Thursday, January 25, 2018

Sola Fide and Dispensationalism

In a past article "The Lost Honor of John Nelson Darby" I mentioned the book "Forged From Reformation." Chapter 14 is by Glenn R. Kreider. It is titled:

Sola Fide - Salvation is by Grace Through Faith Alone in Every Dispensation

This process includes the future period commonly referred to as the tribulation, or better still, Daniel's 70th week. Whatever we may call saints within that period - Christians or tribulation saints - the process of salvation remains the same. It is always by grace through faith, and this includes Israel. Kreider cites Eph 2:8-10 among others to emphasize this.

Too often I see the dispensational (and pretrib) position erroneously called into question. A non-pretrib friend did this recently. He sounded the alarm about the dangers of dispensationalism and its views of salvation in the 70th week. When pressed he couldn't cite representative dispensational sources. John Hagee doesn't count.

Again: Salvation is by Grace Through Faith Alone in Every Dispensation

While it's true that Scofield made some careless remarks (Kreider covers this) it's also true that he and Darby held to salvation by faith alone through grace alone. Often people make broad generalizations about systems they disagree with without citing representative or primary sources.

Dispensationalism isn't perfect, but it ought to be fairly presented. If you want to understand the system, though you disagree with it, make an effort to read their best proponents. That way you can present a better case and people will take you more seriously.

Further reading:

Contra the 95 Theses Against Dispensationalism

Stupid Reasons for Dissing Dispensationalism

God’s Wrath and the Bride of Christ

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