2 Timothy 2:15 KJV Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
To me, this means placing the Words of God into their proper dispensational ages. To do this correctly, you have to determine who the Words were spoken to. Was it the nation of Israel, was it the church, was it the heathen? (let’s get one thing straight before we go on, No one can come to the Father but by Me. Everyone is born dead to sin and must be cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and born again sinless. Whether this happens by faith during the church age, at the preaching of the Gospel to the prisoners in Matt 27 or at the White Throne Judgement [aborted babies judged sinless by Christ, etc,] matters not. All must be washed clean in the blood of Christ.)
People came to different salvations based on the time they lived. How could Adam or Abraham be saved by following the Law if the Law had not been given at the time they lived? How can someone in the Millennial Reign of Christ be saved by faith alone when the Lord Jesus Christ is standing right there in front of them?
1 Peter 1:11 KJV Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
This is why the nation of Israel rejected Jesus Christ at His First Advent. They expected Him to come as the King, getting rid of the romans and restoring Israel as rulers, but instead He came as the Lamb. They did not rightly divide the word into the First and Second Advents.
To those who still resist dispensations, who is the Bride of Christ? And who are the guests at the wedding? Who are the bridesmaids that kept their lamps filled with oil? Sinners get shut out of the wedding party but who are the guests that are let in? Shouldn’t they be a part of the Bride?
"Who are the bridesmaids that kept their lamps filled with oil?" To rightly divide, or literally "cut straight" the Word of God would at the very least be to carefully take care of interpreting the words of Jesus. There were 10 virgins in Matthew 25, not bridesmaids. All 10 took their lamps, but only the wise took oil in their vessels. Who are these virgins? What does their lamp represent" What does their vessel represent? What does the oil represent?
Good catch. Some versions translate "bridesmaids," and I picked up a bad remembrance somewhere along the way. But the virgins are clearly not of the body of Christ, nor are they invited guests, which are tribulation saints who didn't take the mark of the beast. It's showing different types of salvation.