What is Rightly Dividing
Acts 9 Dispensation of Grace, Mid-Acts Dispensationalism
Rightly dividing the word of truth means to divide the Bible God’s way, and where He divides it. The key to understanding the Bible is “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). To divide the word of truth is to recognize the clear divisions that God put in His word. All the Bible is truth; we are to cut straight, to divide truth from truth. All scripture is for us, but not all scripture is to or about us.
The main division in the word of God is between “prophecy” and “mystery.” That which belongs to the prophetic earthly kingdom of Israel "spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21) from the "revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began" (Romans 16:25).
In the “beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ has two ministries. One to the people who will live on earth and the other to the people who will live in heaven. His ministry to those who will live in heaven was not revealed until one year after the cross when Saul of Tarsus was saved on the road to Damascus. God kept His plans for heaven a secret, otherwise Satan would not have allowed Jesus Christ to be crucified (1 Cor. 2:6-8).
In His earthly ministry Jesus Christ “came unto his own [Israel], and his own received him not” (John 1:11). After the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the nation of Israel a one-year extension of mercy (Luke 13:6-9). But once again they did not believe and demonstrated their rejection of the Holy Spirit by stoning Stephen (Acts 7:51-60). Only a small remnant believed, Peter and the little flock (Luke 12:32), and was promised the kingdom (Matt. 21:43). Israel as a nation fell temporarily (Rom. 11:11, 12), and God postponed the prophesied millennial kingdom on Earth and inserted the dispensation of Grace and is forming the true Church, the Body of Christ.
In Acts 9, Christ began His heavenly ministry. Christ dramatically did something that was un-prophesied, He saved Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, making him Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13). The Lord Jesus made Paul the pattern and spokesman to the body of Christ to follow in this dispensation of grace (1 Cor. 4:16-17, 11:1; Eph. 3:1-4; Phil. 4:9; 1 Tim. 1:12-16).
Paul received the “mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” (Eph. 3:9). God had kept secret His plan to call out a body of believers to inhabit the heavenly realm (2 Cor. 5:1; Eph. 1, 2:6, 2:15; Col. 1). Although all of the Bible is profitable, the body of doctrine for the Church, the Body of Christ, is found in Paul's thirteen letters: Romans to Philemon.
God plans is to populate both the Heaven and the Earth with people who will love, worship, and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ forever (Eph. 1:10). Christ has given the Body of Christ the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20) in this dispensation of Grace.
After the Church is raptured, the Lord Jesus Christ will again resume His dealings with Israel and set up His kingdom on Earth (Matt. 24:31, Rom. 11:26). Please join our informal Bible study to find out “For what saith the scripture?” (Rom. 4:3).
The King James Bible is the pure, inspired, preserved word of God, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16).
To understand the Bible, it is necessary to divide between "Mystery" and "Prophecy." Today anyone who believes the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3, 4) becomes part of the Body of Christ, not Israel.
The Body of Christ is separate and distinct from Israel. Israel is promised the kingdom on earth, while the Body of Christ will live "eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1).
The Mystery is the formation of the Body of Christ in the dispensation of the grace of God (the parenthetical amnesty period in which we now live). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the new agency, the Body of Christ with which He plans to reclaim and populate the heavenly places.
God interrupted Prophecy and inserted the Mystery between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. Christ next appearing was also an un-prophesied mystery (1 Cor. 15:15). Paul includes himself in the rapture (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).
The cross, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest event in history! But not until Paul's letters is it clear that He did not only come to redeem His people Israel but all of mankind. "Who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:4).
Israel rejected God’s renewed offer of salvation with the stoning of Stephen: “through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:11, 12).
Christ died for OUR SINS (Gentiles in the dispensation of grace, Eph. 3:2). To be saved just believe “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3, 4).
Christianity is not a religion, but a personal relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Learn More
The button above the chart is a link to some Rightly Dividing books. Rightly Dividing is explained in the book God's Secret. Also, please attend our Bible study: Acts 9 Grace Bible Church in San Diego or stream the lessons online.
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