«　WEEK 8　DAY 5　»

　　2 Tim. 1:9 Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages.

　　1 Cor. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.

　　We should preach the gospel to carry out God's economy by dispensing God into others. Go to school or to work for the purpose of carrying out your stewardship according to God's economy for His dispensation. We are not doing an ordinary work of gospel preaching. We are dispensing God into man. What a glorious ministry! What a wonderful stewardship! Praise the Lord that we all have such a stewardship! We have the privilege of dispensing the unsearchable riches of Christ into others. Since our stewardship is the stewardship of the grace, we need to see what grace is. John 1:17 says that grace came through Jesus Christ. During the time of the Old Testament, there was law, but not grace. Grace did not come until Christ came. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 246)

　　The grace given to us in Christ was bestowed on us before the world began. This is a sure and unshakable foundation that stands firm against the downward current and exposes the utter powerlessness of the enemy's efforts to counter the eternal purpose of God. In order to strengthen Timothy, the apostle identified their ministry with this. (2 Tim. 1:9, footnote 3)

　　Many Christians think that grace refers mainly to material blessings. But the Bible indicates that grace did not come before Christ. However, God certainly bestowed material blessings on His people before Christ came. Grace is nothing less than God Himself given to us, gained by us, and enjoyed by us. Before Christ came, God could not be given to anyone. No one could receive God or enjoy Him. But in Christ and through Christ we receive God, and God becomes our enjoyment. Therefore, grace is God Himself as our enjoyment. The stewardship of grace is the dispensing of God into people to be their enjoyment. Dispensing this grace into others is our stewardship according to God's economy. Because we partake of God as our enjoyment, we can dispense Him as grace into others. This is the dispensation of grace. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 246)

　　The grace in God's economy in the believers' experience is the processed Triune God. Without being processed, the Triune God could not become grace. God is one, yet He is three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Son is the embodiment and expression of the Father, and the Spirit is the reality and realization of the Son….This Triune God dispenses Himself into us to be our portion as grace to us that we may enjoy Him as our everything in His Divine Trinity.

　　God, who was in the beginning, became flesh in time as grace for man to receive, possess, and enjoy (John 1:1, 14, 16-17). The first step, which is also the greatest step, of the process that the Triune God passed through was incarnation. God, who was in the beginning, became flesh in time; that was His tabernacling among men. His coming among men in this way was full of grace, and of His fullness we have all received. He came that we might receive grace, even grace upon grace. When He came, grace also came. The law was given to us, but grace came through Jesus Christ. The law could not come by itself; hence, it was given to us, but grace came with Jesus. Actually, grace is Jesus. When Jesus came, grace came. This is the Triune God with His divinity mingled into humanity becoming a God-man. Such a One is grace for us to receive, enjoy, and experience as our supply. This is the real salvation of the Lord. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Law and Grace of God in His Economy,” p. 321)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Law and Grace of God in His Economy,” ch. 3