How do we understand the bible today?
We today are so privileged to have and hold God’s Word, preserved through history and translated into our King James Bible. 2 Timothy 2:15 teaches “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We see from this that God has and will reveal His approval towards those that commit to understanding His word, His way. This should be our goal, to receive God’s approval as we study and find out how God has and is dealing with people in different times and different ways (see Hebrews 1:1).
The verse mentions “the word of truth”, sensible consideration of how this phrase is used in the bible leads us to assume that this is a broad reference to all of the Bible, and including specific references to the gospel of the grace of God. The translators had this clearly in mind and the action to “study”, it seems the clear and logical word to describe the right and only response of those possessing God’s word in a book.
God gives further detail as to experiencing His approval. We must study God’s way. We do this by “rightly dividing the word of truth”. This is the key to opening up and understanding God’s word. The writers on this website would say that this is what is called dispensational bible study. Briefly, it is you knowing and respecting God’s progressive revelation through time and how that he has separately dealt with humanity. He has a purpose differently at times. For man on both the earth and in heavenly places. Ephesians 2:10, which he is working towards.
One reason for this website project is the easy deduction that as there is a ‘right way’ so there is a wrong way. Two thousand years of church history and thousands of denominations today teaching what they all believe to be “truth” instructs that we are living in what the Apostle Paul called “perilous times” (2 Tim. 3:1). By God’s grace the teaching found on this website we hope and pray will help you to be an approved workman, recognizing the distinctions in holy scripture so that you can have and experience God’s salvation, be established and grounded in God’s truth, and therefore understand and workout your Christian life according to principles of grace. As Paul wrote this to Timothy we can safely say that in his writings we can find “how to rightly divide the word of truth”.
The dispensation of grace
What is it? The full name is ‘the dispensation of the grace of God’. The word dispensation is based on the idea of an economy. Many western democracies live under what is called “the market economy”. That is certain economic rules are in place to run the country’s economy. God since the world began, has operated in different ways with different people (Hebrews 1:1). I say different times and different ways, this means that in times past God dispensed a different set of instructions to a different group of people.
For example the “Mosaic economy” was governed by laws God instructed Israel to live by every day. That’s fine, but what about us today? The dispensation of grace is the set of divine instructions that pertain to us today. Read Ephesians 3:1-11.
Paul says a dispensation was given to him. This means the ascended Lord Jesus Christ saved Saul of Tarsus and sent him to be the spokesperson to us Gentiles. Paul relayed vital unique information to us so that we could understand what God needed us to know and therefore live according to. See Galatians 1:11-12, Colossians 1:25-27, Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 3:9.
The dispensation of grace is a mystery period, once hid but now revealed. Paul recorded the information from Jesus Christ alone. He was entrusted with it and the Holy Spirit also revealed this information to body of Christ apostles and prophets via manifestations and there was judgement as to whether this was the truth (1 Cor. 14:29). Paul was called the “wise master-builder” or chief architect. He laid the foundation of Jesus Christ dying for our sins, being buried and rising again for our justification. Prior to Paul no one knew about this mystery truth. Paul did not have to be judged by prophets as was he was the great revealer. For us today we find the mystery of Christ information for the grace dispensation in Romans to Philemon. We study all the bible to be grounded (Romans 16:25-26). However it is only in Paul’s writing we find our doctrine, duty, walk and destiny as Christians today.