Section 10
dispensation. Here the word dispensation does not mean an age or a period of time. It means dispensing. This word has the same meaning as the word economy. Oikonomia, the Greek word for dispensation or administration, has been anglicized as the word economy. What is this oikonomia, this economy? It is a governmental administration, that is, a divine dispensation into mankind. This divine dispensation is God's econ omy. According to the Greek, this word is used clearly in 1 Timothy 1:4. However, the King James Version rendered it as "godly edifying." It should be translated as God's economy or as God's dis pensation.
In Ephesians 3:10-11 we read of the eternal purpose of God. The words eternal purpose are a biblical term. According to modern English it should be eternal plan. In eternity past, God made a plan for eternity future. Hence, this plan is an eternal plan. This plan is to have a large number of human beings regenerated with the divine life, become the Body of Christ, and ex press all the fullness of the Godhead embod ied in Christ. This is the eternal plan, the plan that God made in eternity past for eternity future. We need to know 1 Timothy 1:4 and