THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Believers

Message One
Believers in the Household of the Faith

Scripture Reading: Gal. 6:10; 1 Tim. 1:19; 2 Pet. 1:1; Heb. 11:1, 5-6; 12:1-2; Acts 5:14; 1 Tim. 4:12; 2 Cor. 6:14-15; John 3:16; 20:31

I. The believers are the members of the family, the household, of the faith; the house of God, the eternal Bethel as the desire of God’s heart, is the house of faith—Gal. 6:10; Gen. 28:11-12, 16-19a:

A. Faith bears two denotations—objective and subjective—1 Tim. 1:19; 2 Pet. 1:1:

1. In the objective denotation, “the faith” refers to the things in which we believe; “the faith” is the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy, the entire revelation of the New Testament concerning the person of Christ and His redemptive work—Acts 14:22; 1 Cor. 16:13; Jude 3, 20; Eph. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:7.

2. In the subjective denotation, “faith” refers to the believing action of the believers, the act of believing—Gal. 2:20; Rom. 1:17:

a. The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith—Rom. 3:22 and footnote 1; Gal. 2:16 and footnote 1.

b. Faith is to believe that God is; to believe that God is implies that we are not; He must be the only One, the unique One, in everything, and we must be nothing in everything—Heb. 11:5; Gen. 5:22-24.

c. Faith comes out of the hearing of the word; when we come to the living Word (Christ) in the written word (the Bible), He becomes the applied word (the Spirit) of faith to us—Rom. 10:8, 17; John 6:63; Gal. 3:2; cf. Heb. 3:12.

d. We all have the same faith in quality, but the quantity of faith we have depends upon how much we contact the living God so that we may have Him increased in us—Rom. 12:3; Acts 6:5; Col. 2:19.

B. We may use the illustration of a camera to see these two denotations of faith; the believing action, the “click,” of “faith” shines the objective, divine scenery of “the faith” into our being; this makes the divine scenery of Christ as the reality, the truth, of God’s economy subjective to us in our experience to become our reality, our truth; thus, “faith” causes everything substantiated by it to become subjective to us in our experience—John 14:6; 8:32, 36; 2 Cor. 4:6-7, 13; 5:7.

C. The household of the faith refers to the children of promise, all the sons of God through faith in Christ—4:28; 3:26.

D. All believers in Christ are a universal household, the great family of God through faith in Christ, not through works of law; this household, as the new man, is composed of all the members of Christ with Christ as their constituent—Col. 3:10-11.

II. The believers are those who have believed in Christ as the Son of God according to God’s New Testament economy of faith—1:4; John 3:15-16, 36; 20:31:

A. A believer is one who believes in Christ as the Son of God—John 9:35-38.

B. Because Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, we need to believe in Him as the Christ and as the Son of God—John 20:31.

C. Our believing in Christ as the Son of God is according to God’s New Testament economy of the faith—1 Tim. 1:4:

1. Faith is to stop our doing and to trust in the Lord—Gal. 2:16.

2. The principle of God’s salvation is that of believing in God and in all that He has done and intends to do; this principle of faith should govern our entire Christian life—Heb. 11:6.

3. God’s economy to dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people is in the spiritual sphere of the new creation through regeneration by faith in Christ—Gal. 3:23-26.

4. Faith is our reaction toward God caused by the divine infusion, which permeates and saturates our being—Heb. 12:1-2.

5. We believe in Christ by the Lord Jesus Himself as our faith—Rom. 3:22.

III. The believers are those who have received Christ as their generating life for them to become children of God—John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:16:

A. Believing in Christ equals receiving Him—John 1:12-13; 1 John 5:10.

B. The authority for us to become children of God is Christ Himself as the generating life that makes us children of God for His multiplication and expression—3:1, 23; 5:13.

C. As the life-giving Spirit, the Lord is receivable—1 Cor. 15:45b; 4:7; John 7:37-39; 20:22.

IV. The believers are those who have believed into Christ as the Son of God to have an organic union with Him—John 3:15-16, 18, 36:

A. John 3:16 speaks of believing into the Son of God; the preposition into here signifies union with Christ by believing into Him:

1. When we believe in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, we believe into Him—John 3:15-16, 18, 36.

2. By believing into Christ as the Son of God, we enter into Him to be one with Him organically, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us.

3. By believing into Christ, we are identified with Him in all that He has accomplished, attained, and obtained—Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 2:11-13; 3:1-3.

B. The way for us to be regenerated is to believe in the Lord Jesus, even to believe into Him as the Son of God—John 3:3, 5-6, 15-16.

