Verse 39 speaks of “the gaining of the soul.” The Greek word translated “gaining” may also be rendered “saving,” “preserving,” “possessing.” Very few Christians understand the meaning of this phrase. Some refer it to the salvation from hell. That is not accurate. The gaining of the soul is different from the salvation of our spirit. In 1 Corinthians 5:5, speaking of a sinful brother who was to be put out of the church, Paul said to “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Even such a fallen, sinful brother would have his spirit saved, because the salvation of the spirit is eternal. However, the gaining of the soul is conditional. There is no need for us to be sinful in order to lose our soul. Even if we shrink back from God’s economy, we shall lose it. Most Christians have only one thought—going to heaven or going to hell, being saved or perishing. But neither the Bible nor our wise Father is that simple. Our Father has many ways of dealing with us. As we shall see, this gaining of the soul is somewhat related to the kingdom reward.
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 (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).
To gain our soul in the coming age will be a great reward (v. 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.
The gaining of the soul is conditioned on our losing of it for the Lord’s sake. 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). Although these verses are very familiar to so many of the saints, not many know what they really mean. 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. They are unwilling to lose their soul.
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. Our destiny in this age is to lose our soul and all human enjoyment. 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 thou into the joy of thy lord.” 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.
In these last two messages we have seen clearly the matters of dispensational punishment, the kingdom reward, and the gaining of the soul. The punishment which the defeated Christians will suffer is simply the losing of the soul. If in this age you gain your soul, being unwilling to pay the price to follow the Lord, you will lose your soul at the Lord’s coming back. That will be a real punishment. While the overcomers enter into the Lord’s joy and reign, you will be put aside. To lose our soul in the coming age does not mean that we ourselves shall be lost. It means to be excluded from the enjoyment and reign of Christ when He rules over the nations in the millennial kingdom. Those who gain their soul in this age and lose it in the next will not be co-kings of Christ in the coming age of the kingdom. If we lose our soul in this age for the Lord’s sake, we shall gain it in the next and enter into the Lord’s joy and reign, having the full enjoyment of human life as we rule with Him over the nations. This is a great reward.
I would like now to give a further word concerning this matter of the reward. The Bible is very consistent about this. Receiving the reward is not simply doing good works, glorifying God, and receiving a prize at the Lord’s coming back. In a sense, this is our natural concept of the reward. We need now to look at this matter in another way.
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. What then is the reward? It is the goal of God’s salvation. God’s salvation has a goal. This goal is not that we go to heaven. 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 should be the firstborn among many brothers” (Recovery Version). 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. God is working today to bring the many sons into glory, that is, to bring all the saved ones into the glorification of the Firstborn Son of God. God has not saved us with the goal that we might go to heaven, but that we might be transformed and conformed to the image of His Son so that God might have for eternity a corporate expression of Himself. This is the goal of God’s salvation.
In His foresight God saw that many of His selected ones would not cooperate with Him, not give Him the opportunity to work out the goal of His salvation. Thus, in His wisdom, He decided to make the goal of His salvation a reward to the selected and saved ones. If there were no weakness, lack, or failure on the part of the saved ones, God would have no need of making the goal of His salvation a reward, for whoever was saved would come into that goal. But only those who cooperate with Him will reach the goal, and that goal will become a reward to them.
Consider the example of the children of Israel. God’s intention in calling, saving and bringing them out of Egypt was to make them a kingdom of priests (Exo. 19:4-6). Every Israelite was to be a priest. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they fell short of God’s goal through worshipping the golden calf. Immediately, the goal of the priesthood became a reward for one tribe, the tribe of Levi, which stood with God. Although the other eleven tribes did not perish, they did not reach the goal of God’s salvation. The priesthood, which was the goal for every tribe, became the reward for just one tribe.
The principle is the same with us today. God’s goal is to make us all the same as His Firstborn Son. If we cooperate with God, He will work within us day by day, and every day we shall enjoy Christ to the uttermost. This is the highest enjoyment. If we have this enjoyment of Christ today, when He comes to reign, we shall enter into His reign as His co-kings and partners. This is God’s goal. But many of God’s selected ones do not cooperate with Him to such an extent today. They are missing the full enjoyment of Christ which they can have now. Although they have been saved, they have no enjoyment of Christ, living each day in the same way as those who do not have Christ. Although they belong to Christ, having Him as their life and Savior, they do not give Him the opportunity to live within them. As a result, they are missing the enjoyment of Christ today and will certainly miss the enjoyment of reigning with Him in the millennial kingdom. Due to their negligence today, they will miss the goal of God’s salvation in the coming age.
Those selected ones of God who refuse to cooperate with Him will not only miss the highest enjoyment of Christ today and the reigning with Christ in the coming age, but, because they break God’s will and do not follow His economy, they will also be disciplined by Him. That discipline, that punishment, should be a warning to them to seek after God’s goal. Do not say to yourself, “If I am sloppy and do not reach God’s goal, I am ready to suffer His discipline. After that discipline is over, everything will be all right.” This is not true. After you have undergone God’s punishment, you will still need to reach His goal. Sooner or later, all God’s selected ones must reach His goal. Suppose I have two children in school. One of them receives excellent grades and graduates; the other fails and does not graduate. Because of this, he is disciplined and put into a dark room for a day. Do you think that after he has suffered for awhile he has no need to study? No, he must still make up his lessons. The purpose of the discipline is to compel him to study. After being punished, he must still read, study, and finish all his lessons; otherwise, he would never graduate from school. The school is patient. If he does not pass in the next semester, he will have to do it in another one. The parents’ intention is that all their children do their schoolwork and receive a reward at the end of the semester, enjoying a good time with them as satisfaction for their soul. But the disobedient children will lose this reward, be disciplined, and later be required to finish their lessons. The parents will never let them go until they have completed their schoolwork and graduated. The principal of the heavenly school is very patient. He will wait until every student in His school graduates and is built into the New Jerusalem. Every believer must reach the New Jerusalem, God’s ultimate goal.
Now we should be clear concerning the matters of reward and punishment. God’s salvation has a goal, and we all must reach it. Most Christians do not see what is God’s goal in His salvation. But by His mercy, the vision and revelation of the goal of God’s salvation have been made very clear. We all must reach this highest attainment, the goal that is God’s reward for His faithful ones. If we are not faithful to God, we shall miss His goal in the coming age and will suffer some punishment to discipline us that we may reach it. To those who will reach the goal in this way it will not be a reward. How we must thank the Lord for His wisdom in making the goal of His salvation a reward. This is a great incentive for us in following the Lord. May we all follow Him to such a degree that we are ushered into God’s goal and that His goal will be our reward.