How were people saved before Jesus died on the cross? This is a question many Christians ask when they read the Old Testament. The Bible teaches that people in all times are saved by grace through faith. The difference is that believers before Christ looked forward to God’s promise of a coming Savior, while today we look back on Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The cross is therefore at the center of the entire salvation story. To understand this better, it is useful to see the Bible from the perspective of progressive revelation, also called dispensationalism.
In Ephesians, Paul describes God’s “dispensation of grace” (Ephesians 3:2-3). This is used as a central basis for the doctrine of dispensations.
What Is a Biblical Dispensation?
A dispensation is a period of salvation history that we, by studying the Bible, can identify. Here God reveals a special aspect of His salvation plan and what responsibility man has with regard to what God has revealed. Such a new dispensation begins only when God on his part introduces a change in what he has revealed up to that point. Some of the ordinances that were in the previous household are continued, other ordinances are terminated and some new ones are introduced.
The Different Dispensations in the Bible
The Dispensation of Innocence
In the Bible it is described in Genesis 1:3-3,6, Man’s responsibility was to guard the Garden of Eden, not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, fill the earth and subdue it, and have fellowship with God. The judgment came with a curse on the earth, and physical and spiritual death for mankind.
The Dispensation of Conscience
In the Bible, it is described in Genesis 3:7-8:14. Man’s responsibility was to do good. The judgment came with the deluge.
The Dispensation of Civil Government
In the Bible, it is described in Genesis 8:15-11:9. Man’s responsibility was to fill the earth and enforce punishment. The judgment came through the confusion of Babel and the scattering of mankind.
The Dispensation of the Promise
God called Abraham and through him created a people through whom he revealed his plan of salvation. In the Bible, this is described in Genesis 11:10 – Exodus 18:27. Israel’s responsibility was to stay in the Promised Land, believe in God, and obey Him. The judgement came through his captivity in Egypt and 40 years of wandering in the desert.
The Dispensation of the Mosaic Law
God continued to reveal himself through his peculiar people, Israel. In the Bible, this is described in Exodus 19:1 to Acts 1:26. Man’s responsibility was to keep the law and walk with God. The judgment came when Israel and Judah were conquered and the people were taken into captivity.
The Dispensation of Grace
God’s plan of salvation is now revealed to all people. In the Bible, this is described in Acts 2:1 to Revelation 19:21. Man’s responsibility is to believe in Jesus Christ and walk with Him in obedience. Those who believe in Jesus will come before the judgment seat of Christ where we will be rewarded according to our faithfulness. The judgment comes at the time of the great tribulation.
The Dispensation of the Millennium.
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, now rules as King from David’s throne in Jerusalem. In the Bible, this is described in Revelation 20:1-15 and in the Old Testament prophets. Man’s responsibility is to believe in and be obedient to Christ and His rule. The judgment will come at the great white throne. This will also be the final judgment for all people who have lived without believing in Jesus Christ. There is only one exit from this judgment: eternal death.
With the term time dispensation, we see the world as a series of households led by God. In these, God unfolds and administers His plan according to His own will and in various stages of revelation as time passes. These different stages delineate the various households and together constitute God’s progressive plan of salvation. The periods begin with God making a covenant with mankind. In these covenants, the demand God makes of man is described and what the result will be if they keep or do not keep their part of the covenant. In one household after another, man falls short. Man must recognize that he needs help—a Savior.
What Does Progressive Revelation Mean?
Progressive revelation means that God throughout salvation history has revealed increasingly more of himself to us humans. It was only when He sent His own Son that God revealed everything He wanted to show us. Through a series of successive actions and through many people from varying backgrounds, God showed more of Himself. The Bible tells of a God who reveals himself until Jesus, the Son of God, come and says: He who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)
The principle of progressive revelation is evident in Scripture. Paul said to his listeners at the Areopagus that God has forgiven times of ignorance, but that He now commands repentance: Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked. But now commands all men everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30)
The letter to the Hebrews opens by telling how God has revealed Himself many times and in different ways, until He now speaks to us through the Son: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Heb. 1:1-2)
One of the most striking verses showing the various ways in which God has led mankind is found in John: For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
What God wanted to tell us humans was not given all at once, but the different stages of revelation were given at different times and in different ways. Through the Bible, we have received the revelation of salvation that God will give us in the present age. But we have not reached the climax of the advancing revelation. John says in his first letter that when Jesus returns, we will see Him as He is, and we will become like Him.
The same is suggested in several places in the New Testament. But in the Bible, we have sufficient revelation to be saved and to live the Christian life. We have been revealed what God wants us to see and understand while we are here on earth. Anyone who is to interpret the Bible must pay attention to this advancing revelation. The concept of dispensations helps us to do this in the right way.
What Characterizes a Biblical Dispensation?
The primary characteristic of God’s work, and which distinguishes the various dispensations from one another, is the foundation God lays for man’s relationship with Him, and the responsibility God places on man based on what He has revealed.
This is closely linked to what God reveals to people in the different phases of salvation history. The key is not how many dispensations we can identify in Scripture. The key is:
- The realization that God throughout history has had different economies or ways of managing the relationship with us humans.
- That one distinguishes between God’s plan for Israel and God’s plan for the Christian church in salvation history. This is the most concrete and decisive.
