Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensational Blog: April 2017

I have just typed the phrases "Charismatic Mid Acts Dispensationalist", "Charismatic Mid Acts Dispensationalism" and "Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalism" into Google and I get zero hits for any of them. This makes me ask “could I be the world’s first Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist”?

When one considers that obviously the apostle Paul was also a Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist the answer to that question would have to be no I am not the world’s first "Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist" rather the apostle Paul was the world’s first “Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist”. Indeed it’s precisely because Paul was a Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist that I am one too.

You’ll note that I didn’t call myself a “Pentecostal Mid Acts Dispensationalist” as this would be a contradiction in terms, it would be like calling yourself a “Start of Acts Mid Acts Dispensationalist” which would be contradictory. So to avoid potential confusion I call myself a "charismatic" rather than a pentecostal" but I believe that we have the same gifts of the Spirit made available at Pentecost because believers are still in dwelt by the same Holy Spirit that the apostles recieved at Pentecost.The Holy Spirits power is not limited in any dispensation.

I have not always been a Mid Acts Dispensationalist. In fact despite being nearly 50 years old and having been raised in the church and spent all my life in the church I have only been a Mid Acts Dispensationalist for a year or two.

How can one spend so long listening to Christian sermons yet only after nearly half a century come to an accurate understanding of the basics of the Christian faith? The answer is “because so few pastors/ministers understand it themselves”. If Google internet hits are anything to go by churches that teach Mid Acts Dispensationalism are rare and churches that teach Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalism totally non-existent.

You may say to me “Rodney I know that you are no one special with no particular teaching or leading gift but if you (apparently*) currently have the world’s most accurate theology then should you not be teaching it to everyone else?” If you ask me that I will reply that I am currently writing this post to discuss CMAPD so the job is done. If you didn’t find this post then perhaps you didn’t get the grace to find it (you’ll still be OK though as long as you did get the grace of coming to believe that Jesus who is God shed his blood and died on the cross in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins and in exchange gives you his righteousness so that you stand sinless before God. Jesus the only begotten Son of God rose bodily from the grave and ascended to heaven in his resurrected body and will come back bodily from heaven to reign on the earth. Fortunately you can get the timing on the last bit wrong and still be saved, you can even not be a CMAPD and be saved, a childlike faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection is all you need).

(*I really hate sounding arrogant or boastful but in order to have more accurate theology than me you need to be a Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist too. I don’t see any other CMAPDs round about so what else am I to conclude than that I currently have the world’s most accurate theology? I so hope I am wrong about that. I just have to convert one other person to the CMAPD theology and I may no longer have the world’s most accurate theology – assuming I even do now – maybe there are other CMAPDs in hiding?)

I became a CMAPD after trying to resolve my difficulty with the fact that James appears to contradict Paul. I read various explanations on the internet trying to claim that James doesn’t really contradict Paul but none of them were convincing to me. I have a penchant for logic (I need accurate logic to make my living as a computer programmer and I needed it to get the math’s right for my physics PhD thesis – among other things. My world just doesn’t work without logic). Some people can believe things which don’t make logical sense as long as it agrees with their core principals, we might call these people “Feelers”, other people can’t believe something to be true if it isn’t rational (or at least rational that you can’t understand it – like the concept of the Trinity) we might call these people “Rationals”. I am the latter. As a result I just could not live with James and Paul contradicting each other.

Despite my “rational” personality type as a young man I thought I was being virtuous by believing the contradictory theology that we were saved purely by faith alone without works as per Paul but also simultaneously saved by faith plus works as per James. Now I just see that as contradictory and not virtuous to be illogical like that (though I make no apologies for believing that God the Son and God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are distinct persons who are all God and that there is only one God i.e. I am a monotheist not a polytheist).

Actually all of us have principles that we’ll stick by no matter how contrary the evidence or illogical sounding (including atheists and evolutionists etc who think of themselves as “science” types). We will all take a position and defend it come what may. The “Rationals” I like to think have a higher standard of ….. (or maybe we are just better at coming up with rational sounding arguments for what we want to believe). Anyway now I have got thoroughly off track. Sorry I’ll return to the theological topic at hand.

