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That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; (Philippians 3:10 KJV)

Our Lord has asked, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" In a sense, the Apostle of the Gentiles has revealed the other side of that coin -what loss would one suffer, should he lose the whole world but gain Christ? The Apostle has said that all that was true of him prior to trusting Christ - was trash. To a man that has been so moved by the Love of Christ it is not a marvel that his desire would be "that I may know him," for the nature of love is occupation as much as it is adoration. The "power of His resurrection" is Christianity's 'smoking gun' and will produce wonder and marvel in both men and angels for eternity; but Paul also wills to know "the fellowship of His sufferings," this is a grand mystery. Was Festus right when he observed Paul to be beside himself - "much learning has made thee mad?" Could it be that Paul is suffering from some masochistic psychosis or could he be suggesting that suffering could 'save' the individual or even 'keep' the believer? No, Paul was expressing the innermost desires of the most spiritually advanced of believers, the heart of a servant; in the same way as when in the same letter he writes, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

So, it makes one wonder why it is that the apostles of the 'health and wealth' movement do not seem to share in Paul's desire? The pundits of the prosperity gospel seem to be more in step with the doctrines of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar than with the Apostle of the Gentiles. Scripture does not declare that suffering is a prerequisite for salvation or even that it is a proof of salvation, but that suffering 'for Christ' is a privilege and a proof of the faithful servant. For the mature believer, suffering refines, it strengthens and instructs. For the body of Christ it promotes love and fellowship and encourages the otherwise timid brothers and sisters to boldly minister. Ultimately, the most vital influence of suffering for the sake of Christ is that it can produce praise, glory and honor to God, which is not only 'our reason' but also 'our reasonable service.' Religion, however, would have you think differently. Whether it be the physicians of 'no value' who were Job's comforters or the prosperity pimps of neo-evangelicalism, religion proclaims that suffering is a mark of God's reproach, a divine censure of the individual for sinning or at least for a tepid faith. Well, what saith the Scriptures?

Our Lord himself said in the Matthew 5:10-11, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;" and again in John 16:33 - "I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." The Apostle Paul wrote in the Philippian letter, "For to you it is given on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake;" and in the second epistle to Timothy, "Yea, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Does this mean that all real Christians will suffer persecution? No, sadly a majority of Christians are quite comfortable having the assurance of salvation but will never advance to a level of maturity that reflects gratitude toward God through service and ministry. This principle will be the reality of only those believers who desire to live piously, which are actively reverent and not ashamed of the gospel of the grace of God. Many times in Scripture there is a distinction made between what is true of the believer and of the unbeliever; in this case the difference is between the mature believer and the weak believer. This can be seen in the following passage where Paul uses sanctified sarcasm to rebuke the believers in Corinth for the arrogant state of their walk: "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off scouring of all things unto this day."
I Corinthians 4:9-13

Paul also demonstrates from the above passage exactly what is meant by 'suffering for Christ;' that it is that suffering which takes place in the life of those who labor in furthering the gospel, in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. There is suffering that we bring upon ourselves - the result of poor decision making or the indulgence of our sin nature, and then there is that kind of suffering that is out of our control, brought upon us because we live in a fallen world and are casualties of Satan's world system; and God can, in the mature believer, even bring blessing out of those situations and a reason to praise and glory in the Father. Suffering for Christ, however is distinctly unique as Peter explains: "For do not let any of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as a meddler in the affairs of others. But if one suffers as a Christian, do not let him be ashamed, but to glorify God in this respect." I Peter 4:15, 16

The truth according to Scripture is that those individuals that God has greatly used have also suffered greatly; this is not because God does not appreciate faithfulness or that He is some sort of Divine sadist, but that as servants of God they were and are embroiled in a spiritual conflict; and prophets, disciples, even ambassadors who live and work behind enemy lines are subject to hostility. Christ warned that if the world hated him, it would also hate his servants, if the world persecuted him - so too his disciples. Contrary to the glossy veneer that the new evangelicals try to package as Christian 'success,' adversity is not only the common lot of the faithful servant, but it is the inevitable experience of all those who desire to live Godly (piously) in Christ Jesus. In Part II of "The Fellowship of Suffering" we will explore the benefit of suffering for Christ - to the individual, to the fellowship (body of Christ) and to God.

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God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptations, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide.
Swift, easy travel, not needing a guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.