- The doctrine of literal interpretation, also called historical-grammatical hermeneutics. This means that you do not interpret the text figuratively but based on a common understanding of what is written. Of course, this also means that the Bible sometimes uses images and symbolic language.
- That God’s eternal purpose is for His name to be honored. God’s plan for the salvation of mankind is not His only plan. It is only part of God’s main plan, which is to bring glory to His name. Scripture is not human-centered, as if it were our salvation that is the main theme. Scripture is God-centered – because it is His glory that is at the center. The Bible clearly teaches about salvation. It is important and central. But our salvation is not an end in itself. It is part of all that will ultimately glorify God (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).
How Are People Saved In the Differens Ages?
In every dispensation, one is saved by grace through faith based on the revelation God gives. The various tests that took place, based on the responsibility given to humans, were to show man’s total helplessness and lead them to faith in a gracious God. The basis of salvation in all ages has been the death and resurrection of Christ. The cross is at the center of history. It applies backwards and it applies forwards. Therefore, the prerequisite for salvation in all ages has been faith. The fixed point of faith has in all ages been God, but the content of faith has varied in different dispensations.
When Adam looked at the clothes God had made for him and Eve after the fall, he did not see what we as believers today see when we live in the light of Calvary. He only understood that God had covered their sin and shame.
Abel built a sacrificial altar, Enoch walked with God, Noah built an ark, and Rahab the harlot received the spies in peace. The obedience of faith took on different expressions, but all of them put their trust in a God who justifies by grace.
None of the Old Testament Saints saw what we see today completely, but they received a good testimony of their faith from the revelation they had (Heb. 11).
Abuse of Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is useful as a method of interpretation when understanding how salvation history has developed up to the climax of history, the cross, the resurrection and the return of Jesus Christ as Savior and King. But it must not be used to force the same salvation story into a fixed pattern. Then the method of interpretation becomes a straitjacket.
That the history of salvation can be divided into different sections can be seen, as already mentioned, in Paul’s teaching, even though he never makes any doctrine of it. When an attempt is made to grade the Bible’s authority for us Christians today based on the biblical dispensations, the whole thing becomes very problematic. Then what was supposed to be a key to understanding God’s plan of salvation can become an obstacle to understanding God’s Word correctly.
There is a broad consensus among Bible interpreters that we find in the Old Testament a lot of material that is related to the covenant between God and Israel, and that is not valid for the Christian congregation. The ceremonial laws and dietary regulations are included here. In the Old Testament we find the Jewish understanding of the law as it applied in Old Testament times. Therefore, there is much there that has been spoken into a historical setting, and which is therefore not relevant to us today.
Are there contradictions in the Bible?
It immediately becomes more challenging when one grades the New Testament scriptures based on dispensations. From this it is claimed that the gospels belong to the Old Covenant, that the Sermon on the Mount is an Old Testament sermon, that the Lord’s Prayer is an Old Testament prayer, that the Great Commission was given to the Jews, that Jesus preached to Jews and that what He said must be understood from this, to name a few. Based on the same reasoning, it is claimed that there are contradictions between what Jesus said and what Paul wrote. And in this contradiction, it is Paul we are to listen to, for his preaching belongs to the dispensation of grace.
It is also claimed that there are contradictions between the gospel Paul preached and the gospel Peter preached. It is believed that the basis for this can be found in the division of labor that took place at the apostles’ meeting in Jerusalem (Acts 15). Peter was to preach to the Jews while Paul was to preach to the Gentiles. Based on this, it is claimed that they preached two different gospels and that we as Gentiles should use Paul’s letter as the basis for life and teaching. Peter’s letter is read for edification. Similar reasoning applies to the other parts of the New Testament.
Clearly, such a way of grading the Bible is likely to undermine trust in the Bible as God’s Word to us today. We become judges of the Bible. We will decide what is valid for us today, and what we should leave behind. When such a method of biblical interpretation meets postmodern individualism, the objective basis of Christian preaching is torn away. Then there is reason to sound a warning. At a time when we are reaping the fruits of two hundred years of liberal theology with full weight, we least of all need that trust in the Bible be further weakened. The fact that this undermining comes from what is normally considered evangelical conservative makes the matter extra serious.
The new covenant began with Jesus. Even though He was born under the law and lived under the law, He represented the new covenant in everything He said and did. John says that grace and truth came with Jesus, and Hebrews writes that God has spoken to us through the Son. Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit would carry on what He taught His disciples. This was to happen after His death and resurrection. It is therefore not possible to find any basis in the Scriptures for there to be any contradiction between what Jesus said when He was on earth and what He, by the Holy Spirit, said after His Ascension.
The Bible teaches that people in all times are saved by grace through faith. Old Testament believers looked forward to God’s promises of the Messiah, while today we look back on Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Dispensations can help us understand how God has gradually revealed His plan of salvation throughout history. At the same time, the entire Bible must be read as one revelation where Christ is at the center.
The sum of God’s Word is truth.
In short
- People are saved by grace through faith in all ages.
- Old Testament believers looked forward to the Messiah.
- Jesus’ death and resurrection are always the foundation of salvation.
- The different dispensations show how God gradually reveals His plan of salvation.