Basically I was trying to say that I had a real problem with the fact that James 2:24 (NKJV) says You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Whereas in Romans 3:28 Paul says “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” The rest of Paul’s letters also make it clear that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone without works e.g. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” So Paul would appear to contradict James teaching.

It’s not just the book of James that appears to teach works for salvation either there are numerous other places in the New Testament where it is implied that works are part of salvation. There are statements by Jesus and the disciples that imply works are part of salvation. For example in Mathew 6:14-15 (NKJV) Jesus says “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Now I would classify forgiving someone as an act you do and hence a “work” which would seem to contradict Paul (or rather it would seem Paul contradicts Jesus). “How do we resolve this?” I wondered.

Another example of people being judged by their works is Mathew 25. For example Jesus himself says in Mathew 25:41-43 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ‘I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’”

In this Mathew 25 example people are shown being sent to hell not just for sins that they have committed but rather for good works that they have not done (sins of omission rather than sins of commission). This was said by Jesus himself and Jesus cannot have been in error in his theology because Jesus is God himself in the flesh. I wondered how to line this up with Paul’s claim that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone without works having anything to do with it.

Another example that implies that good works are necessary for salvation is Luke 18:18-20 “Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”

In these verses we see that Jesus responds to the question “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” by basically saying keep the commandments (He lists 5 of the 10 commandments). I wondered how to resolve this with Paul’s claim in Romans 3:28 that “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”

These examples are by no means exhaustive; I could give other versus too that imply that works are necessary for salvation (from hell). Yet the apostle Paul wrote 13 letters which made their way into our New Testament which all consistently drum home the theme that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by how well we obey the law. “Does Paul contradict Jesus, what is going on?” I wondered.

It sounded like there were 2 different gospels in the New Testament books, namely the gospel of salvation (from hell) by grace through faith alone presented in Paul’s 13 letters and faith plus works presented in the rest of the New Testament. Eventually I had to admit to myself that there ARE two different gospels presented in the New Testament.

I found the solution to this apparent contradiction in the theology of Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalism (also known as just Mid Acts Dispensationalism – I don’t know any Mid Acts Dispensationalism that isn’t also Pauling Mid Acts Dispensationalism but MAPD is a better acronym than MAD so I’ll use the former acronym).

There is some excellent teaching (much better than I could give) on Mid Acts Dispensationalism around the internet including on Youtube. Unfortunately these MAPD internet sites are also universally not Charismatic which is to say that they teach that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues are not given to Christians today but were only for the previous dispensation. That is very sad that they fall down like that but otherwise they have some excellent teaching.

My favourite Mid Acts Dispensationalist site is this guy http://doctrine.org/. It is such a shame he is not Charismatic (if he were I would give him the title of the guy with the world’s most accurate theology – though he is also in error in thinking that Paul wrote Hebrews which he didn’t).

I can remember at one of my old churches (Anglican) asking someone the question “how could the gospel that Jesus and the disciples preached before his death and resurrection be that - Jesus had died on the cross to save you from your sins - if Jesus had not yet died on the cross?” At the time I thought I was being facetious by asking the question but it was also a genuine question.

For example in Mathew 4:23 it says “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” Initially I assumed that the term “gospel of the kingdom” was short for the gospel that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins but I wondered how this could be since Jesus had not yet died on the cross. The person I asked the question to at my Anglican church was horrified and thought I was being heretical - of course He was preaching that he had died on the cross to save people from their sins (before he died on the cross). To believe otherwise was heresy. In hindsight I see that I was asking exactly the right question – good on you me (it was like when I asked my high school physics teacher why if protons being positively charged they repel each other they stick together in the nucleus – I was told it was an invalid question but it wasn’t invalid it was a question with an important answer – for a physicist. So often the question you are not supposed to ask is actually exactly the question you should be asking).

