«　WEEK 7　DAY 5　»

　　1 Pet. 1:7-9 …At the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom having not seen, you love;…you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

　　Heb. 10:39 …We are not of those who shrink back to ruin but of those who have faith to the gaining of the soul.

　　Matt. 16:25 …Whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.

　　The Lord is with us today (Matt. 28:20) but in a hidden, veiled way. His coming back will be His revelation [1 Pet. 1:7], when He will be seen openly by all. Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him [v. 8]. At present we cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him. 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). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3854-3855)

　　According to 1 Peter 1:8, the believers “exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.” Joy full of glory 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.”

　　At the Lord’s revelation, through His judgment seat, some believers will enter into the joy of the Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23; 24:45-46) and some will suffer in weeping and gnashing of teeth (25:30; 24:51). To enter into the Lord’s joy is the salvation, the gaining, of our souls (Heb. 10:39).

　　In 1 Peter 1:9 the salvation of our soul is the end of our faith. Although in our spirit we have been saved, in our soul we are being saved day by day. Our salvation has not yet reached its completion, that is, the end of our faith, the salvation of our soul. This means that at the second coming of Christ, our soul will be saved to the uttermost and will be brought into a higher enjoyment of Christ. According to Matthew 25, Christ at His coming back will say to the believers who are faithful slaves, “Enter into the joy of your master” (vv. 21, 23). To partake of the Lord’s joy with Him in the coming millennial kingdom is the salvation of our soul. Although the unbelievers freely enjoy all the pleasures of the world, we believers cannot. In this sense, our soul is suffering. But when the Lord comes back, our soul will be saved into His joy to enjoy Him to the uttermost in His kingdom. That will be the end of our faith, the consummation of the process of our faith. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3855-3856)

　　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, Gk.; 1 Pet. 1:9), and it shall be saved, or gained, at the Lord’s coming back (Heb. 10:37). This will be the reward (10:35) of the kingdom to the overcoming followers of the Lord (Matt. 16:22-28). (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 520-521)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 382; Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 46