The dispensation of grace

We’re living, according to Paul in his letter to the Ephesians here, in the dispensation of Grace. Ephesians 3.1 says,

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, ³ how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ 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: ⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, ⁷ 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. Ephesians 3.1-7

We have to understand what we mean by Grace and what difference it does make to how we live and how we approach God. Paul went on to say in Ephesians,

⁸ 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, ⁹ 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; ¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Ephesians 3.8-12

So, in this age of Grace, God has revealed the mystery which was hidden in the Hebrew scriptures, in the Old Testament. Paul also refers to the ‘gathering together in Him’, ‘the gathering together of all things’ in the Messiah which will happen when Jesus returns, when all will be gathered together in Him.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2.1-4

All believers in Jesus in the present age, those who are living and those who are dead at the Rapture event which will take place in the not too distant future, and the resurrection of the saints, the believers from the previous ages including the redeemed of Israel which will be a prelude to the eternal state when all this will be fulfilled.

We’re now living in the age of Grace. That means you have received the undeserved favour of God when you repent and believe the Gospel through what Jesus did for you on the Cross. Paul describes this very clearly in Ephesians chapter 2.1. He is speaking to the church (the church actually means ‘the called out ones’, the Greek word is Ecclesia [ἐκκλησία] which means those who have been called out of the world into a relationship with God.)

When we’re called out of the world into relationship with God, we have to live according to the rules which God gives. These are the house rules of this time in which we live and, in Ephesians chapter 2 it says,

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2.4-10

So God has been rich in his Mercy towards us. He has shown us His great love when we were still sinners by taking us from being dead in trespasses and sins to be made alive with Christ. We are saved by Grace, by the undeserved favour of God, and we are raised up together to make us sit together in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

That is where you are sitting now if you believe in Jesus. You may think you are sitting in the Bridge Christian Fellowship which you are, physically; but if you are in faith, in Christ, you are seated with Christ in Heavenly places far above all the principalities and powers of darkness. That means that Satan is underneath us and we are on top of him.

That is where God wants us to be. Sometimes Satan is on top of us, that is if we are in a wrong relationship with God. But, if we can repent and put things right and take authority over the Devil, we can be seated with Christ in Heavenly places. And that is where God wants us to be and we know that we’re saved by Grace not of ourselves, it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast.

We cannot earn our salvation by being good people, we can’t earn it by a number of good deeds. We receive it by faith because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross in redeeming us and paying the price for the sin of the world. So it is not of works lest anyone should boast. We cannot boast in our salvation or that we are good people. We give thanks to God because He has redeemed us through faith in Jesus.

We are then created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So, having been saved, we then should do good works, we should live our lives in a different way from the way we lived before we became Christians.

This is the age in which we are redeemed through the faith in Jesus and we walk in the Grace of God through faith in Jesus.

If you look through the letters of Paul, particularly in Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Hebrews, they indicate that there has been a change in the dispensation since the coming of Jesus Christ, specifically caused by His death, His resurrection, His Ascension to Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

There has been a change from the previous dispensation, the dispensation of the Law of Moses to a new dispensation when we receive the Grace of God through faith in the Messiah.

Now, it is clear that this dispensation will last until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Second coming of Jesus will bring about the next change in the dispensation as we move to the Messianic Kingdom age following His return.

This will be preceded by a great time of trouble, by a time of apostasy in Christianity bringing about the events of the last days. At some time into that time of trouble is going to be inserted the Rapture of the church. Those who are optimistic say it will come before the tribulation; those who are not so happy about that prospect say it will come at the end of the tribulation.

One way or the other it is going to come, and there is going to come a day when God will take those who believe in Him supernaturally out of this world to be with Him, and to be given new bodies, to be transported into His presence ready to return with Jesus at His second coming to the earth.