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Introduction Dispensational theology has been one of the strongest forces of biblical teaching within the evangelical/fundamentalist camps. With the recovery of the Bible as the sole ground for faith during the Reformation, there was a great desire among the people, layman and scholar alike, to study and learn the Scriptures so that they could intelligently apply them to their daily lives. Dispensationalism met this need. It espoused a system of biblical teaching that challenged the scholar by placing the Scriptures within a framework that displayed its richness and depth while at the same time remaining accessible to those Scofield identified as "the people of God in their homes", the wives and children, and "the far away missionaries," all who had limited time and resources to invest in forming "clearer and more spiritual apprehensions of the Word of God."
To a large degree, dispensationalism successfully reached this goal. Nearly one hundred years after it was made available popularly in the Scofield Reference Bible, Karleen said this about Scofield's theology in specific and dispensational theology in general:

"The resulting stress on orthodox doctrines of the faith and vital prophetic truths…caused the Scofield study system to be of great value for millions. It enabled them to appropriate for their faith and service a unified biblical message. Bible students could see the Scriptures as a progressive revelation of varying dealings of God with humanity…This emphasis on dispensations and covenants is indeed a doctrinal distinctive of the Scofield (Bible). But it is one that lies at the heart of dispensationalism, the most fruitful approach to the Bible known until now." (italics mine)

Early dispensationalism was highly successful in withstanding the attacks of its enemies over the last two centuries. Recently, however, it has been facing attacks unlike any experienced before; attacks especially dangerous because they are coming from within the dispensational camp itself. Those on the offense today claim to have the best interests of dispensationalism at heart, yet at the same time they strike hammer blows against the very foundation on which it rests. Known as progressive dispensationalists, this group insists that they are nothing more than the next progressive stage in the gradual development of dispensational theology. To prove this assertion, they find within the teachings of some recent dispensationalists the 'missing links' they need to prove their assertions. This paper will attempt to identify the fundamental and foundational elements of dispensational theology (the real sine qua non of dispensationalism, if you will), show how early dispensationalists embraced them, note the changes more recent dispensationalists have made to them and, lastly, determine the validity of what progressive dispensationalists are proposing today. In light of the goal of continuing to reach the multitudes throughout the world with an accessible Bible that reveals an accessible God, what we are at risk of loosing is priceless.

Part I: What Did Early Dispensationalists Believe and Teach? What Early Dispensationalists believed with regard to God's plans and purposes as revealed in the Bible is critical to an accurate understanding of dispensationalism. Progressive Dispensationalists make much of the fact that Recent Dispensationalists are, for the most part, ignorant of the foundational teachings that support the superstructure of the dispensational theology they embrace. This ignorance plays into the hands of the Progressives in their effort to modify traditional dispensationalism. Therefore, it will be well worth our time to gain a solid understanding of what Early Dispensationalists believed and taught. Having done this, we will be better prepared to appreciate the ramifications of changes made to these fundamentals by those more recent and will be better able to understand the remarkable challenges being made by the progressivists today. One cannot read far into the writings of Early Dispensationalists without noting the great importance they placed on three basic distinctions: the heavenly/earthly, the mystery/prophecy and the Church/Israel distinctions. Together these distinctions form the foundation of and serve as the starting point for the positions they took and the stands that they made. Starting with Darby, listen to their own words as they stress the importance these preliminary distinctions had on their theology:

A. John Nelson Darby

One of the most prolific of the 'early' writers was J.N. Darby, who left us with an abundance of information on how he viewed the programs and purposes of God. In his essay entitled The Purpose of God, under the heading "The Church and the Jews the Respective Centres of the Heavenly Glory and of the Earthly Glory in Christ," he wrote this:

"Although the Church and the people of Israel are each respectively the centers of the heavenly glory and of the earthly glory, in their connection with Christ, and although they cast on each other a mutual brightness of blessedness and joy, yet each of them has a sphere which is proper to itself, and in which all things are subordinate to it. With respect to the church, angels, principalities and powers, with all that belongs to heaven-the domain of its glory; with respect to the people of Israel, the nations of the earth."

He reiterated these statements again in his essay entitled "What is the Church?"

"God has willed that His Son, Ruler of all things as Son of Man, should have a bride to share His glory and His dominion. Glorious position! Testimony of the infinite grace of God! Such is the church-the companion of Jesus in the heavenly glory. This will take place at the same time with the earthly glory, which will be their fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament."

