Dispensationalists boast of their so-called “literal interpretation” of Scripture, a method they exalt as the purest form of biblical faithfulness. But what they call literal frequently amounts to a naturalistic reading, one that glorifies ethnic Israel above the elect of God, revives temple ordinances long ago abolished in Christ, and dreams of a geopolitical Messiah, and a worldly kingdom seated in Jerusalem. In doing so, it trades the gospel’s substance for types, the kingdom of Christ for the politics of men, and the eternal for the temporal. We likewise believe in taking Scripture literally, but literally according to its nature. The Bible is a spiritual book, given by the Spirit, pointing to Christ, and addressed to a spiritual people gathered into his name. “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” Luke 8:10. A faithful literal reading must, by its very nature, be spiritual, anchored in the Christ-centered fabric of Scripture, not tethered to current events or geopolitical maps, but fully consistent with the unified harmony that pervades the entire Word of God. To read Scripture literally is to read it spiritually, through the lens of Christ, not through the lens of current events or the politics of this present age. Such a reading must reflect the divine unity and seamless harmony of the Word, that binds all of Scripture together, and speaks with one voice from Genesis to Revelation, Luke 24:27, and rooted in the progressive unfolding of His glory throughout redemptive history. Only in Christ do the scattered pieces of Scripture find their center. Christ is the key who unlocks every parable, the fulfillment of every promise, and the substance of every shadow. Colossians 2:17.
To read the Bible “literally” is not to drag its mysteries down to the level of human curiosity, but to see its fulfilled meaning in Christ. Dispensationalism carves up the Word of God into artificial ages, silencing the voice of Christ and fragmenting the unity of the gospel. As I mentioned, we also believe in the literal interpretation of the scriptures, but there is a literal natural interpretation, and a literal spiritual interpretation, and since the Bible is first and foremost a spiritual book, with a spiritual message to a spiritual people, so our literal interpretation of necessity must be of a spiritual nature, in harmony with all of scripture testimony. At its core, dispensationalism is not merely a misunderstanding of Bible prophecy, it is a misapprehension of Christ. MPJ