Claim. Across the four providential ages, the bearer of the primary responsibility to defeat Satan shifts: in the foundation-laying age God lays the ground for shouldering it; in the Old Testament age God Himself shoulders the first responsibility through the prophets; in the New Testament age Jesus and the Holy Spirit shoulder the second; in the Completed Testament age the believers on earth and in heaven shoulder the third.
Elaboration. Per dp-2-the-course-of-the-providence-of-restoration §2.2.5:
- Adam–Abraham. God lays the foundation “to be fulfilled by God shouldering the responsibility” — the age of the providence to lay the foundation for God’s responsibility.
- Abraham–Jesus. “God took responsibility as the Creator… worked with the prophets and personally shouldered the first responsibility to defeat Satan” — the age of the providence based on God’s responsibility.
- Jesus–Second Advent. “Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who assumed the missions of Adam and Eve… have shouldered the second responsibility to defeat Satan” — the age of the providence based on Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s responsibility.
- After the Second Advent. “The people of faith on earth and in heaven are to bear the third responsibility to defeat Satan, the fallen archangel” — the age of the providence based on the believers’ responsibility.
Significance. Distinct from the 95/5 ratio: that claim names the proportion per individual central-figure case (see dp-95-5-ratio-of-divine-to-human-responsibility); this names who primarily bears responsibility across ages. The Completed Testament age uniquely transfers primary responsibility to believers themselves — a strong claim against Reformation monergism and a structural ground for the present-age emphasis on active responsibility.
See also. believers-responsibility · dp-human-portion-of-responsibility-inviolable-even-by-god