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We must discern the difference between the gospel preached in the four Gospels and the gospel preached in Acts. When the Lord Jesus sent His disciples to preach the gospel during His earthly ministry prior to His crucifixion, it was mainly to heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim that the kingdom of the heavens had drawn near, that is, to tell people that the age was changing from the Old Testament age of law to the New Testament age of grace (Matt. 10:5-8; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-2, 6). At that time the reality of the gospel, that is, the life contained in the gospel, was not yet available (cf. John 7:39).
We may say that the gospel preached in the four Gospels was preparatory and transitional; it was to bring people out of the age of the law of letters into the age of the grace of life. This transitional period included healing, casting out demons, and the proclamation that the age of law would soon be over because the age of grace would soon begin. Thus, there was a focus on the need for grace and life, not the law of letters. The three and a half years of the Lord’s earthly ministry were a transitional period; they were not a period fully according to letter or to life, because the reality of life was coming but had not yet come.
In order for life to become man’s reality, the Lord Jesus had to be raised from the dead to become the life-giving Spirit so that He could enter into all who believe in Him (1 Cor. 15:45). Only when the Lord Jesus became the life-giving Spirit and entered into those who believed in Him to be their life could the life in the gospel become a reality. The gospel that was preached after the Lord’s resurrection did not focus on healing, casting out demons, or proclaiming doctrines; this gospel concerned Christ as the reality of life coming into man. The preaching of this gospel began in Acts and resulted in men receiving Christ’s life and becoming members in the Body of Christ (12:12-13).
We need to discern the difference between the gospel preached in the four Gospels and the gospel preached in Acts. The gospel preached in the four Gospels was mainly related to healing the sick and delivering man from the bondage of demons; it did not yet possess the reality of life regenerating man. Regrettably, Christians preach mainly the gospel contained in the four Gospels; they have not yet entered into the gospel of life. This is to take a step backward, to go back in time.
In addition to the four Gospels, Acts and Romans can also be considered as gospels. The Epistle to the Romans can be called the “Gospel to the Romans” because the gospel of God is the subject of Romans. The gospel preached in this book is the complete gospel. Therefore, in the first verse of chapter 1 Paul says, “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.” The book of Romans is on the gospel of God; it is the complete gospel of God for man.
Strictly speaking, the four Gospels do not contain the complete gospel, whereas Romans contains the complete gospel. The gospel revealed in Romans can be divided into four sections. These four sections can be compared to four stations along a journey. After passing through these four stations, we reach our destination. There are sixteen chapters in Romans, and each station consists of four chapters.
The first station includes chapters 1 through 4 and ends with justification. The second station includes chapters 5 through 8 and ends with sanctification. This indicates that after people are justified by faith, they need to be sanctified. The third station includes chapters 9 through 12 and ends with the Body of Christ. This indicates that those who have been justified and sanctified need to be transformed in order to become the Body of Christ. The fourth station includes chapters 13 through 16 and ends with the local churches. Chapter 16 uses the words church or churches five times: the church in Cenchrea (v. 1); the church that was in the house of Prisca and Aquila (vv. 3-5), which was the church in Rome; the churches of the Gentiles (v. 4); the churches of Christ (v. 16); and the whole church (v. 23). This clearly indicates that without the local churches, the Body of Christ is not practical and has no way to be expressed. Hence, Romans presents the complete gospel, which includes justification, sanctification, the Body of Christ, and the church expressed locally. This is the complete gospel.
Justification concerns our outward position. Sanctification concerns the operation of life within us. Romans 1 through 3 reveals that we were sinners under God’s condemnation but that when we repented and believed in the redemption of Christ, we were justified in Christ (3:24, 26). Then our position changed from one of being condemned to one of being justified. Through justification we can stand before God, we are in a position to receive grace, and we are qualified to enjoy all God’s riches. Furthermore, we have been reconciled to God; there are no problems between us and God. This is signified in Luke 15:22 by the robe that was put on the prodigal son when he returned home.