It turns out that the “gospel of the kingdom” that Jesus and the disciples and John the Baptist were preaching is in in fact a different gospel to Paul’s gospel. People tend to think of Paul’s gospel as “the gospel” when we read the term “gospel” in Mathew, Mark, Luke and John but in fact the gospel that Jesus and the 12 disciples preached was the gospel of the kingdom and it was not identical to Paul’s gospel.

The term “gospel” simply means “good news”. The “gospel of the kingdom” was the gospel preached by Jesus and the disciples specifically to the Jews. Yes that’s right it was a gospel that Jesus was sent to preach to Jews only (Mathew 15:24 “But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” – the gentile woman only got help when she lowered herself to the status of a dog).

To paraphrase - the gospel of the kingdom was the message to the Jews that their messiah as promised by the Old Testament prophets was finally here. Salvation meant believing in Jesus as the promised messiah. In theory had the Jews collectively believed that Jesus was the promised messiah Jesus would have set up his earthly kingdom at that time and the Jews would have at that time become a nation of priests sent to go out to the world and bring the gentiles to faith in Jesus the Messiah and King. Jesus and the 12 apostles and the authors of the non-Pauline books such as James explain how salvation worked (and will again in the future work) with Jesus physically present on the earth as Israel’s Messiah and King.

Now I say “in theory” because it didn’t (yet) work out that way because it was God’s intention that the dispensation of grace would occur during which time Paul’s gospel of grace is the one in effect.

Our current dispensation during which we are saved purely by grace through faith in Jesus and his atoning death on the cross is called the “time of the Gentiles”. Paul’s 13 epistles describe how this dispensation works. This is the time of the gentiles which Jesus refers to in Luke 21:24 “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

There are far better presentations on Mid Acts Dispensation theology (with supporting versus) than I am paraphrasing here. I am just talking of the top of my head here. Here are links to some examples – but be warned that they are not charismatic (unfortunately there are not yet any Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist sites about).

http://www.twonewcovenants.com/twogospels/twogospels1.html http://www.understandingyourbible.com/whyconfuse.htm http://doctrine.org/paul-chief-of-sinners/ http://doctrine.org/the-great-prophecies-concerning-the-gentiles-the-jews-and-the-church-of-god/ http://doctrine.org/the-christian-myth/ http://graceambassadors.com/salvation/when-can-works-justify http://graceambassadors.com/midacts/list-twelve-preach-the-cross http://graceambassadors.com/midacts/one-lord-one-faith-three-baptisms http://www.friendshipbiblechurch.com/the-essentials-of-mid-acts-dispensational-theology/ https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/part-1-the-dispensation-of-grace-mystery-or-prophecy/ http://graceambassadors.com/prophecy/mmlj/reasons-we-ought-not-to-follow-the-%e2%80%9cgreat%e2%80%9d-commission

The dispensation of grace began with Paul’s conversion recorded in mid Acts (i.e. Acts 9).

Most Protestants would agree that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone (or at least give lip service to the idea – many still manage to sneak works in somewhere). Where the Mid Acts Pauline Dispensational theology differs from the rest of Christendom is that MAPD claims that the 12 apostles did not know or teach that Jesus death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins until Paul revealed that fact to them (a fact that the risen Lord Jesus had revealed to Paul directly – not the disciples).

Most of Christendom thinks that the gospel that the disciples where preaching at Pentecost was Paul’s gospel of salvation by grace alone without works available because of Jesus sacrificial death that pays the penalty for all our sins. We know what gospel was preached at Pentecost because it is recorded in Acts 2:14-40. The gospel was “..Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” This gospel of repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins is the same gospel John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples preached before Jesus death too. The gospel of the kingdom as preached by the disciples did not however refer to Jesus death on the cross as payment for our sins (at least not until Paul revealed it to them).

Mathew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Mathew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The kingdom of God was at hand because Jesus the king was present. The word used for “repent” is actually the Greek word metanoia which technically means to change your mind (not change your works). Yet read in context we see it also implies changing your actions. For example in Luke 13:2-5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” In these versus the word Metanoia clearly implies repenting in the English sense of the word.