C. By believing into Christ as the Son of God, we have an organic union with Him, becoming one spirit with Him—1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Cor. 5:17:

1. Faith works to bring us into an organic union with the Triune God in Christ, and through this union God is continually infused into us.

2. The Lord is now seeking to develop this organic union, and He will cause it to be developed to the uttermost.

3. The more the organic union is developed, the more we will enjoy the dispensing of the Triune God as life into our tripartite being—Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE FAITH

The believers are the believing ones in Christ, who are the household of the faith (Gal. 6:10). In the universe there are many houses with many households. But there is one particular house with millions of members. That is the house of faith. We belong to this house. This is a big family, and the family name is faith. This is the home of faith. We may say that a certain home is the Smith home or the Lee home. Now we are all members of the “faith home.”

We are believers, who do not believe nonsensical things. We believe in the word, and the word has three stages: the written word, the living word, and the applied word. Over two thousand years ago, there was only the written word, not the living word, because Christ was not here yet. Today we have the living word. Without Christ as the living word, it was very hard for God’s word to become the applied word as the Spirit. This is because before Christ came, the Spirit was mostly objective; He was not yet within God’s people. Before Christ, the Spirit of God was upon God’s people. But today we have the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit indwelling us all the time. Thus, when we touch the Bible, right away the Bible can become living and applied.

We are the members of the family, the household, of the faith. This faith house is a house that believes in God through His word. Hebrews 1 says that God has spoken (vv. 1-2). This word becomes the living word, Christ, and this living word is applied by the Spirit. Then we have the Triune God as the word in us. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans”, msg. 8)

The Denotations of the Word Faith

The word faith bears two denotations. The first denotation refers to the things the believers believe in; it is the objective faith (Eph. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:19b; 2 Tim. 4:7). The second denotation refers to the believing action of the believers; this is the subjective faith (Gal. 2:20). Christ is the object of our faith. Here the faith is objective. Then we believe in the Lord. This believing is a subjective action, our acting faith in the Lord Jesus.

The Faith of the Believers Being Christ Entering into Them to Be Their Faith

The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith (Rom. 3:22 and footnote; Gal. 2:16 and footnote 1, Recovery Version). Now we need to consider how and when Christ entered into us to be our faith. When we repented unto God, the pneumatic Christ as the sanctifying Spirit of God (1 Pet. 1:2a) moved within us to be our faith by which we believed on the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31). Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” As sinners, we did not have faith. Faith came into us by our hearing the word. This word is just Christ Himself.

When we heard the gospel, the preacher described Christ to us. The more we heard, the more we saw Christ and were attracted to Christ. As an illustration of this, we can say that a male falls in love with a female by seeing her. The more he sees her, the more he loves her. Her being so charming produces his love for her. Actually, that is not his love but her attraction. The preachers preach Christ to present Christ’s beauty. After hearing such a word about Christ, that is, after seeing such a Christ, within us there is an appreciation of Christ, and our appreciation of Him is the reaction to His attraction. We can believe in the Lord Jesus because we hear about Him; that is, we see Him. We read the Bible, and in the Bible we see something about Him. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans”, msg. 7)

Faith Coming Out of the Hearing of the Word

According to Romans 10:17, faith comes out of the hearing of the word. Thus, the source of faith is the word, but we have to realize the crystallization of this point. There are three aspects of the word. First, there is the written word of God—the Bible (John 10:35). Then there is the living word of God—Christ (1:1). Finally, there is the applied word of God—the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; John 6:63).

The Bible is the written word, and Christ is the living word. Without the Spirit, however, the living word cannot be applied to us. The living word becomes the applied word through the Spirit. God has only one kind of word. First, He spoke, and what He spoke was written in a book. That is the Bible. There is only one book that is the word of God. The term Bible means “the book.” The Bible is the book of books. What a mercy and what a wonder that in human history such a book has been produced—the word of God! The world today is a mess. So many bad things are reported in today’s newspapers. Suppose the Bible were taken away from mankind. I do not think that mankind could exist without the word of God.

We have such a word, but not many have really been benefited by this word. This is why we have to either read or hear the Bible. Every week we gather together a number of times just to read, speak, and hear the word. When the word of the Bible is spoken to us and heard by us, right away the written word becomes the living word. That is Christ. When the living word is applied to us and received by us, it becomes the word of the Spirit. Then this word of the Spirit heard by us is the source of our faith. Faith comes from the hearing of this applied word by the Spirit through the living Christ out of the written Bible. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans”, msg. 8)

He Who Comes Forward to God Believing That God Is

He who comes forward to God must believe that God is (Heb. 11:6b). This is very simple. God requires you only to believe that He is. The verb to be is actually the divine title of our Triune God. In Exodus 3 Moses asked God what His name was. God answered that His name is I Am Who I Am (vv. 13-14). Our God’s name is the verb to be. He is I Am Who I Am. He is the only One.