The prodigal son was far away from his father and in a miserable position. When he repented and returned home, his father put a robe on him so that he could stand before him and be fully reconciled to him. However, putting the robe on merely solved the prodigal son’s positional problem; he was still hungry. Consequently, the father said to his slaves, “Bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry” (v. 23). Eating the fattened calf was a further step, because the prodigal son received the inward enjoyment of life after the problem of his outward position was resolved. Romans 5 through 8 concerns the matter of enjoying Christ, that is, of eating the fattened calf. The fattened calf signifies Christ as our life. When we enjoy Christ, He becomes our life. This life sanctifies us and causes us to grow in life. It also conforms us to the image of God’s firstborn Son so that Christ might be the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29). John 12:24 says that Christ is the grain of wheat that fell into the ground to die and became many grains in resurrection. These grains are the sons of God. Christ is the Firstborn, and we are the many sons. As the many sons, we bear the likeness of the Firstborn because we have the life of the Firstborn and the riches of the Firstborn.
The first station in Romans is justification. Here sinners receive a new position and are qualified to enjoy God’s riches. The second station in Romans is sanctification. The sanctifying life makes man the same as Christ according to His life and image. Christ is the grain of wheat that produced us, the many grains. He is the only begotten Son who became the Firstborn to produce us, the many sons. As the many sons, we are blended together into one Body, just as many grains are blended together into one loaf. This brings us to the third station — the Body of Christ. We who are many are one Body in Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). However, the Body is spiritual and abstract; hence, it needs a practical expression, a manifestation. This expression is the local churches in Romans 16. Therefore, the fourth station in Romans is the local churches. The church expressed in each locality is the manifestation of the Body of Christ. This is the complete gospel revealed in Romans.
Christianity, however, does not know this complete gospel. Fundamental Christianity emphasizes doctrines, and the Pentecostal movement stresses speaking in tongues; furthermore, to some extent both practice healing and the casting out of demons. Neither fundamental Christianity nor the Pentecostal movement preaches the gospel in Romans but rather the gospel in the four Gospels. The gospel that most Christians preach may be considered as a transitional gospel, not the complete gospel. The saints in the Lord’s recovery must faithfully preach the gospel in Romans in order to arrive at the destination. We must ask ourselves which gospel we preach. In other words, do we preach the gospel of casting out demons, healing, performing miracles, and expounding doctrines, or do we preach the gospel of life by announcing the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel? In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” This indicates that Paul did not preach the gospel of casting out demons, healing, performing miracles, or expounding doctrines; he preached the dispensing of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
We need a clear vision of the gospel in Romans. This gospel includes justification, sanctification, the Body of Christ, and the local churches; it begins with sinners and ends with the local churches. Romans 1 states that fallen mankind is under God’s condemnation; hence, everyone is a sinner. However, through the processes of justification, sanctification, and transformation, these sinners become the Body of Christ. Finally, chapter 16 does not speak of sinners, for the believers have become a local church manifested in a locality to be God’s corporate expression. This is the complete gospel revealed in Romans, and it is the gospel that Paul preached.
If we preach the gospel that was announced in the four Gospels, we will remain in the transitional period. Although the transitional period is better than the age of law, it is not fully in the age of grace, and it cannot reach the purpose of God’s salvation. However, if we preach the gospel in Romans, we are in the age of grace, and we will advance station by station in the purpose of God’s salvation.
During Paul’s time the churches were brought into the purpose of God’s salvation. But this wonderful condition was short-lived and was soon damaged (2 Tim. 1:15; 4:10, 16). By the time of Paul’s martyrdom in about A.D. 67, the churches had declined and degraded. By a quarter of a century later Paul’s vision was nearly lost. It was then that John began to do a mending work.
The Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and Revelation were written by John around A.D. 90. The divine revelation was completed through the ministry of Paul, but it was spoiled by the degradation of the church. After a quarter of a century God used John to do a mending work. As a result, some aspects of the divine revelation became even stronger than they were previously. In Revelation John reveals that the Spirit is now the seven Spirits, the sevenfold intensified Spirit (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). John also reveals that the local churches are golden lampstands (1:12, 20). This revelation is an intensification. We must see that we are not only in Paul’s completing vision but also in John’s mending vision. John’s vision not only corresponds to Paul’s vision; it is even stronger than Paul’s vision.