The gospel that Jesus and the disciples preached before his death on the cross and that was preached after his death at Pentecost clearly saved people (from hell). It was the gospel that taught that people would be forgiven from their sins by repenting and being baptised and believing in Jesus.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Mark 16:6 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

It is apparent to me that the belief that saved people after Jesus birth and up to and including Pentecost is the belief that Jesus is the promised Messiah and the Only Begotten Son of God. I believe that this is what it means to “believe in Jesus name”. People could see that Jesus existed physically but to be saved they had to believe in who he was which is the Only Begotten Son of God Israel’s Messiah. Baptism which was a Jewish ritual apparently existing before Jesus birth was also apparently important. (It was not until later when Paul revealed it that people not only understood who Jesus was but also what He had done by His death on the cross).

There are no verses in the bible that indicate that the gospel that the disciples taught up to and including at Pentecost (basically up until Paul’s conversion) included the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Yes they believed in forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus but until Paul revealed it to them (after the risen Lord Jesus revealed it to Paul) they did not understand that the mechanism of forgiveness was by Jesus death on the cross. Note by the way that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins before his death (Mark 2:10-11 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”)

The disciples were upset about Jesus death on the cross and Jesus going to Jerusalem to die because they did not know what Jesus death on the cross would achieve (even though Jesus had alluded to it in John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (The last supper alluded to it too).

Even after Jesus death on the cross the disciples (until Paul explained it to them) were upset about Jesus death on the cross and saw it as something that the Jews needed to repent off albeit they also saw his resurrection and defeat of death as proof He is God. Acts 2:36-38 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The Mid Acts Dispensational theology claim is that even at Pentecost the disciples where unaware that Jesus death and resurrection had paid the penalty for our sins thus enabling salvation by grace alone without works. I agree with this claim based on my reading of the scriptures. The even more controversial bit is that Mid Acts Dispensational theology claims that’s the disciple’s gospel of the kingdom (that clearly saved prior to Paul’s gospel of salvation by grace alone even as late as Pentecost) could in theory have continued to save if the Jews had accepted Jesus as their Messiah even after his death and resurrection - without God instituting Paul’s gospel of grace.

The further claim is that the gospel of the kingdom will - after the “time of the Gentiles” ends with the rapture – again be the active gospel or dispensation. In the 1000 year reign (of Jesus physically present on earth in Jerusalem) after the 7 year tribulation the Jews will go on to be a nation of priests bringing the rest of the world into relationship with God and finally fulfilling the kingdom gospel great commission given in Matthew 28:16-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Understanding that we went from a kingdom gospel to Paul’s gospel of salvation by grace alone is perhaps not that hard to accept. What is perhaps harder to accept is that with the Devil and his angels bound (and unable to tempt anyone) during the millennium and with Jesus physically reigning on earth we will go back again to a kingdom gospel dispensation where James book will be the one you will need to be taking your marching orders from i.e. James 2:24 (NKJV) You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

In fact from numerous verses it would appear that even during the 7 year tribulation of Revelation (which is after the time of the Gentiles ends at the rapture and when the gospel of the kingdom becomes active again) one needs to show ones faith through ones perseverance. Mathew 24:13-14 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Also Revelation Chapter 2 numerous verses.

Now we can understand Jesus talking about salvation by works (obeying the commandments) in Luke 18:18-20 by saying that at the time that Jesus said that he had not yet died on the cross (so the Old Testament was still in effect). However that explanation doesn't hold for explaining why Jesus describes people being judged according to their works in Mathew 25:41-43 (what's more being punished for sins of omission not just sins of commission) because this takes place long after Jesus has died on the cross at the end of the age. How do we reconcile this with Paul’s gospel of salvation without works? In the Mid Acts Dispensationalist view we resolve this apparent contradiction because we see that the Kingdom gospel is back in effect, back to being the reigning dispensation after the members of the body of Christ who were saved by grace alone without works are raptured at the start of the tribulation. With the return to the Kingdom gospel Israel then returns to centre stage and fulfills her prophesied role.

