You Will Eat Your Dispensations and You Will Like Them!

[Covenanter]

No, dispensations are the logical way of explaining why God would tell one person one thing in the Bible, and another person 1,000 years later the complete opposite. Without a working understanding of dispensations, you won’t know what to believe.

We have to be aware that old covenant regulations were for the nation as a whole, as a carnal body, for the good order & government of the nation of Israel, whereas the church operates under the new covenant, & comprises believers who do not need regulated behaviour - we are a spiritual body.

You can, of course, call that OC & NC dispensations.

Paul explains this in 2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

You could consider those ministrations as disps, but the Gk there is diaconate. i.e the OC is "the dispensation of the letter, while the NC is the dispensation of the Spirit."

We should look for the spiritual significance of the teaching under the OC, & in particular, its teaching concerning Christ himself & Christian living.

When we read the epistles, that is exactly what the Apostles do when they quote & apply the OT. Edited October 10, 2010 by Covenanter

[Covenanter]

Your first 5 dispensations are exactly the same as Scofield's.
1. INNOCENCE (See Scofield "Genesis 1:28")
2. CONSCIENCE (See Scofield "Genesis 3:23")
3. Human Government (See Scofield "Genesis 8:21")
4. PROMISE (See Scofield "Genesis 12:1")
5. LAW (See Scofield "Exodus 19:8")
6. GRACE (See Scofield "John 1:17")
7. KINGDOM (See Scofield "Ephesians 1:10")

You divide his last two into:
6. The Apostolic Age.
7. Church Age.
8. Tribulation.
9. Millennium.
10. Everlasting Kingdom.

I have already pointed out that Scofield's division of 4/5 is absolutely false:

The Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law Exodus 19:8. Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage Exodus 19:4 but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law.

Utter nonsense. God had made promises to Abraham, and he was fulfilling them by bringing the people out of Egypt into the promised land. Heb. 11 shows how Abraham understood those promises in a spiritual way, nevertheless, God fulfilled his word literally. As Abraham's believing seed, we inherit the spiritual promises. (Gal. 3)

You point out "NOBody stands a chance without God’s grace being involved in their life." Every disp is therefore a Disp of Grace. Could there be a disp when "grace through faith" were not the way of salvation. Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Heb. 11 underlines that.

[Covenanter]

You follow Scofield when you say, "Every dispensation has a different test of OBedience, and in every dispensation man fails the jOB, other than the last one."

On the contrary, every "disp" requires repentance & faith at a personal level, & a walk with God, like Enoch. Heb. 11 shows that in every disp there were those who walked with God by faith, despite the failure of those around them. While Adam had a specific command, he was required to walk with God.

There is one very significant area you haven't covered in your contrasting the OT disps with the new. The promises to Israel as a nation. Should we consider promises such as EZ. 36 to be yet future, for the natural descendants of Abraham, or, bearing in mind that they are NEVER repeated in the NT, to refer to the church & ultimately the NH&NE - the dispensation of the fulness of times.

Ezek. 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them].
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Under your own disp principles, we should be guided by the NT, & particularly the epistles of Paul. [Rom. 11 speaks of salvation for all Israel, rather than restoration of the nation in its territory.] Paul clearly considers all believers to be true Jews, regardless of ethnicity. (Rom. 2)

I prefer Scofield's disp 6 (grace) to yours.

6. The Apostolic Age.
7. Church Age.
8. Tribulation.
9. Millennium.

The Apostolic age established the church, & the church continued after the death of the Apostles with exactly the same Gospel.

I can't see your tribulation disp in Scripture. Jesus describes a great tribulation leading up to the AD 70 destruction.

The millennium is coincident with the church age. There is no suggestion of it in Paul's writings, & the only future disp he sees is the glorious dispensation of the fulness of tiimes when Christ reigns over a NH&NE. Peter's millennium is the present indeterminate time.

2 Pet. 3:7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

[John81]

Interesting posts. Thanks for taking the time.

