REFORMED THEOLOGY, DISPENSATIONALISM, FUNDAMENTALISM, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
I grew up around people that removed and gave their love for you based on whether or not you did or didn’t agree with what they believed theologically. My Dad threatened to kick me out for getting an ESV study Bible, my Pastor fired me for fellowshipping with Charismatics, and a Bible Study I led in High school asked me to step down from teaching when I defended a free-grace gospel.
So, you could say Theology has been a hot topic in my life. It wasn’t my choice. It’s just the way its been. So, for a long time, it has been very difficult to be willing to say what I believe. But, after about 8 years of the fight, I’m ready. So, here it is.
First, I’ve learned that in the denotative sense, I’m a fundamentalist. I always thought of blue jean skirts, Hymnals, and legalism when I heard that word growing up. Through classes at my Bible College, I’ve learned that these five points are all Fundamentalism means.
Jesus was born supernaturally by a Virgin.
Christ’s death on the cross was a substitutionary atonement for the death believers deserve.
The miracles Jesus performed in the Bible actually happened.
All Scripture is true.
Christ not only died on the cross, he raised from the dead three days later.
Key fundamentalists later added three more points to this list, which main-stream evangelicals do not affirm. But, as it pertains to the original, core-five, I am a fundamentalist.
Just for clarity sake, the three points I do not affirm are points 6-8, which say this":
6. Christ will return to Earth before he establishes his 1,000 year reign (for those of you who are theologically versed, this would be pre-mil dispensationalism).
7. The church is to be separated from the world in a way that makes close friendship with unbelievers a sin.
8. Our only concern as believers is for people’s soul’s, not their physical needs.
Instead, I hold the evangelical position on these three points.
6. Christ reigns now, spiritually. For believers, we are in his kingdom the moment we believe in him. It is a spiritual kingdom lasting from now to all of eternity. It has already begun. (For those of you that are theologically versed, this is the covenant/reformed perspective of Christ’s Kingship.)
7. The members of the church should be in fellowship with one another, but should also be missionally engaged with the world. We are to be in the world but not of it. (This is the general evangelical position, which is particularly supported by South Eastern Seminary.)
8. Jesus commands us to meet spiritual and physical needs. We are to be concerned for the soul and the body, not separate the two. (This is a general evangelical position, as well as a more reformed position.)
So, I’ve found myself to be very conservative in these matters.
I’ve also found myself to vary greatly from traditional Southern Baptist teachings.
In contrast to the Dispensationalist bent that has grasped the majority of southern baptist churches until recent more reformed days, I find my view of the Bible to be more covenantal in the following ways.
While the dispensationalist camp advocates a more black and white Hermeneutic, I believe addressing every scripture in this fashion is not nearly adequate for such a complicated text. There are numerous genres of literature in the cannon, ranging from Historical narrative to wisdom literature to epistles. Each genre carries different literary signs and techniques, some of which carry inherently more allegorical or metaphorical interpretations. Such black and white reading eliminates room for literary genres, metaphor, and simile within the Bible. (This perspective I have taken is the perspective taught in the Christian Studies department at my school.)
Because of this Hermeneutic, I find myself leaning towards the covenant camp on replacement theology. For those of you not familiar with this term, it is the belief that the church today (the NT church) is symbolic of ancient Israel (OT). While I respect the dispensational desire for the prophecies God made to Israel in the OT to be fulfilled literally, I do not believe that advocating for the symbolic fulfillment of these prophecies in the NT church is a lack of faith. I think that it is simply a different interpretation, which places—I believe—the same level of emphasis on the church that the NT does.
I respect the dispensational desire to specifically break the Bible into seven different dispensations. However, I think creating seven dispensations instead of two or three, as covenant and new covenant theology does, dilutes the focus on Jesus. I believe covenant/reformed theology’s Old Covenant and New Covenant simply lend to a more Jesus-centered break-up of the Bible.
So, having found myself reformed and fundamental. I turn to Charismatic theology. Here, I find myself in the same camp as John Piper, Frances Chan, David Platt, and most of all Matt Chandler.
I lean towards being a reformed-charismatic, as Matt Chandler calls himself. I believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today. I am not a “cessationist” like John McArthur.
There is simply no cessassionist argument that I find convincing.
Of the arguments I have studied, these are the most prominent:
Sign gifts stopped with the close of the Biblical cannon.
Sign gifts stopped at the end of the Apostolic age.
Sign gifts stopped when Jesus came.
There is only one baptism.
Here is why I strongly disagree with all four.
While I am not a dispensationalist, I affirm some dispensational principles just like any covenant theologian would. I do believe God acts differently depending on the dispensation from which He is ruling. In the Bible, every covenant or dispensation shift we see is marked by MAJOR spiritual events that are clearly initiated by God. In order to say that we are in a different dispensation than the dispensation of the NT, there would have to be one of such major events. The Council of Trent or the “close of the cannon” was SO CLEARLY a man-inspired event. I simply do not see it creating the “hubbub” that other dispensational shifts in the Bible did. I think to say our age is different than the NT age places FAR too much emphasis on man. I think John Piper defends this position well.
To say that the gifts stopped after the last apostle could be more convincing. Yet, there are simply too many passages in the Bible (Not just Acts) that prescriptively ascribe casting out demons, healing, and prophesying. You cannot read the Bible and not see these things. Ephesians 4 in particular also prescribes the role of Apostle to us today. This is why the International Mission Board (IMB) promotes apostolic church planting. No, we are not the same as Paul. But yes, we have the same power and authority (Mathew 28, Luke 10).
When Paul wrote to Corinth, prescribing the gifts, Jesus had already come. 1 Cor. 13:10 says that “When the perfect comes” these things will cease. The future tense of “comes” indicates that this event has not happened yet. 1 Cor. 13:12 says that when the perfect comes we will see “face-to-face.” Clearly, this it makes more sense for this to be a reference to Jesus’ glorified body coming back, not the close of a Biblical text.
Ephesians four six does say there is one baptism. But, don’t take it out of context. It says there is one faith, and one Spirit and one Baptism. And, the passage is talking about unity of believers. It means taht the baptism we experience is in the same singular family of believers, not that there must be only one baptism. I think John Piper’s sermon “You Must Be Baptized in the Holy Spirit” and Frances Chan’s testimony repenting from discrediting Spirit baptism also should make anyone considering denying Spirit Baptism pause.
So, there it is, 8 years of theological arguments and deliberation. All written out for good. If this isn’t where you fall, I still love you. If it is, cool. But if you’ve never realized how much common ground there is between these parties, I hope this helps you be more unified with the church. Obviously this post was 10/10 theological jargon, but I figure if any of these issues have caused you trouble you know the jargon or at least some of it. If you’ve been burned by someone who didn’t believe a particular side of any of these debates and want to figure out where you stand without being judged, I’d love to talk! I know the struggle.
My number is 8039841792. :)
Photo: Katie Kesey