Paul says that he who comes forward to God must believe that God is. A Chinese version says that when you come forward to God, you must believe that there is God. This is too shallow. The English translation is very good because it is equivalent to the Greek—we must believe that God is. This implies everything. Do you need God? God is. Do you need food? God is. This is why we use the word great in saying that Jesus is the great I Am. He told us, “I am…the life” (John 14:6a). “I am the resurrection” (11:25). “I am the door” (10:7, 9). “I am the good Shepherd” (v. 11). “I am the bread of life” (6:35). He is the real food. There is only one kind of food that is. This food is Jesus, the great I Am. He is the breath (20:22), the living water (4:10, 14), and the tree of life (15:1; 14:6a; Rev. 2:7). He is God (John 1:1; 20:28-29; Rom. 9:5), the Father (Isa. 9:6; John 14:9-10), the Son (Mark 1:1; John 20:31), and the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b). He is everything to us.

Then what is existing? Who exists? Only the great I Am—I Am Who I Am. He who comes forward to God must believe that God is. Faith is so critical. Without this, you can never make God happy. You must believe that God is. Let me illustrate. If a husband realized that only God is and he is not, then he would not love his wife by himself and in himself. Sisters, when you go shopping, if you realized that in the whole universe only God is, would you buy anything you want? You would realize, “I am not. I am nothing. I don’t go shopping, but He is, so He goes.”

Faith is to stop you from doing anything but to make God everything to you. This equals Paul’s word in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Who lives? It is no longer I. I do not exist. I was terminated. I was crucified. I am finished. It is no more I, but it is Christ who lives in me. Christ lives. Christ is. Christ exists. I do not exist. This is the very essence of the short phrase believe that He is. To believe that God is implies that you are not. He must be the only One, the unique One, in everything, and we must be nothing in everything. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans”, msg. 7)

“Equally Precious” (in Quality, Not in Quantity) to All the Believers

God has allotted to us equally precious faith. It is equally precious to all the believers. Let us again use the illustration of electricity. Electricity is allotted to this building, and it links all the lamps together. This electricity in all the lamps is the same in quality and in quantity because the size of the lamps is the same. But the very faith in us, while being the same in quality, is not the same in quantity. We cannot compare with the apostle Paul. His linking faith may be like a big mountain, while ours may be like a small stone. But you have to realize that the stone grows! In the Bible the stones are living (1 Pet. 2:5). If you contact God, faith grows in you. This means that God increases in you. When God increases in you, faith in the second stage grows in you to get bigger and bigger. We all have the same faith in quality, but the quantity of faith we have depends upon how much we contact the living God so that we may have Him increased in us. When God increases in you, this faith in the second stage also grows in you. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-Study of the Epistle to the Romans”, msg. 10)

BELIEVERS BEING THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED IN CHRIST AS THE SON OF GOD ACCORDING TO GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY OF THE FAITH

The designation “believers” designates those who have believed in Christ as the Son of God according to God’s New Testament economy. This designation, of course, indicates the matter of believing. Anyone who does not have faith in Christ, who does not believe in Christ, is certainly not a believer.

Strictly speaking, in the New Testament we cannot find such expressions as “believe Jesus” or “believe in Jesus” or “believe Christ.” It is not accurate to say that we believe in Jesus or that we believe Jesus or Christ. We need to use a preposition after “believe” and say that we believe in Christ or on Christ. John 3:16 speaks of believing in the Son of God. Actually the Greek preposition here and in many other verses in the Gospel of John means “into” and signifies union with Christ by believing into Him.

When we believe in Christ, we believe in Him as the Son of God. Of course, Jesus Christ is also a man. However, the New Testament does not tell us to believe in Him as a man, but tells us to believe in Him as the Son of God. Everyone can easily realize that Jesus is a man. Therefore, we are not told to believe in Him as a man. But this man is the Son of God, and this we must believe. A believer is one who believes in Christ as the Son of God.

Having the Life of God by Believing in Him

John 20:31 says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” “Christ” is the title of the Lord Jesus according to His office, His mission. This title denotes His work to accomplish God’s purpose. “The Son of God” is the Lord’s title according to His person. His person is a matter of God’s life, and His mission is a matter of God’s work. He is the Son of God to be the Christ of God. He works for God by the life of God so that by believing in Him we may have the life of God to become children of God.

