The Prophets in the Old Testament Prophesied concerning the Grace that was to Come to us

The prophets in the Old Testament prophesied concerning the grace that was to come to us, the grace that is for the salvation of our soul; the Spirit of Christ applies God’s full salvation as grace to us by the prophesying of the Old Testament saints and the preaching of the New Testament apostles. Amen!

The Epistles of Peter speak of many aspects of grace, even grace in many ways, for our Christian life.

For us to live a Christian life under the government of God, we need grace.

Only grace can supply us to live a proper Christian life under the governmental discipline of God.

Thank the Lord, grace is with our spirit! Hallelujah, grace is to us and peace, and grace is being multiplied to us!

In both 1 Pet. 1:2 and 2 Pet. 1:2 we see that grace is being multiplied to us, the believers in Christ.

This means that we have grace, but the Lord wants to multiply this grace.

We can testify that we need not just grace but multiplied grace in order to live the Christian life in a proper way.

What is grace? Grace is not merely an unmerited favor or blessing from God.

Many think that, when God gives them a child, that is grace; also, they think they are blessed because they are healthy, things go well with them, and they have good things.

But this is not grace. Grace is the Triune God in Christ as the Spirit coming to us to be our enjoyment, our life, and our life supply.

Grace is the incarnated Christ as the Spirit giving us everything, doing everything in us and for us, and infusing us with all that God is.

Grace is not separate from Christ, for when Christ came, grace came.

As we enjoy Christ day by day, as we come to the Lord’s word and pray over the word, we enjoy grace.

This grace fills us so that grace will reign in us.

As we take the verses of the Bible, chew on them by prayerfully musing on them, and digest them by saying Amen to God’s word, something happens within us: the enjoyment of Christ as grace reigns in us!

And when we meet others, we have something of grace to minister to them; we minister the varied grace, for we have enjoyed the Lord in many ways.

May we be those who enjoy the Lord day by day, even moment by moment.

May we be filled with Christ as grace so that even our words would give grace to those who hear.

May we allow the Lord to infuse us with all that He is so that He may flow out of us toward others as grace.

The Prophets in the Old Testament Prophesied concerning the Grace that was to Come to us

2 Pet. 1:10-11 tells us that the prophets, who prophesied concerning the grace that was to come to us, sought and searched diligently concerning this salvation, searching into what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them was making clear, testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories after these.

Peter uses the Old Testament prophets to confirm his teaching concerning the New Testament salvation, just as the Lord Jesus did (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46).

In particular, Peter says that the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament prophets made them clear concerning Christ coming as grace to us through His incarnation, His sufferings in His human living and crucifixion, and His glories in His resurrection, ascension, second coming, and reigning for the application of God’s full salvation to us (2 Pet. 1:5, 9-10; Psa. 22; Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26). Wow!

The prophets in the Old Testament somehow saw something concerning Christ, the processes He went through, and the glories He entered into.

The prophets in the Old Testament prophesied concerning the grace that was to come to us, and the Spirit of Christ moved in them in order to reveal these matters to them.

The Spirit of Christ is something that was compounded in the New Testament, but it seems like this Spirit was operating in the Old Testament prophets.

Although the Spirit of Christ was constituted dispensationally through and with Christ’s death and resurrection in the New Testament time (John 7:39; Rom. 8:9-11), the function of the Spirit is eternal, because He is the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14).

We all know that it was after Christ became the Spirit that the Spirit of Christ was constituted, but the Old Testament prophets had the operation of the Spirit of Christ in them and on them.

How does this work and how can this be? They searched into what time and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them was making clear.

The Spirit of Christ was operating in the Old Testament saints to make them clear concerning Christ and concerning the grace that was to come to us.

On the one hand, the Spirit was not yet before Christ’s resurrection; on the other hand, the operation and effectiveness of this Spirit are eternal, for Christ offered Himself to the Father through the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14).

The Spirit of Christ, in His eternal function, was in the Old Testament prophets, making them clear concerning Christ coming to the New Testament believers. Wow!

