If you are an evangelical Christian, you believe in the authority of Scripture and its emphasis on God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. But you may have questions about the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament or between the Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant.
In our blog, What is Covenant Theology? we began to explore theological systems as a way to answer these questions. A theological system is an approach or framework to Bible interpretation that brings together Bible exposition, Biblical theology, and systematic theology to help explain the teachings of Scripture. The two most common theological systems are covenant theology and dispensationalism. In this blog, we’ll discuss dispensationalism, and in a future blog, we’ll compare the two systems.
What Is a Dispensation?
Dispensationalism derives its name from the word “dispensation.” A dispensation is a period of time in human history that is defined by a unique arrangement between God and mankind. The word “dispensation” has been used to translate the Greek word oikonomia which means “the state of being arranged” (Danker and Bauer, 687). Drawing from this definition, dispensational theologians have articulated that the key feature of a dispensation is a stewardship arrangement (Ryrie, 30). For dispensationalists, the world is understood to be a household run by God, and His plan for His household is accomplished through various stages of revelation, or dispensations. In each dispensation, God gives new revelation and new responsibilities for mankind, marking this period of time off as distinct from the prior time period.
This concept is helpful for understanding the structure of the Bible, but dispensationalists disagree as to the number of dispensations revealed in Scripture. Some adhere to as little as three (the Mosaic Law, the current age of grace, and the millennial kingdom) and others adhere to as many as seven (Pre-Fall, Post-Fall, Noahic, Patriarchal, Mosaic Law, Grace, & Millennium) (Ryrie, 2007). While dispensationalism gets its name from dispensations, dispensationalists are not necessarily defined by this belief—as even covenant theologians acknowledge that God uses various means to carry out His plan.
The Foundational Beliefs of Dispensationalism
If a belief in dispensations is not foundational to the dispensational system, what is foundational to a dispensational approach to understanding the Bible?
At this point, it may be helpful to point out that just like there are variations of covenant theology, there are also variations of dispensationalism. These variations include traditional or classic dispensationalism, revised dispensationalism, and progressive dispensationalism.
While we don’t have the space to expand on all the differences between these groups, theologian Michael Vlach identifies some beliefs commonly held by all dispensationalists, which are as follows:
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The primary meaning of any text of Scripture is found in that passage itself. Therefore, the New Testament does not reinterpret or override the meaning of Old Testament passages. The meaning of Old Testament passages to the original audience must be retained (Vlach, 2017).
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Old Testament promises made to Israel cannot be fulfilled in the Church.
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The Church and Israel are distinct—dispensationalists believe it is incorrect to think of the Church as the true Israel (Vlach, 2017).
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At some point in the future, national Israel will be saved and restored and given a purposeful role in an earthly millennial kingdom (Vlach, 2017).
If someone does not hold to all of these positions, they are unlikely to be a dispensationalist.
Interpretative Implications from Dispensational Theology
These six core beliefs are the backbone of a dispensational approach to the Bible and—like every theological system—naturally influence how dispensationalists interpret certain Bible passages.
A dispensational approach to Bible interpretation has particular influence in the areas of ecclesiology (the study of the church) and eschatology (the study of end times). Because they do not believe that the Church is the true Israel—and insist that Old Testament passages will be fulfilled according to the understanding of the text’s original audience—dispensationalism demands a literal, earthly, political millennial kingdom. This is so that the physical and national promises made to Israel in the Old Testament can be fulfilled. Therefore, all dispensationalists hold to a premillennial view of the millennial kingdom—meaning that they believe Christ's Second Coming will occur prior to a period of tribulation, after which He will return to reign for a thousand years (the millennial kingdom).
Similarly, dispensationalists believe that national Israel as a whole will be saved and restored as a nation around the time of Jesus’s Second Coming to earth (in support of this, dispensationalists cite passages like Romans 11:26–27; Matthew 23:39). Then, during the millennial reign of Christ, the restored nation of Israel will have a functional role to the nations (Isaiah 2:2–4; Matthew 25:31).
This distinction between the New Testament Church and Old Testament Israel leads to certain ecclesiological conclusions as well (or implications for the Church). Dispensationalists acknowledge that God has always had a people throughout history (Vlach, 2024), but that the Church was a mystery (Ephesians 3:1–13; 5:32) and did not exist prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit at the time of Pentecost. The Church differs from Israel in that it is composed of a new people (Jews and Gentiles), has unique offices (elder, deacon, etc.), a unique mission to spread the gospel, and a unique future of reigning with Christ when He returns (Revelation 2:26–27; 3:21). According to dispensationalists, these differences between Israel and the Church imply that promises made to Israel cannot find total fulfillment in the church—“God must fulfill His promises with the group to whom the promises originally were made (i.e. ethnic/national Israel)” (Vlach, 2024). Theologian Stephen Wellum summarizes the ecclesiological distinction well by saying that “Israel refers to an ethnic, national people and the church is never the transformed, restored eschatological Israel in God’s plan” (Wellum, 2023).
The final interpretive implication of dispensationalism worth pointing out in this brief blog post is that most “dispensationalists claim that Christians today are not under the Mosaic Law” (Vlach, 2017, 65). This means that because Christ has fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17) and believers today live under the New Covenant rather than the Mosaic Covenant (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; 6:2; Ephesians 2:15), they are not subject to the demands of the civil, ceremonial, or moral laws expounded in the Mosaic Law. This does not mean, however, that dispensationalists don’t believe in sanctification or moral law. Michael Vlach addresses this misunderstanding and says that “many dispensationalists believe that Christians today are under a new law—the Law of Christ, in which the moral laws of God are communicated” (p. 65).
Dispensationalism sees more discontinuity across the pages of Scripture as God’s revelation progresses, contrary to covenant theology, which emphasizes continuity. While dispensationalism differs from covenant theology in how it understands the storyline of the Bible, both systems are God-honoring, Christ-exalting, evangelical approaches that seek to harmonize the pages of Scripture. In a few weeks we’ll wrap up this short blog post series on systems of theology by comparing covenant theology to dispensationalism.
Additional Resources for Diving into Theology:
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.
Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007.
Saucy, Robert L. The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism: The Interface between Dispensational and Non-dispensational Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1993.
Vlach, Michael J. Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths. Revised and Updated. Los Angeles, CA: Theological Studies Press, 2017.
Sources
Bauer, Walter, and Frederick W. Danker. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2000.
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/.
