| Issue |
Covenant
Position |
Dispensational
Position |
| Pattern of
History |
Covenant of Works with Adam;
Covenant of Grace with Christ on behalf of elect (some distinguish between
Covenant of Redemption with Christ and Covenant of Grace with the elect). |
Divided into dispensations
(usually
seven); e.g., Innocence (pre-Fall),
Conscience (Adam), Human Government (Noah), Promise (Abraham), Law (Moses),
Grace (Christ’s First Coming), Kingdom (Christ’s Second Coming). |
| View of History |
Optimistic: God is extending
His
kingdom. |
Pessimistic: the Last Days
are marked by increasingly worse wickedness in the world and by apostasy in
the church. |
| God’s Purpose in
History |
There is a unified redemptive
purpose. |
There are two distinct
purposes, one
earthly (Israel), one heavenly
(church). |
| View of the Biblical
Covenants |
They are different
administrations of
the Covenant of Grace. |
They mark off periods of time
during
which God’s specific demands of
man differ. |
| Relationship of
Old Testament to New Testament |
Acceptance of Old Testament
teaching required unless specifically abrogated by New Testament. |
Old Testament prescriptions
are not
binding unless reaffirmed in New
Testament.
|
| Relationship Between Israel and the Church |
The church is spiritual
Israel, in continuity with true Israel of Old Testament. |
The church is the spiritual
people of
God, distinct from Israel, the physical people of God. |
| Old Testament
Prophecy |
Refers to God’s people, the
church. |
Refers to ethnic Israel. |
| Church Age |
God’s redemptive purpose
continued to unfold. |
There is a parenthesis
between past
and future manifestations of the
kingdom. |
| Role of Holy Spirit |
The Holy Spirit indwells
God’s people throughout history. |
The Holy Spirit indwells
God’s people only from Pentecost to the Rapture. |
| Baptism |
Unified covenant generally
used to
support infant baptism. |
Israel/church distinction
often (but
not always) used to support believers’ baptism. |
| Social Implications |
Emphasizes "cultural
mandate.” |
The only way to save the
world is to
save individuals; therefore evangel
ism takes precedence over "social
action.” |
| Eschatology |
Usually amillennial; rarely
postmillennial; occasionally premillennial. |
Premillennial, usually
pretribulational.
|
Millennium
|
Symbolic, often identified
with present age. |
Literal, earthly 1000-year
reign after
Second Coming. |