Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:20; 2 Cor. 5:18-20

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 2　DAY 1　»

　　2 Cor. 5:18-20 But all things are out from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself…and has put in us the word of reconciliation. On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God.

　　In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Paul [speaks] of the ministry of reconciliation… According to verse 20, the ambassadors of Christ are one with God; they are like God, and they entreat as God. Their word is God’s word, and what they do is God’s doing. Furthermore, the words on behalf of Christ mean “representing Christ.”…The apostles were authorized by Christ to represent Him to do the work of reconciliation.

　　Paul’s composition in 5:20 is unusual. After saying, “We are ambassadors,” he says, “As God entreats you through us.” Paul seems to be saying, “We are ambassadors of Christ, and we are doing a reconciling work. This is like God entreating you through us. We are one with Christ and one with God. Christ is one with us, and God also is one with us. Therefore, God, Christ, and we, the apostles, are all one.” The ministry of the new covenant is a ministry in which God, Christ, and the ministers are one…God, Christ, and the apostles were one in carrying out the ministry of reconciliation. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 317-318)

　　Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 5:20 about being reconciled to God is not directed to sinners; it is directed to the believers in Corinth. These believers had already been reconciled to God partially. However, they had not been fully reconciled to Him…In 1 Corinthians 1 Paul refers to them as saints, as those who had been called by God into the fellowship of His Son. Therefore, they surely had been reconciled to God to some degree.

　　The books of 1 and 2 Corinthians show that the believers at Corinth, after being reconciled to God partially, still lived in the flesh, in the outer man. Between them and God there was the separating veil of the flesh, of the natural man. This veil corresponds to the veil inside the tabernacle, the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, not to the veil at the entrance to the Holy Place. The Corinthian believers may have been in the Holy Place, but they were not in the Holy of Holies. This means they were still separated from the place where God is. Therefore, they had not been reconciled to God in full.

　　In 2 Corinthians 5:19 it is the world that is to be reconciled to God. In verse 20 it is the believers, those who have already been reconciled to God, who are to be reconciled to Him further…The first step is to reconcile sinners to God from sin. For this purpose Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) that they might be forgiven by God. This is the objective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He bore our sins on the cross that they might be judged by God upon Him for us. The second step is to reconcile believers living in the natural life to God from the flesh. For this purpose Christ died for us—the persons—that we might live to Him in the resurrection life (2 Cor. 5:14-15). This is the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He was made sin for us to be judged and done away with by God that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. By the two aspects of His death He has fully reconciled God’s chosen people to God.

　　As genuine believers, we can testify that we are in Him. But are we in Christ in a practical way in our daily living? For example, are you in Christ when you are joking? When you make a joke, do you have the assurance that you are in Him? You must admit that you are outside of Christ at such a time. There is no neutral ground: we are either in Christ or outside of Him. Because we are not always in Christ in a practical way, we need further reconciliation. We need to be reconciled back into Christ. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 318-319, 339)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 37

«　WEEK 2　DAY 2　»

　　Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

　　5:24 But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.

　　Although the Corinthians had been saved and reconciled to God halfway, they still lived in the flesh; that is, they lived in the soul, the outer man, the natural being. The veil of the flesh, of the natural man, still separated them from God. This means that their natural being was a separating veil. Therefore, they needed the second step of reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul was working… on the Corinthians to cut the veil of the flesh asunder, to crucify their natural life, to consume their outer man. What the apostle Paul was doing in 1 and 2 Corinthians was to cleave the separating veil of the flesh so that the believers at Corinth could enter into the Holy of Holies. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 320)

　　In the Holy Place are the blessings of the Spirit, the lampstand, and the incense altar. But in the Holy Place there is not the direct presence of God. In order to have God Himself, we must be reconciled further and come into the Holy of Holies. We must take the second step of reconciliation to be brought into the presence of God…This reconciliation brings us not only out of sin but also out of the flesh, the natural man, the natural being. Then we are brought to God and become one with Him.

　　Not only were the apostles commissioned with the work, the ministry, of reconciliation, but in bringing others into God, they worked together with God. They knew that by themselves they could not bring anyone into God. They did not have this ability, this capacity. They needed to do this work with God.