[lettheredeemedsayso]

I’m hearing more and more about people who claim to be “non-dispensational”. From time to time, I can’t help but think that maybe well established truths become stale to some and they have to come up with something new or “out of the box”. Whether or not this is the heart motive of those that claim to be non-dispensational or not, I don’t know, but I’ve personally seen the mess that people get into when they do not apply the command to rightly divide the scriptures.
Before we jump into the prOBlems of being non-dispensational, let’s clear up some common misconceptions about dispensationalism:

Common Misconceptions about Dispensationalism

1. Dispensationalism Teaches Multiple Plans of Salvation

I have been in Baptist churches all over this country and in a few in other countries as well. Dispensations in its purest form have nothing to do with how people were saved before Christ and after the Rapture. There are many believers that teach dispensations and believe everyone was and ever will be saved the same way, regardless of what dispensation they are in. There are also many who believe otherwise as well. Regardless, dispensationalism is not limited to believing a certain prescribed form of “multiple plans of salvation”, that is just another study along with many others that may overlap the study of dispensations.

2. Dispensationalism Teaches That We Only Read the Pauline Epistles

True dispensationalists believe that the entire Bible can apply to us one way or another and that we should read it and study it. At the same time, a dispensationalist understands that there are passages that do not apply to us doctrinally and to try to apply them would be to mishandle the word of God.
I am not a Calvinist, but I recognize the fact that there is such a thing as Calvinists and Hyper-Calvinists. A Hyper-Calvinist takes the teaching to the extreme of not bothering to witness to anyone; a Calvinist believes the five points of T.U.L.I.P., but thankfully he just doesn’t act like he believes them (click here to read my articles on Calvinism). A Hyper-Dispensationalist is the person that only studies the Pauline epistles, among other things.

3. Dispensationalists Teach That God’s Grace Only Applies to People Today.

Nothing could be further from the truth. NOBody stands a chance without God’s grace being involved in their life, be it past, present, or future.

4. Dispensations Are Just Some People’s Way of Explaining Things They Don’t Understand.

No, dispensations are the logical way of explaining why God would tell one person one thing in the Bible, and another person 1,000 years later the complete opposite. Without a working understanding of dispensations, you won’t know what to believe.


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Amen

[Brother Rick]

Under your own disp principles, we should be guided by the NT, & particularly the epistles of Paul. [Rom. 11 speaks of salvation for all Israel, rather than restoration of the nation in its territory.] Paul clearly considers all believers to be true Jews, regardless of ethnicity. (Rom. 2)

I prefer Scofield's disp 6 (grace) to yours.

The Apostolic age established the church, & the church continued after the death of the Apostles with exactly the same Gospel.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. The reason I differintiead from dispensation 6 and 7 is because God dealt with people dramatically different during the Apostolic Age than He does now. Raising the dead, tongues, signs, public healing, all things that were meant for Israel and passed away.

I can't see your tribulation disp in Scripture. Jesus describes a great tribulation leading up to the AD 70 destruction.

The millennium is coincident with the church age. There is no suggestion of it in Paul's writings, & the only future disp he sees is the glorious dispensation of the fulness of tiimes when Christ reigns over a NH&NE. Peter's millennium is the present indeterminate time.

For anyone reading this, Covanter and I went at this a long time ago. I don't really want to jump into it again. Here's the link.

Anyone want to provide some compelling evidence that God isn't "through with the Jews"? If I get the chance, I'll do a little digging.

[Brother Rick]

Under your own disp principles, we should be guided by the NT, & particularly the epistles of Paul. [Rom. 11 speaks of salvation for all Israel, rather than restoration of the nation in its territory.] Paul clearly considers all believers to be true Jews, regardless of ethnicity. (Rom. 2)

Covenanter,

I'd be interested in seeing your view on these following verses. It's OBvious that I believe the church shares in the spiritual promises of the Jews but not the physical ones and that they are fulfilled during the Millennial reign. I just want to know what your interpretation is. I also have a few questions.

Rom. 11:1,25-28,

"1) I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
25) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from JacOB:
27) For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28) As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes."

1. Would you agree that "His people" in verse 1 is the nation of Israel?
2. What do you consider to be the fullness of the Gentiles in verse 25?
3. Do you believe the Israel in verse 26 is the church? If so, how could the church be lost and partially blinded?
4. When will all of Israel be saved as in verse 26?
5. Why would lost and blind Israel who is an enemy of the Gospel be beloved by the Father, and what do they have to do with the election? Edited October 12, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[Covenanter]

Covenanter,

I'd be interested in seeing your view on these following verses. It's OBvious that I believe the church shares in the spiritual promises of the Jews but not the physical ones and that they are fulfilled during the Millennial reign. I just want to know what your interpretation is. I also have a few questions.

