Evangelists---------Ox-----Ministry

            4.  Pastors/Teachers---Man---Humanity

             Four-Fold Church leadership: Under the leadership of the Spirit, the apostles organized the early Church in a four-fold manner.

             1.  Bishops.  These are male ministers who had been pastors for many years and are now a leader over several to many churches in a grouping.

            2.  Pastors.  These are male ministers that lead a church.  They are the final authority of the local church.

            3.  Elders.  These are elder saints, men and women, who help the pastor lead a church.

             4.  Deacons.  These are men and women in a church who deal with ministry matters within a church.  These saints make the local church operate.

1.      [1] E. W. Bullinger.  Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI., Pgs 749-50.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

www.hospiceministryvolunteer.blogspot.com

www.atseminary.com

First Mention Principle

First Mention Principle

            The first occurrence of a subject in Scripture.  It usually holds the key to understanding the subject.  The first time it is mentioned usually defines it’s meaning throughout Scripture.  Here are some examples.

Spirit of God- Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

            It was the Spirit of God from the beginning whom created the earth and everything in it.  Evolution envisioned by man had nothing to do with it.  The universe was supernaturally created by God.  The Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are all one as later told by the Apostle John in 1 John 1.

Holiness- Genesis- 2:3: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.”  Sanctification is the act of making or becoming holy.  Holiness is from the beginning and it should also be in our lives.

Satan is a deceiver- Genesis 3:  This entire chapter deals with the deception of the devil.  The devil will slightly twist the Words of God to deceive.  That is the pattern that we have from the very beginning of creation.

Temptation- Genesis 3:1-6:  Satan’s temptation of Eve can be conceptualized in six steps, steps that can be seen in Satan’s temptation of believer’s today.

       1.  Minimizing the restriction.   Step one is found in the first verse.  Satan said to the woman: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”  Satan’s ploy is rather obvious: he was getting Eve to take her eyes off all the things God had given her to enjoy, and to focus on the one thing that God had forbidden.

            2.  Minimizing the consequences. Satan minimized the consequences of sin in two ways:  first, by telling Eve that the consequences of sin would not be as bad as they had been stated to be, and second, by eventually focusing her attention so completely on the tree that she forgot about the consequences entirely.

       3. Relabeling the action:  In verse five Satan deftly tried to remove his temptation from the category of sin by relabeling it.  In this particular instance, partaking of the fruit was relabeled as a way of expanding her consciousness.  She would become a more complete person if she tried it once.  Before this time Eve had thought of the forbidden action as disobedience:  now she sees it as a necessity if she is to become a complete and mature person.  Mixing good and evil:  C.S. Lewis has commented that evil is often a perversion of something good that God has created.  In verse six Satan added potency to his temptation by mixing good with evil:  Eve saw that the tree was good for food.

            5.  Mixing sin with beauty:  Temptation often comes wrapped in the form of something beautiful, something that appeals to our senses and desires.  It is often necessary to think twice before we recognize that a beautiful object or goal is really sin in disguise.

            6.  Misunderstanding the implications:  Although this may seem like a less significant point in the temptation process, it is perhaps the most crucial.  In effect, by accepting Satan’s statement, Eve was calling God a liar, even though she might not have recognized those implications of her action.  She accepted Satan as the truth-teller and God as the prevaricator:  by partaking of the fruit she was implicitly stating her belief that Satan was more interested in her welfare than God was.  Yielding to the temptation implied that she accepted Satan’s analysis of the situation instead of God’s.[1]

Babylon- Genesis 10:10: “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel...”  The city of Babylon was born in sin from the very beginning.

Faith- Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”  Faith is probably the most important biblical topic, and here is the first mention of faith.

Jerusalem- Genesis 14:18: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.  Bread and wine are well known symbols of life and prosperity.  It still is today.

Son of Man- Psalm 8:4: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  And the son of man, that thou visitest him?”  Jesus Christ will in the future refer to Himself as the son of man.

Day of the Lord- Isaiah 2:11,12: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.  For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.”  This is prophecy about the Last Days that we read about in the Book of Revelation.

[1] Henry A. Virkler.  Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation.  Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI.  1981, p. 218-9.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

www.hospiceministryvolunteer.blogspot.com

www.atseminary.com

Double Reference Principle

Double Reference Principle

             This is a passage of prophetic Scripture which applies to a person or event near at hand, but is also a reference to the coming Christ.  Two different times of fulfillment may also be referred to in one passage.  Here are some examples.

            Deuteronomy 18:15: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.”

            In this verse Moses was telling the people of Israel in his day that God was to raise up a prophet, like himself, in the near future.  What he did not know was that he was also giving a double reference.   

Moses’s statement is concerning a prophet to follow him.  The reference here is to Joshua (a type of Christ) and yet it looks forward to Christ also (Acts 3:22-23).

The Apostle Peter, here in the book of Acts, clearly points this out to the priests in the Temple that this prophecy was a double reference to Jesus Christ.

             2 Samuel 7:12-16: “…I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”   

David’s Covenant.  It has to do with Solomon in one sentence, and the very next verse goes beyond to Christ. The psalmist in Psalm 132:11 would later reinforce this double reference.

