Covenant Theology: The Alternative to Dispensationalism

So once again, I'm going to be honest with my audience about another very controversial theological topic, which I have an unpopular opinion on. There are multiple different interpretative frameworks on how God works with His people. The most popular one is Dispensationalism, where the way God works with His people is split into Dispensations. However, this is not the view I hold. What I'm going to talk about today is a different framework that I hold, which is known as Covenant Theology.

Unlike Dispensationalism where God's plan of redemption is unfolded in seven dispensations, Covenant Theology interprets God's plan through the grid of a Covenant. The first covenant we see in scripture is the Covenant of Redemption. This Covenant is the agreement within the Godhead that the Father would appoint his Son, Jesus Christ, would give up his life for mankind and rise again so we could be redeemed.

The second covenant we see is the Covenant of Law. This covenant began in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve were created. God promised them life for obedience and death for disobedience by telling them they were not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for they would surely die. Adam and Eve disobeyed, which brought sin and death into creation. Then God would go on to form covenants with Noah, Moses, the people of Israel, and with David. God formed a covenant promising that He would never flood the earth again. Then God formed a covenant with Moses and the Israelites by giving them The Ten Commandments and many more laws, so that Israel could put away evil from among them. Then God made a covenant with David promising his kingdom would continue so long as his descendants obeyed God.

Finally, the third covenant we see is the Covenant of Grace. This is the Covenant that began when the Christ was born from the virgin Mary on earth and died on the cross and rose again for our redemption. This covenant promises eternal blessing for believing in Christ and being in obedience to God's Word. The Law shows us that we have sinned by breaking it. But thanks to the Covenant of Grace, we are saved by believing in Christ and obeying Him. Christ came to die for us and rise again so we could be given a second chance and have eternal life with Him.

There are plenty of verses that mention covenants. Which makes it very obvious that God works in covenants that he makes for His people. But I'm also going to go over a verse in Ephesians that Dispensationalists commonly quote in favor of Dispensationalism. I will go over Ephesians 3:2. which reads as follows: "If ye have heard of the dispensation of grace of God which is given to me you-ward:". The Greek word for dispensation is oikonomia. Which just means administration or stewardship. Like going from the Obama dispensation to the Trump dispensation in modern politics. It doesn't necessarily prove the "dispensations" in Dispensationalism, as there is still a lot more proof for covenants in scripture than in "dispensations".

Another verse quoted in favor of Dispensationalism is 2 Timothy 2:15. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth". They use this verse to say that we must literally divide the Word into different sections. However, we must look at the original greek for the proper context. The words "rightly dividing" translate as one greek word, which is a form of the Greek verb orthotomeo. This term was primarily a road building term. The idea was to cut the road in such a way that it would go on a straight path. This is far from the interpretation that Dispensationalists have for this passage. Therefore, rightly dividing means to keep on a straight path. The path of truth.

That's the basics of Covenant Theology and why I believe Covenant Theology to be true. I hope it opened your eyes to a new point of view that you might not have heard of. I firmly believe that this is a not just better but also biblical alternative to the popular view of Dispensationalism. And I hope to see more Covenant Theologians in the spotlight instead of Dispensationial Theologians. With that said, this was Godly Dragon Reviews and Apologetics, and you have a blessed day!

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