Have you ever heard the phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know”? 

One of the most beautiful aspects of the gospel is its simplicity—anyone can understand the message of salvation. And after being saved, many eager believers want to dive into God’s Word, voraciously reading the Bible to learn more about Jesus Christ who has saved them from their sins. Often, the more they read the Bible, the more holistic their understanding of God’s purposes in the world becomes. But as we attempt to make connections across Scripture, we may find ourselves with questions about how one portion of Scripture relates to another.  We may eventually find that one belief we hold seems to contradict another. 

Theological systems have developed over time as a way to help Christians ensure that their theological conclusions are consistent and reflective of all the relevant Biblical data. In previous blogs, we have discussed the two most common theological systems: covenant theology and dispensationalism. Now, we’ll explore the contrast between those two systems and highlight how these different approaches might affect your own study of the Bible. 

In his helpful book, Discontinuity to Continuity: A Survey of Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies, biblical scholar Benjamin Merkle points out that we can explore the differences between these two systems and their variations by asking four key questions: 

1. What is the basic approach to Bible interpretation?

2. What is the relationship between the covenants?

3. What is the relationship between Israel and the Church?

4. What is the Kingdom of God?

These questions can provide us with a helpful framework for understanding the distinctive differences between these systems. For now, we’ll focus on the first three questions in order to gain a clear understanding of the difference between covenant theology and dispensationalism. 

What is the basic approach to Bible interpretation? 

While all evangelicals believe that the Bible is God’s holy, inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word and seek to interpret it literally, not all would agree about how to interpret it. Generally, dispensationalists have understood literal interpretation of the Bible to be literal-historical-grammatical interpretation. This means that Bible interpreters seek to determine meaning according to the original intention of the author, as informed by their words and the historical and literary context in which they wrote. For dispensationalists, this approach does not vary across biblical genres. 

Covenant theologians would not disagree with this approach, but they would add that literal interpretation includes recognizing symbolic language and typology. Typology is the study of types—and a type is best understood as “a symbol specially designed by God to point forward to a fulfillment” (Poythress, 2024, 1). For example, Paul calls Adam a “type” of Christ in Romans 5:14—meaning that Adam pointed forward to Christ. Just as Adam was the representative of people, Jesus Christ is the representative of the new spiritual people. Covenant theologians embrace typology because they believe that Scripture interprets Scripture. Therefore, the revelation of the New Testament may clarify or further reveal Old Testament revelation, thus paving the way for symbolic interpretation. 

This reveals a distinct difference between the two camps: Covenantalists tend to prioritize the revelation of the New Testament—allowing it to inform their understanding of the Old Testament—whereas dispensationalists believe that New Testament revelation can never change the meaning of the Old Testament texts to their original audience. For example, in Amos 9:11–15, God promises to restore Israel at some point in the future and that the terms of that restoration are physical and geographical. This text is partially quoted in Acts 15:14-18 and its purpose is understood differently by covenantalists and dispensationalists. Covenantalists suggest that Acts 15:16–17 should be understood “as the fulfillment language of Amos 9:11–12” (Merkle, 2020, 14). In other words Amos 9:11-12 is “being fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the inclusion of the Jews and gentiles into the church” (Merkle, 2020, 15). On the contrary dispensationalists argue that since Amos 9:11-12 was a promise made to national Israel it cannot find fulfillment in the church and what James is doing is affirming that the gentiles will be included in the future millennial kingdom when this promise is fulfilled to Israel.  

What is the relationship between the covenants?

The Biblical covenants include the creation covenant (Genesis 1–3; Hosea 6:7), the Noahic covenant (Genesis 6–9), the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12, 15, 17), the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 19–24), the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89), and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31–34). In recent decades, much scholarly discussion has been devoted to the relationship between these Biblical covenants and the storyline of Scripture. In fact, variations of both dispensationalism (progressive dispensationalism) and covenant theology (progressive covenantalism) have emerged that emphasize the importance of the biblical covenants in advancing the story of Scripture. 

The systems differ in how they understand the relationship of these covenants to Jesus Christ. Covenantalists believe that all of the biblical covenants have found their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and His Church. On the contrary, dispensationalists see a partial fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ but believe that many aspects of the covenants will not realize complete fulfillment until the nation of Israel is restored sometime in the future. For example, since the New Covenant was made between God and Israel (Jeremiah 31:31) and includes geographic boundaries (Jeremiah 31:38–40), the New Covenant will not be completely fulfilled until the future millennial kingdom. 

