Fundamental Concepts of ‘Rightly Dividing’ the Truth
‘Rightly Dividing’ the Truth is not a man-made concept. It is as scriptural as can be! God’s Word instructs us to rightly divide the truth. Yes, you heard correctly, …rightly DIVIDE up the truth, cutting asunder that doctrine, which is specific to Israel from that doctrine, which is addressed to, and for, ALL nations.
Paul, the apostle chosen by Jesus Himself (Acts 9:15), to take a new message of grace and hope to the Gentiles (Gal.1:1–5; Rom.11:13), tells Timothy in his last epistle, to rightly divide the truth. It was not a suggestion; it was a command (2 Tim.2:15). Paul was saying that one should keep apart that which belongs to Israel from that which belongs to Gentiles.
Today however, this is not being actively taught in our churches. Right division is ignored, and their cherry-picked portions of scripture are all blended together to produce some religion that God never intended. Churches today overlook the simplicity of the Word, the epistles written to them, and lead their members into a false narrative that is peppered with doctrine, customs, and ordinances, that are not meant for them.
OK, before I get myself too emotionally invested, let's get back to the facts of right division. The division between Israel and the Body of Christ is the key to rightly dividing, and the most fundamental way one applies this key is to separate prophecy from mystery, and law from grace. There are many other components to this, but it starts with these foundational concepts.
I’ll end this post with some scriptures to prove the clear validity of dispensational divisions.
Prophecy and mystery is one of the primary divisions and is clearly identified in the Word. All the way through the Old Testament and Gospels, and even into the beginning of Acts we find references to prophecy which has been proclaimed by prophets since the world began. It is only in Paul's epistles where we find the revealing of mysteries; mysteries which have been kept secret since the world began, but now (at the point when Paul wrote them) are revealed to the world. (see Deut.29:29)
These two passages were spoken during the prophetic period (under law) in our timeline.
Luke 1:67-71 Now his [John] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 and has raised up a horn [strength, might, conquering] of salvation [Jesus, the Messiah] for us in the house of His servant David, 70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, ...
Acts 3:19-25 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'
These two passages were written by Paul during the mystery period (under grace) in our timeline.
Romans 16:25-26 Now to Him [Christ] who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, ...
Colossians 1:25-27 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Can you see the difference in the language and the phrases. The contrast is clear and confirming that there is a dispensational change that has happened between the Old Testament and Gospels and the writings of Paul. Let's reiterate this point one more time,
...which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began...
vs
...according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, ...
Something spoken out is not a 'secret' or mystery! The prophets spoke out and made things known about God's plans since the beginning of the world. On the other hand, we have a mystery, something secret that was kept from the understanding of man since the world began, but now, at the time of Paul, was suddenly revealed to humanity. The one is diametrically opposed to the other! These two ideas expressed here cannot be combined! The only explanation is a change in administration. God was dealing with humanity differently from one dispensation to the other.
It is up to us to recognize this concept and to apply this knowledge in our Bible study. When we do, scripture suddenly becomes real and clear. When we don't, scripture is confusing and difficult. If you have made it to the end of this post, and you are new to this topic, I encourage you investigate this further. Don’t allow others to make choices for you. Don’t put up barriers until you have fully studied this and compared scripture with scripture to discover this truth for yourself.
Continue reading here to understand divisions of time past, ages to come, and but now.
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