| Issue | Covenantal Perspective | Dispensational Perspective |
| Pattern of History | Continuity of covenants reveal God’s plan of redemption. The Covenant of Redemption was in eternity as God decreed all aspects of redemption. The Covenant of Works was with Adam and the Covenant of Grace was with Christ. The Covenant of Grace was manifested through the other covenants in the Scripture, culminating with the New Covenant. | Divided into seven separate dispensations of ways that God dealt with people: Innocence (Pre-Fall), Conscience (Adam), Human Government (Noah), Promise (Abraham), Law (Moses), Grace (First Advent of Christ), Kingdom (Second Advent of Christ). |
| View of History | Optimistic for God’s Covenant of Redemption is being perfectly executed by His creation and providence and thus His kingdom upon earth is extending unto His glory as the church disciples the nations. | Pessimistic for the world is headed towards its Last Days and will increasingly get worse with not only wickedness in the nations but apostasy in the church. |
| God’s Purpose in History | It is unified and Christocentric. God’s purpose whether with Israel or the church is singular. | There are two distinct purposes: one earthly via the ethnic nation of Israel and the other heavenly via the church |
| View of Biblical Covenants | The Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic and New covenants are different administrations of the Covenants of Grace and Redemption | They mark off periods of time during which God’s specific demands for man differ. |
| View of Old and New Testaments | Views the Bible as one unified story of God’s people. The Old Testament depicts God’s people divided among Jews and Gentile believers, but unified forever in the New Covenant. Therefore accepts the Old Testament teachings as required upon the New Testament church unless specifically abrogated (e.g. ceremonial laws) by the New Testament. | Views the Old Testament teachings as non-binding upon the New Testament church unless specifically reaffirmed in the New Testament. |
| Relationship between Israel and the Church | The church began with Adam and has included all believers. Israel of the Old Testament served the purposes of being God’s instrument of prophecy to all the world. The true believers within the Old Testament Israel are part of the same family of believers, the body of Christ, in the New Testament. The believers of the New Covenant church are therefore also the true Israel of God. | Israel is the physical people of God. The church is the spiritual people of God. |
| Old Testament Prophecy | Was for all of God’s people though often it had immediate fulfillments for specific people or situations (i.e. Israel) | Was for ethnic Israel only. |
| New Testament Church | The New Testament church is a continuation of God’s covenant people and purposes. It’s a continuation of the Abrahamic Covenant being fulfilled in all nations.
The New Testament church exists with no distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers, being united in Christ. |
It is not a continuation of the same covenant as that of Israel and God’s covenant with ethnic Jews. It is a special work of God among Gentiles that has been called “parenthetically” between Israel’s Old Covenant existence and Israel’s future Kingdom. |
| Role of the Holy Spirit | The Holy Spirit indwells God’s people throughout history | The Holy Spirit indwells people only from Pentecost to the Rapture |
| Baptism | A New Covenant sign of one’s union with Christ and His church. It replaced the Old Covenant sign of circumcision. Whereas circumcision was for new Jews, baptism is for new believers. Like the Lord’s Supper, Baptism is viewed as sacramental, meaning that God blesses a new believer with sanctifying grace when they get baptized. | Similar to the Covenantal perspective except it does not view baptism as sacramental but only as symbolic. In addition, they view the Lord’s Supper as only symbolic as well, which as led to a low-view of both of these ordinances in many Dispensational churches. Thus they are rarely practiced. |
| Social Issues | In light of God’s covenantal purposes of God’s glory being revealed in mankind (individuals, society, cultures), social issues are impacted by the gospel and the culture mandates of Kingdom living. | Since the world is deemed as destined for destruction, personal evangelism of individuals takes precedence over disciplining the nations. |
| Eschatology | Primarily Postmillennial (which includes Amillennialism). Some Premillennialist. | Primarily Premillennial and usually Pretribulational. |
| Millennium | Viewed as the present age of the New Covenant, beginning with the Resurrection of Christ and his enthronement. There is a “Now and Becoming” perspective of the New Covenant realities, culminating at the Second Advent of Christ. | It is viewed as an earthly 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth and a world dominance of the nation of Israel. This age will exist after the Lord’s Second Advent and will end in an unsuccessful rebellion of wicked nations against Christ. |
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Very helpful! Thanks for posting!