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Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26; 9:30-31; Luke 24:47; Heb. 1:3; Rom. 5:10a; 1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 13:12; Rom. 1:17b; Acts 11:18; Rom. 5:10b, 17b, 18b, 21b
I. The judicial aspect of God’s salvation:
А. According to the righteousness of God — Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26; 9:30-31.
B. The procedure of God’s salvation.
C. God’s fulfilling of all the requirements of His righteous law for sinners according to His righteousness.
D. For sinners to be forgiven before God (Luke 24:47), washed (Heb. 1:3), justified (Rom. 3:24-25), reconciled to God (5:10a), and sanctified unto God positionally (1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 13:12), thereby entering into the grace of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of God’s salvation.
II. The organic aspect of God’s salvation:
А. Through the life of God — Rom. 1:17b; Acts 11:18; Rom. 5:10b, 17b, 18b, 21b.
B. The purpose of God’s salvation.
C. To accomplish all the purpose that God wants to achieve in the believers in His economy through His divine life.
Prayer: Lord, we worship You that You are the speaking God. We thank You from our depths that in Your recovery You have never stopped speaking to us; You have been speaking to us again and again. Lord, we believe that this time You will still speak to us a word concerning Your salvation from another angle. Your word is light and revelation; Your word is also spirit and life. May You be one spirit with us here to speak with us, to speak in our speaking, and even to make our speaking Your speaking. Lord, cause us to forget the past by taking away our old veils layer by layer that we may listen in quietness to Your fresh words, words which You have never spoken in our midst before. Lord, bestow Your grace upon us. We trust in Your precious blood, in Your mercy, in Your grace, and even more in Your presence. We ask You to anoint this meeting, anoint every person, anoint every action, and anoint all our words, whether testimonies, sharings, or prophesyings. Amen.
In this series of messages we want to see the complete salvation of God, especially its organic aspect. The central burden of the messages may be expressed by the following statements:
(1) The complete salvation of God has two aspects — the judicial aspect and the organic aspect.
(2) The judicial aspect is the procedure of God’s salvation through the redemption of Christ for God’s salvation to fully meet the righteous requirement of His law.
(3) The organic aspect is the fulfillment of God’s salvation through the life of Christ for the believers to be transformed and to grow and mature in the life of God.
(4) The salvation of God is with Christ as the center, the Body of Christ as the line, and the New Jerusalem as the goal, and is fully accomplished through the life-giving Spirit.
We have also used the main points of the messages to compose a new hymn (to the tune of Hymns, #837). [The following is a literal translation from Chinese.]:
The complete salvation of God has two aspects: the judicial aspect and the organic aspect. It is not that easy to understand what organic is and what judicial is. However, by the word judicial we know that it has something to do with the law, and by the word organic we know that it has something to do with life. Therefore, God’s complete salvation has both the judicial aspect, an aspect related to the law, and the organic aspect, an aspect related to life.
We all know that God so loved the people of the world that He gave His only begotten Son to them that they may have eternal life (John 3:16). God gave His only begotten Son to the people of the world that they may receive eternal life by believing into Him and receiving Him. In eternity God had a good pleasure, His heart’s desire, to be one with man, even to make man the same as He to be His species. Hence, in the creation of man He created man in His image and according to His likeness for man to become a vessel to contain Him. He created the plants and the animals each according to their own kind; when He created man, however, He created him in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:11-12, 20-21, 24-27). Image is something inward, and likeness is something outward. Since God created man in that way, was the created Adam man or God? Yes, he was a man, but he had God’s image and God’s likeness. Therefore, at the time of creation, the idea concerning a God-man was already there.
In the New Testament God came to regenerate man with Himself as life. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” When we become children of God, we have God’s life and nature. Since goats beget goats and cows beget cows, surely God begets gods. If cows begot cows and goats begot goats yet God begot human beings, this would indeed be something strange. That which is begotten must be the same as its begetter. There is no such thing as a cow giving birth to a donkey or a goat giving birth to a dog. God’s heart’s intent is to make us the same as He is that we may be exactly like Him not only in the inward image and the outward likeness but also in His life and nature. We the regenerated people of God have the life of God and also the nature of God. This is really precious.
