God’s Economy is in Faith: when we See God’s Economy, Faith is infused into us!

God’s economy is initiated and developed in the sphere of faith, for God’s economy is in faith; faith is a matter of seeing God’s economy and having an appreciation for Him and His economy, and faith is also that we are not but God is.

Everything of God and of His economy can be substantiated, enjoyed, and experienced by us in our spirit and by faith.

We need to have a governing and controlling vision of God’s economy in faith; such a vision will direct our daily living and will make us the overcoming ones, those who are one with the Lord for the fulfilment of His economy.

We may have seen something of the economy of God and there may be a realization within us that God is daily working Himself into us to produce the church, the organism of the Triune God.

However, does such a vision control our daily living? Do we live our Christian life and church life under the vision of God’s eternal economy in faith?

Even more, is every aspect of our Christian life and our human life on earth under the control and direction of the vision of God’s economy in faith?

We must admit that we need to see more of God’s economy, and the vision of His economy must become more controlling to us.

To the apostle Paul, even toward the end of his life, when he was before king Agrippa, he testified that he could not be disobedient to the heavenly vision.

He didn’t say that he had a vision so he tried his best to do what the Lord told him to do; instead, he didn’t even try to obey the vision – he just could not be disobedient to the heavenly vision.

May a clear, controlling vision of the Lord’s economy direct our hearts and may we testify like Paul that we cannot be disobedient to this heavenly vision!

If we see this vision, if the heavenly vision is infused into us and it controls us and directs us, we will be one with the Lord and we will aspire to be His overcomers today.

What He wants to gain is the church, the Body of Christ, to express Him and represent HIm; however, the church as a whole became degraded, and the Lord is calling overcomers.

The Lord today is looking for those who sympathize with Him, those who see the heavenly vision and allow this vision to direct their whole being, and who overcome in the midst of this crooked and perverted generation.

Such ones eat Christ as the hidden manna, overcome the clergy-laity system in the meetings by speaking for the Lord, and are burning for the Lord, never being lukewarm.

May we be such ones. May we be those who are qualified to be invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb when the Lord returns!

God’s Economy is in Faith, which is to Believe that God is Everything and We are Not!

The economy of God is initiated and developed in the sphere of faith (1 Tim. 1:4).

The realm in which the economy of God operates and is carried out is faith; God’s economy is in faith.

Therefore, our faith needs to be developed so that we may become the bride which is fully mature in faith and love.

We need to live by faith, stand by faith, walk by faith, speak in faith, pray in faith, and endure suffering in faith.

On the negative side, to exercise faith is to stop our work, for faith is “no longer I” (Gal. 2:20).

On the positive side, the exercise faith is to believe that God is (Heb. 11:6) and to trust in the Lord.

We simply need to put ourselves aside, not trust in ourselves, and even realize that we are not; at the same time, we need to realize that God is, and we simply trust in Him.

No matter what is happening, we declare to God and to the whole universe that, though we don’t understand or know why things happen, though our heart is aching, we still believe in God, we trust in Him, and we vindicate Him.

God is righteous, faithful, and loving; He is wise, and we simply trust in Him.

Faith is a proclamation that we are unable to fulfill God’s requirements but that God has done everything for us; therefore, we receive all that God has done for us and has planned for us, and we enjoy all that He has given to us (John 1:16).

God’s economy is in faith; it is not by our doing or our work but by our faith in God’s grace. God’s economy operates in the realm of our believing.

Practically speaking, faith is to stop ourselves from doing this or that and simply to be joined to God as the only One who is.

If we are a husband, we need to realize that it is not us who need to love our wife but it is Christ; Christ is the real Husband.

If we are a wife, we need to see that Christ is our real Husband, and that only Christ in us can love our husband and submit to our husband.

It should not be us who go shopping or decide things; it should be Christ.

To believe is to realize that we are not and that God is everything; we are nothing in everything and He is everything to us.

This is what Paul realized and testified of in Gal. 2:20 when he said, I am crucified with Christ, and in it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

I no longer live; I no longer exist, for I was crucified and I am finished. But Christ lives in me; He exists, He lives in me, and I live by faith in Him, even by His faith.

If we come forward to God, we must believe that He is; at the same time, He is and we are not.

But praise the Lord, we are organically joined to Him, and in this organic union with Him, we can live the Christian life by faith.

God’s economy is in faith, and everything of God can be real to us and His economy can be accomplished in us by faith and in the realm of faith.

God’s economy is carried out NOT by our doing in ourselves; God’s economy can be carried out only by our believing into Christ (John 3:15-16).

May we come to the Lord, again and again, to enjoy Him, partake of Him, and experience Him, and may we live a life by faith, for God’s economy is in faith, and our Christian life is a life by faith.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. We want to stop our doing and our striving; we simply come to You to enjoy all that You are and all You have done for us. Hallelujah, God’s economy is in faith, and we believers are men of faith! Increase our faith, Lord, and cause our faith to develop until we do everything in faith and by faith. We come forward to You and we believe that God is and we are not; God is everything and we are nothing. Amen, Lord, we exercise our faith to stop our work and to trust in God. May it be no longer us who lives and speaks and does things but may it be Christ, for our Christian life is a life by faith.

When we see the Contents of God’s Economy, Faith Rises in us and we Spontaneously Believe

Believers are men of faith, and as believers in Christ, our whole living should be in faith and by faith.

But how can we have faith? Does faith come to us just like that, or are we more special by believing?

Faith is a matter of seeing a view of the contents of God’s economy; when we see the economy of God by hearing of the gospel, faith is infused into us and we simply believe (Heb. 12:2).

This is not only something that happens once and for all – this is something that needs to take place daily.

Every day, as we come to the Lord’s word, we need to realize that God’s economy is in faith, and faith comes by the infusing of God into us through His word.

We may read a verse like Matt. 5:48, You shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect, and we may realize that this is impossible for us to do.

We may read the verse saying that husbands should love their wives and that the wife should submit to their own husband, and we may realize that this is quite impossible.

The first thing we need to do, however, is to say Amen to His word; we should simply say Amen to His speaking.

Then, we need to tell the Lord, Lord, I can’t do it; I can’t bear this, and I can’t live this or work it out. When we open to the Lord in this way, He knows that we can’t do what He speaks in the Bible, but He will come in to do everything in us and for us.

This is faith; God’s economy is in faith. God simply wants us to come to Him in His word and let Him do everything in us, give everything to us, live in us, and speak in us.

We need to be brought to the point where we sincerely say, I would like to do what the Lord tells me to do but I can’t; Lord, I open to You!

When we open to the Lord, this opens the way for the Lord to come in and do that very thing in us.

It is through many kinds of failures that we will totally lose our confidence in ourselves and we will trust in the Lord for everything.

When we open to the Lord and see the contents of God’s economy, when we have an inward seeing of what God’s economy is, we will be infused with faith.

Faith rises in us when we see the economy of God, for God’s economy is in faith. Because we have seen a revelation regarding the contents of God’s economy, we spontaneously believe in what we see (Eph. 3:9).

The ability within us to believe is not of ourselves; rather, this believing ability is a product, a result of having a proper view of God’s economy (Heb. 11:6, 9, 23-26; 12:2). Amen!

The first item in the basic structure of the Christian life – which is a holy life for the church life – is faith. If we lack in faith, if faith leaks or we experience a loss of faith, we backslide.

When we no longer place ourselves under the hearing of faith, when we are distracted by so many other things but do not remain under the vision of God’s economy, faith decreases in us, and we may backslide.

We need to be freshly impressed with the fact that God has a recovery in these days and that the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us to produce and build up the church as the Body of Christ for His corporate expression.

A very good way to be under the dispensing of God is to be in the meetings of the church and of the ministry; here we are “watching the heavenly television” of God’s economy.

We all can testify that, when we meet with the saints and remain under the hearing of the faith in the ministry meetings, faith increases in us, and our capacity to believe is increased.

May we remain in the constant seeing of God’s economy, the vision of God’s economy in faith, so that we may have the faith, which is the foundation of our Christian life.

And may we set time to be with the Lord in His word every day so that He may have a way to shine on us, shine in our being, and infuse us with Himself.

Lord Jesus, we want to remain under the hearing of the faith to be infused with God and have faith increase in us. Amen, Lord, we believe into You and we are one with You for the carrying out of Your economy. Infuse us more with Yourself as our ability to believe. We acknowledge, dear Lord, that we can’t do what the Bible tells us to do; in ourselves, it is impossible to be pleasing to God and do His will. We come to You, dear Lord, so that You may be everything in us and to us. May You be the One who lives in us, works in us, and walks in us. Hallelujah, God’s economy is in faith, and we believers in Christ are learning to live by faith, walk by faith, speak by faith, and do all things in faith – the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 278-281, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, God’s Economy in Faith (2022 spring ITERO), week 1, entitled, The Governing and Controlling Vision of Gods Economy in Faith.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Oh, what a life! Oh, what a peace! / The Christ who’s all within me lives. / With Him I have been crucified; / This glorious fact to me He gives. / Now it’s no longer I that live, / But Christ the Lord within me lives. (Hymns #499)
  – In a low dungeon, hope we had none; / Tried to believe, but faith didn’t come; / God, our sky clearing, Jesus appearing, / We by God were transfused! / We by God were transfused! / Propitiation made by the blood, / Jesus’ redemption bought us for God! / No condemnation, justification! / We have peace toward God! (Hymns #1131)
  – One in His merits I stand, / One as I pray in His name; / All that His worth can command, / I can with confidence claim. / One in His faith and His love, / One in His life I may be. / Sealed by the heavenly Dove, / I may be holy as He. (Hymns #479)