January 2004

SCRIPTURAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS HAVING TO DO WITH DISPENSATIONAL TRUTHS

It has been my experience in discussing dispensational truths with other believers, that often times a scriptural definition of a term will clear up doctrinal misunderstandings. I hope this paper will help solve difficulties that arise just from not having a scriptural definition of a term. The following terms will be defined and or explained:

DISPENSATION

MYSTERY

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

THE DISPENSATION OF THE MYSTERY

CHURCH

THE CHURCH OF GOD

THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY

DISPENSATION

My intention is to define the word “dispensation” from its scriptural use. But more than that, I will suggest a synonym for “dispensation” that will fit into the contexts of each of its occurrences.

The Greek word translated “dispensation” is “oikonomia” and occurs in the New Testament eight times. It is made up of two words, “Oiko” meaning “house” and” nomia” which means “law”. So literally, “oikonomia” means “house law”.

The first occurrences are in Luke 16:2-4, “…..How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me unto their houses”. To use the literal meaning of “oikonomia” we might translate this phrase, “Give an account of your house law”. It is clear that “house law” does not easily fit into an English translation. For that reason I believe that it would be helpful to find a synonym for “house law”. It is clear that the steward of Luke 16 is managing his master’s household. I would suggest therefore, the word “management” might be an adequate translation of the Greek “oikonomia”. “Management” is a synonym that is easier to adapt to the context of each of the occurrences of “oikonomia” and it means more or less, the same as “house law”. So then, we might translate these verses as, “give an account of thy management“, and “when I am put out of the management“.

I Cor. 9:17, “For if I do this thing willingly I have a reward: but if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me, what is my reward then?”. We might translate the phrase, “but if against my will a management of the gospel is committed unto me”. Paul was given the gospel to preach. His reward, in regards to that preaching, depended upon how he managed (i.e. how he handled) the preaching of the gospel.

Eph. 1:10, “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ….”. There will come a time when God will bring all things together in Christ. At that time God’s management of His household will be in accordance with that fact. To rephrase that, in the fulness of times, God will gather all things together in Christ; that is how He will manage His household. We might translate this verse, “That in the management of the fulness of times, God might gather together in one, all things in Christ”.

Eph. 3:2, “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward”. We might translate this verse to read, “If you have heard of the management of God’s grace which He gave to me for you”. What does that mean, “the management of God’s grace”? It means that God managed His grace to Paul in such a way that it was given to him in order for Paul to give it to others. What was it that Paul was meant to give to others? What Paul gave to others is explained in the following verse, “How that by revelation He made know to me the mystery” (Eph. 3:3). In other words, God managed His grace to Paul in such a way as to allow Paul to reveal the mystery that had been hid in God (verse 9).

Eph. 3:9, “And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery”. We could paraphrase this verse to read, “…to make all men see what is God’s management of His household in accordance with the mystery”.

Col. 1:25, “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you. to fulfill the word of God”. We might translate this verse to read, “Whereof I am made a minister according to God’s management which is given to me for you…..”.

Let us try to put these verses together in an attempt to clarify the meaning of “oikonomia”. In every occurrence the word “management” may be used to translate the Greek word. Therefore, we may conclude that “dispensation” is the management of something.

Let us look further at Eph. 3:9, as that is the key to understanding dispensational truth. “And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery”. Or, as has been suggested above, “…to make all men see what is God’s management of His household in accordance to the mystery”. In order to understand the management of God’s household in the dispensation of the mystery, we must understand what that mystery was. That mystery is explained in verse six and will be discussed below.

MYSTERY

The Greek word translated mystery is “musteerion” and it occurs 27 times in the New Testament. I believe that I Tim. 3:16 will give us a basic understanding of the meaning of “musteerion”. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Sprit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory”. Paul writes of the “mystery of godliness”. What was that mystery? He goes on to explain exactly what it is. Let us consider the first part of this mystery of godliness. “God manifest in the flesh”. That God would be manifest in the flesh is a truth that had been alluded to in the Old Testament, but not understood until it was fully revealed in the New Testament. We read in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”. This verse is, of course, referring to Jesus Christ, Who was “God manifest in the flesh”. This verse in Matthew one is a quote from Is. 7:13-15. So what does this tell us about the meaning of “musteerion”? It tells us that it was something that was not understood until it was fully revealed.