In other words the people being judged in Mathew 25 are the survivors of the 7 year great tribulation – these are the people present when Jesus returns to earth - and they are being judged on how well they treated Jesus’ brethren – the Jews – during the great tribulation (under the Kingdom gospel). Mathew 25:41 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Mathew 25:45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

The bottom line is that if you miss the rapture because you did not believe in Jesus at the time then as well as avoiding taking the mark of the beast and likely dying a painful death you will also want to find a Jew to serve. Sorry but God is a Zionist. (Many Christians die painful deaths today and in the past before the tribulation too of course and will be richly rewarded for it but they are saved by grace only).

If you do find a Jew to serve and you both survive the tribulation (and you are both believers) perhaps he will take you with him to Jerusalem (where Jesus is reigning). Zechariah 8:23 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’

Note however that in the current dispensation Jews and Greeks are equal. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Sorry to jump about a bit and change topic but as long as I am discussing Mid Acts Dispensational theology let me also point out some other things that are part of discussing Mid Acts Dispensational theology.

Mid Acts Dispensational theology teaches that Paul was the first sinner saved by grace alone. This is shown in 1 Timothy 1:15 which is often mistranslated as Paul being the worst of sinners.

1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV) This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV) Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

While Paul’s mass murdering of Christians was pretty bad he is not likely to be the worst sinner who ever lived (he was a well meaning mass murderer of Christians). The level of badness of Paul’s sin is not actually the point at issue in this verse. The word that has been miss-translated as “worst” in the NIV is actually the Greek word πρῶτος which is pronounced prōtos (it’s where the word “prototype” comes from). The meaning of the word is actually “first in time or place or first in rank”. In this verse Paul actually means that he is the “first in time” not “first in rank”. In particular Paul is referring to the fact that he is the first sinner saved by grace alone (not the worst sinner ever).

Another doctrine of Mid Acts Pauline Dispensational theology is that while all scripture is written for us not all scripture is written to us. For example the 10 commandments in the Old Testament are valuable and tell me what holy living looks like but I also understand them in the light that I am saved from my inability to live up to the law by God’s grace thanks to Jesus death on the cross. Most Christians would agree on the point. What is more controversial in the MAPD position is that the scriptures that we take our marching orders from today (that are instructive not just informative) are all of Paul’s 13 epistles from Romans to Philemon. Hebrews to Revelation are written to Jews living in the Kingdom dispensation that will become the active dispensation yet again when Jesus returns to earth after the rapture of the body of Christ. The kingdom dispensation was also the dispensation that applied during Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. That is Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are Old Testament books.

As long as we are on the topic of Mid Acts Pauline Dispensational theology I should also give some verses that point out that Paul claimed the gospel of grace was his gospel not a gospel that he learned from someone else such as the disciples (rather he learned it directly from the risen Lord Jesus Christ).

Rom 2:16 This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Rom 16:25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past,

2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel,

1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

Also check out http://graceambassadors.com/mystery/paul/pauls-my-gospel

Paul tells us that he did not learn his gospel from the disciples when he says Galation 2:6-7 But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

Anyway there are a lot of resources on the web to teach the tenants of Mid Acts Dispensationalism. The actual purpose of this post which I haven’t touched on yet is to point out where all the other Mid Acts Dispensationalist websites go wrong and that is that I have yet to see one which teaches that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing, words of knowledge, prophecy and speaking in tongues are available to believers today in this current dispensation of grace.

I think this is because the Mid Acts Dispensationalist theology is a very rational theology and so attracts very rational people. Rational people tend to have a problem believing in miracles (not all but many). I won’t write a treatise on why I think that is so here. The result is that Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalists tend not to believe that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing and prophecy and speaking in tongues are available to believers today (I assume they still believe in the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness and faithfulness).

It’s such a shame that people who get so much right theologically have to fall down at this point.

The scriptural case for the doctrine that the “sign” gifts of the Spirit are no longer available today in this dispensation is very week at best and is in any case down right wrong. The belief that the sign gifts of the Spirit are no longer available today is wide spread in Christendom not just among the MAPD community.

