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See article one here, article two here, and article three here.

Critique #3- Dispensationalism Has No Concept of the Law/Gospel Distinction in Scripture 

By way of drawing this article to a conclusion, the third and final critique of Dispensationalism’s approach to interpreting Scripture will center upon its non-existent conception of the Law/Gospel distinction.[1] Due to Dispensationalism’s refusal to acknowledge that the Bible explicitly portrays a covenant of redemption, covenant of works and covenant of grace, adherents to this system of theology tend to struggle with articulating how God’s Law, the Gospel and “good works” interrelate to the Christian life.[2] For the sake of the reader’s clarification, it is vital for each of the terms, as mentioned earlier, to be lucidly defined. 

First, consider the covenantal macrostructure of Scripture-

• The covenant of redemption (pactum salutis) refers to the eternal plan of redemption made between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Isa. 53:10-12; John 17:4, 6; Titus 1:1-3). In this eternal covenant, every person whom Jesus Christ would redeem in time was chosen in Him before the universe was ever created (Eph. 1:3-14). As shown below, the requirements and fulfillment of the covenant of works and covenant of grace were planned in eternity past within this intra-trinitarian pact. 

• The covenant of works refers to the agreement that God made with Adam in the Garden of Eden (Isa. 24:1-6; Hos. 6:7). Acting as future mankind’s representative head, Adam was given a clear command from God: eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and die; abstain from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and enjoy eternal, unblemished fellowship with God (Gen. 2:16-17). The basic principle embedded within the pre-Fall covenant of works continues to have direct application to all of humanity’s relationship to God: “obey God perfectly and live; fail to do so and perish” (Gal. 3:10-12). After Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, not only are all of humanity regarded as guilty of Adam’s sin before God, but we are all sinners by nature (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:12-14). Thus, all of humanity enters into a covenant of works relationship with God by virtue of their mutual descent from Adam and by virtue of their own individual responsibility to love and obey God perfectly throughout the totality of their life (Matt. 22:34-40). 

• The covenant of grace refers to the one plan of redemption that is manifested throughout the Bible: God saves sinners by His grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Gen. 3:15; 12:1-3; Ex. 34:28; Jer. 31:31-37; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). Said differently, it is the orchestration of the divine solution whereby sinners can enjoy a right relationship with the triune God in Christ. In the covenant of grace, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ (the second Adam) is credited to all who will ever be saved by virtue of His perfect life, substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven (Rom. 4:23-25). Because Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the stipulations of the covenant of works (perfect obedience to God) during His life and bore the penalty of the elect’s sin in His person on the cross, all those who belong to Him are reconciled to God and come to enter into an eternal relationship with Him as sons in the covenant of grace (John 1:12; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 John 3:1-2). Where Adam failed as mankind’s representative head in the covenant of works, Christ perfectly succeeded on behalf of His people so that they might enjoy the eternal blessings offered in the covenant of grace: the New Covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). 

It is only in view of the Bible’s covenantal macrostructure that the Law/Gospel distinction can be accurately understood by the interpreter of God’s Word. As alluded to above, the central principle governing the covenant of works, as taught throughout Scripture, is “do this and live.”[3] In defending God’s free grace offered in the Gospel against the Judaizers, the Apostle Paul rightly observed from the Old Testament that the one who does not abide by all things written in the law is under divine judgment (Gal. 3:10). Perfect love for God and obedience to His commandments has been the divine standard for mankind, regardless of if he lives in a pre-Fall or post-Fall world. Jesus Himself reiterated this principle on multiple occasions throughout His earthly ministry, indicating the perpetual nature of the covenant of works for all human beings (Matt. 5:48; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 17:6-10). The Bible makes abundantly clear that the thrice-holy God will not negotiate His perfect righteousness under any circumstances (Hab. 1:13; 1 John 1:5). Thus, the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a). 

But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:23b). This declaration from the pen of the Apostle Paul gets to the heart of the Gospel. The word “Gospel” simply means “Good News.” This precious term is used copiously throughout the New Testament record and was a very familiar concept during the first century. In the ancient Roman Empire, armies would often send runners to carry Word of the outcome of battles back home.[4] Watchmen would be stationed at the outskirts of their respective cities, eagerly anticipating the arrival of these messengers with the hope that they would bring with them “good news”; a “Gospel.”

