Re: What is God's Economy?
The term Christ means something specific and also something very general. John 1:3 "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.". It would be silly to believe only in the person of Jesus walked 2000 years ago, without also considering the Christ who made everything and who is the reason for everything existing.
God's economy then is also something specific or something very general. God's economy is the plan of the One who made everything and for whom everything exists.
When you say God's economy is ridiculous you are saying God's salvation is ridiculous (because that is what it means). Would you say "Stop treating "God's salvation" as if it is the one ring that rules them all." ? Chance are you are already "ringing" everything in life according to God's salvation, therefore you are already practicing God's economy to an extent. God's salvation would be the reason for everything you do, think and say (or should be). Therefore it is a general concept applying to all mankind, and it is also a specific concept applying to your decision about what you should do on a daily basis.
God's economy as used in 1 Timothy 1:4, means God's plan of (complete) salvation. It includes predestination, justification, sanctification, transformation, glorification.
Romans 8:30 "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. "
So far I have required two bible verses to establish that.
On the other hand, to explain God's plan of salvation completely we need the whole Bible. For example if we removed the book of Genesis or the book of Revelation, we could not explain God's plan of salvation in a complete way. I could not talk about man's need of a Savior, nor the end goal of man to dwell with God in the New Jerusalem.
On the other hand, to explain God's plan of salvation to an individual sinner, we could reference John 3:16. So God's plan of salvation can be explained in a specific but limited way or in a comprehensive way.
1 Timothy 1:4 tells us not to occupy ourselves with things contrary to God's plan of salvation, or God's economy.
Now can you explain how God dispensing Himself into man (aka giving and growing the Spirit in man) is not part of God's plan of salvation? We cannot say a person can be saved without the Spirit, nor can we say that if a person has the Spirit they are not saved:
Romans 8:9 " And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.".
If I say God's economy is God dispensing himself into man. I am correct. It is part of God's plan of salvation.
If I say God's economy is Christ dying on the cross for our sins, I am correct. It is part of God's plan of salvation.
If I say God's economy is Adam and Eve eating of the tree of knowledge and falling, I am correct. It is also part of God's plan of salvation.
Essentially I could take any verse from the Bible where it relates to salvation, and say it is God's economy, because the whole Bible relates to salvation in one way or another. We could say that the whole bible is about God's plan of salvation.
When a person disagrees with God's economy, they are disagreeing with the idea that everything in the Bible is about God's plan of salvation. Normally they do so because they do not believe in God's plan of salvation, they are atheists or agnostics, or nominal Christians who read the bible as a history book but do not believe in salvation.
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