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NASB | Acts 9:1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 9:1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest, |
Bible Question: Is there any room in your exegesis of scripture for the dispensational viewpoint? That is, the grace message does not begin until Paul in Acts 9? |
Bible Answer: The question asked: “Is there any room in your exegesis of scripture for the dispensational viewpoint? That is, the grace message does not begin until Paul in Acts 9?” Paul says the dispensation of grace was given to him and began with his ministry to the Gentiles (Acts 13:2, 46-47). “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:1-9). The dispensational approach to understanding the Scriptures is the only way to establish a biblical theology. Otherwise at least a third of Scriptures are denied or applied to the wrong people, dispensation, and covenants. At least 3 times Paul states that his gospel of grace was unknown before being revealed and given to him: (Rom. 2:16; 2 Tim. 2:8), and in Rom. 16:25 he identifies “his gospel,” as “a mystery kept secret since the world began.” Paul was sent by revelation (Gal. 2:2) to Jerusalem to explain his gospel to the apostles before him. This whole Dispensation of Grace commonly known as the church was a mystery, completely hidden in past ages and generations (Rom. 16:25 26; Eph. 3:5, 9; Col. 1:26). If Paul’s word is not accepted, then we have the present confusion which has split the church into some 300 denominations. In His grace Movingon |