The Dispensation of Grace
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Mystery or Prophecy?
We have often insisted
that while the “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow,” they knew nothing of the present period of grace
which lies between our Lord’s suffering and His kingdom glory.
“The dispensation of the
grace of God,” we read in Ephesians 3, was “a mystery” only made known “by
revelation” to Paul, some years after the rejected Christ had returned to
heaven. In verse 5 he says that “in other ages” it was “not made known.” In
verse 8 he calls it “the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God.” In Romans 16:25 he says it was “kept secret since the world
began.” In Colossians 1:26 he insists again that it was “hid from ages and from
generations.”
But there are still
thousands of sincere believers who do not see this. They think that the
prophets predicted the reign of grace as well as the reign of Christ.
Thus they lose some of the joy of that great surprise of grace which God
planned for sinners “before the world began” (II Tim. 1:9), but “kept secret
since the world began” (Rom. 16:25).
One of the Scriptures
which troubles them most is I Peter 1:10: “Of which salvation the prophets have
inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should
come unto you.” They say that this proves conclusively that the
dispensation of Grace was prophesied beforehand and was no mystery at all.
But here again we must
distinguish between grace in a dispensation and the dispensation of Grace.
Peter is not speaking of the reign of grace here, but of the grace that
will prevail during the reign of Christ. This is clear from the 13th
verse, where he exhorts his Jewish Christian brethren, “Hope to the end for the
grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.”
Remember that like
Christ on earth, Peter was a minister of “the Circumcision” (Rom. 15:18; Gal.
2:7). His message to the believing Jews had the kingdom reign of Christ in
view.
The prophets had
clearly predicted that God would judge the world for rejecting His Son and
would enthrone Christ in spite of them. He did not do this immediately,
however. In matchless mercy, He deferred the judgment and offered salvation to
all who would receive it as a free gift through the merits of Christ. And so,
while Christ is not yet reigning, grace reigns. “That as sin hath
reigned unto death, even so might grace reign” (Rom. 5:21).
An over-abounding
grace is the outstanding characteristic of God’s dealings with man in “this
present evil age.”
When Saul of Tarsus
became the leader of an organized rebellion against Christ, God in love reached
down to save him, choosing him as the very agent through whom He would proclaim
grace to a lost world.
Listen to his
testimony and his message:
“Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious,
but…the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant” (I Tim. 1:13,14).
“Not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by
grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (Rom. 5:15).
“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom.
5:20).
“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us
in all wisdom and prudence” (Eph. 1:7,8).
“Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
“And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (II
Cor. 9:8).
“For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace
might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God” (II Cor.
4:15).
Do you wonder why we
say that an over-abounding grace is the outstanding characteristic of God’s
dealings with man in “this present evil age”? Surely grace is reigning.
Otherwise the thunders of God’s judgment would roll and He would bring in the
reign of Christ.
Though, in his first
epistle, Peter told the believing Jews to “hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” he later learned
something of that greater grace which God was to manifest in deferring the
judgment of the nations and the reign of Christ, and, as we shall see, he
learned it from Paul.
As Israel refused to
repent and Christ did not return, some began to cry “Where is the promise of
His coming?” (II Pet. 3:4).
Peter now answers this
beautifully. He says “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” And
note, this is not a lame explanation offered today at the close of the
age of Grace. This statement was made at the dawn of the age.
Peter goes on, “The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count [it],
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:8,9 cf. I
Tim. 1:16 “all longsuffering”). So the delay must not be counted slackness on
God’s part, but longsuffering, and since “one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” this delay might continue for
any amount of time, even though the signs of the last days had already begun to
appear (Acts 2:16,17).
How did Peter know
this? He certainly didn’t find it in prophecy.
Before we quote the
significant closing words of his epistle let us remember Paul’s word in
Ephesians 3:1-3. “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you-ward: how that by revelation He made known unto me the
Mystery….”
How beautifully this
harmonizes with the closing words of Peter’s second epistle! He tells them not
to count the delay slackness, but says “…account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you” (II Pet.
3:15). No wonder he says in the closing verse “But grow in grace!”