However, the God-created man sinned and fell by following Satan; thus, man violated God’s righteousness. God so loved the people of the world that He even wanted to make man the same as He is by His life. Yet man was seduced by Satan and became fallen by committing sin; thus, man violated the righteousness of God. What man violated was not God’s grace or God’s love but God’s righteousness. According to the entire Holy Scriptures, God’s righteousness is God’s principle of doing things. Whatever God does is righteous, and His righteousness as the foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14) is the strictest. Therefore, we see two things here: God’s love and God’s righteousness. According to His love, God wants to make man the same as He is. However, man sinned and violated God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is strict; whatever God wants to do for man must meet the requirement of His righteousness. Whatever is required by righteousness becomes the law. Therefore, the Bible shows that following God’s creation of man and man’s fall, after a period of time, God came to give man the law. The law of God was written and enacted according to His righteousness. Since God is righteous, every item of the law enacted by Him is righteous, and every item is a righteous requirement; hence, the law becomes the law of righteousness (Rom. 8:4a; 9:31).
Therefore, concerning all that God wants to do for man according to His heart’s desire, there is a great need judicially. All that God wants to do for man organically according to His life requires that God redeem the fallen sinners back judicially according to His righteous requirement. God’s righteousness requires that God redeem the sinners. It is as if God’s righteousness says to God, “O God, it is good that You love them, and it is also good that You desire to carry out many things in them organically. But You must first redeem them to satisfy the requirements of Your righteous law.” This is redemption. By redeeming the sinners judicially, God may freely do as He pleases by His life organically according to His heart’s desire. To do as one pleases does not sound very positive. How can we say that God may do as He pleases? Yes, indeed, because of His redemption, today our God may do as He pleases. If He wants to save a robber, He may do so; if He wants to save a prostitute, He may also do so. Hence, in the Bible we see a robber saved (Luke 23:39-43), and we also see harlots saved (Matt. 21:31-32; cf. Luke 7:37; John 4:17-18). Today God truly may do as He pleases. Thus, God’s complete salvation comprises the redemption required judicially and the salvation accomplished through God’s life organically. We need to distinguish between these three things: God’s redemption, which is judicial; God’s salvation, which is organic; and God’s complete salvation, which is the totality of God’s redemption and God’s salvation.
God was willing to allow the highest angel created by Him (Ezek. 28:13-14) to rebel against Him with a group of angels and be His opposer. Satan has become “the opposition party” in the universe, particularly to watch over God and oppose God. The Bible tells us that Satan opposes God and rebels against God. Therefore, God has convicted him, ordering that he be thrown into the bottomless pit for his termination (Isa. 14:12-15). However, this punishment has not been executed. The judgment paper is here, but the execution is not yet. Hence, Satan is still at large in the universe. Although the Bible says that God has bound Satan, how much He binds Satan is up to Him. This is why we have so many hardships and afflictions, natural disasters and man-made calamities, failures and frustrations, etc. These things happen because Satan is still here disturbing us. God is sovereign over everything. He announced the verdict that Satan would be cast into the abyss, but He did not remove Satan right away. If He had removed Satan, He would not have an opposition party. God wants to keep an opposition party in order to prove His perfection. Without an opposition party, God’s perfection cannot be manifested. God may do whatever He wants for Himself, and whatever He says, that is it. However, an opposition party is here to prove that whatever God says and does is in accord with His righteous law.
Furthermore, God granted His opposer, Satan, the freedom to be an observer in the councils held by Him with His angels and even the privilege to criticize His doings (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6). When God was holding a meeting with His angels, Satan also went to observe. The angels did not stop him, because they knew that he had the privilege. Satan went into the councils and even made some criticisms. The book of Job shows us that God and Satan had a conversation. Satan said to God, “You see how Job is. You have given him so many good things. You have won him over to be Your perfect one.” God said, “Okay, from now on, I turn Job over to you. You may do as you like, but you may not take his life.” Not only was this so in Job’s time, but even to this day Satan is still accusing us before God day and night (Rev. 12:10).
Hence, all that God wants to do for man through His life organically according to His love must also take care of the criticisms of His opposer, Satan. This requires that the salvation that God wants to accomplish for man, including redemption and saving, first meets the judicial requirement of God’s righteousness.
In the complete salvation of God, what He does in the judicial aspect is the procedure, and what He does in the organic aspect is the purpose. In the aspect of procedure, that which God has fulfilled according to His judicial requirement is redemption, including forgiveness of sins, washing away of sins, justification, reconciliation to God, and positional sanctification. We were sinners under God’s condemnation and also enemies of God, but now we have been forgiven, washed from our sins, justified by God, reconciled to God, and sanctified unto God positionally. This is to be redeemed. However, the complete salvation of God is not just this much. If you have received only these five items of redemption, what you have received is but a one-sided salvation and not the complete salvation. The first aspect of God’s complete salvation is the judicial aspect, and what it accomplished is for us to be forgiven of our sins, washed from our sins, justified, reconciled to God, and sanctified positionally. These five items qualify and position us to enter into the grace of God. Romans 5:2 says, “We have obtained access...into this grace in which we stand.” How can a sinner obtain access into the grace of God? There must be the fulfillment of the judicial aspect so that the sinner may receive forgiveness of sins, washing away of sins, justification by God, reconciliation to God, and positional sanctification. All these items are a matter of procedure, qualification, and position. The judicial aspect qualifies and positions us sinners to enter into the grace of God to enjoy the salvation that God has accomplished for us according to His life organically in the aspect of purpose (v. 10). Here we see that God has accomplished a salvation with two aspects: the redeeming aspect and the saving aspect. Redemption is accomplished judicially, and saving is carried out organically.
