The Dispensational Transition | Rightly Dividing Basics

The Dispensational transition

The book of Acts is truly an incredible book. But, it can be confusing for those who do not rightly divide the scriptures. Without understanding the dispensational changes that occurred in the book of acts, you will think that God's word contradicts itself and/or you might not understand God's will for us today. 

First, the book of acts continues on from the book of John. The Lord Jesus Christ came to save all people from their sins. He is the savior of all of mankind. But this wasn't clearly understood until after his death, burial and resurrection. In fact, what Christ accomplished at the cross wasn't even fully revealed until after Acts chapter 9. It's most understood after studying the whole Bible rightly divided, but only believers who rightly divide the scriptures can understand the depths of God's Two-fold Plan. I will go into detail about all of this throughout this series of studies. 

Ephesians 3:1-11 says,

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

3How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

4Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

5Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

6That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

7Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

8¶Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

9And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

After Christ lived a perfect sinless life, (and was the perfect spotless lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world), he died on the cross, was buried and then three days later he arose in a glorified body. Then, he began to teach and minister to the believing remnant of Israel before he ascended up into heaven. The next event on God's timeline, after Israel as a nation rejected their Messiah, was to be the prophecied 7 year tribulation (also known as Jacobs trouble). 

Matthew 3:7

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” [the 7 year tribulation period].

Revelation 6:17

“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” [the tribulation period]

Jeremiah 30:7

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's [Israel's] trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

As believers in the dispensation of grace, we have been delivered from that wrath. It is one of our many spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 1:10

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

However, instead of God pouring out his wrath on a predominantly unbelieving world immediately following his death, burial and resurrection, God gave Israel another chance, a one year period of grace, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they could all escape the tribulation period and instead bring in God's heavenly kingdom on earth. Israel had rejected God the Father when they killed John the Baptist who was preaching about the Kingdom being at-hand (Matthew 3:2 and 14:10); they had rejected God the Son by crucifying Jesus (Acts 2:22-23) and were warned not to blaspheme the Holy Ghost or their sins would not be forgiven. If they rejected the 3rd person of the Godhead as well, God would pour out his wrath upon them.

Acts 2:

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Mark 3:29 KJV - 

29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Mat 12:31 KJV - 

31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

This is what the first seven books of the book of acts are about. Israel had another chance to be saved and then God would bring in the literal kingdom on earth, with Christ ruling and reigning with Israel on the earth.

Mat 19:28 KJV 

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

However, they rejected God the Holy Ghost in Acts 7 after they stoned Stephen who was fully of the Holy Ghost. 

Acts 7

54¶When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him [the religious Jews were literally physically biting the Apostle Stephen who was full of the Holy Ghost] with their teeth.

55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, [standing on the right hand meant that God was now ready to pour out his wrath upon them]

56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God meant that God was ready to send his wrath upon unbelieving Israel and upon a predominantly unbelieving world. But they did not want to hear it. They understood what it meant, but they didn't want to hear it.

Acts 7:

57¶Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. [Saul was like a type of anti-christ before he is saved on the road to Damascus. Also note that Paul here had participated in the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. In Israel's program, he would NOT have been forgiven for this sin. But God has mercy on him in Acts 9 and then commissions Saul/Paul to preach the gospel of the grace of God under a new dispensation]. 

Then, instead of God immediately pouring out his wrath on the nation of Israel and a mostly unbelieving world, God did something unexpected. He saved Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of the little flock church. He saved Saul, known as Paul, and sent him with a new message about the gospel of the grace of God. 

1Ti 1:13 KJV - 

13 Who [Paul, speaking of himself] was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Acts 9

1¶And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. [During the coming tribulation period on the earth, this will happen again to believing Jews by the anti-christ and apostate Israel.]

3¶And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5¶And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

6¶And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

The risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ sent Paul to be our Apostle for the dispensation of grace with the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCTRINES FOR BELIEVERS TODAY TO UNDERSTAND, yet so many have been blinded by Satan from it.

Romans 16

25¶Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, [something different from the gospel of the kingdom and other gospels that were previously in affect] and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, [we study the whole Bible but we study it rightly divided] according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: [ARE YOU OBEYING GODS WILL FOR US TO RIGHTLY DIVIDE? see 2 Tim 2:15]

27To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

For a little while, as explained in the book of Acts, two programs were running at the same time. The kingdom church was still being formed and the church the Body of Christ was beginning to be formed.

Gal 2:7 KJV 

7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

But, eventually only the mystery program was in operation and the Kingdom believers did eventually die off. Once God has finished forming the "one new man", the Church the Body of Christ to fill the heavenly places, he will rapture us out and then resume his program with the nation of Israel. 

