CHAPTER THREE

THE GRACE IN GOD’S ECONOMY
IN THE BELIEVERS’ EXPERIENCE

Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 14, 16-17; Matt. 28:19; John 14:8-11, 16-20; 7:37-39; 6:63; 20:22; 1 John 4:13; 2:27; Rev. 2:1, 7; 22:17, 21; Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 15:5; Eph. 3:17; Rom. 8:11, 16; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Heb. 10:29; Zech. 12:10; Rom. 8:4b-6; Rev. 22:1

OUTLINE

1. The grace in God’s economy in the believers’ experience being the processed Triune God:
   1. God, who was in the beginning, becoming flesh in time as grace for man to receive, possess, and enjoy—John 1:1, 14, 16-17:
      1. The incarnated God being triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—Matt. 28:19:
         1. The Father as the source being embodied and expressed in the Son—John 14:8-11.
         2. The Son being realized as the Spirit and abiding in the believers—John 14:16-20.
         3. The Spirit being in the believers as their life and life supply—the living water of life, the bread of life, and the breath of life— and becoming the divine grace enjoyed by them—John 7:37-39; 6:63; 20:22.
         4. The indwelling Spirit, the processed Triune God, abiding in the believers as the anointing and becoming their enjoyment in life—1 John 4:13; 2:27.
         5. The anointing Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, the Spirit who speaks to the churches, eventually becoming the counterpart of the church, the bride—Rev. 2:1, 7; 22:17.
      2. Such a processed and consummated Triune God being the grace enjoyed by all the believers in God’s New Testament economy, even for eternity—Rev. 22:21.
   2. With the love, the grace, and the fellowship of the Divine Trinity as factors:
      1. With the love of God the Father, who is over all and through all and in all, as the source—Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 13:14b.
      2. With the grace of God the Son, who abides in the believers and makes His home in their hearts, as the element—John 15:5; Eph. 3:17; 2 Cor. 13:14a.
      3. With the fellowship of God the Spirit, who dwells in the believers and is mingled with their spirit as one spirit, as the distribution—Rom. 8:11, 16; 2 Cor. 13:14b.
2. The New Testament believers’ living under the grace in God’s economy being a total living of experiencing the processed Triune God as grace:
   1. The processed Triune God, consummated as the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound, and indwelling Spirit, becoming the Spirit of grace—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rev. 22:17a; Heb. 10:29:
      1. In the New Testament age the Spirit of grace dispensing the Triune God into the believers as grace.
      2. At the end of the New Testament age the Spirit of grace causing the whole house of Israel to repent and receive the Triune God as grace—Zech. 12:10.
   2. The compound, life-giving Spirit and the believers’ regenerated spirit becoming one mingled spirit—Rom. 8:4b-6.
   3. The believers’ living and work by the Spirit, essentially and economically, being their experience and enjoyment of the pneumatic Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, as grace—John 1:14, 16; Rev. 22:21.