Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Isn't the goal of God's economy love out of a pure heart? (I Tim 1:5)
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Linking God's economy with love, as
Ohio does, is probably important. Jesus taught, "Give to those who can't repay you in this age, and you'll be rewarded in the resurrection of the righteous." To those who ask for a coat, yield your shirt also. And Paul talked a lot about being made poor, so that others might be blessed. Jesus did it, now we do it. In 1 Timothy, God's economy is based on faith (1:4). Let go of what is "yours", what's in your hand, believing that the Father will take care of you. And the issue of letting go, the goal, is love out of a pure heart. Love isn't a merely a feeling, it's a doing that endures ~1 Cor 13:7. It's a consistent reaching out, beyond oneself, to those too weak to reach back, and to repay in this age. Do you love? Then give. If you give, then you truly love.
Now, Paul's collection for Jerusalem in this light makes perfect sense. Paul says that he was told to by the elders in Jerusalem and he was eager to comply. And note that the charge in Galatians 2:10 was to "continue" the collection - it was an ongoing affair... note the repeated use of the word "dispensing" in Acts 6:1 and 12:25 (RecV).
But it wasn't merely cash transfer from Gentile to Jew. It was love. It was remembrance, it was recognition, emotion-fueled acknowledgement, fellowship, grace. It was no different from Dorcas making shirts for the widows, or Barnabas selling a certain property an laying the proceeds at the apostles' feet. It was faith, letting go, storing treasure in heaven. For where your treasure is, your heart will be.
It was God's economy. Now, my point in all of this isn't to say Brother Lee was wrong and I'm right. But there's probably more scriptural support for my position than for his. I can think of 4 whole chapters by Paul (1 Cor 15, Rom 15, 2 Cor 7,8) that are focused on this theme. Not to mention the climax of Galatians 2 and the bulk of Acts.
The two positions aren't "right" or "wrong" per se, but Brother Lee simply said, "God's economy is such-and-such" even when Paul never defined it that way. Lee's position was his conceptual overlay on scripture, and I've briefly outlined my alternative (and they're not necessarily mutually exclusive).
But "masticating the Processed Triune God and becoming God in life and nature" is entirely conceptual and can go on and on without any actual earthly analog. (In fact it seems to go on without much 'transformation' in some of its principals!) But love needs earthly expression, or it's not love. And the "God's economy" I see in Jesus' teaching, and lived out and taught in Acts, and recommended in epistles, is clearly based on faith, and has a goal of love. Love expresses itself by giving, by sharing, by reaching out to those who cannot currently reciprocate. So I'm tending myself more toward the latter interpretation. (now I just have to live it- haha)
Quote:
2 Corinthians 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.(KJV)
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Paul's gospel of Jesus Christ was very specific, what he gave up and what he got. And Paul was also clear, if you know how to read his epistles, in what he wanted his Gentile converts to give up, what "perform the doing" in v.11 entailed. Those 4 chapters cited above, combined with the pattern of Gospels and the Acts, make a compelling case for what Paul referenced in 1 Timothy 1 when he held them to teaching "God's economy".