Rom. 11:1,25-28,

"1) I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Paul has earlier in Romans shown that for the purposes of the promises to Abraham, all & only believers in Christ are true Jews, aka Israel.

In these chapters Paul considers the question of ethnic Israel & the unbelieving Jews. Has God abandoned them in favour of the Gentiles? OBviously not, Paul answers his own question. He saved me.


25) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. The blind part of Israel is the leadership. The seeing part are the believers.

26) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from JacOB:
27) For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Look at the spiritual promise of God - his declared promise to Abraham was blessing fo rall the earth; God is keeping his covenant in Christ to take away their sins; he sent the deliverer. All that is needed is repentance. The promises are theirs in Christ, when they turn to God in faith. They must not abide in unbelief.

28) As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes."
They reject their Messiah, & the Gospel, but as in the time of Elijah, the elect Jews are reserved & saved. In Elijah's day, 7,000. In NT times, many thousands (Acts 21:20) - 144,000 (Rev. 7), or 1/3 (Zech. 13:7-9)

These were saved & delivered 3½ years before the destruction in AD 70.


1. Would you agree that "His people" in verse 1 is the nation of Israel? Yes. Paul is dealing specifically with ethnic Israel.

2. What do you consider to be the fullness of the Gentiles in verse 25? I think that will be when all are saved, immediately before Jesus returns.

3. Do you believe the Israel in verse 26 is the church? The church, comprising Jew & Gentile believers, is in this verse, Israel. If so, how could the church be lost and partially blinded? It can't. We have to keep in view the dual meaning of Israel that Paul has already established.
4. When will all of Israel be saved as in verse 26? Only at the end of time, before Jesus returns.
5. Why would lost and blind Israel who is an enemy of the Gospel be beloved by the Father, and what do they have to do with the election? God answers thus:
Deu 7:7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

I know that's OT, but Paul is discussing the NT situation in terms of the OT promises.

Vast numbers of Jews were saved in Apostolic days, & down the ages. They are rejected by their community, & cease to be practising Jews. They marry in the Lord, & their ethnicity is lost, or rather, as John puts it, their true parentage is established:
Jhn 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Nowhere in the NT is there any prophecy of a restored kingdom of Israel. The disciples' question in Acts 1 is dismissed by a restatement of the great commission.

[Brother Rick]

Thanks for the response and for answering my questions. I have one follow up question.

1. When you say that all Israel will be saved before Jesus returns, are you referring to all of ethnic Israel or all of spiritual Israel?

Lastly, for those interested in this subject, I think its appropriate to quote the passage in Acts 1 and let people decide for themselves whether Jesus was dismissing the disciple's question about the kingdom or if He was telling them not to worry about it at this time.

Acts 1:6-8,
6) When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

[Covenanter]

Thanks for the response and for answering my questions. I have one follow up question.

1. When you say that all Israel will be saved before Jesus returns, are you referring to all of ethnic Israel or all of spiritual Israel?
Paul writes, And so all Israel shall be saved: NOT "And then ..." He is therefore writing of the manner of salvation, & that is if/when they they abide not still in unbelief. What goes before is the salvation of believing Gentiles & Jews, grafted into one olive tree - covenant Israel, so the complete tree is all Israel. It is not a prophecy of the restored nation, but the saved people.


Lastly, for those interested in this subject, I think its appropriate to quote the passage in Acts 1 and let people decide for themselves whether Jesus was dismissing the disciple's question about the kingdom or if He was telling them not to worry about it at this time.

Acts 1:6-8,
6) When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus has spent forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: so they are puzzled about what he hasn't taught them about - the kingdom of Israel, & of course, when will they sit on their thrones?

When the Holy Spirit comes on them in power, & they begin to preach, there is no message about the kingdom of Israel. Neither in Acts, nor in the epistles, not Revelation. Stephen declares them uncircumcised while Paul accuses them of concision.

I have replied to the best of my understanding to your questions. You have stated that we should get our understanding primarily from Paul - though I would add all the epistles.

One final question: where do you see the millennium in the epistles? Please include 2 Peter 3 in your reply.

[Brother Rick]

I have replied to the best of my understanding to your questions. You have stated that we should get our understanding primarily from Paul - though I would add all the epistles.

One final question: where do you see the millennium in the epistles? Please include 2 Peter 3 in your reply.