            Jeremiah 50-51:  Predicted judgment on Babylon.  It has not yet been completely fulfilled.  There is double reference here to a future Babylon that will be destroyed in Revelation 18:9-21.

             Ezekiel 36:24-28:  In verse twenty-four it speaks of God bringing Israel back to the Promised Land from their exile in Babylon.  “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”

            Then, in verse twenty-seven, it turns to God giving His Spirit to man symbolizing a new promised land.  “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”  This came to pass in Acts 2:38 where God put His Spirit into man, a double reference that continues today!

            Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”  The Holy Spirit applies it to the experience of Christ when taken into Egypt and brought out in Matthew 2:14. The New Testament agrees that it is a double reference.

       The birth of Christ- Isaiah 7:14-16: “A good example may be taken from Isaiah’s prediction concerning a sign to be given to Ahaz. The sign was needed as a way of reassuring Ahaz that God would shortly deliver Jerusalem from a siege by the kings of Israel and Syria.

  The prophet identified the sign as the birth of a child; before the child would know good from evil, the deliverance would be affected.  This prophecy must have been fulfilled already in Ahaz’ day for it to have been meaningful as a sign to him.  This fulfillment is best identified with the birth of Isaiah’s own son , Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:1-4).  This could not have been the complete fulfillment, however, because the child to be born would be the child of a virgin, and his name would be called Emmanuel.  This complete fulfillment came only with Christ, as Matthew 1:22-23 clearly states.”[1]

[1] Leon J. Wood. “The Bible and future events.”  Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI.  1973; pg 25.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Dispensation Principle

Dispensation Principle

             A dispensation, or administration, is a period of time in which God deals with man’s sin and man’s responsibility to that sin.  The Bible student must understand this principle or else the Bible will be a book of confusion and contradiction.  If this principle is ignored then Scripture will be misinterpreted.  The Apostle Paul understood that a part of a dispensation had been committed to him (1 Corinthians 9:17). 

To give an example:  Abraham was made righteous by his faith in the promises of God, not by his faith in Jesus Christ. That is because Abraham did not know anything about the coming Christ.  Therefore, his salvation cannot be judged by New Testament standards of faith and salvation.  God dealt with Abraham according to his dispensation of time and us in ours. There are seven dispensations.

             Dispensation of Innocence:  This time is from creation to the fall of Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve begin this time blameless before God, but end it as sinners (Genesis 1:26-2:23).  The amount of years that this was is unknown.  It is called the time of innocence because there was no sin upon the earth or man.

            Man’s responsibility was to be obedient to God’s Word.  Adam and Eve had been given instructions by God but did not understand the concept of good or evil.  They were confronted with a choice; Obey God’s Word or listens to Satan.  Man chose to listen to Satan rather than God. Adam and Eve had only one rule, and that was not to eat of the tree of good and evil, (Genesis 2:17). Satan convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden tree in the midst of the garden.

            The consequence of failure was his banishment from the garden of Eden, pain in childbirth and loss of authority for the woman.  Sin had destroyed the world that they knew.

       God showed mercy to them by giving them a Messianic promise of victory over Satan in the future.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his head.” (Genesis 3:15).

            Dispensation of Conscience: This time period is from the fall of Adam and Eve to the Flood; this was about sixteen-hundred years and is located in Genesis 3-7.  Mankind is now in a fallen sinful condition and now has a limit to his life. Mankind’s responsibility is now to choose between good or evil and to worship and sacrifice to God (Genesis 4:7).

             Abel chooses the good, but Cain chooses the evil.  Mankind slowly grew wicked and chose evil until all were evil except one family.  Mankind had become so wicked that God’s only consideration was to destroy the entire earth.  The dispensation starts with the rebellion of Cain in his bloodless sacrifice and ends with God showing divine mercy to eight obedient people with some animals (Genesis 7:1).

            Dispensation of Human Government:  This time period begins after the Flood with Noah and his family, and ends at the destruction of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 8-11).  This was about four-hundred years.  Mankind was to govern them, but failed.

             Noah and his descendant’s responsibility were to worship and sacrifice to God and to choose good over evil.  It starts out well but evil begins within a few years with the alcohol abuse of Noah and Canaan’s response and judgment.  If man cannot rule his own life righteously how could he rule other people?  This shows mankind that he needs a savior to save him from his sinful condition!  After this mankind slips further into evil and had been scattered by an act of God with the confusion of languages and the destruction of the Tower of Babel.

       God had blessed this people with abundance of food and water and shelter, since the people had plenty of time to build the massive tower.  They could only have done this if they had plenty of free time for building.  The dispensation ends with divine mercy from God in allowing the people to live and prosper even though they all have given themselves over to idolatry.  God decides to look for another man who can begin again.  This looks to the future, where God will begin again in Christ, to start the Church.  The next two dispensations are for the Jewish people only, the rest of the world still stayed in this dispensation.  So, for the next two-thousand years the world had two dispensations at the same time.

