Page 75 - Sarah's Children

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, on the one hand He came to be the
savior of the world, to deliver men from sin. This is according to the
system of grace. On the other hand, God sent Him to the world that
through the work of the cross He might establish His own authority and
set up His kingdom so that the heavens might rule on the earth. This is
the system of government. Its work will continue until the power of the
devil is destroyed and the kingdom and the new heaven and the new
earth are brought in. On that day, the two systems of grace and
government will be joined into one. That is to say, that during the time
of the new heavens and the new earth, these two systems will become
one in the Lord Jesus. He does both sides of God’s work. He works
under the system of government as well as the system of grace.

The government of God does not commence with the creation of man,
but, rather, at the creation of the angels. This is quite clear in the Bible.
When Satan was yet a morning star, while he was still ruling, God’s
governmental system had already begun. Following the creation of man,
basic institutions such as marriage, husband and wife, family, and the
relationship between parents and children all came within the realm of
God’s government.

The basic lesson that all brothers and sisters need to learn is that we
should never allow grace to interfere with God’s government. I say most
emphatically that never in our lives should we permit grace to intervene
in what God has decided in government. God wants men to respect His
government not to overthrow it. If we are ignorant of God’s
government, we are lawless people in the sight of God. Since we have
never seen the kingdom except as it is seen in the church, it is
imperative for us to see the system of government. As a matter of fact,
the system of grace is for the sake of completing the system of
government. The system of government is not for the system of grace,
but grace is for the completion of government.

Many hold to a fundamental error: they foolishly maintain that grace
can set aside government. The truth is that what God does in grace
never alters God’s government. The forgiveness of grace that we receive
from God does not change His governmental forgiveness. No matter
how much we receive forgiveness in grace, still it does not affect
governmental forgiveness.

God’s government is an independent principle. From beginning to end,
God brings in His governmental system. Grace only complements