Interestingly enough, it was those runners who would deliver “Good News” to their hometowns that were said to be “evangelists,” and it is this exact idea that the Apostle Paul illustrates in Romans 10:15 (cf. Isa. 52:7)- “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news of good things!” A word study considering how the term “Gospel” is utilized throughout Scripture, coupled with its ancient utilization, is a terrific place to start in seeking to precisely define the Gospel. In summation, the Gospel is the declaration of: 

1. Who Jesus Christ is: The second person of the triune God (truly God- Titus 2:13) who was born of a virgin in the fullness of time (Matt. 1:18-25), took on flesh (Gal. 4:4-5) and lived a perfect life without sin (truly man- Heb. 4:15). 
2. What Jesus Christ has accomplished on behalf of His people: Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross (Mark 15:37) and bore the wrath of God in the place of every sinner that would ever place their faith in Him so that they could be forgiven by their holy Creator for every sin committed against Him (2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 Pet. 3:18). For every Christian, Jesus was treated on the cross as if He lived their life of sin so that we could be treated by God for all of eternity future as if we had lived His perfect, sinless life (Rom. 5:16-21). After His death, Jesus was buried and raised from the dead three days later to perfectly fulfill the prophecies about Him recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures (Ps. 16:10-11; Acts 2:31; 1 Cor. 15:4). Some 40 days after His bodily resurrection and having appeared before more than 500 people (1 Cor. 15:6), Jesus ascended to the right hand of God in Heaven where He presently rules and reigns as the victorious King of kings and Lord of lords until He returns to Earth to judge the living and the dead (Acts 2:33-36). 
3. How the perfect merits of Jesus Christ are imputed to all who come to saving faith in Him: The glory of the Gospel is that God accepts payment for our sin by a substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly takes on the infinite debt for the sin of all those who will ever place their faith in Him as Lord and Savior (Rom. 3:21-28). The Gospel promises that all who come to saving faith in Jesus Christ are declared righteous in the sight of God, who willingly and freely accepts the payment for the sin of all Christians through the perfect sacrifice of His Son made on their behalf at the cross (Rom. 5:6-11). 

Thus, the Gospel is not something that we do (Law). Instead, it is the declaration of something that has already been done on behalf of all who will ever repent of their sins and come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (grace). This truth is the essence and importance of the Law/Gospel distinction. Historically, Reformed theologians have observed that the Law of God—as recorded in Scripture—has three designated uses. R. Scott Clark helpfully summarizes the Reformed convictions on how the law operates in Scripture and throughout the world at large[5]:

1. The Pedagogical Use of the Law: This use of God’s moral law (as summarized in the 10 Commandments) drives sinners to Jesus Christ. The law in its first use applies only to unbelievers because Believers… have been given the grace of faith and who, through that faith are united to Christ, are credited by God with Christ’s whole (active and suffering) obedience and thus are reckoned as righteous before God. A Believer cannot be under the law in its first use (Rom. 6:14-15; 11:6). 
2. The Civil Use of the Law: The civil use of the law is the application of God’s moral law to public or civil life. God’s moral law, revealed in creation and known by our senses and in our consciences, [is used to] guide civil society [in a general sense] (Rom. 2:14-15; 13:6). 
3. The Moral Use of the Law: The moral use of the law is shaped by God’s moral law. The denial of this third use of the law is called Antinomianism. The law is holy and good. In Christ, the terrors of the law having been satisfied for us by Christ’s righteousness and now that we live in union with Christ, by the Spirit, under grace, the law is a gift to us, and the Spirit does use it to sanctify us. It is impossible for a Christian to deny the abiding validity of the moral law because it is by the law that sin is defined (1 John 3:4). 

Thus, in its pedagogical sense, the law tells unbelievers what they must do to exemplify a lifestyle that is pleasing to God: ascribe perfect obedience to His holy precepts. In this first sense, God’s Law does not provide sinful humanity with the power or ability to please God in and of themselves. But after having been “tutored” by this first use of the holy Law of God, sinners can ultimately receive rest for their souls in being directed to believe the Gospel message (Gal. 3:23-29). The Gospel discloses the reality that salvation is by faith alone, and the Gospel is the very power of God that brings about the faith that saves (Rom. 1:16-17). Making this crucial distinction between Law and Gospel is imperative to rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), enabling Christians to avoid what Theodore Beza called “one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted [Christianity prior to the Reformation] and still corrupts Christianity [to the present day].”[6] Tragically, Dispensationalists have greatly botched the Law/Gospel distinction over the past 200 years. 

For those within Classical and Modified Dispensationalism circles, the Law of God has zero relevance for the Christian. In his book, Balancing the Christian Life, Charles Ryrie emphatically endorses this heretical perspective by stating, “the law (referring to every aspect thereof) was never given to Gentiles and is expressly done away for the Christian.”[7] This troubling viewpoint advocated throughout Classical and Modified Dispensationalism is utterly untenable with the totality of Scripture’s teaching about God’s Law and represents a graphic example of Antinomianism by virtue of denying the law’s third use.[8] In response to the erroneous position expressed by Ryrie, Keith Mathison offers a thorough Biblical refutation in his work, Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God? 

