Dallas Theological Seminary Doctrinal Statement

A boy walks past an old wall and gate. Romania used to be filled with scenes of brick walls without plaster and old wood without paint. I liked it back then, but it was not so charming for people who lived with roofs that did not keep out rain and windows that did not keep out the cold. It's better now, but not so picturesque.

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This is not the full Dallas Seminary doctrinal statement. Articles V and VII are selected because they address the beliefs we want to explore. Most evangelicals, even if they don't agree with the dispensational view, would nevertheless mostly agree with this portions of their doctrinal statement.

Article V—The Dispensations

We believe that according to the “eternal purpose” of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always “by grace through faith,” and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ. We believe that God has always been gracious, regardless of the ruling dispensation, but that man has not at all times been under an administration or stewardship of grace as is true in the present dispensation (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 3:9, asv; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4, asv).

We believe that it has always been true that “without faith it is impossible to please” God (Heb. 11:6), and that the principle of faith was prevalent in the lives of all the Old Testament saints. However, we believe that it was historically impossible that they should have had as the conscious object of their faith the incarnate, crucified Son, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), and that it is evident that they did not comprehend as we do that the sacrifices depicted the person and work of Christ. We believe also that they did not understand the redemptive significance of the prophecies or types concerning the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 1:10–12); therefore, we believe that their faith toward God was manifested in other ways as is shown by the long record in Hebrews 11:1–40. We believe further that their faith thus manifested was counted unto them for righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3 with Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:5–8; Heb. 11:7).

Article VII—Salvation Only Through Christ

We believe that, owing to universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainments in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are sons of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our room and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, nor all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood, or to the merit of the finished work wrought for us by Him who united in His person true and proper deity with perfect and sinless humanity (Lev. 17:11; Isa. 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 3:7–18; Rom. 5:6–9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 6:15; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 3:4–9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:18–19, 23).

We believe that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in Christ and that repentance is a vital part of believing, and is in no way, in itself, a separate and independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts, such as confession, baptism, prayer, or faithful service, to be added to believing as a condition of salvation (John 1:12; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Rom. 1:16–17; 3:22, 26; 4:5; 10:4; Gal. 3:22).

The perspective is wrong. Our perception cannot be used to describe the original, any more than a shadow can be used to describe the object. We live in three dimensions, plus time, and we perceive our physical universe through physical senses. The possibility that there are more than three dimensions (string theory says there are 10) is possible to postulate but impossible to fathom. Time travel is a fascinating concept, but inventing a machine to travel through time probably cannot happen until we understand what time is.

Scripture tells us God is eternal. We cannot fold that idea enough times to fit it into our mind, but it is nevertheless no less difficult to explain than time. Scripture tells us that God is three persons in one. We cannot understand how that could possibly work, but we don't understand how we are both physical and spiritual either. Possibly three-in-one is not more complex than one-in-two.

The fact is, we really don't understand much of anything. We can't explain time/eternity, space/infinity, or physical/spiritual. We nevertheless live in it, and fairly successfully, even without understanding.

The problem therefore is: if we can't explain any of these things, why do we think we can explain God? or his word? or his actions or intentions or desires or dislikes? His word is true, but to think it is anything close to complete is monstrous: the I Am contained in a book?!

Our mind cannot open wide enough to explain the juxtaposition of past-present-future, if there is such a thing. How is it adequate to explain the simplest things of God?

That aside, I am not saying there should be no such thing as a Statement of Faith or a Doctrinal Statement. If you look for such a thing on the Princeton Seminary web site, you will be disappointed. Or maybe not: a doctrinal statement might be more disappointing than not finding one. It is reassuring to see a doctrinal statement from a church, Bible university, seminary, or missions board because then you know what you're getting into. No doctrinal statement gives you nothing to hold onto: you're free-floating. Even if I disagree, I'd rather see what a seminary believes than a page that says nothing.

It's good that people believe. It's good that they know what they believe. What is not so good is living by it. Dallas Seminary says:

We believe that according to the “eternal purpose” of God (Eph. 3:11) salvation in the divine reckoning is always “by grace through faith,” and rests upon the basis of the shed blood of Christ.

People will get upset if I disagree with that. I do, but only with the perception we have derived from what God has done, not that God has done something. For instance, when Paul says in Eph 3.11 that "this was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord", he was saying it to Gentiles, who had been excluded (and were continuing to be excluded) from the promise God made to Abraham, that they are in fact true heirs, equal in every way, because there was something even before Abraham: the eternal purpose of God, and that Christ is the carrying out of that eternal purpose. Abraham was a significant part of that, but he was not the beginning. Nor was he the end. Paul tells these Gentile believers that in Christ they lack nothing. They don't have to first pick up Moses and Abraham: in Christ they have it all.