After John died, beginning in the second century the divine revelation was nearly lost again because there were many doctrinal contentions concerning the person of Christ and the Divine Trinity. Some said that Christ is God, not man. Others said that Christ is man, not God. Still others said that Christ is neither fully God nor fully man. These teachings concerning the person of Christ are heresies that resulted in battles over the truth.
Apparently, the dispute concerning the person of Christ was a guarding of the truth, a protecting of the faith, and a contending for the truth. However, when Christians fell into doctrinal contentions and became divided, they no longer paid attention to the truth of life and the experience of life. They did not know the Body of Christ, nor did they see the revelation and light of the local churches.
In A.D. 306 Constantine became the emperor of Rome. In order to stop religious debates among Christians and to maintain peace and order in the Roman Empire, he gathered the great teachers of the Bible and held a council in Nicaea in A.D. 325. This council issued the Nicene Creed, which is still recited in the Roman Catholic Church and in Protestant denominations. Between A.D. 325 and A.D. 570, for about two hundred and fifty years, many councils were held, and numerous issues related to the truth were resolved.
Although Constantine the Great was considered the leader of Christianity, he also held the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus. He used silver, clothing, and many other material things to encourage thousands of unbelievers to be baptized, and he made Christianity the state religion. In this way he corrupted the church and brought many Gentile customs into the church. This was the outward condition of the church at that time. Some pious men, however, did not approve of these actions, and in order to guard the truth, they met secretly. However, the Lord’s church on the earth was divided and corrupted.
Around A.D. 590 the papacy was formally established, and the pope’s authority was confirmed and recognized. Hence, the Roman Church is also known as the Roman Catholic Church. The word catholic means “universal.” The Roman Catholic Church prohibited the laity from reading the Bible; only the clergy were allowed to read the Bible and only according to the pope’s interpretations. Thus, the Bible was locked up until the Reformation in the early 1500s; the Bible was locked up for ten centuries. Historians call this period in the Middle Ages the Dark Ages because the truth and light in the Bible were locked up; hence, the whole world fell into spiritual darkness.
The Reformation began in the late fifteenth century. Martin Luther recovered the truth of justification by faith and unlocked the Bible. Hence, the Bible became an open book. After the Reformation some who cherished the truth discovered many truths in the Bible and were willing to practice what they saw. Hence, many groups established independent gatherings. These gatherings were the beginning of today’s denominations. For example, some saw that baptism in the Bible was by immersion in water, not by sprinkling. According to this light, they practiced baptism by immersion in water. This resulted in the Baptist Church. Others saw the truth of church governance by a body of elders, so they preached this truth, which resulted in the Presbyterian Church. The Wesleyan Church, or the Methodist Church, resulted from the teachings of John Wesley. The term Methodist comes from the word method and refers to following methods and rules. The believers who formed the Methodist Church had a high regard for discipline, and they lived strictly by the rules of a holy life. However, they lacked genuine knowledge and vision related to Christ and the church.
The Reformation did not revive the church. It was not until the early nineteenth century that the Lord raised up the Brethren in England, who further unlocked the truth in the Bible and recovered the church life. Initially, the Brethren paid much attention to Christ. But later they were distracted and turned their attention to doctrines and different practices, which brought in divisions. As a result, in less than five decades they became dry and dead. Although the Brethren practiced the church life, they were too much on the line of knowledge. It was common for believers to pay no attention to the Holy Spirit. Some believers, however, reacted to this condition, and as a result the Pentecostal movement began. The Pentecostal movement emphasizes speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, prophesying to foretell, healing, and casting out demons. This movement was a reaction to the dead doctrines of the Brethren. However, even though the believers in the Pentecostal movement are not dead, they do not teach the truth, nor do they have much Christ.
There were people in church history who had a deep knowledge and experience of the inner life. These people are called the inner-life group. The inner-life movement began in the seventeenth century with Catholic mystics, such as Father Fenelon and Madame Guyon. These believers were strong in the matter of the inner life and emphasized denying the self and bearing the cross. However, they lacked the knowledge of Christ being the Spirit to be man’s life and to make man His Body, which is expressed in localities.
