The age of grace is the present, parenthetical period in God's program, also called the Church Age, when God is calling out the Body of Christ through Paul's gospel of grace.
Les Feldick teaches that after Israel's rejection of her King, God interrupted the prophetic program that had been dealing with Israel and introduced a new, undetermined period. In this age, grace takes preeminence through the Apostle Paul's ministry to the Gentiles. These truths had been kept secret in God's mind until Paul received them by revelation.
Acts 10:25-26 — The account Les uses to illustrate the early contact between the Jewish apostle and the Gentile world as the age of grace begins to unfold.
Ephesians 3:1 — Les points to this passage to show that the age of grace was a secret revealed by God, with Paul as the one through whom these new doctrines came.
The Bible does not use the phrase 'age of grace' as a label, but Acts 10 records a key turning point. When Cornelius met Peter, he fell down and worshipped him, and Peter corrected him: 'Stand up; I myself also am a man.' This passage shows a Gentile receiving Peter, while Peter, a law-keeping Jew, enters a house full of Gentiles at God's direction.
Les Feldick describes the age of grace as a distinct period that God interrupted into His prophetic timeline. He calls it the Church Age and the 'calling out of the body of Christ.' It began to open when Israel failed to believe and receive her King. The age of grace was kept secret; the prophetic Scriptures had not mentioned a word about it. It is an undetermined period, unlike Israel's 430-year and 490-year timetable. When God raised up Paul, He revealed by revelation the gospel of grace for the Gentiles, and from that time Paul ministered to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.
Les walks through Peter's visit to Cornelius's house and shows how difficult the transition to the Gentiles was. Cornelius was a good man who gave alms and prayed, but he was so ignorant of the true God that he fell down and tried to worship a mere human being. Peter, a law-keeping Jew, was brought into a house filled with Gentiles, and even though God had made sure this was what he was going to do, Peter was uncomfortable.
Les places the beginning after the coming of the Holy Spirit. God interrupts the prophetic program, the tribulation does not come in, and instead He introduces the Age of Grace. Practically, this opens up when Israel does not believe and receive her King. God raises up Paul, sends him to the Gentiles, and from the time Paul begins ministering to the Gentiles with the gospel of grace, we have this undetermined period of time.
Yes. Les refers to the Age of Grace as 'what we call the calling out of the body of Christ, or we better refer to it as the Church Age.' In another clip he says the Age of Grace, the Church Age, opened up when Paul began going to the Gentiles.
Les teaches that the whole period and everything God would bring about in it had been kept secret. All through the prophetic time when God was dealing with Israel, there was not a word about the church age or the age of grace. It was only after God separated Saul and took him down to Mount Sinai that He revealed by revelation these great new doctrines of grace that would go to the Gentiles.
No. Les says he never implies God's grace was unknown until Paul. Grace was already evident in the Garden, and God's mercy and grace kept Him from destroying Israel after the golden calf and after they rejected and crucified the Messiah. What changes is that beginning with Paul, grace takes preeminence; before that it was just more or less mentioned as one of His attributes.
In Israel's history, God laid things out on a timetable. For example, He told Abraham that Israel would come out of Egypt after 430 years and there was a 490-year period from one temple to the next. But the age of grace is an undetermined period. It had not been revealed beforehand, and it opened when Israel as a nation failed to believe and receive her King.
Peter's Gentile Encounter
Les shows how hard the transition was: Peter, a law-keeping Jew, was brought by God into a Gentile home in Caesarea, and Cornelius still needed to learn that Peter was only a man.
Grace Before Paul
Les clarifies that the age of grace never means grace was unknown until Paul; grace was already at work in the Garden, at the golden calf, and after Israel rejected Christ.
Program Interrupted
Les explains that the age of grace was a sudden interruption of the prophetic program after the coming of the Holy Spirit, with the tribulation postponed, introducing the Church Age.
A Secret in God's Mind
Les teaches that the age of grace and everything in it was kept secret, and he points to Ephesians 3 to show that God alone had the right to make the distinction between law and grace.
Undetermined Period
Les says the age of grace was never mentioned in Israel's prophetic timetable; unlike Israel's 430-year and 490-year periods, this age is an undetermined time.
Grace Takes Preeminence
Les notes that from Paul onward the word grace appears hundreds of times because in this age grace takes preeminence, whereas earlier it was just another attribute of God.
Israel's Rejection and Paul's Commission
Les teaches that when Israel would not receive her King, God raised up Paul to go to the Gentiles, opening the age of grace and the Church Age for an undetermined period.
Paul's Revelation at Mount Sinai
Les says Saul knew nothing of this gospel of grace until God separated him and revealed these new doctrines by revelation on Mount Sinai, pushing the age of grace into the future as a parenthetical period.
Acts 10:25-26: And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
This is the moment Les uses to show the Gentile's initial ignorance and Peter's correction as the gospel begins moving toward the Gentiles.
Ephesians 3:1: For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Les points to this verse as the opening of the passage where the secret of the age of grace is revealed through Paul.
Yes. Les calls it 'what we call the calling out of the body of Christ, or we better refer to it as the Church Age.' He also says the Age of Grace, the Church Age, opened when Paul began going to the Gentiles.
No. Grace was already evident in the Garden, in God's mercy toward Israel after the golden calf, and after Israel rejected the Messiah. In the age of grace, however, grace takes the preeminence in Paul's letters.
Les teaches it was a secret. All through God's dealing with Israel, not a word was said about the church age or the age of grace. It was kept secret until God revealed it through Paul.
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