It is important to understand that different gospels does not mean that some people are saved by their works. All believers in all dispensations are saved by grace through faith first and in some dispensations, like during the tribulation period, works of faith are also required (like "endure until the end" by not taking the mark of the beast in the tribulation period, healing the sick, loving one another, etc). It is the finished crosswork of Christ that saves people regardless of the dispensation. However, in each dispensation we are to believe something different. The main thing is to understand that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves, then we are to believe and trust God to save us. In Noah's time they needed to understand their sin nature, then trust that God would save them if they believed God and had works of faith which meant entering the ark (because God's wrath in the form of a flood was coming). In fact, Noah preached for over 100 years and only 8 people got into the ark! Only 8 people were willing to recognize their sin nature, then believe and trust in God to save them. The rest of the possibly billions of people on the planet at that time had reprobate minds and perished in the flood! In the tribulation period, they must recognize their sin nature and believe that Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah who died for them and rose again. Then, they are to "endure until the end", meaning that they must have works of faith and not take the mark of the beast or they will perish in the lake of fire forever. If they are a gentile during that time they must also help the believing Jews during the tribulation period if the opportunity comes up for them. So they are saved by grace through faith plus works of faith. Works of faith does NOT mean keeping the whole law because no one can keep the whole law in their flesh. Rather their works of faith will include things like loving one another when the anti-christ and apostate Israel is killing people left and right in the name of their religion; and going without food and shopping instead of taking the mark of the beast (only those who take the mark of the beast can buy or sell during that time); preaching the gospel and sound doctrine when apostate Israel is preaching false teachings etc.

I will explain the different gospels more in an upcoming study. Today we are to recognize our sin nature, and that we cannot save ourselves and then simply believe how that Christ Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification. Our gospel is fully explained in Romans through Philemon. We are saved today by grace through faith alone without the works of the law. This is mostly explained in Romans chapters 1-5 but also all throughout Paul's Epistles. 

If you read the book of John and then skipped to the book of Romans it would seem very confusing! You would not understand why things are so different. If you read the book of John, then Acts to chapter 7 and then read the books of Hebrews through Revelation, it would appear that the entire dispensation of grace never even occured and it seems to go together rather seamlessly. The reason why Acts is so important is because it shows us the dispensational changes that occurred and began in Acts chapter 9 and how God changed his dealings with man from the prophesied 7 year tribulation which was put on hold, to the mystery dispensation of grace that we have been living under for almost 2,000 years. This mystery, or secret, dispensation was NOT prophesied in earlier scriptures but was a secret kept hid in God until the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ revealed it to our Apostle Paul. This mystery dispensation also explains why nothing that has happened in the dispensation of grace was ever previously revealed in scripture, and in Paul's Epistles we are only told a few things about the end of the dispensation of grace when apostasy will be rampant. But other details like the middle ages, the two world wars, etc that have occurred during the time of the dispensation of grace were never prophesied in scripture. The reason why the mystery dispensation was never previously revealed is because God is focused today on forming the church the Body of Christ to fill the heavenly places. In Israel's prophetic program, they were prophecied to rule over the earth, but Satan and his devils had no idea that God would use the finished crosswork of Christ to reconcile both the heavenly places and the earth unto himself. 

1Co 2:8 KJV - 

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

This puts Satan and his devils out of business so to speak! They are defeated foes, but still temporarily have their place in the heavenly government until the middle of the tribulation period, in which God and the Archangel Michael permanently remove them from heaven and cast them down to the earth. 

Revelation 12

7 And there was war in heaven: [a FUTURE event] Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

When Satan "fell like lightning" was his removal from the 3rd heaven, (due to the sin of pride and Satan's 5 "I wills") however he still has access to the other heavens as well as being the "god of this world".

After the pre-tribulation rapture, the church the Body of Christ will officially take over their (Satan's and the fallen angels) governmental positions in the heavenly places. We are raptured out before the tribulation begins on earth and then we spend at least 3 1/2 years in heaven being prepared for our new heavenly careers. If Satan had known that he would be doubly defeated, he would NOT have had the Lord Jesus Christ crucified! 

Eph 1:3 KJV - 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Eph 2:6 KJV - 

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

It's important to read and study the book of Acts for yourself to better understand the dispensational changes that occurred. There are also some great commentaries written by fellow rightly dividing grace believers that can be helpful including "Acts Dispensationally Considered" by C. R. Stam; "The Acts of the Apostles Commentary" books Parts 1, 2 and 3 by Marianne Manley and "Acts, You, God and a KJV Bible" by Eric Neumann. Don't just take my word for it, study it out more for yourself. 

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