In order to understand the book of Romans, we must first know the structure of this book. We know that the most important part of a man’s face is his eyes. Many Bible scholars acknowledge the book of Romans as the eyes of the New Testament. This book as the eyes of the New Testament was written by Paul in Corinth. It speaks of God’s mysterious economy, His dispensing, and its results.
Not long after Paul wrote 1 and 2 Corinthians in Ephesus, he went to the problem-ridden church in Corinth. I believe that while he was there, confronted with all the practical situations, he had some observations and ideas. This became the structure from which he wrote the book of Romans. His intention was to show God’s people the mysterious economy of God, how His dispensing produced redemption, and how from this redemption, through His continual dispensing, the chosen tripartite man would be fully saturated by His divine element. Such ones would not only have God’s life through regeneration, but would also be sanctified, renewed, transformed, and even conformed in their whole being from inside to outside, from their spirit through their soul to their body, to the image of God’s firstborn Son, living a life of death and resurrection. Furthermore, they would be coordinated and built up together as a corporate vessel to be the Body of Christ, His counterpart that would be expressed on earth in different localities. Although they would live in different places, they would not be separated, but would be constituted as the unique Body of Christ, having one universal fellowship and becoming the full expression of Christ. This is the structure of Romans.
The apostle Paul saw that the ultimate goal of God’s purpose is to build up together the tripartite men who have been redeemed and who possess His life to be His sons into a Body for His corporate expression on earth. In other words, God wants to gain sons from among the sinners, so that they can be constituted the Body of Christ for the expression of Christ. This expression appears on earth in individual localities, each unit being determined by the administrative boundaries. Although they appear in different places, they are not separate, and although they are local, they are still part of the unique universal Body of Christ. When Paul wrote this book, this thought was deeply planted in his heart and spirit. Hence, with that as the foundation, Paul wrote this book and sent it to the church in Rome.
Romans 1 begins clearly and definitely with the gospel of God. The gospel of God is the subject of Romans; it begins from God’s creation and proves God’s existence by the heaven and the earth. However, the created man did not worship God according to His eternal power and divinity which are manifested in the universe. On the contrary, man sinned and offended God, so that he was condemned by God’s righteous law. For this, God accomplished redemption in Christ for the fallen sinners, and through faith on the sinners’ part redeemed them back one by one. Through incarnation, human living, and crucifixion, God died for man and redeemed him, overcoming Satan, and in resurrection became the life-giving Spirit, entering into those who believe in Him and call on Him to be their life and everything. This is the gospel of God’s salvation.
This gospel has been preached to the ends of the earth. All those that hear this, who believe and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, will have the pneumatic Christ enter into them to regenerate their spirit. From that time on, these regenerated ones are able to breathe in God and receive Him; they can take in God, and Christ, who also is the life-giving Spirit, as the breath of life; they can also take in the Spirit of life as the living water, drinking Him for the quenching of their thirst. Moreover, they can eat the Lord as the heavenly spiritual food through the word of the Bible. Through this kind of breathing, drinking, and eating of the Lord, the life-giving Spirit can continue to do the dispensing work within the believers. This dispensing is like the anointing; it anoints repeatedly, layer by layer, God’s divine element and His sanctifying and glorious life-essence into those who believe in Him and enjoy Him. In this way, these ones will abide in Him, and the Lord will abide in them. There will be no barrier between them and the Lord. They will receive more of the Lord’s fatness and enjoy His divine element, and they will grow with the increase of God within them. In the end, they will not only be regenerated, but will also be sanctified, renewed, and transformed. Throughout this process, they will experience Christ’s death and resurrection and will be conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God. Finally, all these ones who believe in the Lord and enjoy Him become a corporate vessel in the universe, constituted the Body of Christ to be the expression of Christ in every locality for the fulfillment of God’s desire. This is what is revealed in Romans chapters one to sixteen.
In the previous few messages, we have covered the main points prior to chapter twelve. In this message, we will consider the content of four chapters: twelve, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. Romans 12 shows us that we who have received Christ and enjoy Him are the members of Christ, being coordinated and built up together, and constituted the Body of Christ. The other three chapters show us that, on the one hand, this unique Body of Christ is expressed in localities city by city in various countries on earth as the local churches; on the other hand, because the fellowship of this Body is universal, these local churches are still one. In this way, they will give glory to the one wise God.
In the previous messages, we have seen the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity, and we have seen the results of this divine dispensing. Now we want to consider the goal of this dispensing. The goal of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity within the believers is simply to have a Body expressed as the many local churches. Although there are many churches, there is nevertheless one Body. On the one hand, we have the Body of Christ, which is universal. On the other hand, the Body is expressed in various localities as local churches. Universally speaking, there is one Body. Locally speaking, there are many local churches.
Home | First | Prev | Next