The second aspect of God’s complete salvation is the aspect of purpose. In the aspect of purpose, that which God has carried out by His life organically is salvation, including (1) regeneration for us to receive the eternal life of God, (2) shepherding for us to grow and exist in the divine life, (3) sanctification in our disposition, (4) renewing in our mind, (5) transformation in our image, issuing in (6) God’s building, (7) conformation to the image of God’s firstborn Son, that is, maturity in the divine life, and (8) glorification, which is the consummation of God’s eternal economy (8:30). Whereas that which is accomplished judicially is the initial step as redemption with five items, that which is carried out organically is a further step as salvation, which is different from redemption and includes eight items. Redemption is accomplished judicially, whereas salvation is carried out organically. The eight items in the organic aspect issue in the church of God to constitute the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy, that is, an organism constituted with the processed Triune God and His regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and glorified elect joined and mingled as one to be the enlargement and expression of God in eternity.
The processed Triune God and His regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and glorified elect will be joined and mingled as one to constitute an organism as the enlargement and expression of God in eternity. In the beginning of Genesis, when God created Adam, Adam was all alone without a counterpart. Then God took a rib out of Adam and built it into a woman. Adam and this woman were joined as one (2:21-24). This was the increase of Adam. In John 3, a chapter on regeneration, John said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (v. 29). The Bridegroom is Christ, and the bride is a living composition of all the regenerated people, who have the divine life and nature, as the increase of Christ, the corporate bride. Therefore, in verse 30 John went on to say, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The increase in this verse is the bride in the preceding verse, and the bride is a living composition of all the regenerated people. Eventually, Revelation 21 unveils to us that the entire New Jerusalem as the wife of the Lamb, Christ (vv. 2, 9), becomes the enlargement and expression of God.
Regrettably, most of the believers through the generations have considered the redemption that God accomplished for us in procedure as the purpose of God’s salvation, stressing the five items that God has accomplished for us in the aspect of redemption according to His righteousness judicially, while neglecting the eight items that God will do for us in the aspect of salvation through His life organically. This is a great shortcoming of the majority of believers today in the salvation in God’s life. As a result, they neglect the pursuing and growing unto full growth in God’s life and hardly see anything concerning the building of the Body of Christ, much less the consummation of the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy, which is the New Jerusalem. Moreover, even concerning the New Jerusalem as the conclusion of the entire Bible, nearly no one knows what it is, yet some consider the New Jerusalem as the heaven where the believers will go after their death. Because of the lack of knowledge concerning the universal oneness of Christ and the unique goal of God’s economy, they form different sects and establish their own churches according to the partial truths of their fragmentary seeing, thus resulting in the divided and confused condition of Christianity today.
We need to be clear that the complete salvation of God is of two aspects: the judicial aspect and the organic aspect. The judicial aspect is according to the righteousness of God (Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26; 9:30-31) as the procedure of God’s salvation to satisfy the requirements of God’s righteous law on the sinners. It is for sinners to be forgiven before God (Luke 24:47), washed (Heb. 1:3), justified (Rom. 3:24-25), reconciled to God (5:10a), and sanctified unto God positionally (1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 13:12), thereby entering into the grace of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of God’s salvation. However, redemption as the judicial aspect cannot carry out the purpose of God’s salvation, because it is merely the procedure, not the purpose. For example, a cook spends a great amount of time cooking in the kitchen to prepare a feast. However, the cooking is not his purpose but merely a procedure. Later, when the guests are invited to enjoy the feast, that is the purpose of the cooking. Likewise, in the salvation of God we should not remain in the aspect of procedure, the judicial aspect; rather, we should go on to the aspect of purpose, the organic aspect.
The organic aspect of God’s salvation is through the life of God (Rom. 1:17b; Acts 11:18; Rom. 5:10b, 17b, 18b, 21b). Whereas the judicial aspect is according to the righteousness of God to accomplish God’s redemption, the organic aspect is through the life of God to carry out God’s salvation, including regeneration, shepherding, dispositional sanctification, renewing, transformation, building up, conformation, and glorification. This is the purpose of God’s salvation to accomplish all that God wants to achieve in the believers in His economy through His divine life.
