«　WEEK 3　DAY 1　»

　　1 Pet. 1:7-9 So that the proving of your faith… may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

　　The Lord is with us today (Matt. 28:20) but in a hidden, veiled way. His coming back will be His revelation, when He will be seen openly by all.

　　Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him. At present we cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him [1 Pet. 1:8]. It is a wonder and a mystery that the believers love One whom they have not seen. We love Him whom we have not seen because of believing, that is, because of the faith that has been infused into us through our hearing of the living word (Gal. 3:2).

　　Joy “full of glory” [1 Pet. 1:8] is joy immersed in glory. We exult with a joy that is immersed in glory. This joy is immersed in the Lord as glory; thus, it is full of the expression of the Lord. This joy is also unspeakable; it is a joy that is beyond our ability to utter. Things that are wonderful are also unspeakable. By believing into the Lord and loving Him, we obtain great joy. The normal condition of a Christian is to “exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory” [v. 8]. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3854-3855)

　　Concerning faith there are two aspects, the objective aspect and the subjective aspect. Objectively faith is what we believe. Subjectively faith is our believing. Therefore, faith denotes both the act of believing and that in which we believe…. As we hear about those things in which we are to believe, faith is produced within us. The more we hear about these good things, the more we appreciate them. Spontaneously this appreciation issues in our believing in those very things about which we have heard. Therefore, faith is both objective and subjective.

　　The subjective aspect of faith implies at least eight items. First, faith involves hearing. Without the hearing of the word, there can be no faith. Faith comes from hearing. The word we hear includes God, Christ, the Spirit, the cross, redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life. It also includes the fact that God has been processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. According to the New Testament, the gospel tells us of all these matters. When the gospel is preached in a proper way, those who hear it will be stirred up and filled with appreciation. Their hearing of the word of the gospel is the beginning of their believing.

　　Second, faith also implies appreciation. After hearing the word of the gospel, a sense of appreciation spontaneously rises up in those who hear. This is true not only of those hearing the gospel for the first time, but for all believers in Christ. Whenever we hear the word in a proper way, this hearing awakens more appreciation for the Lord.

　　This appreciation is followed by calling, the third item implied in the subjective aspect of faith. All those who appreciate the Lord Jesus…will spontaneously call, “O Lord Jesus.” Perhaps instead of calling on Him in this way, they will utter some word of appreciation for the Lord. Perhaps they will say, “Oh, how good the Lord Jesus is!”

　　Fourth, faith implies receiving. By appreciating the Lord Jesus and calling on Him, we spontaneously receive Him…. The fifth aspect [is] that of accepting….Those who hear the gospel and appreciate the Lord Jesus automatically accept Him as well as receive Him. Sixth, faith includes becoming joined to the Lord Jesus. By receiving and accepting Him, we are joined to Him. Then, [seventh and eighth], we partake of Him and enjoy Him. Faith partakes of and enjoys what it receives and accepts. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 122-123)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 124, 382; Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 6; Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 2; Life-study of Galatians, msg. 14