Whatever we think about the fine points of his theology, there is no doubt that Darby placed a strong emphasis on the heavenly position of the Church and the earthly position of Israel. In "The Character of Office in the Present Dispensation," he wrote this:

"Whatever God's way upon the earth may be, it is evident that all question of Jew and Gentile was at an end when the question was about the Lord of glory and the members of His body. The relations became heavenly, and in the unity of the body of Christ thus known in heaven, there was neither Jew nor Gentile. The Church was upon the earth according to this revelation of her position, for she was persecuted; but she was identified with the Lord in heaven." And again: "As to us, it is in the 'heavenly places' that we shall find our abode. The spiritual blessings in heavenly places which we enjoy even now in hope…but the earth will not fail to feel the effects of it. 'Wicked spirits in heavenly places'…whose place will be then filled by Christ and His church will cease to be the…causes of the misery of a world subjected to their power by sin.

No doubt the glory of what God does with the Body of Christ in the heavenly sphere will reflect on earth, but it is nonetheless distinct from the earthly sphere. In summary:

"There are two great subjects which occupy the sphere of millennial prophecy and testimony: the church and its glory in Christ; and the Jews and their glory as a redeemed nation in Christ: the heavenly people and the earthly people; the habitation and scene of the glory of the one being the heavens; of the other, the earth. Christ shall display His glory in the one according to that which is celestial; in the other, according to that which is terrestrial…each has its respective sphere, all things in the heavens being subordinate and the scene of the glory-angels, principalities and powers in the one; the nations of the earth in the other."
Darby stressed that the foundation on which he built his biblical understanding was based on a clear distinction between God's people in the heavenly realm (the Church) and God's people in the earthly realm (Israel), a distinction that is eternal. Whenever Darby delineates the great subject of God's purposes for the universe, he always placed the heavenly/earthly distinction at the forefront; it was a critical piece in his understanding of the Scriptures. It also served as the basis for many other distinctions typical of Early Dispensationalists, especially that of the mystery/prophecy and Church/Israel. Listen to what he said regarding these two distinctions in his essay on the "Elements of Prophecy." "The church, properly speaking, is not the subject of prophecy. As to Old Testament prophecy, the New declares in the most absolute and positive manner that it was a mystery hidden in all ages, and now revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Spirit. The church belongs to heaven, the body of Christ is seated there…Prophecy relates to the earth."

The heavenly/earthly and mystery/prophecy distinctions go hand in hand, together providing the basis for other distinctions typical of Early Dispensationalists. This is what he had to say about the covenants and dispensations.

"Thus the heavenly and distinct character of the dispensation is most plainly brought out; and we find that our place is to be identified with the Mediator, as gone within the veil, not in the blessings which result to Israel in consequence of His title and power to bless in grace therefrom resulting."

Again, with regard to the dispensation of grace he wrote this:

"It was a secret of God hidden from ages and generations, and formed an extraordinary break in the dispensations, to the rejection, for their unbelief, of the proper earthly people of God; a forming out of the earth, but not for it, a body for Christ-a heavenly people associated with Him in glory…The church has sought to settle itself here; but it has no place on earth…This subject, as to the special distinctiveness of the dispensation…I believe it to be the most important point for the church to consider…but though making a most instructive parenthesis, it forms no part of the regular order of God's earthly plans."

Darby understood that in the current Dispensation of Grace God is fulfilling another aspect of His plan for the universe; a heavenly purpose fulfilled by a mystery or secret program through the Church. He went to great lengths to distinguish this purpose, program and people from the earthly program fulfilled by the prophecies regarding Israel and the nations. This is what undergirds Darby's fundamental theological understanding. His understood the distinction between law and grace in this way:

"The law gave to man a perfect and divine rule for his conduct upon the earth. But it never took him up into heaven. Heavenly beings, indeed, such as angels, act upon the abstract perfection of the divine rule as it is stated by the Lord Himself…It (the law) shews what is right on earth in the creature, but how far is it from taking man into heavenly places…Now, grace works quite otherwise."

The same reasoning formed his distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. "No general prophecy of the church itself is found in the course of the Apocalypse…The reason is evident to one who know what the church is. It is not of the world. I, as such, sit in heavenly places in Christ, where prophecy reaches not. It never will be established on earth, as the Jews. It is not its calling…His blessing for it will be to take it away from earth, to be with the Lord in the air…Accordingly we find, as we have said, the church in heaven at the end in connection with the earth, when all is united with Christ."