Peter has learned why
“the revelation of Jesus Christ” is being delayed. May we learn it too. God is
waiting because of “His great love,” because He is loathe to judge.
How long He will
continue to wait we cannot tell. We can only say to the unsaved, “We then,
as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of
God in vain….Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:1,2). And to the saved, “See then that ye
walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because
the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15,16).
THE MEANING OF GRACE AND HOW THIS AFFECTS US
Ask the average
believer what the Bible word “grace” means, and he will doubtless reply “unmerited
favor.”
Actually, however,
grace is much more than this.
Subjectively, it is that loving
attitude, or disposition, on God’s part, from which all His kindness toward us
flows.
Objectively, it is all the
kindness that flows from His love toward us.
Thus we read in
Ephesians 2:2-6 that we were “the children of disobedience” and
therefore “by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He
loved us,
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
“And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Note: This passage
begins with those who were “children of disobedience” and “children of wrath”
and, saving them “by grace,” gives them a position in the heavenlies in Christ
Jesus!
God’s grace to us as
sinners was great indeed, for:
“In [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His [God’s] grace” (Eph. 1:7).
But now, having given
us a position in His beloved Son, God’s grace goes out to us in still
greater measure.
Ephesians 1:6 declares
that God has “made us accepted [Lit., “engraced us”] in the Beloved.” “The Beloved”!
What a name for the Son of God’s love!
Beholding us in
Christ, God loves us and delights in us more than any father ever delighted in
his son, or any grandfather in that precious grandchild.
Thus, while in
Ephesians 1:7 we read that we have “redemption…the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace,” in Ephesians 2:7 we see these riches
of grace increased to us “exceedingly,” now that we occupy a position “in the
Beloved”:
“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace….”
How?
“…in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”!
What a prospect!
Through the ages of eternity God will lavish His loving kindness upon us to
demonstrate to all the universe “the exceeding riches of His grace”!
THE NATURE OF GRACE
To a young Christian
who kept bemoaning his failures and lack of spiritual growth, and wondering how
God could love him, a more mature believer responded substantially as follows:
“When I leave here and return to my home I will pick up my
little baby girl and put her on my knee. Tired as I am, I will dandle her on my
knee and, somehow, looking into that darling face and those pretty blue eyes, I
will soon feel rested and refreshed.
“This is strange, in a way, for she does not love me. She
doesn’t even know what love is.
“She doesn’t appreciate my problems and has no sympathy for me.
My heart can be burdened with grief or filled with anxiety, and my mind vexed
with difficult problems, but she doesn’t even know or care. She just keeps
gurgling and giggling at the attention I lavish upon her.
“She doesn’t contribute one cent toward the needs of our family;
indeed, she costs me a great deal of money and will for years to come. Yet I
love that child more than I can say. There is no sacrifice I would not make for
her; no good thing I would not gladly give her.”
Such is the grace of
God towards us, His children. It does not depend upon our faithfulness to Him
or our appreciation of His love to us. He loves us with an unspeakable love and
keeps lavishing upon us “the riches of His grace” simply because we are His
children in Christ, the Beloved.
And strangely, is it
not precisely this fact that proves to be our greatest incentive to give
ourselves to Him in loving service and sacrifice!
The Unvelling and Shining Forth of Grace
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to
all men” (Titus 2:11).
THE GREATEST REVELATION OF ALL TI
To the Apostle Paul
was committed the greatest revelation of all time: “the mystery,” the
secret of the gospel and of God’s eternal purpose (Col. 1:25,26). To him was
entrusted “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:1-3). His
ministry superseded that of Peter and the eleven as, upon Israel’s continued
rejection of Christ and His kingdom, he became the apostle to the
nations (Rom. 11:13). Solemn recognition was given to this fact by the leaders
of the twelve (including Peter himself) as they gave to Paul and Barnabas the
right hands of fellowship, acknowledging Paul’s divine commission to go to the
Gentiles, and agreeing thenceforth to confine their own ministry to Israel
(Gal. 2:2,7,9).