As one examines the other mysteries of the New Testament it is clear that a mystery was something that had not been understood until the proper time for its meaning to be revealed. The mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven were also mysteries that had been alluded to in the Old Testament but not understood until the proper time. As we read in Matthew 13:11 our Lord’s answer to the question put to Him by His disciples as to why He spoke to the crowds in parables, “He answered and said unto them ‘Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given”. And as we look at just one of these mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, it will be clear that they had indeed been alluded to in the Old Testament. Consider for example the mystery of the kingdom of Heaven as explained in the parable of the “tares of the field”. Matthew 13:38-42 is explained, in essence, in verse 41, “Then the Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity”. Compare this with Ezek. 20:38 where we read of the judgment of Israel at His coming. “And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against Me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel….”.

So then we have learned that a mystery was something that in many cases was written about, but not understood until God chose to reveal it.

In terms of understanding dispensational truth, it is imperative that the student of God’s Word understands that all but one mystery mentioned in the New Testament had been alluded to in the Old Testament. That one exception is the one that had been hid in God until He revealed to the apostle Paul. Eph. 3:9 reads, “And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. We read of this one mystery that had been hid in God in Col. 1:26 also. “Even the mystery which hath been hid from the ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints”.

It is clear therefore, that a mystery was something that was not understood until God revealed its meaning. But we must bear in mind that only one mystery was hid in God. That mystery will be explained in the section below. It is the dispensation of the mystery.

THE DISPENSATION OF THE MYSTERY

Eph. 3:9, “And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery“. As stated above, we might paraphrase this verse to read, “to make all men see what is the management of God’s household in accordance with the mystery”. What is this mystery spoken of in verse 9? Verse 6 explains exactly what the mystery was that had been hid in God and revealed to Paul to preach to the Gentiles.

Eph. 3:6. “That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel”. The three Greek words translated “fellow-heirs”, “same body” and “partakers” are, “sunkleronoma”, “sunsoma” and “sunmetocha” respectively. Note that each begins with the preposition “sun”. Appendix 104 in the Companion Bible gives the definition of “sun” as:  “denotes proximity to and hence conjunction or coherence”.  Webster’s Dictionary defines “conjunction” as, “state of being conjoined; union”. Otis Q. Sellers defines “sun” in these words, “Literally ..means ‘together’, and while it is often translated ‘with’, it denotes a far more intimate association then is expressed by ‘with”.

The correct definition of the prefix “sun” plus the fact that “sunsoma” is a plural adjective makes it clear that “same body” is not the best translation of “sunsoma”. That is to say, because “sun” means “conjoined” or “union” etc., and because “sunsoma” is a plural adjective, obviously there must be more than one “body” that is joined together. In the translation “same body” there is no sense of joining together and no sense of the plurality of the adjective.  A better translation of “sunsoma” is “joint bodies”.  The question is then: who, or what, is joined to whom or what?

To help us answer that question we should note that the adjective “sunsoma” agrees with the noun “ethnos”, translated “Gentiles” in Eph. 3:6, so “ethnos” are fellow-heirs etc. Once we determine what is meant by “ethnos” we will understand what is joined together.  “Ethnos” occurs 164 times and is translated “Gentiles” 93 times, “nations” 64 times, “Heathen 5 times and “people” 2 times. Does the Greek “ethnos” in Eph. 3:6 mean individual Gentiles or does it mean nations?  In order to answer that question we must first understand that the prefix “sun” as it is used in Ephesians 3:6 gives us one of the most profound truths of the Bible.

That truth is that 1) ethnos are joint-heirs, i.e. none are favored over another, 2) ethnos are joint bodies, none are favored over another. 3) ethnos are joint partakers of the promises in Christ; i.e. none are partaking of promises made to another. So then “ethnos” are joined together as equals.

Eph. 3:6 is the mystery that was hid in God from before the creation of the world. Is Paul saying in this verse that individual Gentiles are equal with individual Gentiles?  That is not the mystery that had been hid in God.  Shall we, as the NIV does, add the phrase “with Israel”?  That is sound doctrinally, but not true to the translation of the original Greek. I suggest that in Eph. 3:6, “ethnos” should be translated, as the NIV Greek Interlinear New Testament does as “nations”.  Once we understand that it is nations, not individual Gentiles who are joint heirs, joint bodies and joint partakers, then we have before us a secret hid in God that is one of the most profound secrets ever revealed in terms of God’s purpose for the ages.  That secret is that nations are joint-heirs, joint-bodies and joint-partakers with all other nations.  The revelation of that secret represents a remarkable change in the status of the Gentile nations in God’s sight.

