"Right Enjoyment vs. Correct Stance"

 

"Right Enjoyment vs. Correct Stance" 

This is from Genesis Life-Study, Chapter 64, "Rest and Enjoyment," which discusses the existence of legitimate enjoyment and the existence of incorrect stances. Combined with Chapters 42 and 43 (Abraham and Lot), it is summarized below.

Core Principles (Message 64)

• Enjoyment is the destiny of God’s children; whether or not their standing is right, there is always “a well.”
• Enjoyment cannot verify one’s standing. Whether the standing is right is determined by whether the Lord appears.
• God’s eternal purpose can be accomplished only in the right standing, not in a wrong one.

Scene (Scripture)	Proper Enjoyment	Standing (Right / Wrong)	The Lord’s Appearing and Outcome	Lesson
Hagar (Gen. 16:7-14)	Met God’s visitation in the wilderness amid suffering and found Beer-lahai-roi (the well of the Living One who sees me)	Wrong: she had left the standing of grace represented by Sarah	Visitation, but her standing was still off	Having enjoyment does not mean one’s standing is right
Abraham going down to Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20; 13:1-4)	Received God’s preserving grace and even gained possessions	Wrong: he left the place between Bethel and Ai, with no altar, tent, or calling on the Lord’s name	No appearing of God in Egypt; after he returned to that place, God appeared and reaffirmed His promise (13:14-15)	Preserving grace is not proof of a right standing; one must return to the original place
Isaac’s wells in various places (Gen. 25:11; 26:19-22)	Wells at Beer-lahai-roi, Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth, even a “well of living water” and “room”	Wrong: he had drifted from Beer-sheba	No appearing of Jehovah at these places; God used strife in the circumstances to drive him back	However good the well or wide the land, it cannot accomplish God’s purpose
Isaac’s hundredfold harvest (Gen. 26:12-14)	He prospered and became a very rich man (God’s blessing)	Wrong: he had settled in the wrong place	God did not approve of this standing and raised up circumstances to force him to leave	Riches and blessings do not justify one’s standing
Isaac returning to Beer-sheba (Gen. 26:23-25)	Enjoyment continued	Right: he returned to the place of Abraham’s tamarisk tree and the well of the oath	That very night the Lord appeared and reaffirmed His promise; Isaac built an altar, called on the Lord’s name, and pitched his tent	A testimony and the accomplishing of God’s eternal purpose
Lot (Gen. 13:10-13; ch. 14)	The fertile plain; he gradually moved into Sodom and lived securely	Wrong: leaving Abraham, the called one, meant leaving God’s goal and protection	He may have felt at peace inside, but God was not at peace; the war of the kings arose and Lot was taken captive	Fertile surroundings and security are not God’s approval
Abraham refusing the goods of the king of Sodom (Gen. 14:22-24)	His wealth came only from the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth	Right: he would not take even a thread, testifying to the whole universe that his wealth was not from man	Melchizedek nourished the overcomer with bread and wine	A pure standing makes the source of enjoyment clear

Points of Integration

1.      Enjoyment is God’s provision; standing is where God’s purpose lies. The former comes from grace; the latter determines whether we can inherit the promise and have a testimony.

2.      Do not take enjoyment as verification. Message 64 warns that we may have enjoyment at Beer-lahai-roi (the place where one flees from grace) and wrongly think it proves we are right.

3.      Test the standing by the Lord’s appearing, the altar, the tent, and the calling on His name. Beer-sheba is the opposite of Egypt and Sodom.

4.      God uses circumstances to bring us back to the right standing, such as the wells of strife for Isaac or the war of the four kings for Lot.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Five: Living a Life of Enjoying Grace to Please God.

Remaining in the New Covenant Grace (Enjoying Christ as Grace) vs. Returning to the Old Covenant Law (Falling from Grace)

 

Remaining in the New Covenant Grace (Enjoying Christ as Grace) vs. Returning to the Old Covenant Law (Falling from Grace)

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and reality come through Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2:1 Therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 2:21 I do not reject the grace of God. For if righteousness were obtained through the law, Christ died in vain.

