Quote:
Originally Posted by Zezima
This is all fascinating, and I agree. It's a very subtle jump to conclusion or inference. God's economy is one of the harder doctrines for me to shake. From what the word says, all things are being united in Christ (Eph 1:10) It's hard to grasp what that means, and Witness Lee's God's Economy fills that void.
So what does it mean? If god' isn't making us the same as he in life & nature, what is he doing?
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I might not be able to help with everything you bring up there, but I can say a little more about God's economy, and it might tie into the rest too, we'll see.
As a church kid, I understand how all-encompassing God's economy feels. But the more I thought about it, for me God's economy ultimately went nowhere. So God's dispensing Himself into us. For what? Once we have His life and nature, what happens? What do we do then? Do we just exist bopping around reveling in the fact that we have His life and nature? The goal made no sense to me.
Let's look again at what the Bible says in the main verse LSM references about God's economy. This is the Recovery Version, but it's what people are used to when working through teachings, so it will be fine for this purpose.
1 Timothy 1:3-5
3 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones
not to teach different things
4
Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God's economy, which is in faith.
5 But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith;
Look at the structure of the bolded portion. Is Paul saying not to
teach anything but God's economy (which is what LSM says it says)? Or is Paul saying not to teach things that produce questionings
rather than producing God's economy?
By the way I've worded that you can probably guess. Lee, grammatically, got the sentence wrong. This portion is saying "hey, don't teach different things because when you teach different things it produces questionings. Rather, teach the right things which produce God's economy." If you look at the Greek, God's economy is what is produced by the right things being taught. It is not the thing that is supposed to be taught.
The ministry says over and over and over again "Paul told Timothy not to teach anything other than God's economy". But that's, plainly and simply, not what the verses say. God's economy is produced, not taught.
Ok. Let's look at the same verses again, but with a different part bolded.
1 Timothy 1:3-5
3 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus
in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things
4 Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God's economy, which is in faith.
5 But
the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith;
Paul was writing Timothy, telling him in verse 3 to "charge" certain people not to act a certain way, but to act the right way so God's economy would be produced.
And then in verse 5 he says "the end of the charge [from verse 3] is love".
"The end" here means like "the goal" or "the point" or "the reason for".
The whole point of teaching the healthy things that produce God's economy is.....love.
Did Witness Lee ever manage to squeeze much of "love" into his "God dispensing Himself" doctrine? Not that I recall. But the Bible says that's the whole point of the charge that produces God's economy.
Ok. Last thing. If God's economy isn't the thing we are supposed to be teaching, but Paul is so concerned with teaching the right and healthy things so that God's economy would be produced, did Paul say anywhere what the right and healthy teachings are?
He sure did. A few lines down in verse 15.
1 Timothy 1:15
15 Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost.
The faithful word worthy of all acceptance (that's right and healthy if I ever heard it) is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save us sinners.
The healthy teaching that produces God's economy is the gospel. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. That our debt has been paid.
This is what the Bible says about God's economy. Teach the genuine gospel and God's economy, the end of which is love, will be produced.
The gospel is that God so loved us that He sent His Son to die for us. And we are charged to turn around and love others because of the love with which we have been loved. Love your enemies, love your neighbors, love your brothers and sisters. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. These are the greatest commandments.
That is some of what God is doing. Asking us to learn to obey Him in these commandments to love Him and love others.