Fellow Christians,
Let us not yield to the evil culture that surrounds us. Let us not turn to insulting one another over our doctrinal differences. Let us persuade with reasoned, convincing arguments instead of assaulting individuals with rude and bashing invectives.
Both Dispensationalists and non-Dispensationalists can advocate for the defense of Israel against terrorists and terrorist-supporting nations, such as Iran, even if their basic arguments for such support are rooted differently. No matter where they ground their argument in support of Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation against the unending assaults from some of her neighbors, the end result is the same whether the one defending Israel is a Dispensationalist or not.
Hence, non-Dispensationalist friends, can you not recognize that now, when emotions are peaking at the height of the conflict between Israel and Iran, this is hardly the time to wage a war against Dispensationalists who appeal to Genesis 12:3–“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”–as the biblical basis for the United States’ foreign policy toward Israel?
For Christians, understanding the times includes understanding when and when not to engage others concerning doctrinal issues. Winning friends over to embrace biblical truths is achieved when heads are cooler and rhetoric is calm and persuasive, not inflamed and insulting.
Stop the wrangling! Christ Jesus is our peace, who has created one new man out of two, Jew and Gentile, reconciling us together with God. There is no room within Christ’s household for arrogance. Therefore, I conclude with this citation of the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off (Romans 11:17-22).
Sincerely,
A man who was reared in Dispensationalism but who left that theological system as a student while attending a dispensational seminary under the quiet, persuasive conviction of God’s Spirit, brought to bear by Scripture, especially Ephesians 2:11-22.