Galatians 5:4 You who seek justification by the law have been separated from Christ and fallen away from grace.

John 15:4 Abiding in me, and I in you, you who are in me. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it does not abide in the vine, so you cannot either unless you abide in me.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

Item	Remaining in New Covenant Grace, Enjoying Christ as Grace	Returning to Old Covenant Law, Falling from Grace	Main Scriptures
Source and Nature	Grace is God Himself in the Son becoming our enjoyment; it is “giving” and “supplying,” not merely a favor	Law is the requirement God gave through Moses; it is “demanding” and “regulating,” and man must fulfill it by his own effort	John 1:17
Relationship with Christ	Joined to Christ, as a branch to the vine, abiding in Him	Cut off from Christ, separated from Him, reduced to nothing from Christ	John 15:4-5; Gal. 5:4
Source of Power	Empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; grace has the power to enable us to endure all things	Relying on one’s own strength and natural effort (such as keeping rules or improving character), which ends in powerlessness	2 Tim. 2:1; Gal. 3:3
Rule and Authority	Grace reigns and rules over all; we may come to the throne of grace to receive grace as timely help	Law and self become a ruling power over man, leaving him under dominion and bondage	Rom. 5:21; Heb. 4:16
Nature of Obedience	Obeying in grace, like Isaac willingly being bound; obedience flows from enjoying grace, and when we obey we see God’s provision	Acting by the flesh and one’s own will to fulfill God’s promise, as Abram did by bearing Ishmael through Hagar	Gen. 22:5-10; Gen. 16
Attitude toward Grace	Receiving and holding fast to grace	Rejecting grace and nullifying grace	Gal. 2:21
Old Testament Types	Sarah (the free woman), Isaac (the child of promise), the Jerusalem above	Hagar (the maidservant), Ishmael (born according to the flesh), Mount Sinai	Gal. 4:21-31
Enjoyment of Christ	Enjoying Christ continually; Christ becomes our life and supply	Turning to the law, character improvement, or other things apart from Christ, and thereby losing the enjoyment of Christ and not holding the Head	Col. 2:18-19
Spiritual Condition and Result	Strong, free, satisfied, and seeing God’s provision	Losing all the benefits in Christ and being estranged from God, like Abram’s thirteen years from 16:16 to 17:1, when God was silent and did not appear to him	Gen. 16:16; 17:1
How to Be Strengthened	Be strengthened by grace, that is, remain in the New Covenant, enjoying Christ as grace; the heart is established by grace, not by foods (outward regulations)	Relying on ordinances and outward behavior, which profit the heart nothing	Heb. 13:9

Brief Integration

• Core contrast: Remaining in grace means letting Christ be our life, power, and enjoyment; returning to law means leaving Christ and trying to satisfy God’s requirements by ourselves.
• Key turning point: “Returning to law” is not merely a mistake; it is rejecting and nullifying grace, with the result that we are cut off from Christ.
• The way of practice: It is not trying to do better, but being joined to Christ at all times, enjoying Him as grace, obeying in grace, and seeing God’s provision.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Five: Living a Life of Enjoying Grace to Please God.

The Path by Which Isaac Became an Heir in Grace: Faith, Love, Hope

 

The Path by Which Isaac Became an Heir in Grace: Faith, Love, Hope

Genesis 25:5 Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

Romans 8:17 If they are children, then they are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if we share in his sufferings, that we too may share in his glory.

Acts 26:18 I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness into light, from the power of Satan to God, to enter into me through faith to receive forgiveness of sins and to receive an inheritance among all the sanctified.