For further evidence that “ethnos” in Eph. 3:6 should be translated not “Gentiles”, but “nations” let us consider the Greek word “sunsoma”.  “Soma” is the Greek word for “body”.  It is used in the sense of what we generally think of as the body, as in Matthew 6:22 where we read, “The light of the body is in the eye”.  It is also used in the sense of a unit. We use “body” in this way when we speak of a “governing body” or a “student body”.  In the Bible we also find “soma” used in this way for example in, Romans 12:5 where we read, “we ……are one body in Christ”.  See also I Cor. 10:16 and 17, Eph. 1:23, 2:16 etc.

What is important in terms of our present study is that “soma” is never used for a person.  Some may at times use the phrase “a body can’t be too careful”.  In that phrase we are using the word “body” to stand for the whole person.  The Greek “soma” however, is never used in that way, it is never used in the Bible to mean the whole person.  Bearing in mind that “soma” is never used of an individual person, I believe that we may conclude that in the context of Eph. 3:6, “joint bodies” refers not to individual Gentiles joined together, but to joint nations.

Let us try to summarize what we have learned by a different translation of Eph. 3:6, one that more accurately represents the meaning of the original Greek. “That the nations should be joint (equal) heirs, joint bodies (equal nations) and joint (equal) partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel”.

I said earlier that this was a profound truth. Let us examine the profundity of this truth.  From the call of Abraham to the end of the Acts period (not counting the years in which Israel was “lo-ammi”) Israel was the apple of God’s eye.  She was His treasure, His beloved etc.  In other words Israel enjoyed a status of favored nation in God’s sight which meant all other nations were, in a dispensational sense, not equal with Israel.  (Individual Gentiles were saved by grace through faith, just as individual Israelites were, but as nations they were not equal, in God’s sight, to Israel.)

How then did the situation change from Israel being favored among all nations to all nations being “joint-heirs”, “joint-partakers” and most importantly to “joint- bodies?  The answer to that question is that Israel was set aside, i.e. became, once again lo-ammi, “not My people”.  Just as in the Old Testament, when Israel’s sins became so unbearable to God, He put them aside, so too, after their continuing rejection of Him for the 33 years of the Acts period, He put them side again.

The mystery that had been hid in God then, is that all nations would be equal with each other, there is no favored nation above any other. The dispensation of the mystery is God’s managing His household in such a way as to be in accordance with the fact that all nations are equal.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

Eph. 3:4, “Whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ”. . What can we learn of the “mystery of Christ”?  The phrase, “mystery of Christ” occurs also in Col. 4:3, “…praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds“. Paul was in bonds for preaching the mystery of Christ. By determining the specific reasons for Paul’s bonds, we may then determine what the mystery of Christ is.

We read in Acts chapters 21-25 of Paul’s experiences that resulted in his being put in bonds. In Acts 21:27-28 we read of the first step in Paul’s imprisonment. “And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him (Paul) in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out: ‘Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place and further, brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place“. So then, the first step that led to Paul’s imprisonment was the false accusation that he had taught things contrary to the law and had polluted the temple by bringing Greeks into it.

In Acts 22:21 we read the close of Paul’s arguments to the Jews. “And He said unto me, ‘Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles“. And verse 22 describes their reaction to that statement. “And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not fit that he should live”. Here again, we learn that the reason for Paul’s bonds was that he preached to the Gentiles.

In Acts 23 we read of Paul’s discourse to the council of Jews. Verse 6, “But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question”.

In Acts 23:29 we read of the letter written by a soldier to Felix about Paul’s being sent to Felix, which reads in part, “Whom (Paul) I perceived to be accused of questions of their law….”.

We learn from the Scriptures quoted above that Paul was placed in bonds because he was being falsely accused of teaching things contrary to the Law of Moses: and because he had supposedly polluted the temple by bringing Greeks into that part of the temple in which they were not allowed. Another reason for his bonds was that he was preaching the resurrection of the dead.

