«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Deut. 1:21 See, Jehovah your God has set the land before you; go up, possess it, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Do not fear, neither be dismayed.

　　Luke 6:36 Be full of compassion, even as your Father also is full of compassion.

　　1 Pet. 1:16 Because it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy.”

　　It is required that God’s people respond to God with their love in a way that fits in with God’s governmental administration. The inheritors needed to match the Giver of the inheritance, so that He could be with them both in their living and in their fighting. This is not a requirement of the law but a condition requiring God’s people to match what God is. God is sanctified, and we also must be sanctified. In order to match the Giver of the inheritance, we need to be holy as He is holy. If we do not match God, He may be with us in our living, but He will not be with us in our fighting. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 17)

　　In the Bible the word holy should not be understood according to the natural concept. Some think that holiness is sinlessness. According to this concept, someone is holy if he does not sin. This thought is absolutely mistaken. Holiness is neither sinlessness nor perfection. Holy not only means sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common. Only God is different, distinct, from all things in His nature. Hence, He is holy; holiness is the distinct quality of His nature, as one of His attributes.

　　To be holy is to be separated unto God from everything other than God. It also means to be different, distinct, from all that is not God. Thus, we become not common but different. In the universe God alone is holy. He is different from everything and is distinct. Therefore, to be holy means to be one with God in His distinction. You may be sinless and perfect, but if you are not one with God, you are not holy. When God gets into us, we are holy. When we get into God, we are more holy. And when we are mingled with God, we are most holy. We become holy by having God in us, we become more holy by being in God, and we become the holiest by being mingled, permeated, and saturated with God. This will eventually issue in the New Jerusalem, which is called the holy city (Rev. 21:2, 10), a city that not only belongs to God and is for God, but is filled with God, saturated with God, and one with God, a holy entity sanctified with God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 86-87)

　　The book of Deuteronomy is a speaking supplementary to the book of Numbers, concerning what kind of man one should be to inherit the promised land as the good land. He should be one who loves God, fears God, subjects himself to God’s ruling, minds the bowels of God, and lives in the presence of God. The principle of the New Testament is the same: God’s salvation is unconditional, whereas the enjoyment of the riches in Christ is conditional, depending on man’s loving Christ solely. Hence, the teaching in Deuteronomy is exactly the same as that in the New Testament. The expressions used in the teaching are different, but the essence of the teaching is the same.

　　When we hear about the kind of persons we must be to inherit the good land, we may feel that we cannot make it. If this is our feeling, we need to be reminded that the book of Deuteronomy is a book full of the word which is Christ. As the word, Christ is the One who sustains us and makes us those who love God, fear God, subject ourselves to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in God’s presence. As long as we have a morning revival through the holy Word and have daily victory also through the Word, we will become those who are qualified to inherit the good land. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 16-17)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 9