Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism - What’s the Difference?

2006-08-01

I wrote this based off notes I had for an exam I took in missions school years ago. I wrote this from a dispensationalist view, though I do not hold to all of the tenets of this view today.

Dispensationalism is a view of theology where human history is seen as a series several dispensations or administrations of God’s rule. The most significant factor for the dispensationalist must be the literal, historical, grammatical method of hermeneutics. If one uses this method of interpretation, the same will arrive at sound conclusions as to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Other aspects that characterize this theological view is sola fide (salvation by faith alone), a doxological purpose to human history, and seeing distinction between the nation Israel and the Church.

Covenant theology is another theological view, where Nyberg, quoting Showers, defines it as “as a system... which attempts to develop the Bible’s philosophy of history on the basis of two or three covenants.” These covenants are not ones specified in the Bible as covenants. The literal, historical, grammatical method of Biblical interpretation is not foundational to this view, since certain views that are espoused are very different from what a regular reading and interpretation of the Bible would render.

According to covenant theology, the distinction between the church and Israel are blurred. Promises to the latter allegedly apply to the former, and passages that are Israel-specific are applied to the church. Promises made to Israel in the Abrahamic covenant are made obsolete when referring to literal Israel. Secondly, covenant theology also uses an allegorical method when interpreting prophetic passages. Because of this, the hope of the coming of Christ is marred, and people are given a false hope of life on earth getting better without the literal return of Christ (considering the point-of-views of postmillennialism or amillennialism). Thirdly, oftentimes covenant theologians have a works-based salvation, mainly in sanctification. The principles of the Mosaic Law are allegedly binding on our post-conversion lifestyle. Also, the purpose of Biblical history is soteriological in nature as opposed to being for the honor and glory of God. Our conclusion therefore, according to this view, is that Biblical history is human-centered (Biblical history is designed for the salvation of humankind) and not God-centered (for His glory and honor).

Dispensational theology affirms the distinction of Israel from the church. The passages pertaining to Israel literally pertain to national Israel, and therefore do not allegorize passages such as the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 and the clear distinction in Romans 9-11. Therefore, this distinction affirms that the Mosaic Law given to Israel is not binding over a believer’s life at all. Secondly, in regard to prophecy, the Millennium reign revealed in the latter chapters in Revelation is maintained as a literal 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth. It is very important to maintain that salvation by grace through faith alone is maintained at all times. There are no binding principles of Mosaic Law that govern our sanctification journey with the Lord. Otherwise, we let a foot in the door for human effort to reach God.

These differences are not without consequence. The first difference is the approach to Scripture. When the covenant theologian allows an allegorical foot in the door to explain their belief system, Israel and the church can easily be misconstrued and conclude that the promises of Israel no longer apply to the nation but to the church. This is another difference: that the church and Israel are now the same entity. This also will mesh the concepts of the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of grace.

The gospel of grace is the good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, and that by trusting in Him alone we have eternal life. The gospel of the kingdom was the good news of the coming kingdom where the Messiah sets up His throne on Earth at the times of refreshing. The former is the gospel that went out from Israel to the ends of the earth in Acts 1:8. The latter is the gospel that John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching early on in the gospels, that if Israel repented, the Kingdom would be ushered in and the times of refreshing would come.

The next difference would be salvation by faith alone (dispensationalism) and salvation by faith alone followed by a life of works/sanctification by doing the Law (covenant theology). If the passages pertaining to Israel, such as the Mosaic Law, applies to the church, then works comes into play in sanctification (and sometimes even in justification), and questions begin to arise about our eternal security in Christ Jesus.

We know from Daniel 9 that 70 weeks are determined for “your [Daniel’s] people.” Sixty-nine weeks have been completed, but after Jesus is crucified, there is a gap, and Israel was ousted from their land in A.D. 70 because of their rejection of the Messiah and His call for repentance. In Genesis 15:17, The Lord swore by Himself that the land promised to Abram and his descendants would be theirs. If the Lord swears alone (Abram did not walk between the animal pieces), it must be unconditional, and therefore the future of physical Israel is affirmed forever. Secondly, we know they are distinct because of Romans 9-11. Paul states that after the fullness of Gentiles are saved, all of Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25-26). This is affirmed again in Revelation 7 when John lists the 12 tribes of Israel that have people sealed, and in 7:9, says there is a distinct group of people from all kindreds and nations. The salvation of the church which is majority Gentile is also a way to bring the Jewish nation to jealousy (e.g. Deuteronomy 32:21).

The Results of Allegorical Interpretation

The results are disastrous if we use allegorical interpretation. The Genesis account is butchered because so-called science and humanism tell us the world is billions of years old, and that human beings are evolved animals and not in the image of God. If we heed the world’s view of cosmology, we will interpret Genesis allegorically. This is one major tenet that destroys the gospel, because if death is natural as evolution states, then the death of Christ did not pay for all of humankind’s sins. Prophecy is also destroyed, because the literal glorious appearing of Christ is overlooked and His Millennial reign is rejected in Revelation 20. If this is the case, humankind will usher in a “millennium” and bring in their own times of refreshing, in which we will lose hope. There are a myriad of cases one can make; if we choose what to take literally and what to take allegorically, other doctrines that are important would also be in danger. Salvation by faith alone in Christ and the Deity of Christ are things that could be marred with this interpretation if we pick and choose what we want to believe.

Things To Think About

The way things are now, do you believe things will get better then they are by human effort? With the dawn of the nuclear age, terrorism, and increasing lawlessness, do you believe that the world can be restored to the way God created it without Jesus’ glorious appearing?

In 1948, the British Protectorate Palestine was seized and made into national Israel. There are a lot of evil things that have happened on all sides, but national Israel is still there even in troublesome times. Though neither western powers, the Arab world nor Israel have submitted to the Savior, what about the Scripture “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me” (Isaiah 45:5). God is doing something, and He will bring about His perfect plan for both the Jew and the heathen.

Source

Nyberg, Bob. Covenant Theology Versus Dispensationalism: A Matter of Law Versus Grace.