Ephesians | Session 12 | 3:1-2

In our study today from Ephesians 3:1-2 we see Paul explaining that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ because of the message that he taught regarding Jew and Gentile now being one in the Body of Christ because  of the dispensation of grace that had been given to him. We also take a closer look at dispensationalism, define it, and compare it to covenantalism.

Chapter 3 

Verse 1: For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,  For what cause? - The fact that he was teaching that Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ (verses 4-6). 

Interestingly, while Paul was physically a prisoner of Rome, he viewed himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ instead (Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 1:1, 2 Timothy 1:8). 

He goes on to say that his imprisonment was for you Gentiles. And his mission as a prisoner was to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16). Guzik says that Paul knew that Jesus was the Lord of his life and not the Romans: he was Jesus' prisoner. 

Dispensationalism 

Verse 2: If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:  This is a very important verse in that it mentions the very thing that our Reformed brethren deny: dispensationalism. The word simply mean administration, economy, or stewardship; and it was given by Revelation to Paul (verse 3). It is also used in 1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; and Colossians 1:25. 

Moses and Paul 

Interestingly, the character most similar to Paul in the Bible is Moses is that both received new revelation in Arabia (Galatians 4:25; Galatians 1:17) which was the beginning of a new dispensation: Law and Grace. 

Two Basic Methods 

It must be recognized that while God does not change, his ways of dealing with man has and these are called dispensations. There are basically two lenses today through which to interpret the Bible: Covenantalism and Dispensationalism. 

At the risk of oversimplifying both, the difference between the two is that Covenantalism interprets the Scriptures through the lens of covenants, i.e., Adamic (Gen 1-3), Noahic (Gen 6-9), Abrahamic (Gen 12), Mosaic (Exo 19), Davidic (2 Sam 7), and the New Covenant (Jer 31-34). On the other hand, Dispensationalism sees the Scripture through dispensations which are defined as a particular means by which God deals with man and creation during a given period in redemptive history. 

At first they might sounds pretty similar, but R.C. Sproll, of Ligonier Ministries further explains it this way when he said, "Dispensationalism differs from Reformed covenant theology in a number of ways, but the most significant is this idea of two peoples of God. Covenant theology affirms that there is one people of God and thus continuity between the people of God in the Old Testament and the people of God in the New Testament. Covenant theology is not, as some dispensationalists assert, “replacement theology” because in covenant theology, the church is not technically replacing Israel. The church is the organic continuation of the Old Testament people of God. The oneness of the people of God is evident by an examination of several New Testament texts, e.g., Romans 11." The immediate that I see with this summation is that Romans 11 is not dealing with the Body of Christ, but the blessings that the Gentiles received when the natural branches were broken off. 

Naysayers 

Some distractors will say that Dispensationalism did not originate until the nineteenth century with John Nelson Darby and subsequently popularized by the Scofield Bible. However, I believe that the early church was dispensational to begin with, e.g., Dispensationalism Revisited. 

Again, Dispensationalism is a method of interpreting history that divides God’s work and purposes toward mankind into different periods of time. In the most popular view, there are seven dispensations which include: 

1. Innocence 

This period covers Genesis 1:28-30 to 2:15-17. It began with creation and ended when they they disobeyed by eating the forbidden fruit and were expelled from the garden. It lasted only until innocence was lost. 

2. Conscience 

This period covers Genesis 3:8 to 8:22. It began with the first sin and ended with the flood. So it covered Adam and Eve's eviction until the flood. It demonstrated what man will do if left to his own will and conscience. 

3. Human Government 

This period covers Genesis 9-11. It began post flood and ended at the Tower of Babel. It was during this time that God laid down the law of capital punishment and told man to scatter and fill the earth. They didn't and instead decided to built a tower to their solidarity and pride (Genesis 11:7-9). God stopped it by confusing their language and forcing them to scatter into language groups. 

4. Promise 

This period covers Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 19:25. It began with the promises made to Abraham and continued with the patriarchs (Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph) and end with the Jewish Exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. 

5. Law 

The commonly accepted period covers Exodus 20 to Acts 2. The fifth dispensation is called the Dispensation of Law and lasted until it was suspended at the crucifixion for most, but I would argue that it was suspended after the rejection of the Kingdom by the nation instead. 

6. Grace 

The commonly accepted period for this sixth dispensation is Acts 2 to Revelation 20:3 and the Millennial Kingdom. However, I would argue that it began with the conversion of Paul in 1Timothey 1:15-16. I would also argue that it end at the rapture of the Church. 

The time in which we live was never in view in Old Testament prophesy. I refer to this period as the postponement because the clock stopping ticking between the 69th and 70th week (Daniel 9:24). 

Randy White makes some very good points about the dispensation in which we live. 1. It offers individual verses national salvation. 2. It is unrelated to the Kingdom. 3. Is has a Savior rather than a Messiah or King. 4. Its salvation does not require works and does not allow works because it is fully a gift of God. 5. It is available to anyone, anytime, anywhere. 

7. Millennial Kingdom

This period began at the Second Coming and ends with the Great White Throne Judgment. The old world is destroyed by fire, and the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 21 and 22 will begin which some call an eighth dispensation (or ninth). 

To You-Ward 

Notice also that this dispensation of grace had been given to you-ward.  F.F. Bruce points out that this marks out his Gentile readers as the recipients of this grace. Again, Paul was the only apostle that could make this claim. He repeats it several times throughout his writings (cf. v.8; Romans 11:13; Romans 12:3; Romans 15:15-16; 1 Corinthians 9:17; Galatians 1:15-16; Galatians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:25; 1 Timothy 1:11; and 1 Timothy 2:7).