The Spirit of Christ revealed and made clear to the Old Testament prophets that Christ will come to be the all-sufficient and unlimited grace of God’s full salvation to them for their entry into the joy of the Lord in the kingdom age, which is the salvation of their souls (John 1:17; Heb. 10:29; 1 Pet. 1:9; Matt. 25:21, 23).

The Spirit has an eternal function.

In Rev. 13:8 we see that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.

In our view, according to the timeline, Christ as the Lamb of God was slain two thousand years ago; in God’s view, however, it was before the foundation of the world.

How can this be? It is because of the eternal function of the Spirit.

The Spirit was constituted dispensationally, but the function of the Spirit is eternal. So the Spirit of Christ was working and operating in the Old Testament prophets, pointing them to the New Testament Christ, the New Testament grace coming to us.

How privileged we are today to have this grace that was to come unto us so that we may be saved and even obtain the salvation of our soul!

Lord Jesus, praise You for going through a process to become the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit to come into our spirit to regenerate us and make us children of God. Hallelujah for the grace that is coming to us, God in Christ as the Spirit to be our enjoyment. Amen, Lord, we praise You for the Old Testament prophets, who prophesied concerning the grace that was to come unto us. Thank You for being the Spirit of Christ in the prophets to reveal to them and make them clear for their testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories after these. Praise the Lord, Christ offered Himself to the Father through the eternal Spirit, and now the function and effectiveness of the Spirit is eternal! Hallelujah, Christ is our salvation through His redemption and through the application of the Spirit! Keep us enjoying You today, dear Lord Jesus, as our wonderful salvation, until we obtain the salvation of our soul.

The Spirit of Christ Applies God’s Full Salvation as Grace through the Prophesying of the Old Testament Prophets and the Preaching of the New Testament Apostles

The Old Testament prophets searched and sought diligently to see something of what God was about to do in the New Testament, and they prophesied concerning the grace that was to come unto us.

What is this grace? This is a particular aspect of grace, different from the grace that came through Christ’s coming.

John 1:14 says that the Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us was full of grace and reality; this grace is God the Son as our enjoyment.

Verses 16-17 continue to say that of His fullness we have received, and grace upon grace.

Furthermore, in 1 Cor. 15:10 Paul said that it was by the grace of God that he was what he was, for His grace did not turn out to be in vain but rather, he labored by the grace of God.

This grace is the resurrected Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit to bring the processed Triune God in resurrection into us to be our life and life supply so that we may live in resurrection.

But the grace Peter speaks of in 1 Pet. 1:10 is a particular aspect of grace, referring to the salvation of the believers’ souls.

Yes, Christ came to bring grace to us, and of His fullness, we receive grace upon grace.

Yes, grace is with our spirit, and by the grace of God we are what we are and we labor more abundantly.

But there’s a particular aspect of grace which was prophesied by the Old Testament saints, who sought and searched diligently concerning the salvation of the believers’ souls (1 Pet. 1:9).

This grace is not the grace that saves our spirit or our body but the grace that saves our soul.

The Lord Jesus told us that, if we saved our soul but lost the entire world, that is worthwhile (Mark 8:36).

Our soul needs to be salved.

The Spirit of Christ applies God’s full salvation as grace to us by two instrumentalities: the prophesying of the Old Testament prophets and the preaching of the New Testament apostles (1 Pet. 1:10-12; cf. Rev. 2:7).

We believe into the Lord Jesus and have our soul saved by means of God’s word, which is mainly composed of the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and the preaching of the New Testament apostles.

In the Old Testament God spoke through the prophets; in the New Testament, He speaks through the apostles.

Both the prophesying of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles are the application of the Spirit.

The Spirit applies God’s full salvation as grace, a particular kind of grace for the salvation of our soul, by means of two instrumentalities: the prophesying of the Old Testament prophets and the preaching of the New Testament apostles.

As we read the Bible and turn to the Lord to receive His shining in His speaking, we have the salvation of God applied to us by the Spirit.

Our spirit has been saved – praise the Lord!