　　There is an important difference between working for God and working with Him. Even in our human living, working with another person is different from simply working for that person…A wife may enjoy cooking for her husband; however, she may not like to cook a meal with her husband…The same may be true of working for the Lord. Often we like to work for the Lord, but we do not want to work with Him…If we work in this way, we will not be able to reconcile others into the Lord. Because we are not in the Lord ourselves in a practical way in our work, we cannot reconcile anyone else into the Lord. Only by working with the Lord can we reconcile others into Him.

　　To work together with God means that we are in Him. When we are in Him, we can bring others into Him. Only a person who is in God can bring others into God. If you are not in Him, you certainly cannot bring anyone else into Him. Our closeness to God is the measure of the result of our work. If we are far away from God, we cannot bring others close to Him…If we are those who are one with God, then we can bring others to the very place where we are. Therefore, if we want to bring others into the Lord, we must first be in Him ourselves. The more we are in Him, the more we can reconcile others into Him. May this matter be deeply impressed upon us!

　　In 2 Corinthians 6:2 Paul goes on to say, “For He says, ’‘In an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is the well-acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” The phrase well-acceptable time refers to the time of our being reconciled to God, when He well accepts us. Salvation in this verse, according to the context, refers to reconciliation. Reconciliation actually is full salvation.

　　In chapter 5 Paul speaks of reconciliation, and in chapter 6, of salvation. Hence, the salvation mentioned in 6:2 actually refers to reconciliation. Only when we the believers, the saved ones in Christ, have been fully reconciled to God are we fully saved. Until then, we are only partially saved; we have not yet been saved in full. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 320-321, 340-342)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 40

«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　2 Cor. 5:21 Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

　　Rom. 8:3 For that which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

　　[In 2 Corinthians 5:21] we have the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation—the righteousness of God.

　　The new covenant ministry is a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness. This ministry imparts the Spirit of life into the believers. This issues in a state, a condition, that is called righteousness. Before we were saved, we were in a condition that was altogether condemned by God…But after we were saved, we were brought into a state where we could be justified by God. This is righteousness. However, if we are honest, we will admit that, on the one hand, we are in a righteous condition, but, on the other hand, certain things related to our living still are not right. These things may not be comparable to the gross sin that may have been in our living before we were saved. Nevertheless, there are matters that are not right. In particular, there is still the separation between us and God caused by our natural man, our self. This is sin. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 321)

　　Suppose a certain man and his wife are not saved. They have difficulty getting along with each other and often fight…Suppose one day the husband gets saved and comes into the church life. He begins to change, and this change affects his wife. Eventually, she also gets saved and comes into the church life. Like her husband, she too begins to change. Now this man and wife are in a state that the Bible calls righteousness. However, the man, now a brother in the Lord, has a very strong disposition…Moreover, the wife is very peculiar and seldom agrees with others. Often she contradicts others…What this man and wife have is a halfway reconciliation and a halfway righteousness.

　　However, suppose this brother and sister hear a message on the need for further reconciliation. The husband begins to condemn his disposition, the wife condemns her peculiarity, and they both condemn their natural life. As a result, there is the possibility that they may be brought into the Holy of Holies to enjoy the Lord. Then the husband may say, “Praise the Lord!” and the wife may respond, “Amen!”…They will be in a condition that may be called the righteousness of God.

　　Why do we say that this righteousness is the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation? This claim is based on 2 Peter 3:13, which speaks of righteousness dwelling in the new heaven and new earth. The fact that righteousness will dwell in the new heaven and new earth indicates that everything will be brought back to God in full. Everything will be headed up and set in good order. Nothing will be wrong, and nothing will be out of order. Everything in the new heaven and the new earth will be right and satisfactory to God. God will be able to look at the entire universe and justify everything.

　　You may have the assurance to say that you are a new creation in Christ, [but] you may not have the boldness to declare that you are the righteousness of God. The reason you lack this boldness is that you are like a butterfly that has not fully emerged from its cocoon. Only when our “cocoon” has been fully done away can we say that we are the righteousness of God. Until then, we can say that we are only partially the righteousness of God. We need the cross to do a further work on us so that the remainder of our cocoon may be consumed. Eventually, at the latest in the New Jerusalem, we will fully be the righteousness of God. Then God will be able to boast to His enemy, Satan, that everything in the New Jerusalem is righteousness, that nothing is wrong or defective, that everything is satisfactory to God. Therefore, God will be able to justify everything in the New Jerusalem. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 321-323)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 39

«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died.

