I understand dispensations to refer to different stages of revelation: Creation, OT, NT and End.
I believe in dispensations...
dispensation =
1. the act of dispensing (giving out in portions).
2. a share that has been dispensed or distributed.
3. an exemption from some rule or obligation.
I believe in dispensations of time.. the time before the flood and the time before the cross and the time we live in today. God has been dispensing His grace to all people in all times..
But the way it is used today as a theological teaching I do not agree with.
Dispensationalism teaches .....
1. The dividing human history into distinct "eras" or "dispensations".
Often into 7 ears
2. Throughout these periods, God administers His relationship with humanity in different ways.
3. The Literal Interpretation of scripture. If the Old Testament makes a promise to national Israel, dispensationalists believe it will be fulfilled exactly as written to national Israel, rather than being "spiritualized" and applied to the Church.
4. A Strict Distinction Between Israel and the Church. A fundamental tenet of dispensationalism is that God’s plan for ethnic Israel and God’s plan for the Christian Church are two separate things. They reject "replacement theology".
5.... Because of its framework, dispensationalism is highly associated with premillennialism—the belief that the Church will be caught up to heaven in the "rapture" before a literal seven-year "Tribulation," which is then followed by the literal Second Coming of Jesus to establish His earthly kingdom.
The beliefs would vary between people but I do not agree with the way this Theory has made God inconsistent and apply different standards for different people.
We are all saved the same way.
From Adam to the last days all are saved by Grace through faith. All are saved by Jesus.