Many Christians do not have a clear, accurate knowledge of the truth concerning the plan of God’s salvation and the economy of God’s grace. The terms economy, or plan, and stewardship were used by Paul in Ephesians 1:10 and 3:2, 9. Unfortunately, they are not properly translated in the Chinese Union Version.
Ephesians 1:10 says, “Unto the economy of the fullness of the times.” The Greek word for economy also means “dispensation,” “plan,” or “management.” Just as a businessman knows how to manage his wealth, so also God has His management, His economy, in the universe. However, what God manages in His economy in the universe is His grace.
We have already seen that God has a plan for saving us and an economy for dispensing grace to us. Just as a businessman has a plan for the management of his business, so the great God has His plan for distributing grace among the human race. Ephesians chapters one and three speak about the plan, the economy, of God’s mystery. If we read the book of Ephesians carefully, we will see that it is quite complicated and not as simple as we think.
In many people’s concepts salvation means merely that God loved us and sent His Son to accomplish redemption for our sins, so that as long as we believe in Him, our sins will be forgiven and we will go to heaven to enjoy eternal blessings. If this is indeed the salvation of the God whom we serve, then it is admittedly too simple. If we study the entire Bible in a detailed way, we will see that God’s salvation is not so simple. Therefore, we need to meditate on the Word of God carefully that we may enter deeply into the thought of the Scriptures.
In reading the Word we must not take any chapter or any verse out of context. We cannot grasp one or two sentences in the Bible and then assert that God’s salvation is such and such. To do so would be very dangerous. If we would meditate on the New Testament as a whole, we would realize that the common concept in Christianity is much different from God’s revelation through the holy Scriptures. Today the Lord has opened the truths to the churches in His recovery, so we should not hide them. Nevertheless, we also do not want these truths to become material for argument. If this happens, not only would it deprive people of the supply of life, but it will also become a hindrance to them. Whatever we do must be for others to get help and be established.
In order to adjust the inaccurate concepts of the past, we must first point out what they are. Catholicism and Protestantism have done much to harm people’s spiritual lives, the Lord’s work, and God’s economy. The reason many have been damaged by Catholicism and Protestantism is that they do not have an accurate, thorough knowledge of the truth. One example is the matter of purgatory. Catholicism teaches that after a person dies, he has to be disciplined in purgatory for the sins he committed in the past. Therefore, before he dies, he should try his best to do penance, and even after his death his relatives can also do penance on his behalf so that he can be raised out of purgatory. This is a damaging doctrine taught in Catholicism.
Many in Catholicism have the thought that while a person is alive, he does not need to apply the effectiveness of the Lord’s precious blood. If he sins, he only has to confess his sin to the Catholic priests to be forgiven. While a person is alive, he does not need to fear God or live a holy life to please God, because before he dies, he can simply give some money and do some good deeds for the atonement of his sins. Even if he himself cannot do this, his family members can make up for him by holding Mass on his behalf to raise his soul out of the sufferings of purgatory. It is surprising that such a thought, such a concept, can exist in Catholicism and that it is believed and accepted by almost all Catholics. If you tell them that this is heresy, they would say that it is ordained by the pope. If you say that this is not scriptural, they would say that it was decreed by the pope. In the eyes of many Catholics, they only have the pope.
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