The Fourth Great Pillar in the Lord’s Recovery—the Gospel

When we preach the gospel, we should enlighten those who hear us to see the two aspects of God’s full salvation—judicial redemption and organic salvation. This gospel, which is based on the truth, causes those who receive it to first experience the saving effects of the precious blood of Christ. Through the blood, a new believer is redeemed, his sins are forgiven and washed away, he is justified before God and sanctified positionally, and even the enemy’s accusations are answered. This is judicial redemption. But neither the experience of God’s full salvation nor the gospel stops here. Based on the blood, a new believer can then experience God’s organic salvation. By receiving and experiencing the divine life, a new believer is regenerated (John 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:3), saved in life (Rom. 5:10), and can eventually reign in the divine life (v. 17) to pass through all the stages of God’s full salvation, consummating in the New Jerusalem. These two aspects of God’s full salvation are typified by the water and the blood that flowed out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus on the cross (John 19:34). In order to preach the full gospel, we must include both.

The contents of this full gospel are covered in a complete way in the writings of the apostle Paul. In Galatians, both justification by faith and the organic union with Christ are prominent points (2:16, 20). The book of Romans brings out three main items of the complete gospel. First is the matter of judicial redemption—our being justified freely by God’s grace through Christ’s redemption (3:24). Next is the matter of organic salvation—our receiving the life of God, through His Spirit and growing and maturing in life (8:2, 10-11). Finally, Romans covers the goal of this complete gospel—the Body of Christ as His expression, manifested in many local churches on the earth (12:4-5; 16:1, 4, 16).

The Lord’s recovery is based on four great pillars—truth, life, the church, and the gospel. When we present to sinners the full gospel, which contains all the divine truths in God’s holy Word, they will be redeemed and can receive God’s divine life. This brings them into the church, the Body of Christ, to be the expression of Christ. Then, by living and walking according to the Spirit of life, these new believers can present the full gospel to others, bringing them into God’s full salvation for the expansion of the Lord’s recovery. In such a way, God’s great enterprise can increase and spread in every part of the earth. We should aspire to be filled with and constituted with these four pillars in order to cooperate with the Lord in His recovery today.