In connection with
this commission Paul was also the divinely appointed minister of the Church of
the present dispensation, “the Body of Christ” (Col. 1:24,25). (Composed
of Jews and Gentiles reconciled to God in one body by the cross (Eph.
2:14-16; I Cor. 12:13), as compared with the kingdom church, which had
the reign of Christ in view (See Matt. 16:15-18; 19:28; Acts 1:6;
3:19-21).) No other Bible writer has one single word to say about “the Church
which is [Christ’s] Body.” None of the other apostles mention it. Not only
would we seek in vain for such phraseology in their writings, but we
would seek in vain for any discussion of the subject, for they do not
discuss the Church of which believers today are members. But Paul, who wrote
more of the books of the Bible than any other writer, deals consistently with
those truths which concern “the Church which is His Body” (Eph. 1:19-23).
THE REVELATION LOST SIGHT OF GRACE
But this great
revelation and the glorious truths associated with it have been largely lost to
the professing Church.
The Church of Rome
ignores the facts we have stated above, though they are clearly set forth in
her own translations of the Bible. She insists that the true Church of today is
a perpetuation of that which was founded by Christ while on earth; a kingdom
to be established on earth, over which Peter and the eleven were
appointed to be heads and rulers during His absence. And even though our Lord
said nothing about a prolonged absence or of any succession of
such rulers, Rome declares that her present pope is a successor to Peter and,
as such, the Vicar of Christ and supreme Head of the Church on earth.
Consistent with this she holds that she is laboring to fulfill the “great
commission” given to Peter and the eleven, requiring water baptism for the
remission of sins and claiming to possess miraculous powers.
But Protestantism,
while boasting freedom from the tyranny of Rome, has by no means emerged
entirely from the shadows of the dark ages. She still suffers a Roman hangover.
While renouncing papal authority, she nevertheless still clings to the Roman
teaching that the Church of today is a perpetuation of that to which our Lord
referred in Matthew 16:16-18 and that it is God’s kingdom on earth. She
too seeks to carry out the “great commission” given to Peter and the eleven,
though half-heartedly, for she cannot make up her mind whether water baptism is
or is not necessary to the remission of sins and is also confused and disagreed
as to whether or not she possesses the miraculous powers of what she calls the
“great commission.”
Martin Luther, under
God, shook Europe to its foundations with a partial recovery of Pauline truth,
but the Protestant Church has done little to further that recovery, so that
rather than recognizing the distinctive character of Paul’s position as our apostle,
most Protestants think of him simply as one of the apostles, along with
Peter and the eleven. In taking so short a step away from Rome the Protestant
Church has assumed a very weak position, for if Paul is to be considered as one
with the twelve, Rome can easily prove that Peter, not Paul, was
appointed as their chief (See Matt. 16:19; Acts 1:15; 2:14,38; 5:29, etc.).
THE EXTENT OF PAUL’S MINISTRY
GRACE
Since Christendom has
strayed so far and so long from the great Pauline revelation, she has lost
sight almost completely of the vastness of his ministry and influence, and the
extent to which his message once became known in the world. An example of this
is found in what Bible scholars have done with Titus 2:11.
It is generally--and
correctly--agreed that the epiphaneia in this passage connotes a conspicuous
or illustrious appearing, a shining forth, and that the
phrase “all men” therefore does not signify each individual singly, but all men
collectively; all mankind. But few can quite believe even that under
Paul’s ministry the gospel of God’s grace shone forth to all mankind, that its
proclamation ever became world-wide in scope. They conclude that Paul could not
have meant this in Titus 2:11; that he must have meant only that the
grace of God, bringing salvation for all, had appeared.
This problem seems to
have troubled even the translators of this passage, for Bible translators have
never been agreed as to its true meaning.
According to some
translations, like Darby’s New Translation, the apostle meant that the
grace of God had appeared, bringing salvation for all men. According to
others, like the Authorized (quoted above) he meant that the grace of
God had appeared to all men, bringing salvation. Still others use
guarded phraseology, even to the point of ambiguity, but most take one or the
other of the above views. The majority, probably, including some of those apt
to be most faithful in their renderings, conform in substance to the Authorized
Version as quoted above. One cannot help feeling that were it not for the
translators’ doubts that Paul could have meant that the message of Grace
was shining forth to all mankind, all, or nearly all, would have rendered the
passage substantially like the Authorized Version. In view of these
doubts it is significant that so many have rendered it like the Authorized.