We should get our understanding primarily from Paul because his epistles deal primarily with Church Age doctrine and we live in the Church age. Much of the Old Testament is speaking of a literal, physical, visible kingdom on Earth prophesied for a saved ethnic nation of Israel. I understand that you spiritualize these passages, as you do most of Revelation, and designate them only to the church, but they are there nonetheless and they are to be taken as they are written as is the model for fulfilled prophecy.

However, in answer to your question, here are some references to the Millennium in the epistles. Some references demonstrate that this is a future kingdom, and as such, it is not the spiritual kingdom that you and I are a part of. Other passages just point out things about the kingdom that are ridiculous to spiritualize to today:

Matthew 8:11, "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and JacOB, in the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 11:2, "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

I Cor. 15:24-25, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet."

Matt. 25:31-34, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32) And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:
33) And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

John 18:36, "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

II Tim. 2:12-13, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]: if we deny [him], he also will deny us:
13) If we believe not, [yet] he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."

Rev. 20:2-7, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3) And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [i saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
6) Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7) And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,"

The passages in Revelation 20 and I Cor. 15 seal the deal and show that there is a clear difference between the Everlasting Kingdom (New Heavens and New Earth) and the Millennial Kingdom. Edited October 15, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[Covenanter]

Before I answer your questions, please explain Peter's teaching (2P 3) where his indefinite millennium ends with 2Pe 3:10 ¶ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Please also define "spiritualize" and explain why it is wrong, especially as: 2Cr 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

[Brother Rick]

Before I answer your questions, please explain Peter's teaching (2P 3) where his indefinite millennium ends with 2Pe 3:10 ¶ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The Day of the Lord consists of the end time events from the perspective of someone in the Church Age. This would include such things as the Rapture of the church, Tribulation, Millennium, and the New Heavens and the New Earth. The elements burning with a fervent heat refer to the end of the Millennium and the beginning of the Everlasting Kingdom as described in Rev. 20.

Please also define "spiritualize" and explain why it is wrong, especially as: 2Cr 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

To spiritualize something means to take it and apply it to yourself today in a spiritual sense. I never said spiritualizing something was wrong, Paul does it many times. It's just doesn't fit all the time. The prophesies of Israel leaving the Egypt were literal. The prophesies of Christ beard being torn out, bones remaining unbroken, being betrayed, and being buried with the rich were all literal. Origen and many other church fathers made the ghastly mistake of spiritualizing or allegorizing things that are intended to be taken literal, such as Genesis chapters one through three.

The prOBlem I have with your position is that you have to spiritualize SO MUCH of the Bible and cram it into the Church Age where it just doesn't fit. You take over three quarters of the book of Revelation and cram it into the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., which completely disregards Jesus' word that whatever the Tribulation was that He was speaking of in Matthew 24, that nothing like it ever happened before, and nothing like it would ever happen again.

Jerusalem was sacked in 586 B.C. (Before 70 A.D.) and the Jews were tortured and killed mercilessly under Hitler (after 70 A.D.).

Matthew 24:21, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

[Covenanter]

We should get our understanding primarily from Paul because his epistles deal primarily with Church Age doctrine and we live in the Church age.
Have you any Scripture that gives Paul precedence over the epistles of Peter, the other Apostles & inspired writers?

Much of the Old Testament is speaking of a literal, physical, visible kingdom on Earth prophesied for a saved ethnic nation of Israel. I understand that you spiritualize these passages,

Spiritualise? I seek to understand the OT prophecy as it is understood by the NT writers. They encourage spiritual, rather than literal understanding.

My reply is too big to post in one go. The forum kept failing. Edited October 16, 2010 by Covenanter

[Covenanter]

Spiritualise? I seek to understand the OT prophecy as it is understood by the NT writers. They encourage spiritual, rather than literal understanding.

Nowhere is there any suggestion in the NT that here will again be an ethnic Israeli kingdom on earth, in the promised land. Those promised were fulfilled, & sadly, forfeited. The promises are now being kept for those Jews whoabide not still in unbelief.

Jesus prophesied of the Jews, Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The Jewish leaders understood his prophecy: 45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

So what is the kingdom prophesied in the OT? What did Abraham himself understand?

Hbr 11:16 But now they desire a better [country], that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Peter writes to the converted Gentiles:

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10 Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not OBtained mercy, but now have OBtained mercy.

If my understanding is "spiritualising" I am in good company.