　　3:8-9 How shall the ministry of the Spirit not be more in glory? For if there is glory with the ministry of condemnation, much more the ministry of righteousness abounds with glory.

　　Many of today’s Christians know only that Christ died for their sins [1 Cor. 15:3]. They do not realize that Christ died for them as the flesh, as the old creation [2 Cor. 5:14]…In order that our sins might be forgiven by God, Christ died for our sins. This, however, is simply the initial stage of reconciliation. Christ died on the cross not only for our sins, but…also for us…Christ died on the cross so that our outer man, our natural being, may be terminated in order that we may become the righteousness of God. Therefore, Christ died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and justified by God. But Christ died for us so that we may become the righteousness of God.

　　The new covenant ministry brings us back to God to such an extent that we actually become God’s righteousness. Not only are we justified by God, but we even become the righteousness of God. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 323-324)

　　The ministry of the new covenant, a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, will work out a condition of righteousness first in individuals, second in the church, and third in the millennial kingdom…Although the age of the kingdom has not yet come, we can have a foretaste of the righteousness of the kingdom today in the church life and in our family life. Sometimes in a certain local church the condition may be such that everything, everyone, and every matter is justified by God. Such a church is the righteousness of God. This kind of condition may also be present in our family life. In a few cases I have seen that in a family whose members have been thoroughly saved, there is a condition where nothing is wrong, but everything is satisfactory to God and justified by Him…The fruit of the new covenant ministry is to produce this kind of righteousness.

　　As a result of experiencing the Spirit living and working within us, we become righteous. Spontaneously, our inner being is transparent, crystal clear, and we know the heart of God…Without effort, we know the mind of the Lord and have a clear understanding concerning His will and work. Then what we do is according to the Lord’s mind and will. This is righteousness.

　　Many Christians have the concept that when we do something wrong, we are not right with God. This concept of righteousness is too superficial. Even when we do not do anything wrong, we still may not be right with God, for our being may not be in the mind and will of the Lord…We may not be according to the Lord’s mind, and what we are doing may not be His will. As long as we are not doing God’s will, we are not right.

　　Suppose a young person at school does not do anything wrong. But he does not study properly. Furthermore, when he sits in class, he is absent-minded…Outwardly, he may not be wrong, but inwardly, his whole being is wrong. In the same principle, outwardly, many saints are not wrong in anything. Actually, their being is not in the will of the Lord.

　　If you are infused and saturated by the life-giving Spirit, your inner being will become transparent. Then you will know what is in the Lord’s mind. You will also understand what the will of the Lord is. Spontaneously, you will be in His will and do His will. As a result, you become right with Him. Moreover, you will realize how you should act toward others and even how you should deal with your material possessions. Then you will become a righteous person, one who is right in small things as well as in great things, one who is right with God, with others, and with himself. This is a person who expresses God, for his righteousness is the image of God, God expressed. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 323, 239-240)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 99—103

«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Heb. 9:3 And after the second veil, a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies.

　　10:19-20 Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.

　　[The] two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle. The first veil is called “the screen” (Exo. 26:37). A sinner who was brought to God through the reconciliation of the propitiating blood entered into the Holy Place by passing this screen. This typifies the first step of reconciliation. The second veil (vv. 31-35; Heb. 9:3) still separated him from God, who was in the Holy of Holies. This veil needed to be rent that the sinner might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the second step of reconciliation. The Corinthian believers had been reconciled to God, having passed through the first veil and having entered into the Holy Place. But they still lived in the flesh. They needed to pass the second veil, which had been rent already (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20), to enter into the Holy of Holies to live with God in their spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). The goal of 2 Corinthians was to bring them there that they might be persons in the spirit (1 Cor. 2:15), in the Holy of Holies. This is what the apostle meant by saying, “Be reconciled to God.” (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 319-320)

　　In the Old Testament, when a sinner came to God, he first had to come to the altar to have his sins forgiven through the blood of the sin offering. After experiencing the forgiveness of sins, he could enter the Holy Place. This is the first step of reconciliation, the step by which a sinner begins to be reconciled to God. This was the situation of the believers at Corinth, and it is also the situation of most genuine Christians today. They have been reconciled to God in part through the cross upon which Christ died as our sin offering, where He shed His blood to wash away our sins. When we believed in Him, we were forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and brought back to Him…However, we have been reconciled to God only partly, halfway.