THE TWELVE AND THEIR COMMISSION
Apart from Paul’s
statement in Titus 2:11 there is much Scriptural evidence that his message did
shine forth to all the known world. Before considering this evidence,
however, let us first observe that the eleven, under Peter, had previously been
sent to proclaim their God-given message to all mankind. In the records of
their “great commission” three different terms are used to emphasize this fact:
“Go ye therefore, and teach [make disciples of] all nations”
(Matt. 28:19 cf. Luke 24:47).
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature
[i.e., all creation]” (Mark 16:15).
The reader is asked to
remember well these three terms: all nations, all the world and all
creation, for we are to find them used again in connection with the
ministry of Paul.
The Twelve (Matthias
replacing Judas) began to carry out their world-wide mission, but never
got beyond their own nation. We should always associate Acts 1:8 with Acts 8:1
in our study of the Acts, for Jerusalem, rather than turning to Messiah so that
the apostles could go on with their “great commission,” started a “great
persecution” against the Church there, with the result that “they were all
scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles.”
The twelve have often
been charged with bigotry and unfaithfulness for remaining in Jerusalem at this
time. In fact, however, it was rare courage and fidelity to their commission
that kept them in Jerusalem while persecution raged and their very lives were
in danger. They remained at Jerusalem for the same reason that the rest fled:
because Jerusalem was not turning to Christ. The first part of their
commission had not yet been fulfilled, therefore they were duty-bound to remain
there.
The twelve did not
remain at Jerusalem because they were prejudiced against the salvation of the
Gentiles. There is too much scriptural evidence against this. They remained
there because they had a clear understanding of the prophetic program and of
their Lord’s commission (See Luke 24:45; Acts 1:3; 2:4). They knew that
according to covenant and prophecy the Gentiles were to be saved and blessed through
redeemed Israel (Gen. 22:17,18; Isa. 60:1-3; Zech. 8:13). Our Lord had
indicated no change in this program. He worked in perfect harmony with it. Even
before His death He had insisted that Israel was first in God’s revealed
program, commanding His disciples not to go to the Gentiles or to the
Samaritans but to “go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt.
10:6), and saying to a Gentile who came for help: “Let the children first be
filled” (Mark 7:27). And later, in His “great commission” to the eleven, He
had specifically stated that they should begin at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47;
Acts 1:8).
Peter certainly
indicated his desire that the “commission” under which he worked would bring
about the fulfillment of the prophecies and the covenant to Abraham, when he
said to the “men of Israel”:
“Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which
God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the
kindreds of the earth be blessed.
“Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to
bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts
3:25,26).
And Paul, though not
working under this same commission, later also bore witness that Israel had
been first in God’s program, when he said to the Jews at Pisidian Antioch:
“It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been
spoken to you...” (Acts 13:46).
It was only when
Israel persisted in rejecting Christ and His Kingdom that God began to set the
nation aside, raising up Paul to go to the Gentiles with the good news of
salvation “by grace,” apart from the covenants and prophecies, and
“through faith,” apart from works. It was then that Paul went to
Jerusalem “by revelation” and communicated to the leaders there that gospel
which he preached among the Gentiles (Gal. 2:2). And those leaders, including
Peter himself, gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship in
official recognition of the fact that Paul had been chosen by Christ as
the apostle to the nations and that they were henceforth to confine their
ministry to Israel (Gal. 2:7-9).
With this official
recognition of the divine purpose the apostles at Jerusalem were “loosed” from
their original commission to make disciples of all nations, and Paul alone
could say:
“I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the
Gentiles, I magnify mine office” (Rom. 11:13).