Let us continue our study of the mystery of Christ by considering other passages in which Paul speaks of his bonds. In Phil 1:12-18 we read of Paul’s account of how his being in bonds has led to the “furtherance of the gospel” (1:13). To which gospel was Paul referring? In verses 14 and 15 Paul writes of those who “preach Christ” (verse 15) some for honest reasons and others out of contention. In verse 18 he sums up the two and writes, “..…whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached“.

We learn from this passage in Philippians chapter one, that Paul’s imprisonment led others to “preach Christ”. The subject of this entire passage is the preaching of Christ. We must conclude then, that the reason Paul was in prison was because of the preaching of Christ.

We read in Eph. 6:19-20, “….that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds….”. Again, we must ask, for which gospel was Paul in bonds? That answer is found in II Tim. 2:8-9, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds…”. The only gospel that we are told Paul was in bonds for, was “my gospel”. “My gospel” was the preaching of Christ as the Son of David and the preaching of the resurrection of the dead. Paul also writes of “my gospel in Romans 2:16, “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel”. He also mentions it Romans 16:25, “Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and (should be “even”) the preaching of Jesus Christ ….”. So the phrase “my gospel” includes resurrection and judgment.

We learned in the section above on the definition of the word “musteerion” (translated “mystery”) that a mystery was something that had not been understood, even though it may have been alluded to in the Old Testament. Bearing in mind that Paul refers to “my gospel” as “the preaching of Jesus Christ” in Romans 16:25, let us consider Luke 18:31-34, “Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again’. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from the, neither knew they the things which were spoken”.

I believe that we may conclude with confidence that the mystery of Christ includes the gospel of His death and resurrection but it does not include the dispensation of the mystery which had been hid in God.

CHURCH

The Greek word translated “church” is “ekkleesia”. It is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew “kahal”. We read it first in Gen. 28:3, “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude (kahal) of people”. “Kahal occurs 128 times: rendered ‘multitude‘; 3, ‘ assembly’ 17, ‘congregation’ 86, ‘company‘ 17: (quoted from the Companion Bible note on the word “”multitude” in Gen. 28:3).

The Greek “ekkleesia” is used in Acts 7:38 of Israel in the wilderness. “This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel Which spake to him in the mount Sinia, and with our fathers; who received the lively oracles to give unto us.”

“Ekkleesia is used of a local church as in, among many places, Acts 8:1 which speaks of the “church that was at Jerusalem”.

It is used of the called out ones of the Acts period in Acts 2:47, “the Lord added to the church daily”.

Basically “ekkleesia” is a group that is called out.

THE CHURCH OF GOD

In the section above we saw that a church is a group of ones called out. In this section we will examine the phrase “church of God”.

The first occurrence of the phrase “church of God” is found in Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood”. Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus (see verse 17). He exhorts them, in this passage to take care of the believers in Ephesus. Therefore, it is clear that in this passage, “the church of God” refers to the believers of Ephesus.

In I Cor. 1:2 Paul writes to the “church of God which is at Corinth”. Here too, it is clear that the phrase used of a local church.

In I Cor. 15:9 and Gal. 1:13 Paul writes that he had persecuted the church of God. That would be all believers of the Acts period, before Saul came to the knowledge of the truth as to who Christ is.

In I Tim. 3 Paul writes of what a bishop should be; and in verse 5 he writes, “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” Here again the phrase is used of a local church, but by extension, can be interpreted as applying to all local churches.

What conclusions can be drawn from the scriptural use of the phrase “church of God”? I believe that we can say without fear of contradiction that the phrase “church of God” is used in the same way as is the word “church”. It therefore, in and of itself, has no particular dispensational implications. The phrase is used apart from any dispensational implications. It means simply a group called out by God.

THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY

Eph. 1:22-23, “And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him That filleth all in all.” The church, which is His body is the out-calling of all believers of the dispensation of the mystery.

What else can we learn of the church, which is His body? In Eph. 5:23 we read that “Christ is the head of the church and He is the Savior of the body”. And in Col. 1:18 we read again that “He is the Head of the body, the church”.

In Eph. 3:10 we learn of God’s eternal purpose for the church which is His body, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be know by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Just as Israel was to be a witness to the nations of the earth (see I Peter 2:9) so the church which is His body will be a witness to beings in heavenly places.

This paper was written by Joyce Pollard.

I would like to hear your comments. Please e-mail me at:[email protected]