Saturday, December 3, 2016

"I've left orders to be awakened at any time in case of a national emergency - even if I'm in a cabinet meeting." - Ronald Reagan


I am an evangelical. That is, I believe in the deity of Christ, his death as the payment for sin, and salvation as a free gift received by faith apart from any work on my part.

I am a fundamentalist. NOT per the connotation of that word! That is, I am not a religious legalist intent on judging others and hitting them over the head with my Bible. Per the denotation of the word I do believe in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture.

I am a dispensationalist. I use a literal hermeneutic which leads me to understand the Bible to teach that Israel and the Body of Christ are separate, with their own divine instructions, characteristics, and futures.

I am a mid-Acts dispensationalist. That is, I understand the Bible to teach that God made that change from his program with Israel to that with the Body of Christ with the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

I am a member of the Grace Gospel Fellowship. That's an organization of churches and individuals who have all of the above in common. We are evangelicals, fundamentalists, and mid-Acts dispensationalists. It is a "fellowship" because, unlike a denomination, the churches are all independent and self-governing. No top down leadership. The churches voluntarily cooperate to support a Bible college (Grace Bible College), a mission board (Grace Ministries International), and several smaller specialized ministries, and whatever level each church decides is appropriate for them.

Unfortunately, at some point many decades ago people associated with the Grace Gospel Fellowship and/or sharing a mid-Acts dispensational perspective started referring to themselves as "grace believers" and as part of the "grace movement."
Very, very bad!!
It implies that anyone who does not share a mid-Acts dispensational view doesn't believe in grace. But (see above), anyone who is an evangelical believes salvation is by, and only by God's grace. That includes those who are not fundamentalists, those who are not dispensationalists, and those who are not mid-Acts dispensationalists. So it impugns their orthodoxy, creates divisions where none exist, and can easily lead to spiritual arrogance.

Alas, too many self-described "grace believers" are anything but gracious. They're convinced they have advanced knowledge of Scripture, are therefore superior to those who don't, and fall victim to a critical perspective of their brothers and sisters in Christ who don't share their theological convictions.
A special and ironic form of hypocrisy.

For this reason I've vowed to steadfastly avoid the terms "grace believer" and "grace movement." And if we're having a conversation and you use one of those terms about me I'm likely to correct you. I am a MAD - a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist.

We are blessed to attend a very good church led by a skilled and committed staff. Brett, the senior pastor, is a skilled preacher who has an unquestionable commitment to Scripture and its authority in the life of the believer. He's also a super nice guy who, in addition to everything else, knows his way around classic cars. He and his staff are evangelicals and fundamentalists. I don't know if they are, individually or as a group, dispensationalists, but based on the three months we've attended and the sermons we've heard I think Brett probably is. Maybe not.  He's preaching through Acts and the sermons we've heard have been from the later chapters, passages that could preach the same from either perspective.

Mostly, in addition to being solidly evangelical and fundamental, he and the staff we've encountered embody grace and graciousness.
So I'll probably correct you if you refer to me as a grace believer, and if you do it in the presence of Brett I may get pretty energized in doing so. I think I'd be very happy to be as gracious as Brett, regardless of my theological convictions.