For the DTS doctrinal statement to use Eph 3.11 as a proof text for salvation always being by grace through faith upon the shed blood of Christ is not wrong, it's just incomplete:

1. The fact that God did it that way and told us he did it that way does not mean he has only ever done it that way or must do it that way from now on. The Scriptures tell us only that he did it. The absolute truth is that he purposed to do it from eternity (before Abraham), carried it out in Christ, and wants those who have believed to understand they are not second-class but are first-class: they live in a unique, special time in the plan of God that not even Abraham was not privileged to see.

2. It is true that in Christ we have access to God (v 12), and it is true that God has always been gracious, but it is not necessarily true that either of those are for us. Therefore, the statement that "man has not at all times been under an administration or stewardship of grace as is true in the present dispensation" is a faulty conclusion because there is no evidence that grace is about us. His grace is, in fact, always indirect. His grace to the Church of Christ is because of Christ. His grace to the descendants of Abraham was because of Abraham. He made a promise to Abraham and he kept it: for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. Their life (literally) was because—and only because of—that promise. None of them would have had a prayer (literally) except for Abraham, because they were, for the most part, unfaithful, ungrateful, and selfish. Everyone who was downstream of Abraham was blessed. Not necessarily a child of God, but blessed. So now we get to Christ and find the same thing: a people who are unfaithful ungrateful, and selfish, whose only hope is being downstream of Christ. We must change our way of looking at this and see it from God's perspective. His great love for Abraham meant he made a promise, and the promise of God cannot be broken. They were blessed. Many of those God took as his children of God. That doesn't mean he took them all or that he took no one else. It means only that he made a promise to Abraham and did something unheard of in the history of mankind because of that promise. Christ asked for all those with him and for all those who would believe through their word (John 17.20), that they would be with him. The Father said, of course: anything you want, and gave Christ the desire of his heart. Because of Christ's request, the Father was pleased to take those as his children: not all, and not no one else, because he is God and he can do whatever he wants. He is happily bound to his promises, but for us to look at the outline of the shadow and say that "that is boundary" is nonsense. God ∙ will ∙ do ∙ what ∙ he ∙ wants. He doesn't need to explain. He, in fact, hasn't. His word does not explain. It only informs. He tells us what he wants us to know. To presume to know God though his word is ludicrous. To presume to limit him to his word is madness. It is true that Christ died. It is true that God gives to Christ everyone "who believes in his name", because after the horror of that day, how could the Father look anyone in the face who claims it doesn't matter? It matters. It shocked to the depths of the universe and everything outside. To look at that limp body being helped down from the cross tells us nothing of the agony and torture of his Father. Yes, God would never take as his child someone who made light of that, but that tells us only what he will not do. It doesn't not tell us what he will do, or has done. He has revealed a mystery that was hidden from the former generations. It was hidden, not because they were alive only back then, but because they were people. He does not confide in us. He's God. We see only in a glass, darkly. We see pieces, not the whole thing. What he tells us is true. Absolutely. But the whole thing? Ludicrous. Paul says in Eph 3.13 that he is telling them this so that they might not lose heart over his sufferings for them. The suffering of Christ was not for nothing: it is the reason they now exist. And so his suffering cannot be perceived as a defeat either. And he prays that therefore (v 16) they may be strengthened in their faith and understanding to no longer live as they used to (4.17) but instead to live as Christ lived (5.1), putting on the whole armor of God (6.11) so they can withstand the hostile forces and proclaim the gospel of peace. The mystery that was withheld from the former generations was not that Christ would take people to heaven, but that he would equip them to go into the wilderness. The grace that God grants us is the privilege of suffering with Christ. Grace is not the end. Grace is not for our benefit. Grace is God taking people as his own, people who have no right to expect such a thing, and include them in his eternal purpose. That eternal purpose was never because of us or for us. His word to Adam and Eve, his demand for Noah to get on the ark, his demand for Abraham to go to the place he would show him, his rescue of the people from Egypt and taking them into the wilderness on the way to the Promised land... none of these things were because of them. They were all because he was doing something and needed people to do the part he had assigned them. To think out part is to not sin too much until we get too heaven is absurd. The eternal purpose of God is to accomplish his purpose. It is not for our benefit, it is not because of us, it is not for us. He needs people who don't embarrass him. He needs people who will put on the full armor and face the enemy, not turn back to Egypt. He needs people who regard him as the absolute ruler of the universe and of their lives. Defining him will not accomplish that. Doing it might not either, because we're ignorant and selfish, but at least there's a chance. Talking about it: there's no chance.

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