>From these excerpts, it is clear that for Darby the heavenly/earthly, mystery/prophecy and Church/Israel distinctions were not minor, unimportant points of interest. They were vital because they formed the very foundation of his biblical understanding and were the fundamentals of his theological system. Darby was not alone among Early Dispensationalists.

B. C.I. Scofield

In the study Bible that bears his name, Scofield wrote a short introduction to Paul's Epistles. Limited by space, he must have included only those things that he believed were of critical importance to an accurate understanding of the Pauline texts. This is some of what he stressed:
"The Epistles of the Apostle Paul have a very distinctive character…All scripture up to the gospel accounts…has primarily in view Israel and the blessings of the earth through the Messianic kingdom. But 'hid in God' (Eph. 3:9) was an unrevealed time…the church which is Christ's body…the church, the 'mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God is fully revealed, and fully instructed as to her unique place in the counsels and purposes of God…instinct with His life, and heavenly in calling, promise, and destiny…But to Paul was also committed the unfolding of the doctrines of grace…the relation of the Gospel to the law and…to the great Jewish promises, needed clear adjustment if Christianity was to be a reasonable faith…Furthermore, the new thing, the church…"

In this brief review, Scofield referred to all the fundamental distinctions of Early Dispensationalist theology. Paul's writings are distinct, he said, because they reveal a new heavenly purpose that God had before kept secret, hiding it within Himself. But now He is making it known to earth and heaven through the agency of a new 'called out' people, whom He identifies as the Body of Christ, the Church of this dispensation, whose Head is the Lord Jesus Christ. Scofield distinguished God's dealings with man throughout the biblical record, laying the foundation with the heavenly/earthly and the mystery/prophecy distinctions, upon which is built the further distinctions between the Church and Israel, grace and law, and the other distinctions found in Early Dispensationalism. For Scofield, to recognize these things was to enter into the Divine counsels and purposes of God Himself.

C. L.S. Chafer

In the first pages of the Preface to his eight volume Systematic Theology, Chafer summarized the most important aspects of his theological understanding: "The one who cannot recognize that the Church is a new, heavenly purpose of God, absolutely disassociated from both Jew and Gentile (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11), but sees the Church only as an ever increasing company of redeemed people gathered alike from all ages of human history, will perhaps do well to ponder the following questions: Why the rent veil? Why Pentecost? Why the distinctive message of the Epistles?…Why two companies of redeemed in the new Jerusalem? Why only earthly promises to Israel and only heavenly promises to the Church? Why should the divinely given rule of life be changed from law to grace?…Why the 'mysteries' of the New Testament, including the Body of Christ?…" And:
"…failing to recognize those distinctions between Israel and the Church which, being so radical in character, serve to indicate the widest possible difference between them-difference as to origin, difference as to character and responsibility, and difference to destiny…Israel…natural birth...Christians…spiritual birth…Israel…appointed to live and serve under a meritorious, legal system…Christians live and serve under a gracious system…Israel have their citizenship…only in the earth…Christians have their citizenship…centered only in heaven."

Therefore, while there may be some differences between the specific teachings of Early Dispensationalists, all were unified in describing their theology as consisting of three main distinctions-the heavenly/earthly, mystery/prophecy and Church/Israel. All other distinctions flowed from these. To them, the Church was a unique group of saved sinners, who participate in God's program that had been kept secret until New Testament times. And this Mystery program for the Church was to fulfill His purpose for the heavenly realm. Israel, on the other hand, was a unique group of saved sinners, who participate in God's program that had been revealed and developed in the Old Testament. And this Prophetic program for Israel was to fulfill His purpose for the earthly realm. These were the basic distinctions Early Dispensationalists used to forge a system of biblical instruction that made the Bible understandable to scholar and layman alike. In a sense, the heavenly/earthly and mystery/prophecy distinctions formed the four sides of a square into which snugly fit all the other aspects of their theology. Logically, if God created the Church to fulfill His purpose for the heavenlies, then it must be distinct from the nation Israel which He created to fulfill His purpose for the earth. Since the Dispensation of Grace was a mystery, unrevealed before Paul's time, hidden in God, it must be distinct from the Law and Kingdom Dispensations, which were well attested to in the Old Testament record. On and on the examples could go showing that Early Dispensationalists formed their theological conclusions from logic and reason. Therefore, these preliminary distinctions were foundational to their understanding of Scripture and formed the framework for the development of early dispensational thought.

