The Beginning of the Church (Matthew 16:18)

You make me laugh, Larry, because you tell us to put our theology aside, and yet you continue to follow the dispensational and parenthetical church concept, which also is not taught in scripture.

Theology is interpreting scripture. We don't draw up certain doctrines. The scriptures are the doctrines. We just try to be consistent.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Glad to be of service.

I tell myself the same thing.

On this you are demonstrably wrong. We may have wrongly concluded as dispensationalists, but there is certainly abundant scriptural support for what we believe. The ideas of dispensationalism are as old as the Garden of Eden. They, like covenantalism, were only systematized in the last several hundred years. But the ideas are clearly based in Scripture.

You seem to think that we ignore Scripture and have no basis for what we believe. There is a lot of work to be done on dispensationalism, and a lot to be done on covenantalism. But the fact is that we can both point to Scripture as the basis for what we believe.

The main difference, as I have said often, is how we treat Scripture. I cannot, in good conscience, do to the words of Scripture what you and those who agree with you do. And so we differ. Until we agree on how to treat the words of Scripture, we won't agree on much else.

I contend that the same hermeneutic that makes me a Calvinist, that makes me believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, is the same hermemeutic that makes me a dispensationalist. I contend that covenantal Calvinists are inconsistent in their hermeneutic, and it's fairly easy to demonstrate.

But in the end, I am not judging your motives or your sincerity. I think you should return the favor.