William Law was raised up in the eighteenth century. He improved upon the writings of the mystics and helped many people. Later, Andrew Murray developed William Law’s writings. Andrew Murray is an important figure because he recovered the truth concerning Christ as the inner life and experience of the believers. His masterpiece is the book The Spirit of Christ. He knew Christ as the Spirit, Christ as life, and Christ in resurrection. However, he lacked knowledge of the Body of Christ and did not see the local expression of the Body of Christ. Hence, his revelation did not go past Romans 8.
The last renowned teacher of the inner life, Brother T. Austin-Sparks, knew the resurrection of Christ and the Body of Christ in principle. However, he did not see how the Body of Christ could be expressed practically in a locality. Furthermore, he opposed and condemned the practice of the local church. Therefore, the revelation that he received went only as far as Romans 12.
Eventually, the Lord could go no further in the West and was forced to come to China, a pagan and Gentile land. The people of China did not know Christ; thus, it was virgin soil that had not been touched by the confusion of Christianity. The Lord’s recovery has been in China for sixty years. During this time the Lord has gradually revealed to us that the first section of Romans is concerning justification, the second section of Romans is concerning sanctification, the third section of Romans is concerning the Body of Christ, and the fourth section of Romans is concerning the local churches. The spiritual publications that we have published over the past sixty years can also be categorized into the four sections of justification, sanctification, the Body of Christ, and the local churches. However, we must not be proud and think that we have arrived at the final station. In some respects we have not yet arrived at the final station. Even if we have arrived, we must be careful, because if we do not stand firm, we will fall from the overcoming condition of the church in Philadelphia to the degraded condition of the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:7-22). Therefore, the local churches must examine their spiritual condition in order to know whether they have arrived at the final station and in order to be careful and watchful lest they fall.
The Lord has also led us from the local churches in Romans 16 to the seven local churches in Revelation 1. The seven local churches in Revelation 1 are seven golden lampstands intensified by the seven Spirits (vv. 12, 4). Hence, we must pay close attention to the seven Spirits, which are the sevenfold intensified Spirit. The sevenfold intensified Spirit is Christ, who is making His home in us (Eph. 3:17).
The seven Spirits do not refer to seven different Spirits but to the one Spirit who is intensified sevenfold. A floor lamp with seven lamps can be used as an example. When bright light is not needed, it is sufficient to turn on only one lamp. If brighter light is needed, more lamps can be turned on until all seven lamps are on. At this point the light is intensified sevenfold. There are not seven lampstands but one lampstand with seven lamps, which result in a sevenfold intensified light. The seven Spirits are in us; hence, our spirit is intensified sevenfold.
Our urgent need is to let Christ make His home in us and occupy our whole being. In order for there to be a bright local expression of the church, the shining of the golden lampstand must be intensified sevenfold. If every saint lets Christ make home in him, the churches will shine as golden lampstands in each locality. Then the people in Tokyo, Osaka, and Tokushima will see one golden lampstand as the expression of the universal church, the unique lampstand.
We must not stop with experiencing the mingling of the Triune God with man; we must also let Christ grow and increase in us. Furthermore, we must daily experience renewing, transformation, the putting off of the old man, and the putting on of the new man (Eph. 4:22-24); we must let Christ be our person so that we may be one new man in Him (2:15). Hence, we must receive the Lord’s word, because Christ with His riches are in His word. In addition, the ability to grow, to be renewed, and to be transformed are also in the Lord’s word. The Lord’s word in us can wash away the old creation and bring in the new creation, doing this until we are transformed into the same image as Christ to be His glorious and holy church that is without spot or wrinkle (2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 5:27). This is the Lord’s recovery.
Our vision is Christ and the church. This vision will save us from many mistakes and from focusing on trivial matters, such as healing, casting out demons, baptism by immersion or sprinkling, and church governance by elders. We must ask ourselves: How much has Christ made His home in us? How much have we grown in life? How much have we been renewed? How much do we experience the mingling of the Triune God? Do we enjoy the Lord’s Word daily? Does His Word supply us as our food and drink? Are we being renewed and transformed by the Word? We must pay attention to these matters so that the glorious church will come forth.