Arguments are
sometimes presented from church history to prove that the twelve did go to
Gentile territory; that not more than one or two of them died in Palestine. But
even if these arguments could be fully substantiated, this would not enter into
the case, for whatever the Circumcision apostles may have done after the
agreement of Galatians 2, they had no apostolic authority among the Gentiles,
and after the declaration of Acts 28:28 they had no apostolic authority
whatever. What any of them wrote (of the Scriptures) after that, they
simply wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just as any other Bible writer.
Let us mark well,
then, that Peter and the eleven, who had originally been sent to proclaim the
gospel of the kingdom to “all nations,” “all the world” and “all creation,” never
completed their mission. Indeed, had they done so that dispensation would
have been brought to a close, for our Lord had said concerning the tribulation
period (then imminent, but later graciously postponed):
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt.
24:14).
If, therefore, the
pouring out of the Spirit had been followed directly by the pouring out of
God’s wrath (both predicted in Joel 2 as quoted by Peter in Acts 2) Israel
would have turned to God in repentance and the twelve would have proceeded to
proclaim “the gospel of the kingdom” to all nations. That dispensation would
thus have been consummated; the end would have come. But rather than send the
judgment immediately, God interrupted the prophetic program and revealed His
secret purpose, sending Paul forth to proclaim to all mankind “the gospel of
the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
PAUL AND HIS COMMISSION
Surely no one even
superficially acquainted with the Book of Acts or the Epistles of Paul will
question the fact that sometime after our Lord’s commission to the
eleven, Paul was sent, as an apostle of Christ, to proclaim to all
mankind “the gospel of the grace of God.”
It is significant that
the three terms employed in the so-called “great commission” to indicate its
world-wide scope are also used in Paul’s epistles in connection with his
ministry. Only, whereas the twelve never got to “all nations,” “all the
world” or “all creation” with their message, Paul did with
his.
In closing his epistle
to the Romans the apostle says:
“Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the
mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.
“But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the
prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to
all nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:25, 26).
And to the Colossians
he writes concerning “the truth of the gospel”:
“Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth
forth fruit, as it doth also in you...” (Col. 1:6).
“...which ye have heard, and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven [all creation under heaven]; whereof I Paul am
made a minister” (Col. 1:23).
Various arguments may
be advanced to prove that “the gospel of the grace of God” did not actually
reach “all the world” or “all creation,” and we do not deny that to those
addressed “all the world” would doubtless mean all the known world, and
“all creation” would likewise mean all the creation as they knew it. But
the point is that whatever these three phrases mean in the so-called “great
commission,” they must also mean in these statements by Paul, for the terms are
exactly identical in the original.
We have seen how the
twelve did not get their message to “all nations,” “all the world” or
“all creation,” because, on the one hand Israel rejected it and on the other
hand God had a secret purpose to unfold. But Paul, to whom this secret purpose was
revealed, says he did get his message to “all nations,” “all the
world” and “all creation.”
Whereas the twelve
never got beyond their own nation in carrying out their commission, it is
written of Paul that during his stay at Ephesus “all they which dwelt in
Asia [Minor] heard the word of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:10). To the Romans
he writes: “from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19), and speaks of his plans to go
to Spain (15:24), plans which may well have been accomplished between his two
imprisonments. Even of his helpers it was said: “These that have turned the
world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6). And to the Romans
again he says: “your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8).
With regard to this
last statement it is argued by some that since Paul had not even been to Rome
by then, it must be that believers from the Jerusalem Church got as far as Rome
under their “great commission.”
We do not accept this
as valid, for while indeed there were “strangers from Rome” present at
Pentecost, there is no indication that there was any substantial number of
these, or that those present were even converted, much less that they started a
church at Rome. Thus those to whom Paul wrote at Rome could scarcely have been
converts of the Circumcision believers at Jerusalem. They had doubtless been
won to Christ through those whom Paul had reached with “the gospel of the grace
of God.”
This leads us to
recognize another important fact. We have seen from Matthew 24:14 that if the
twelve had gotten their message to all the world “the end” of that dispensation
would have come. This proves at the same time that Paul was not laboring
to fulfill the “great commission” to the eleven and that he did not preach
the same gospel as they, for then “the end” would have come in his day, since
he says that his message had gone to “all the world.”
SO
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