Ephesians 1:11 And since we were predestined in him according to the purpose of him who works all things according to his will,

Ephesians 1:14 and in him the Holy Spirit, the signet of our inheritance, for the redemption of God’s purchased heritage and for the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:18 That the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in his saints; 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Integrated Comparison Table

Item	① Receiving by Faith (Children of God)	② Enjoying by Love (Sons of God)	③ Inheriting by Hope (Heirs of God)
Identity	Children of God: having received God’s life through regeneration	Sons of God: growing and maturing in life, and placed by God into the sonship to inherit	Heirs of God: inheriting God and being inherited by God
What Isaac typifies	Isaac was the son of promise, not Ishmael, who was born according to the flesh. He did not strive to do or to obtain anything but simply received (Gen. 21:9-12).	Isaac was the beloved only son of his father and enjoyed all that Abraham had  (Gen. 24:36; 25:5).	Isaac inherited all that his father had and became the heir, so that God’s promise and inheritance would continue (Gen. 21:12; 25:5).
Principle of obtaining	Receiving: everything comes from God, God is the Supplier, and we receive everything.	Enjoying: enjoying the Father’s riches in His love, in fellowship of life with Him.	Inheriting: waiting in hope for the full manifestation of the inheritance, and suffering together with Christ in order to be glorified together with Him.
Key verses	John 1:12, 16; Rom. 5:17; Eph. 1:3; Phil. 1:19	Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:6-7; Eph. 1:5-6; 3:17-19	Rom. 8:17, 23-25; Eph. 1:11, 14, 18; Acts 26:18
Content of the experience	Believing into Christ and receiving forgiveness of sins; receiving grace upon grace out of His fullness; being freed by the law of the Spirit of life (John 1:16; Rom. 8:2; Acts 26:18).	Being graced in the Beloved; being rooted in love; knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge; being filled unto all the fullness of God (Eph. 1:6; 3:17-19).	Knowing the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Eph. 1:18); the Spirit is the pledge guaranteeing that the inheritance will surely be obtained (Eph. 1:14).
Emphasis in the Divine Trinity	God’s grace comes to us in Christ and in the Spirit, and we receive it by faith  (Eph. 1:3; 3:8).	The Spirit of the Son in our hearts cries “Abba, Father,” so that we enjoy the Father’s love (Gal. 4:6).	The Holy Spirit as the pledge enables us to taste the inheritance in advance and to hope for its consummation (Eph. 1:14; Rom. 8:23).
The human side	Faith:  not relying on self-effort, only receiving.	Love: responding to the Father’s love, enjoying and growing in it.	Hope:  waiting with endurance and suffering together with Him (Rom. 8:17, 25).
Resulting goal	Being freed from the law of sin and death; receiving salvation, life, and the beginning of the inheritance.	Becoming mature sons who bear and express God in life.	Inheriting all that God is and has, and letting Him inherit us; we become His inheritance, to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:11, 14).
Secret of overcoming	Receiving, not doing it ourselves.	Enjoying, not obtaining it ourselves.	Inheriting, and letting Him inherit us.

Key Points of Integration

1.      One continuous path. This path is entirely in grace: by faith we receive, and life begins; by love we enjoy, and life grows; by hope we inherit, and the inheritance is completed.

2.      Grace running through it all. Genesis 24:36 and 25:5 say that Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. In the New Testament, this corresponds to the called believers inheriting, in God’s unconditional grace, all the riches of the divine fullness (Eph. 1:3, 6; 3:8, 19). Isaac did nothing to earn it; he only received, enjoyed, and inherited.

3.      Excluding fleshly effort. In Genesis 21:9-12, the son of the maidservant could not share the inheritance with Isaac. Galatians 4:28-30 draws on this to show that the inheritance belongs to those born according to promise, not to those born of fleshly effort.

4.      The two-way meaning of “heir.” “We inherit Him” is what Ephesians 1:18 and Acts 26:18 speak of: we obtain an inheritance among the saints. “He inherits us” is what Ephesians 1:11 speaks of: we have also become His chosen inheritance. Romans 8:17 adds that we are joint heirs with Christ, suffering with Him and being glorified with Him.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Five: Living a Life of Enjoying Grace to Please God.