THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S ECONOMY
Series One The Gospel
Message Four The Complete Gospel of God
Rom. 1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.
The book of Romans is on the gospel of God; it is the complete gospel of God for man.…Strictly speaking, the four Gospels do not contain the complete gospel, whereas Romans contains the complete gospel. The gospel revealed in Romans can be divided into four sections.…Romans presents the complete gospel, which includes justification, sanctification, the Body of Christ, and the church expressed locally. This is the complete gospel.
Justification concerns our outward position. Sanctification concerns the operation of life within us. Romans 1 through 3 reveals that we were sinners under God’s condemnation but that when we repented and believed in the redemption of Christ, we were justified in Christ (3:24, 26). Then our position changed from one of being condemned to one of being justified. Through justification we can stand before God, we are in a position to receive grace, and we are qualified to enjoy all God’s riches. Furthermore, we have been reconciled to God; there are no problems between us and God. This is signified in Luke 15:22 by the robe that was put on the prodigal son when he returned home.
The prodigal son was far away from his father and in a miserable position. When he repented and returned home, his father put a robe on him so that he could stand before him and be fully reconciled to him. However, putting the robe on merely solved the prodigal son’s positional problem; he was still hungry. Consequently, the father said to his slaves, “Bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry” (v. 23). Eating the fattened calf was a further step, because the prodigal son received the inward enjoyment of life after the problem of his outward position was resolved.…The fattened calf signifies Christ as our life. When we enjoy Christ, He becomes our life. This life sanctifies us and causes us to grow in life. It also conforms us to the image of God’s firstborn Son so that Christ might be the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29).
Further Reading: CWWL, 1971, vol. 2, “The Great Mystery—Christ and the Church,” msg. 15
