The purpose of the Life-study of the Bible, as expressed by Witness Lee, is to present the truths contained in the New Testament, to minister the life supply, to solve the common and hard problems found in the New Testament, and to open up every book of the New Testament by giving a thorough interpretation of it. We believe that these volumes, containing the very essence of the New Testament ministry which is for the carrying out of God’s divine economy, will serve as an entrance into a deeper and extensive understanding of the divine truths and will also render much life supply and nourishment to the church of God today and in the coming generations. May the Lord use the ministry of His word in these volumes to sanctify the church until she is fully prepared to be His bride, His counterpart, for His satisfaction (Eph. 5:26-27).
The church’s knowledge of the Lord and His truth has been continually progressing. The Life-study of the Bible, a monumental and classic work by Witness Lee, builds upon and is a further development of all that the Lord has revealed to His church in the past centuries. It is filled with the revelation concerning the processed Triune God, the living Christ, the life-giving Spirit, the experience of life, and the definition and practice of the church.
Life-study of the Bible is available to read online at ministrybooks.org, with or without a subscription. A subscription, however, allows you to search the text, add bookmarks, highlight meaningful passages, keep track of your reading, and listen to audiobooks of all the messages.
The emphasis in the Gospel of John is on God expressing Himself in man, but in the Gospel of Luke the emphasis is on a Man living a life to express God. Thus, Luke presents the Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, as a genuine and perfect Man, one having both the divine and human essences and one whose life was a composition of God with the divine attributes and man with the human virtues. In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee gives an overview of the Lord’s conception and birth as recorded by Luke and fellowships concerning the divine and human essences possessed by the Lord.
In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee speaks concerning the Lord Jesus’ life on earth, a life that was a composition of the divine attributes and the human virtues. This is the highest standard of morality. “When we speak of the highest standard of morality, we are not using the word ‘morality’ in a traditional way. By morality we mean the standard of life God requires.”
In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee compares the conception of John the Baptist and the conception of the Lord Jesus. These two conceptions are strikingly different in essence. The conception of John the Baptist was God’s miracle, accomplished by the divine power yet without the divine nature. The conception of the Savior was God’s incarnation, “a mingling of the divine nature with the human nature, producing a God-man, one who is both the complete God and perfect Man, possessing the divine nature and the human nature distinctively, without a third nature being produced.”
In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee considers the birth and youth of the Lord Jesus. Luke’s record of the Savior’s birth and youth is completely different from that in Matthew. “What Matthew records of events that took place at the Savior’s birth and during His youth constitutes striking evidence of Christ’s legitimate kingship. Luke’s record of the same birth and the same youth is of another category, that of events which offer strong proof of Jesus’ genuine humanity. The two records cover only two of the different aspects of the Savior’s wonderful status.”
In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning the inauguration of the Man-Savior. “The inauguration of the Man-Savior mainly involves His being baptized by John the Baptist and His being anointed by the Father. Actually, this inauguration is an introduction, but it is more than merely an introduction. To introduce a person does not mean to officially put him into office. But to inaugurate a person means not only to introduce him, but also to usher him officially into his office.”
The Lord Jesus was baptized not only to fulfill righteousness according to God’s ordination, but also to allow Himself to be put into death and resurrection that He might minister in the way of resurrection. By being baptized He lived and ministered in resurrection even before His actual death and resurrection three and a half years later. In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning the issue of this baptism: a life and ministry that was in resurrection even before the Lord’s actual death and resurrection.
In Luke 4:1-13 the Lord Jesus stands against the temptations of the devil and wins the victory. In this booklet, taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee presents the spiritual significance of each of the devil’s temptations and the significance of the Lord’s victory. “Through the testing of the Man-Savior, God was able to show His enemy, Satan, the Devil, that there is a Man who can withstand temptation.”
In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning the first three and a half chapters of the Gospel of Luke. These chapters reveal that two angels and a number of human beings were involved in the preparation of the Man-Savior, and in the words spoken by these persons, seventeen aspects of the Man-Savior are revealed. “When we consider all these aspects…we see that He is not only both God and man, but everything God intended to give to His people and do for them.”
In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning Luke 4:18-19, where we see that the Lord Jesus was anointed to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” This acceptable year is the New Testament age typified by the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:8-17), the time when God would accept the returned captives of sin (Isa. 49:8; 2 Cor. 6:2) and when the oppressed under the bondage of sin would enjoy the release of God’s salvation. The year of jubilee was a year of release, freedom, and return of lost property. The Man-Savior began His ministry by proclaiming the jubilee of grace.
