many of them were anything but saintly in their walk and witness as the epistle shows.

Our constant aim must be to balance our state with our standing and seek to do this in the

strength of the Lord.

(5) We must learn to distinguish between the various judgments of Scripture. The

assessment of a believer's service by the Lord (II Cor. 5: 9, 10; I Cor. 3: 10-15) must

not be confused with the judgment of the living nations at the Second Advent of Christ

(Matt. 25: 31, 32), and the judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20: 11).

(6) There is more than one resurrection in the Word of God and these must not be

confused. Scripture knows nothing of a `general resurrection'. It is `every man in his

own order' (I Cor. 15: 23).  The first or former resurrection before the Millennium

(Rev. 20: 5)  cannot be the same as the Great White Throne judgment with its

resurrection after it (Rev. 20: 11-15). The word `first' clearly indicates there must be

more than one.

(7) The future spheres of blessing indicated in Scripture for the redeemed should be

noted carefully. If `the meek shall inherit the earth' (Matt. 5: 5) is the same as being

`seated together in the heavenly places, far above all' (Eph. 2: 6), where Christ is now

enthroned, then words have lost their meaning and Bible study is a waste of time. Yet, in

spite of this, many Christians believe that all the saved will go to heaven, while others

insist that all the saved will be blessed on earth. Both cannot be right. God's Word

reveals that there are three goals for companies of the redeemed: earth (Matt. 5: 5), the

`heavenly Jerusalem' which finally descends to the new earth (Rev. 3: 12; 21: 2, 10)

and heavenly places `far above all' (Eph. 2: 6; Phil. 3: 20; Col. 3: 1-4).

If these are confused or not apprehended, how can a clear hope for future glory be

The above are some examples of the great interpretive principle of II Tim. 2: 15 in

practice. They have only been lightly touched upon since a large volume would be

needed to do the theme justice.  This principle governing interpretation ramifies

throughout the Bible, going much further than distinguishing dispensations, which are

often confused with ages or periods of time. A dispensation is the administration of some

important aspect of the truth of God. It is in the realm of time of course, but is much

more than a time period.

Some translators, as we have seen, insist that orthotomeo must be rendered with its

secondary meaning of `handle correctly', rather than `rightly divide'. Even if this is

allowed, provided it is faithfully followed in our exposition of the sacred Scriptures, the

results will be the same. How can the Word of God be `correctly handled' if the

foregoing lines of teaching are confused or ignored? Some truths in the Bible are true for

always. They are basic or foundational, not dispensational, e.g. sin, and its remedy,

God's salvation, sanctification and consecration. Others, as we have seen, are true only

for a limited time, e.g. the Mosaic law of type and shadow, or they are separate lines of

truth which must not be confused.