Ⅵ
God promised to give us, His people, one heart and one way, to fear Him all the days, for our own good and for the good of our children after us, and He puts His fear into our hearts, so that we will not turn away from Him—Jer. 32:39-40:
Ａ
We, the chosen people of God, should all have one heart—to love God, to seek God, to live God, and to be constituted with God that we may be His expression—and one way—the Triune God Himself as the inner law of life with its divine capacity—v. 39; 31:33-34; John 14:6a; Rom. 8:2.
Ｂ
This one heart and one way are the one accord (Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; Rom. 15:6); divisions result from having a heart for something other than Christ and taking a way other than Christ.
Ｃ
God made an eternal covenant, the new covenant; it is by this covenant that God will not turn away from us, and He puts His fear into our hearts, so that we will not turn away from Him—Jer. 32:40.
Ｄ
When we fear God, we are instructed by God concerning the way that we should choose, and we are able to know God’s intimate counsel and His covenant; only those who fear God can have God’s revelation of His covenant, and He gives His intimate counsel only to those who fear Him—Psa. 25:12, 14.
Ⅶ
The fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord are two wonderful results of the forgiveness of our sins:
Ａ
God’s forgiveness does not cause man to become audacious and reckless; the grace of God’s forgiveness brings man into the fear of the Lord; “With You there is forgiveness, / That You would be feared”—130:4.
Ｂ
The grace of God’s forgiveness also causes us to love God; the reason the sinful woman in Luke loved the Lord much is that she was forgiven much by the Lord—7:39-50.
Ｃ
The more the Lord forgives us, the more we fear Him; and the more we fear Him, the more we love Him; on the negative side, because we fear Him, we refrain from doing things that are displeasing to Him; on the positive side, because we love Him, we do things that are pleasing to Him.
Morning Nourishment
Jer. 32:39-40 And I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an eternal covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put My fear into their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me.We, the chosen people of God, should all have one heart—to love God, to seek God, to live God, and to be constituted with God that we may be His expression—and one way—the Triune God Himself as the inner law of life with its divine capacity (Jer. 31:33-34; John 14:6a). This one heart and one way are the one accord (Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; Rom. 15:6). Divisions result from having a heart for something other than Christ and taking a way other than Christ. (Jer. 32:39, footnote 1)
This eternal covenant is the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 13:20). It is by this covenant that God will not turn away from us and will plant us in Christ, our good land…, and Christ in all His aspects will be bought by us (Jer. 32:40-44), that is, gained by us through our paying the price to forget the things that are behind and pursue Christ (Phil. 3:8-14). (Jer. 32:40, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
How can we truly know and understand God’s covenant? Psalm 25:14 tells us: “The intimate counsel of Jehovah is to those who fear Him, / And His covenant will He make known to them.”…You may hear others speak of God’s covenant, and you may also know a little about the matter of a covenant, but unless God reveals it, you will still have no power, and you still cannot hold fast God’s word. Therefore, God must show it to us in our spirit.What kind of person can have God’s revelation?…The Lord gives His intimate counsel only to those who fear Him and His covenant to those who fear Him….To fear means to magnify, to exalt, Him. A person who fears God is one who seeks God’s will with a full heart, with the intention of completely submitting to God’s way….Those who are lazy, careless, double-minded, proud, and complacent can never expect God to reveal His intimate counsel to them. Neither can they expect God to reveal His covenant to them. The Lord only gives His intimate counsel and reveals His covenant to those who fear Him….Therefore, if we truly want to know God’s covenant, we need to learn to fear God. (The New Covenant, 2nd ed., pp. 37-38)
People think that God’s forgiveness will cause man to become audacious and reckless. Little do they know that the grace of God’s forgiveness is to bring man into the fear of God (Psa. 130:4). Our experience tells us that the more we are forgiven by God, the more we fear Him; the more we have received the grace of God’s forgiveness, the more we have the fear toward God. Only those who have never been forgiven by God and who have never tasted the grace of God’s forgiveness can behave in an audacious and reckless manner, doing whatever they please. Once we have tasted the grace of God’s forgiveness, we immediately have a fearful heart and we also hate sin.
The grace of God’s forgiveness causes us not only to fear God but also to love God. On the negative side, because we fear Him, we refrain from doing things that are displeasing to God; on the positive side, because we love Him, we do things that are pleasing to Him…. In Luke 7, the sinful woman, having been forgiven by the Lord, not only ceased from her sinful living but also poured out all she had and all she was on the Lord to express her love toward Him. The law, which condemns us, cannot free us from sin, but grace, which forgives us, can…. The more we have been forgiven by God, the more we love God. The reason that sinful woman loved the Lord much was that she was forgiven much by the Lord. Therefore, God’s forgiveness of man results in man’s fearing Him and loving Him. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 3, pp. 122-123)
Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 3, lsn. 36; CWWL, 1957, vol. 1, “God’s Plan concerning the Church,” ch. 4