In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee focuses on Luke 4:31-44, part of the section of this Gospel that covers the ministry of the Man-Savior in His human virtues with His divine attributes. In these verses the Man-Savior carried out His fourfold commission, which included teaching (vv. 31-32), casting out demons (vv. 33-37, 41), healing diseases (vv. 38-40), and preaching the good news of the kingdom of God (vv. 42-44).
Luke 5:1—6:11 is a record of five cases: the attracting of the occupied (5:1-11), the cleansing of the contaminated (5:12-16), the healing of the paralytic (5:17-26), the calling of the despised (5:27-39), and the breaking of the deformed sabbatical regulation for people’s satisfaction and liberation (6:1-11). In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee examines these cases and reveals that actually they are a picture of our own spiritual experience. “We all can testify that we were such persons. We have been attracted away from our occupations, and we have been cleansed, healed, uplifted, satisfied, and freed. This is the Man-Savior’s ministry in His human virtues with His divine attributes.”
As those who have been regenerated by God, we, the believers, have God’s life and nature. Now we need to see what principles should govern our character, our behavior. How should we conduct ourselves? How should we act and have our being? In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee uses Luke 6:12-49 to answer these questions. “All the aspects of the Lord’s teaching here are principles that should govern our Christian behavior.”
In the Gospel of Luke we see that the Lord Jesus, the God-man, lived a life that was according to the highest standard of morality, and in Luke 6:17-49 He teaches us this standard. In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee expounds these verses and the Lord’s teaching. “I hope that many of us will delve into this teaching. If we pray over these verses and digest them, this will affect our daily walk.”
Luke 7:1-35 presents three matters: the Man-Savior curing the dying one with a word (vv. 1-10), the Man-Savior showing pity to the weeping mother by raising up her dead son (vv. 11-17), and the Man-Savior strengthening His forerunner (vv. 18-35). It may seem that there is no connection among the three cases, but in this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee reveals that these matters are related.
The Christian life begins with the forgiveness of sins through our faith in the Savior. How can we be forgiven? It is because the Man-Savior is the incarnated God, the One who has authority to forgive our sin. In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning Luke 7:36-50: “a vivid description and an affectionate account of a sinful woman experiencing the forgiveness of sins.”
In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee considers Luke 8:1-21. “In 8:1-21 three matters are covered: the Man-Savior being ministered to by women (vv. 1-3), the Man-Savior teaching with parables (vv. 4-18), and the Man-Savior identifying His real relatives (vv. 19-21). If we consider 7:36—8:21 as a unit, we shall see that as those who have had their sins forgiven, we should follow the Lord, minister to Him, grow in life, and shine as lamps. Eventually, as such ones, we become the genuine relatives of the Man-Savior.”
In Luke 8:22-56 we see that we who believe in the Lord are on a journey with Him. Luke presents three matters in these verses: the quelling of the storm, the casting out of demons, and healing two persons. In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee considers these three matters and their significance in relation to our journey with the Lord.
The jubilee was a provision given to God’s people in Leviticus 25. Every fiftieth year, the year of jubilee, any land that had been sold was returned to its rightful owner and anyone who had sold himself into slavery was given back his freedom. Luke chapter 4 tells us that the Lord Jesus’ ministry opened with the proclamation of the jubilee, and in chapter 9 we see the spreading of the jubilee. Here the jubilee is the gospel of the New Testament, the proclamation of the release of the captives and of the recovery of the lost birthright. In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee considers the record in Luke 9:1-26 and the thought of the spreading of the jubilee that underlies it.
In this booklet compiled from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee considers the order of events in Luke chapter 9. “Why after the feeding of the five thousand did the Lord question the disciples concerning Himself? Then why, immediately after they recognized Him as the Christ, did He tell them that He was about to be crucified and resurrected? The answer to these questions is that there cannot be a jubilee without Christ and without His death and resurrection.” The jubilee was a provision given to God's people in Leviticus 25. Every fiftieth year, the year of jubilee, any land that had been sold was returned to its rightful owner, and anyone who had sold himself into slavery was given back his freedom. Today, we cannot have the jubilee without Christ’s death and resurrection. Apart from the death of Christ, there would be no way for sinners to be released. Apart from the resurrection of Christ, there could not be the recovery of the lost right to enjoy God.
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