The best scriptures that those opposing belief in the sign gifts can come up with to make their case that I have seen (and it is very week) is 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

That verse is all they have and it doesn’t even mean what they claim it does. What 1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us is that one day the “sign” gifts (or supernatural gifts) of the Holy Spirit of prophecy, speaking in tongues and words of knowledge will cease. It does not say anything about when they will cease. There is absolutely nothing about 1 Corinthians 13:8 to indicate that the sign gifts will end as soon as Paul is converted and starts preaching his gospel of salvation by grace. The “unbiased” common sense reading of this scripture is that one day in the far future probably when these gifts are no longer required they will cease. When are these particular gifts no longer required? Answer: when Jesus has returned to earth and fulfilled all prophecy (locked the Devil and his angels up for 1,000 years) and Jesus is physically reigning on the earth. The purpose of this verse is to indicate how important love is not to give a timetable for when the sign gifts will end. The verse does not say when the gifts will end only that one day they will end. Common sense tells us they won’t be needed when Jesus returns but the bible doesn’t say when they are due to be removed. It would be odd if Jesus filled us all with the Holy Spirit but chose to limit the Spirit’s work by not letting Him heal people or give words of knowledge or prophecy. Of course He hasn’t done that and all the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are still available to us today.

Also note that Paul did not write any Epistles until after he presented his gospel to the apostles in Acts 15 and Peter confirmed that Paul’s gospel was the gospel that now saved. Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.

Note that Peter had been given the authority to make such a pronouncement by Jesus. Mathew 16:18-19 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

The point is that Paul wrote all his letters after the dispensation of grace had begun (that is standard MAPD belief). Now as Paul’s letter to the Corinthians tells us that the gifts will cease one day in the future it implies that at the time that Paul wrote Corinthians the sign gifts of the spirit had not yet ceased. Paul says that they will cease not that they have already ceased. Yet when Paul wrote Corinthians we were already fully in the dispensation of grace as declared by Peter in Acts 15:11. This fact refutes the claim that the sign gifts ceased as soon as the grace dispensation began. Again in Corinthians chapter 14 we see that the gifts of tongues and prophecy are still very much alive and well in the dispensation of grace. Paul says in Corinthians 14:5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

Again note that Paul wrote Corinthians after the dispensation of grace had begun so that you can not say that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit don’t apply to the current dispensation of grace and only applied in the kingdom dispensation.

Standard MAPD doctrine states that in the current dispensation of grace the body of believers is known as the “Body of Christ” (not the bride of Christ – the Bride of Christ is Israel). That is if you see Paul talking about the “Body of Christ” you know he is talking about believers in the current dispensation of grace. So keeping that in mind lets read 1 Corinthians 12:7-13 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

Do these verses not sound like Paul is talking about the “Body of Christ” where Jews and Greeks, slaves and free are the same, where there is just one baptism as per the current dispensation? Do these verses not explicitly state that said body of Christ has the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit? How willfully blind do you have to be to declare that the gifts of healing, prophecy and tongues are not available to the body of Christ today?

Paul’s gospel that we are saved by grace made available to us by Jesus death on the cross for us is the gospel that is preached in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians it is not the gospel of the kingdom. You cannot seriously claim that at the time Paul wrote Corinthians he was not yet saved by grace or not yet preaching the gospel of grace, you cannot claim that at the time Paul wrote Corinthians we were not yet living in the dispensation of grace. Yet Paul clearly tells us that the gifts of healing, prophecy and tongues are available to believers at the time that he is writing Corinthians.

That is why I am a Charismatic Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist not just a Mid Acts Pauline Dispensationalist.

(PS: In Pharaoh’s court magicians could fake some of Moses’ gifts but that did not mean that Moses gifts were not the real thing. Just like the discovery of a fake Noah’s ark does not mean that there was never a real Noah’s ark. Today some people are false prophets but that does not mean all prophecy is false. Some words of knowledge can be faked but that does not mean there are no genuine words of knowledge. Some people are fake and fraudulent healers but that does not mean there is no real gift of healing today).

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