             Dispensation of Promise:  This time is from the Call of Abraham to the Mt. Sinai.  This dispensation lasted about four-hundred thirty years, and it was only for the Jewish people.  It can be found in Genesis 11-15.  Abraham probably lived in idolatry at the time, but God had seen something in him.  Abraham became righteous in God’s eyes when he believed God’s promises.

            Mankind’s responsibility was to live in the Promised Land and to claim it, worship and sacrifice to God.  Mankind failed in this responsibility when Jacob’s family all settled in Egypt during a severe famine (Genesis 47:1) and had fallen into idolatry (Ezekiel 20:7-9).

            The end result of this failure was God’s chosen people became slaves to a wicked nation (Exodus 1).  But God had Mercy on them and delivered them from bondage.  God had decided to continue to work with this family.  This shows us today that even if we fall back into spiritual bondage God will continue to work to make us better.

            Dispensation of Law:  This time is from Mt. Sinai to Calvary.  This was about fifteen-hundred years in length, and it was for the Jewish people only.  It begins with God leading the Israelite out of spiritual and physical bondage and ends with the temporary rejection of Judaism for Christianity and the Church.

            These Laws were given to the Jewish people only (Romans 2:12; 9:4).  Their responsibility was to keep the Law of Moses (Exodus 19:5).  Not only did the Jewish people fail to keep the Law (2 Kings 17:7-17; Acts 2:22-23), but the only man who ever did, they quickly and without regret tortured and executed that man.  Because of the Jews failure they were taken away into bondage into Assyria and Babylon (2 Kings 17:6; 25:11), then later scattered into the entire world.

God showed His Divine Mercy to the entire world by coming down in Christ, dying for mankind’s sins, and providing the ultimate sacrifice Himself.

             Dispensation of Grace:  This dispensation time is from Calvary to the second coming of Christ.  This dispensation time has lasted for over two-thousand years and continues on to the present.  This is our age!  At the start of this dispensation the world is united again in the same dispensation again.  Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.  In this time all of our sins are forgiven in repentance, and washed away in baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, then comes the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

            Mankind’s responsibilities in this dispensation are to believe on Jesus Christ as God and to worship and live for Him.  From now on there are only two classes of people in the world: saved sinners and lost sinners, all depending on our response to Christ.  Mankind will ultimately fail and fall into unrepentant sin (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).

             God has shown His Divine Mercy for over two-thousand years.  At the end of this dispensation Christ will return to rule and judge the world.  Those who die will be lost forever, those who survive without Christ will live in the Kingdom age, believers will live in the New Jerusalem and help Christ rule the rest of the world.

             Dispensation of God’s Kingdom:  This dispensation time is from the second coming of Christ to the Great White Judgment.  This will be a one-thousand-year age.  This is a future dispensation (Psalms 2 and 11).  Mankind will be under the direct rule of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom (Acts 15:14-17); Psalm 2:6; Matthew 24:29-30; Isaiah 24:23).

        Mankind’s responsibility will be to worship King Jesus, be obedient to the Kingdom and to worship (Psalms 2:12; 67:4; 86:9; Isaiah 65:20; Zechariah 14:17.  Mankind will ultimately be deceived by Satan and fail and be judged.

            After one-thousand years mankind will rebel against God and march an army against His Kingdom (Psalm 66:3; Revelation 20:7-9).  At which time fire coming down from God out of Heaven will destroy them (Revelation 20:9).  The earth will be destroyed and all the saved will be in Heaven for eternity.

             Some had taught that there are eight different dispensations and that the additional one is the “Dispensation of Tribulation.”  They say that this one would last for seven years during the tribulation period.  This is simply not correct since there is nothing in Scripture to prove the existence of this dispensation.  Jesus did talk on a period of time He called the tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31).  But how God deals with sin is the same as in the dispensation of Grace.  We will still come to God through Acts 2:38 for salvation.

             Summary of the Dispensations:  In each dispensation the trend of man is away from God.  The responsibility of man in each dispensation is to believe the Word of God and to obey Him.  At the end of each dispensation, God gives man up to his own way.

            Each dispensation shows that evil is headed up in a person or persons:

  Dispensation of Innocence- Satan.

 Dispensation Conscience- Sinful fallen angels.

3.  Dispensation of Human Government- Nimrod.

4.  Dispensation of Promise- Pharaoh.

5.  Dispensation of Law- Scribes and Pharisees.

6.  Dispensation of Grace- Modernists.

7.  Dispensation of The Kingdom- Satan.

Each dispensation ends in a world crisis:

Dispensation of Innocence- Expulsion of man from the garden.

Dispensation of Conscience- The Flood.

Dispensation of Human Government- Confusion of Tongues.

Dispensation of Promise- Bondage oface.

Dispensation of Law- The Cross of Christ.

Dispensation of Grace- The Rapture of the Church.

Dispensation of Kingdom- Fire from Heaven.

In each dispensation God comes down:

Dispensation of Innocence- God came down to the garden.

Dispensation of Conscience- God talked with Noah.

Dispensation of Human Government “Let us go down.”

Dispensation of Promise- “I am come down.” (burning bush)

Dispensation of Law- Incarnation of Christ.

Dispensation of Grace- The Lord shall descend.

Dispensation of Kingdom- Still upon the earth.

William J. Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary