“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us . . . full of grace and truth” (John 1.14). This tells us of what Christ Jesus is as He came to tabernacle among men. “For of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace” (John 1.16). This shows us what happens to us after we receive Him. “Grace for grace” this is the blessed portion of all who receive Christ. In the words of George Hutcheson, it is “grace upon grace, grace after grace, and more grace because we have already been given grace.” “Each blessing appropriated,” wrote B. W. Westcott, “became the foundation of a greater blessing. To have realized and used one measure of grace was to have gained a larger measure (as it were) in exchange for it.” In this present volume Watchman Nee first presents to us the series of parables dealing with the new and the old, together with the parable of the prodigal son, in order to illustrate what the grace is that we have received. He then proceeds to show what grace does to us as seen in the blood of Jesus which speaks better than that of Abel, to show the relationship between sin and the body, the meaning of baptism, and also the benefits of confessing sin. Finally, he puts forward what grace does in us as demonstrated in our desire to have communion with God and in our love of God, with the story of Mary Magdalene serving as the natural conclusion to the entire book. May we bow and worship the Lord of grace.
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