[Ryrie’s] claim cannot be substantiated Biblically. Throughout Scripture there is only one         ultimate standard to which God holds not only Jews, but also ‘the stranger’ among them (Lev. 24:22), ‘the nations’ (Ps. 9:4-5), ‘the world’ (Ps. 9:7-8)—that is, Gentiles. Paul           writes that ‘whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God’ (Rom. 3:19)… In many other passages, Scripture teaches that non-Israelites have the same moral standards as Israelites and that they are punished for breaking them (e.g., Lev. 18:24-27; 2 Kings 17:24-41; Ps. 119:118-119; Prov. 14:34; 16:12; 17:15; Isa. 10:1; 24:5-6, 15; Dan.       4:24-25; Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). All people of all ages and all nations are subject to the moral Law of God. Dispensationalism’s relativistic doctrine of the law implies that God has a double standard of justice.[9]

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was heated debate amongst Dispensationalists regarding the relationship that good works ought to have in the Christian life. This debate would eventually come to be labeled “the Lordship Salvation Controversy.”[10] Men like Zane Hodges, Charles Ryrie and Dwight Pentecost went so far as to argue that good works were not necessary whatsoever in the life of a Believer.[11] Conversely, to provide a sharp correction to his Dispensational contemporaries, John MacArthur would go on to swing the pendulum too far in the opposite direction.[12] In his noteworthy treatise, The Gospel According to Jesus, MacArthur’s novel definition of faith, unintentionally set himself outside the bounds of Protestant orthodoxy on this central doctrine. 

[There are] three elements to genuine faith: an intellectual element (notitia), which is the          understanding of truth; an emotional element (assensus), which is the conviction and affirmation of truth; and a volitional element (fiducia), which is the determination of the will to obey truth. Modern popular theology tends to recognize notitia and often assensus, but eliminates fiducia. Yet faith is not complete unless it is obedient.[13] 

MacArthur’s definition of faith as including repentance or as needing obedience to be “complete” showcased his ignorance of how the Bible conveys the threefold use of the law.[14] Repentance and obedience are necessary consequences of faith, but they are not in any way faith itself. Moreover, the collective failure of MacArthur to carefully define terms throughout The Gospel According to Jesus led to millions of readers being exposed to a gross misrepresentation of the historically Reformed consensus of how faith should be defined (Biblically and theologically speaking). Unfortunately, the aftermath of the so-called “Lordship Salvation Controversy” did not result in any final resolution between interlocutors. 

Both sides would continue to talk past one another for the better part of two decades and, in doing so, further amplify the sizable confusion that existed within broader Dispensationalism at the conclusion of the twentieth century.[15] It is not an exaggeration to state that nearly 30-40 years later, significant ignorance about Scripture’s Law/Gospel distinction continues to dominate Dispensationalism in every variety- Classical, Modified and Progressive.[16] Sadly, there has yet to be any respectable work done by Dispensationalists in this critical area of Biblical hermeneutics, and this will likely continue to be the case so long as Dispensationalists continue to reject the covenantal macrostructure of God’s Word. 

While there is certainly much more that could be said regarding the hermeneutics of Dispensationalism, it is the author’s sincere prayer that each of the three critiques presented in this article will facilitate fruitful discussion amongst Dispensationalists and non-Dispensationalists alike. May the triune God use any future conversations on the subjects addressed within this article to further solidify His people in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Pet. 3:18).

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[1]           Keith A. Mathison, Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God? (Phillipsburg, PA: P & R Publishing Co., 1995), Pages 90-93.

[2]           Michael Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), Page 80.

[3]           https://reformation-today.org/articles-of-interest/the-covenant-of-works/.

[4]           https://content.wtsbooks.com/shopify/pdf_links/9781567696141Full.pdf.

[5]           https://heidelblog.net/2013/07/law-and-gospel-and-the-third-use-of-the-law/.

[6]           https://heidelblog.net/2014/05/yes-virginia-there-is-a-law-gospel-distinction/.

[7]           Charles C. Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), Page 88.

[8]           https://heidelblog.net/2018/04/are-believers-under-the-law-as-a-schoolmaster/.

[9]           Keith A. Mathison, Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God? (Phillipsburg, PA: P & R Publishing Co., 1995), Page 88.

[10]         https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/must-jesus-lord/.

[11]         Michael Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), Pages 81-105.

[12]         Michael Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), Page 105.

[13]         John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), Page 173.

[14]         https://agradio.org/the-gospel-according-to-jesus-grace-salvation-and-sanctification.

[15]         Michael Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008, Page 95.

[16]         https://mereorthodoxy.com/an-evangelical-response-to-the-statement-on-social-justice-and-the-gospel/.