　　The biblical understanding of reconciliation includes more than merely being brought back to God. It is to be brought back into Him. Therefore, according to the Bible, to bring others to God means to bring them into God and to make them absolutely one with Him. However, in much Christian teaching, the matter of oneness with God is wrongly understood…In the case of a husband and wife, there is a kind of corporate oneness. But in the Bible to be one with God means to be mingled with Him. It is to be in God and to allow God to come into us. Biblical oneness with God is a oneness in which we enter into God and God enters into us. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). He did not say, “Abide with Me and I with you.” What a shame that some Christians oppose this wonderful biblical concept of being one with God by being mingled with Him!

　　Until we are wholly one with the Lord, being in Him and allowing Him to be in us absolutely, we will continue to need the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry with which Paul was commissioned. Paul was commissioned with the work of bringing the believers into God in a way that was absolute and practical. Once we see this, we are qualified to understand the last part of chapter 5 and the first part of chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians. To be reconciled is to be brought into God and…the ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of bringing others into God.

　　There were many problems among the believers at Corinth. All those problems were signs that those believers were not absolutely in God… Although they had been saved and born of God, they were not living in Him. For this reason, concerning many items in their daily living, they were outside of God. Therefore, Paul was burdened to bring them into God. This was to reconcile them to God. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 320, 339-340)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 14, 27

«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　2 Cor. 6:11-13 Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged. You are not constricted in us, but you are constricted in your inward parts. But for a recompense in kind, I speak as to children, you also be enlarged.

　　If we would be fully reconciled to God, fully saved, we need to be enlarged in our heart.

　　In the past fifty years I have known many dear and precious brothers who were elders and co-workers. A good number of these brothers were very strict and straight…Many times we tried our best to convince these straight brothers to be more flexible…Nevertheless, sometimes a straight brother would respond by saying, “No! That is not the biblical way!” This attitude is a clear indication that those who are strict and straight in this way need to be enlarged.

　　When we become enlarged in our heart, we should not become loose. Rather, we should continue to be strict and straight concerning ourselves, but we should not apply this principle to others. If the Lord has done such a work in us, we have been enlarged. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 361-363)

　　We may be great in our own eyes, yet our heart may be extremely narrow. For example, our attitude may be that if a certain one makes a mistake, we should have nothing to do with him unless he repents. This is a sign of narrowness… Our narrowness is a strong indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially and that the percentage of our salvation is quite low. How large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.

　　Often when I attend a wedding meeting, I am urged to give a word. However, I am reluctant to speak at weddings. The problem is not that I do not have anything to say. It is that what I really desire to say may be too frank and honest for the occasion. I strongly dislike the kind of nice, pleasant talk common at weddings, because it usually is far from the truth. If I were to speak at a wedding meeting, I would like to tell the truth, especially concerning the difficulty husbands and wives have in forgiving each other.

　　Once a certain brother has been offended by his wife, he may never forget that offense and never forgive his wife for causing it. Of course, many wives are the same way. What I would like to say to a newly married brother and sister is this: “Sister, try your best to avoid offending your husband. If you offend him, it may take him many years to forgive you. Brother, don’t think that your wife is an angel. She certainly is not an angel. Furthermore, you must love her always. If you fail to express your love for her, she may be offended and remember your failure for a long time.” I use this as another illustration of narrowness of heart.

　　All married brothers and sisters need to be enlarged in heart. Brothers, has your wife offended you? I urge you to forget it. If you are able to forgive an offense and forget it, that is a sign that you have become an enlarged person, a person with a large heart.

　　When you are offended by someone, are you willing to forgive that person? To forgive is actually to forget. Perhaps instead of talking about forgiving, we should speak of forgetting. Then a husband would say to his wife, “Dear, let us both forget that offense.” Forgetting is true forgiving.

　　Both in your family life and in the church life, you probably have been offended many times. Have you kept a record of all the offenses? Do you remember how your husband or wife offended you or how you were offended by a certain elder? Do you remember all the offenses caused by the saints? We need to forgive and forget all offenses…This difficulty with forgiving and forgetting is caused by a heart that has not been adequately enlarged. Thus, we see once again that we need our hearts to be enlarged. To be fully reconciled and saved will cause us to be truly enlarged in our hearts. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 363-364)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 42, 46