Because Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, we need to believe in Him as the Christ and as the Son of God. We must believe in Him as the One who is the divine person coming to carry out God’s commission for His eternal purpose. This is the One in whom we believe.

Our believing in Christ as the Son of God is according to God’s New Testament economy of the faith. First Timothy 1:4 speaks of “God’s dispensation which is in faith.” This dispensation is an economical administration. Hence, it refers to God’s economy. In Greek the words “God’s dispensation” also mean God’s household economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9). This is God’s household administration to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen people that He may have a house, a household, to express Himself, which household is the church, the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 3:15).

God’s Dispensation Being in Faith

In 1 Timothy 1:4 Paul tells us that God’s dispensation, His economy, is in faith. The dispensing of the processed Triune God into us is altogether by faith. The dispensation of God is a matter in faith, that is, in the sphere and element of faith, in God through Christ. God’s economy to dispense Himself into His chosen people is not in the natural realm, nor in the work of law, but in the spiritual sphere of the new creation through regeneration by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:23-26). By faith we are born of God to be His sons, partaking of His life and nature to express Him. By faith we are put into Christ to become the members of His Body, sharing all that He is for His expression. This is the dispensing of the Triune God according to His New Testament economy, carried out in faith.

Faith Denoting the Object of Our Belief

In the New Testament, faith has both an objective meaning and a subjective meaning. When used in an objective sense, faith denotes the object of our belief. Used in a subjective sense, faith denotes our action of believing. Therefore, faith refers both to the truths which we believe and to the act of our believing, that is, the action and function of our believing.

Faith in Ephesians 4:13 refers to those things which all Christians believe. We believe in the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We believe that Christ, the Son of God, was incarnated, that He was crucified for our redemption, that He was resurrected from among the dead both physically and spiritually, that He has ascended to the right hand of God, and that He is coming again. Furthermore, we believe that the Bible is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit word by word. This is our faith, the “common faith” (Titus 1:4), “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Subjective faith is not our natural ability or virtue. This faith is our reaction toward God, which results from God’s transfusing Himself into us and infusing His element into our being. When God’s element permeates us, we react to Him, and this reaction is faith. Therefore, faith is a reaction caused by the divine infusion, which permeates and saturates our being. Once we have such a faith, we can never lose it, for it has been infused into us and constituted into our being.

We need to be deeply impressed with the meaning of faith in the New Testament. First, faith is God being the word spoken to us. Through the word of God and by the Spirit of God we are infused with God in Christ. As a result, something rises up within us. This is faith. Faith then works in us to bring us into an organic union with the Triune God. Through this organic union God is continually transfused and infused into us. As a result, we have the divine life and the divine nature to become sons of God, members of Christ, and parts of the new man. As a totality we become the house of God, the Body of Christ, and the new man. This is God’s economy in faith.

Faith Coming with Jesus Christ

Galatians 3:23 and 25 speak of the coming of faith. Verse 23 says, “Before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was about to be revealed.” This verse indicates clearly that there was a time when faith came and was revealed. Faith was not to be found in the Old Testament; it came with Jesus Christ. When Christ came, grace came, and faith came also. Faith has come to replace law. Thus, Galatians 3:25 says, “Faith having come, we are no longer under a child-conductor.” According to this verse, now that faith has come we are no longer under the law as our child-conductor. Faith and law cannot co-exist. Before faith came, we were under law. But now that faith has come and has been revealed, this faith replaces law. The law kept us and brought us to Christ, but now in our experience it should be replaced by faith. Faith characterizes those who believe in Christ and distinguishes them from those who keep the law (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 3:9). We are not keepers of law—we are believers in Christ.

God’s Economy to Dispense Himself into Us Being in Faith

Just as the law was the basic principle according to which God dealt with His people in the Old Testament, faith is the basic principle according to which He deals with people in the New Testament. All those who refuse to believe in Christ will perish, whereas those who believe in Him will be forgiven of their sins and receive eternal life. In John 16:9 we are told that the Spirit will convict the world concerning sin because of not believing in the Son of God. This indicates that the unique sin which causes people to perish is unbelief. God’s commandment to sinners is to believe in the Son of God.

In the New Testament faith has both a divine aspect and a human aspect. On God’s side the term “the faith” implies that God sent His Son to earth, that Christ died on the cross to accomplish redemption, that He was buried and was resurrected, that in resurrection He released the divine life and has become the life-giving Spirit—all that He might enter into those who believe in Him to be grace, life, power, and everything to them. On our side faith is related to hearing, appreciating, calling, receiving, accepting, joining, partaking, and enjoying. If we do not have faith, all that has been accomplished on God’s side will remain objective and will not be personally related to us. God’s economy to dispense Himself into us is in faith.

THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST AS THEIR GENERATING LIFE FOR THEM BECOMING THE CHILDREN OF GOD

The believers are those who have received Christ as their generating life for them to become the children of God. Believing in Christ equals receiving Him. When we believe in Christ, we receive Him. We receive Him by believing in Him.

John 1:12 and 13 say, “As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Here we see that believing in the Lord Jesus is equal to receiving Him. If a person truly believes in the Lord’s name, in some way or other he will say, “Lord Jesus.” As long as we call on His name from the depths of our being, we believe in Him. If we believe in Him by calling on His name, this proves that we have received Him. Furthermore, since we have received Him, we have received the authority to become children of God. This authority is Christ Himself as the generating life that makes us children of God for His multiplication and expression.

We have emphasized the fact that to believe in the Lord Jesus is to receive Him. The Lord is receivable. He is now the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), with His complete redemption, waiting for and expecting us to receive Him. Our spirit is the receiving organ. We receive the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18) into our spirit by believing in Christ. Once we believe in Him, He, as the Spirit, enters into our spirit. Then we are regenerated by Him, the life-giving Spirit, and become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED INTO CHRIST AS THE SON OF GOD
HAVING AN ORGANIC UNION WITH HIM

The believers are those who have believed into Christ as the Son of God to have an organic union with Him. However, certain people believe Christ, but they do not believe in Christ. Genuine believers are those who believe in Christ, even into Christ. Those who merely believe Christ are not believers in the New Testament sense, for they take the Lord Jesus as a pattern, an example, a model, for them to imitate and follow to do certain works for the benefit of society. Because such people do not believe into Christ, they have not entered into the organic union with Christ. We, the genuine believers in Christ, have an organic union with Christ.

Partaking of Him as Life and Being Regenerated in Him by Believing into Him

John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” Literally translated, the phrase “believes in” in verse 36, as well as in verses 15, 16, and 18, should be “believes into.” When we believe in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, we believe into Him. By believing in Him, we enter into Him to be one with Him organically, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us. By believing into Him, we are identified with Him in all that He is and in all that He has passed through, accomplished, attained, and obtained. As we become one with Christ by believing into Him, we are saved and regenerated by Him as life. Therefore, it is by believing into Him that we partake of Him as life and are regenerated in Him.

The Lord’s word in John 3:15, 16, 18, and 36 tells us clearly and definitely that the way for us to be regenerated is to believe in the Lord Jesus, even to believe into Him. To believe in the Lord is the only way for us to receive salvation and to experience regeneration. It is absolutely a matter of faith. No matter how much we can work or how good our work may be, we cannot be saved and regenerated by our work. Our work does not count in this matter. Only faith counts. Salvation and regeneration must be by faith. It is by faith in the Lord, by believing into Him, that we receive forgiveness, the release from God’s condemnation negatively. It is also by faith, by believing into the Lord, that we receive eternal life, the life of God, the divine life, positively for our regeneration. The Lord Jesus has accomplished the redemptive work for us. By His redemptive death on the cross, He has met all of God’s righteous demands on us and has fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory for us. By His death on the cross in the form of the serpent, the Lord has even destroyed Satan, the Devil who usurps us and enslaves us, so that we may be delivered from the evil one’s slavery and power of death (Heb. 2:14). All negative things have been solved by Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross. Therefore, we do not need to do anything except believe in the Lord Jesus and in what He has accomplished. He has not left any room for our work. There is no need of our work, only of faith in Christ’s finished, completed, and all-inclusive redemptive work.

Now the Lord Seeking to Develop This Organic Union
and Causing It to Be Developed to the Uttermost

After passing through death, the Lord, by resurrection and in resurrection, has released His life and has become the life-giving Spirit. Now in resurrection He is the Spirit of life, with all the virtue of His redemptive work, waiting for us to believe into Him. Once we believe into Him, we receive not only the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance from Satan’s evil power of darkness but also the Spirit of life, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, with the eternal life of God. In this way we are saved, regenerated, and enter into an organic union with Christ.

By believing into Christ as the Son of God we have an organic union with Him. When we believe in Him, we believe into Him and thereby become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). This is what we mean by the expression “organic union.” By faith we are brought into an organic union with the Triune God. Now the Lord is seeking to develop this organic union, and He will cause it to be developed to the uttermost. The more this union is developed, the more we shall enjoy the dispensing of the Triune God. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 105)