«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Heb. 10:35 Do not cast away therefore your boldness, which has great reward.

　　39 But we are not of those who shrink back to ruin but of those who have faith to the gaining of the soul.

　　The gaining of the soul is for our whole being to enjoy the coming Sabbath rest, that is, to share in Christ’s joy and glory in the coming kingdom (Heb. 4:9). Our being is of three parts—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23), and our soul is different from our spirit. At the time when we believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved, our spirit was regenerated with the Spirit of God (John 3:6). But we must wait until the Lord Jesus comes back for our body to be redeemed, saved, and transfigured (Rom. 8:23-25; Phil. 3:21). As to the saving or gaining of our soul, it depends upon how we deal with it in following the Lord after we are saved and regenerated. If we lose it now for the Lord’s sake, we shall save it (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33; John 12:25; 1 Pet. 1:9), and it shall be saved, or gained, at the Lord’s coming back (Heb. 10:37). (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 520-521)

　　To gain our soul in the coming age will be a great reward (Heb. 10:35) to our suffering for following Christ in this age. If we care for the enjoyment of our soul, the psychological pleasures, and do not follow Christ faithfully today, we shall suffer the Lord’s discipline in our soul in the coming age. If we are willing to lose the enjoyment of our soul for the Lord’s sake today, we shall have the full enjoyment of the Lord for our whole being, especially for our soul, in the coming age. That will be a reward to our suffering today.

　　In the Gospels the Lord tells us many times that if in this age we lose our soul for His sake and the gospel’s, at His coming back in the next age we shall gain it (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33)…. As human beings, we have a spirit, but we are a soul. A human being is a soul. To lose our soul in this age means to suffer for the Lord’s sake and for the sake of the gospel. When we suffer, our whole being suffers. This means that we lose our soul. Those who are rich and comfortable today, enjoying their physical life, are having enjoyment for their soul. Not many Christians are willing to pay the price to follow the Lord strictly, because they do not want to suffer in their soul; they want to enjoy their life today, desiring luxurious cars, large houses, and many worldly things.

　　Losing our soul in this age is to suffer for the Lord’s sake in a human way. If we follow the Lord today, we shall certainly suffer for His sake. Because you are a faithful and straight follower of Jesus Christ, your teachers may not give you the higher grade, and you may not receive a promotion on your job. Many such things are related to losing our soul….This loss of our soul today is the condition of our gaining it in the next age. To gain our soul in the next age is to enter into the Lord’s joy and reigning. According to the parable in Matthew 25, the Lord said to the faithful servants, “Enter into the joy of your master” [v. 23]. To enter into the Lord’s joy is to enter into His reign in the coming kingdom. This age is for us to suffer; the next age is for our enjoyment.

　　The gaining of the soul equals perfection, and perfection equals glorification. To be glorified, to be perfected, and to gain our soul in the next age all refer to one thing—the reward….[The reward] is the goal of God’s salvation….The goal of God’s salvation is to make us the same as His Firstborn Son. Romans 8:29 says that we have been, “predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers”…. Here we see God’s goal—that His many sons, who are Christ’s many brothers, might be conformed to the image of His firstborn Son. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 521-523)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 46; CWWN, vol. 17, issue nos. 6-8