At the time of our regeneration, we were saved, and our spirit became life (Rom. 8:11; John 3:16, 6). But what about our soul? Our soul still needs to be saved.

Our soul is saved by a particular aspect of grace which has to do with the word of God composed of the Old and the New Testament.

Today we can come to the Lord’s word, pray over the word, sing with the word, praise the Lord with the Word, and muse on the word so that we may be renewed in our mind, balanced in our emotion, and subdued in our will.

By the renewing of the mind we are being transformed in our soul (Rom. 12:2). Praise the Lord!

Even more, as we enjoy the Spirit’s application of God’s full salvation to us, we also cooperate with the Lord to preach Christ, the death of Christ, and the different glories of Christ to others.

We cooperate with the Spirit to let the Spirit flow through us and apply God’s salvation to others also.

How glorious it is when we go and preach the gospel, declaring Christ, the death of Christ, and the glories of Christ, so that the Spirit may apply this wonderful One as grace to others for their salvation!

When we go forth and preach Christ, we are apostles, sent by the Lord with His commission to speak His word to the people.

When we preach Christ as the gospel we are included among those who preach the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Praise the Lord!

Lord Jesus, we praise You for revealing to us the wonderful Christ in the word of God! How glorious, wonderful, and excellent Christ is, and we receive Him, love Him, believe into Him, and are joined to Him! Amen, Lord, thank You for being the Spirit of Christ to apply God’s full salvation as grace to us by means of the prophesying of the Old Testament prophets and the preaching of the New Testament apostles! Amen, Lord, we open to You; apply the full salvation of God to our soul today. We come to You in Your word to read the word, pray the word, sing the word, and muse on the word so that we may be much more saved in our soul! Hallelujah, our soul is being saved, and we want to pay the price of losing the world but saving our soul! Amen, Lord, we want to cooperate with You today to go forth and preach Christ as the gospel! We want to declare Christ, the death of Christ, and the glories of Christ to others so that the Spirit may apply Christ as grace to them for their salvation!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Peter, msgs. 1-2, 7-9, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God (2024 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 5, Grace in Peter’s Epistles.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The Truth Concerning Salvation, via, Contending for the Faith.
  – 1 Peter (Program #6) – The Full Salvation of the Triune God and Its Issues (4), via, Bible study radio.
  – The significance of prophesying in the Bible, a portion from, The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – One Major Function of the Word of God: To Testify Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The Anointed of Jehovah – This Prophecy Having a Foretaste Fulfillment at Christ’s First Coming, a portion from, Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 54, by Witness Lee.
  – Israel in God’s Economy (5) – The Main Prophecies concerning Israel before the Lord’s Coming, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Concerning the Spirit, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 01: The Christian Life and Warfare, Chapter 1, by Watchman Nee.
  – My Experience of being Cared for by the Believers in the Local Churches, via, Living to Him.
  – How to Have Faith? Receiving the Spirit and Supplying the Spirit by the Hearing of Faith, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Isaiah 53 Prophesies Jesus Christ, via, New Jerusalem blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – This is He whom they in old time / Chanted of with one accord, / Whom the voices of the prophets / Promised in their faithful word; / Now He shines, the long-expected; / Let creation praise its Lord, / Evermore and evermore. (Hymns #60 stanza 2)
  – That which for long the prophets sought, / The righteous yearned to see, / Has in these last of days appeared / In its reality. / And we’re now in the final stages, / ’Tis the completion of all the ages. / All those who believed the promise / Are perfected now in us. (Hymns #1319 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Jews and Gentiles are one body— / God His myst’ry has made known— / On apostles, prophets founded, / Jesus Christ the cornerstone; / We in Him are built together / For God’s dwelling manifest, / Fitly framed by God the Spirit / For His pleasure and His rest. / In eternal ages purposed / That His wisdom be made known, / Was the Church, His hidden myst’ry, / Where the Son could make His home; / That the saints may all in spirit / Apprehend His boundlessness, / Know His love which passes knowledge, / All God’s fulness to possess. (Hymns #823 stanzas 4-5)