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If you talk to enough people, it will not be too long before you come across someone who believes the gospel of sincerity. The gospel of sincerity is the notion that no matter what you believe, no matter what religious ideas you embrace, as long as you are sincere about it, God will reward you with eternal life with Him.

The root problem of this gospel is the denial of the sinful, depraved condition of man. Mankind as a whole is seen as essentially good, and whatever he may lack in character or conduct (as long as it doesn't exceed some vague, undefined point), God will excuse. After all, is God not a loving God?

The Scriptures present the attributes of God very clearly, and one of them is His holiness. That God is morally perfect few would argue against, but the implications of that are great. God is Holy; God is righteous; God is perfect: what possible claim could any sinful human being have on Almighty God? Mankind, of whom scripture says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," has no claim on God. For "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6) Why does scripture so describe us? "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12) We all sinned in the person of Adam. Adam's legacy to you and I is sin. We are born of sinful flesh, and our human condition is very much irreversible in and of ourselves. That is the plain teaching of God's word.

Human experience tells us that too. I remember when I was probably about 6 years old, I was with my Mother in a hardware store and I saw a dazzling assortment of colored key blanks. There were red ones, blue ones, green ones, and even gold ones. I knew I wanted some of those, and when no one was looking, I took some. We left the store, and I don't think the exit door was fully closed before I removed my new playthings from my pocket. My Mother probably realized instantly that I had stolen the key blanks, but she nonetheless asked me where I got them. I told her, "a kid from school gave them to me," and insofar as it was Saturday, I figured there was no way she could verify or deny my story, so I was in the clear. Well to make a long story short, I was returning the key blanks and apologizing to the store's owner a few minutes later. My point is, little children plainly know right from wrong in many instances. The proof of that is the fact that they lie just like I did when confronted.

So mankind is sinful. We can deny it; with a skewed perception of reality, we can "say it ain't so," but it is so. The denial of this basic truth is the root problem of the sincerity gospel, which teaches that sin isn't an issue, and never was. Hell, if it even exists, is reserved for those who have gone way beyond the pale, not for ordinary folks like you and I. But you see, because of sin all of us as we come from the womb are alienated from God. The sinner is seen in scripture as being without strength, and having no hope in the world: bound for, and deserving nothing less than to spend eternity in the lake of Fire. Scripture paints a very grim picture for us, and if reality stopped there, it would be sad indeed. Thankfully, the answer to our predicament is likewise found in the pages of Holy Writ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the express image of God the Father, and Scripture is plain that though He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he was yet without sin. He never spoke a sinful word; he never committed a sinful act, and He never entertained a sinful thought. He was impeccable in his humanity, and infinite in His diety. Because of this great fact, He alone qualified to purchase the redemption of sinners with His blood, which is exactly what He did:

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8) This is how much God loves us: He sent His Son to die for our sins upon the cross of Calvary! He did not die for good, nice people. He died for sinners. Our sins were judged in Him on the cross, and salvation is now offered to all persons based upon Christ's finished work. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Paul, speaking in his first letter to the Corinthian saints, says "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) The good news by which any sinner is saved is that Christ died for their sins. It was His death, but our sins. Paul further explains that Christ rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. He was raised, the apostle tells us, on account of our justification.

"But surely God won't send a sincere (INSERT RELIGION, CULT, OR CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION OF CHOICE) to Hell!" The gospel of sincerity is nothing more than justification by works. It is nothing more than sinful people going about to establish their own righteousness. My friend, if righteousness could come through the keeping of law: if righteousness could come through some moral code of conduct, then Jesus Christ died for absolutely nothing! (Galatians 2:21) The man who tries to circumvent the cross of Calvary by working for salvation is rejecting the grace of God, and will die in his sins. In Romans chapter4, verse 4, it says "Now to him who works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." In other words, if I work for my salvation, I would be putting God in my debt. Eternal salvation then would be God's way of "paying me off." Of course, God will be in debt to no man. But the next verse says "But to him who does not work, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." God declares the sinner righteous, who does not work, but rather who accepts the gift of eternal life freely.

Salvation through sincerity? By no means! Salvation is by God's grace, through faith. (Ephesians 2:8) God's message to a lost human race is grace. The precious truth is that Christ paid the wages of sin in full when He died for us on the cross and now all we need to do is believe. Trust God. Believe the gospel. Christ died for your sins, believe it and be saved.