What is the relationship between Israel and the Church?

This question leads to perhaps the most distinctive and consequential difference between dispensational and covenantal theologians. Dispensational theology sees a great deal of discontinuity between Israel and the Church, whereas covenantal theology sees a great deal of continuity. While the exact nature of this discontinuity varies amongst the various dispensational systems, all dispensationalists would agree that Old Testament promises made to Israel cannot be fulfilled in the Church. Dispensationalists believe that at some point in the future, national Israel will be saved, restored, and given a purposeful role in an earthly millennial kingdom (Vlach, 2017).

On the other side—due to the overarching covenant of grace—covenantal theology understands the Church to be the fruit of Israel because the covenant finds fulfillment in the head of the Church, Jesus Christ (Merkle, 2020). The Church, then, is understood to be the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) in whom the promises made to Abraham and his descendants find their fulfillment.

How do covenant theology and dispensationalism affect your Bible study?

The differences between covenant theology and dispensationalism will affect how you approach Bible study in a few different ways—how you interpret Scripture, how you understand the relationship between Israel and the Church, and how you apply Biblical prophecies. 

Interpretation

While both systems advocate literal interpretation, covenant theology includes recognizing types and allowing newer revelation, such as that found in the New Testament, to inform their understanding of the Old Testament. Dispensationalists do not read the Old Testament as being informed by the New Testament, insisting that we understand the meaning of Old Testament passages as they were understood by the original audience. 

Relationship of Israel and the Church

Covenant theologians understand that the promises of God find their “yes” and “amen” in Christ—meaning that they are fulfilled in Him. Since Jesus is the head of the Church, the promises made to Abraham (land, descendants, blessing, and being a blessing) are understood to be fulfilled symbolically in the Church. Conversely, dispensationalists expect a future fulfillment of these promises to national Israel. 

Application of Biblical Prophecies 

Drawing on the two points above, covenant theology understands many of the Old Testament promises and prophecies to be fulfilled symbolically in the Church or in Jesus Christ and His future eternal reign in the new heaven and new earth. Dispensationalists insist that prophecies be fulfilled literally and thus await a future saving and restoring of the nation of Israel, as well as the reign of Christ from Jerusalem over the nation of Israel and the nations of the world.

While you may have a preference for one theological system over another, both of the systems we’ve discussed have strengths and weaknesses. One’s preference for a particular system is primarily rooted in a chosen approach to interpreting the Bible. Regardless of which we prefer,  in our own hearts we should aim to rightly handle the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) in our pursuit to know and love God. And in this sense, both covenantal theology and dispensationalism are helpful in that they prompt us to ask deep questions about the Bible and ponder how God is working in the world. 

Additional Resources for Diving into Theology:

• The Bible Handbook

• The Bible Study Handbook

• The Theology Handbook

• The Bible Themes Handbook

Suggested Further Reading:

Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bock. Progressive Dispensationalism. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1993. 

Horton, Michael, Stephen Wellum, Darrell Bock, and Mark Snoeberger. Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture. Edited by Brent E. Parker and Richard J. Lucas. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022.

Merkle, Benjamin L. Discontinuity to Continuity: A survey of Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020.

Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007. 

Sproul, R. C. What is Reformed Theology? Understanding the Basics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997. 

Vlach, Michael J. Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths. Revised and Updated. Los Angeles, CA: Theological Studies Press, 2017.

Wellum, Stephen J., and Brent E. Parker, eds. Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course Between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies. Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2016. 

Sources:

Poythress, Vern S. Biblical Typology: How the Old Testament Points to Christ, His Church, and the Consummation. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024.

Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007. 

Vlach, Michael J. Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths. Revised and Updated. Los Angeles, CA: Theological Studies Press, 2017.

Vlach, Michael J. “Dispensational Theology.” The Gospel Coalition, July 11, 2024. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/dispensational-theology/. 

Wellum, Stephen. “Dispensational and Covenant Theology.” Christ Over All, September 1, 2023. https://christoverall.com/article/concise/dispensational-and-covenant-theology/.