Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Gaining the whole world brings no profit if the soul is lost, for nothing a person owns or could offer can make up for its loss or buy it back once forfeited. The soul is of inestimable worth, valued above all wealth, honor, position and knowledge, and its worth is measured by what was paid for it when Christ left His throne, took humanity and gave His life on the cross to win it back. Thousands still trade it away cheaply for gain, pleasure, dishonest advantage, selfish use of means, or worldly friendship and ambition, yet at death all earthly treasures must be left behind and in judgment riches cannot give peace or cover sin. The question sounds as a trumpet call to break the spell of buying and selling and worldly care, urging every person young and old to count the cost and weigh time against eternity in light of Christ's coming in glory to reward each according to works. It is therefore to be guarded day by day by giving heart and life wholly to Christ, obeying His law, seeking first His kingdom, and using all means to advance His cause and save others, for losing life for Him is to save it.
Question's Meaning and Context
Gaining the whole world brings no profit if the soul is lost, and nothing a person possesses or could offer can compensate for the soul or serve as an adequate exchange for it. No worldly possession, advantage, wealth, or position can make up for its loss, for the world and its glory are temporary and will be destroyed and cannot outweigh eternal worth. Once the soul is lost nothing earthly can be given to recover or replace it at any price, and what people highly value may be abhorrent to God while those rich in worldly goods but not rich toward Him stand warned. The call is therefore to work that is sound for eternity rather than merely outward or temporary, turning the mind from earthly attachment toward heavenly realities, since sin leads to death while God gives eternal life to save the soul.
Christ speaks the question like a trumpet call breaking into a busy, confused world to break the spell of preoccupation and awaken minds to the worth of the soul. He lifts His voice like the trump of God against hearts absorbed in getting gain and working at high pressure in buying and selling, against dishonest merchandise and trade and scheming buyers and sellers, and against intense games and horse races where lives bought by His blood are thrown away. That infatuating spell paralyzes every spiritual sinew and muscle, and the question breaks it to make people reckon the cost of neglecting eternal life. Death ends all ambitious human projects and leaves only the question of the soul, whether it is hid with Christ in God, so eternal interests must not be sacrificed for worldly or selfish pursuits and God and His righteousness must come first. He sets before men the nobler world they have lost from sight, showing the threshold of eternity flushed with the glory of God, putting the world where it belongs as a subordinate object and pressing the use of God-given time to secure the precious treasures of heaven and cultivate everything useful and enduring as fruit for the heavenly garner.
The question calls each person to count the cost and make an honest reckoning by weighing Jesus against every attraction the world offers for the present time and for eternity. On one side is Jesus, which means life, truth, heaven, and a life that measures with the life of God, made possible because He shed His blood on Calvary's cross so soul, body, and spirit can be given to Him; on the other side is the loss of the soul. Answering rightly is the fruit of true conversion, estimating the value proved by His leaving the realms of bliss and His royal throne, humbling Himself to clothe divinity with humanity in infinite sacrifice, and turning love from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure. It strikes the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure, calling for dispensing while living the means God has lent, giving back to the Lord a portion of His own, using means without delay to advance His cause, and laying up treasure above.
The verse is set against the coming of the Son of man in His Father's glory with His angels and the hosts of heaven, not in the splendor of an earthly throne, when He will reward every person according to works with eternal life with Jesus. That reward is given not according to faith alone but according to works, so keeping the soul requires obedience, using all powers, and giving life itself if necessary, and present poverty, humiliation, suffering and death for Christ must not turn followers away to earthly hopes. Some standing there would not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom, yet the disciples did not comprehend this, fixing their eyes on the nearer view of earthly poverty, humiliation and suffering and on expectation of exaltation to the throne of David. They were oppressed with sadness and doubt that the Son of God should live as a despised, rejected, homeless wanderer and voluntarily go to Jerusalem to be put to death, leaving them in greater darkness, while the soul's eternal destiny stands set against heaven's glory and coming wrath on those who disregard God's law.
At Olivet the question also looked beyond individual loss to the destruction of the nation, leading people to recognize the soul's worth in that wider judgment. It presses the need to prepare for judgment and not let worldly cares or pursuits distract from that concern, for gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost and nothing can buy it back or replace it. Violation of God's law brings condemnation that cannot be silenced or escaped, taking away peace in this life, following the evildoer to the grave, testifying against him at the judgment, and at last destroying soul and body like a fire that cannot be quenched.
The verse is the question of questions for every parent, teacher, student, and human being young or old. No scheme of business or plan of life is sound or complete if it embraces only the brief years of this present life and makes no provision for the unending future, so youth must take eternity into the reckoning and choose enduring principles and possessions. Parents must not prize worldly standards and pleasures above God's standard of righteousness but prepare their children for immortal life by training them for Jesus, since no worldly gain can be exchanged for eternal life. It is a text for earnest, solemn appeal that calls hearers to weigh temporal gain against eternal loss, convicts hearers, is received with respectful attention, and makes a solemn impression that becomes a savor of life. God leads different minds to this same verse without human consultation to press its appeal.
Soul's Surpassing Worth
The soul is beyond all price, of inestimable and immeasurable worth, worth more than the whole world and more than all earthly gain, wealth, honor, position, knowledge, or possessions. Money is of no use to a person who has lost the soul, for no earthly gain can make up for losing it and all earth's treasures are not rich enough to buy what is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings. Nothing can be given in exchange for it once it is lost, so no risks with it must be run and gaining riches while losing the soul is a disastrous exchange. Beside one soul the whole world sinks into insignificance, and anxious, burdened seekers crazed with the prospect of earthly gain are blind and insane, captivated by glitter and tinsel while eternal things are not valued and the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed prospects of the better life are turned from. The only hope is to humble the heart, not close the eyes to danger, not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, but to consider eternity and what provision has been made for the future immortal life. Eternal life is to be won now in probation by fighting the good fight of faith to the utmost, seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and becoming pure gold rather than hay, wood, and stubble, instead of letting what serves as a snare to deceive and destroy cause loss of the soul. Wealth is therefore to be used as faithful stewardship to advance God's work and save souls unto eternal life, laying up secure treasure above and establishing principal and interest in heaven so as not to miss the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and membership in the royal family as children of the heavenly King, for where treasure is the heart will be also; burying means in earthly pursuits risks loss rather than lasting reward, and possessions, talents, and affections must be yielded in grateful devotion to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter, counting no sacrifice too costly.
One soul saved is worth more than all the wealth, property, gold and silver in the world, and in divine estimation one soul saved outweighs all the riches of the world. No amount of wealth, even when vast and hoarded, has weight beside a person's salvation, for the Son of God died for that soul and no worldly gain can equal what a person would give to save the soul. Beside it the world is insignificant, and because one soul is worth more in God's sight than the whole world, people are to be treated as precious, including sin-sick souls and those needing physical healing. A soul won to Christ can also help save others, so the prospect of losing eternal bliss makes seeking and saving the lost a work worthy of every effort and sacrifice. The prospect of a patient's salvation is therefore a central reason to connect medical missionary work with ministry and give patients access to religious meetings, and Christ's sacrifice reveals the value of the soul and calls for its willing surrender to Him, along with body and spirit.
The soul's worth is seen in its spiritual possibilities, the advantages it has received, the capacities it may develop through God's word, and the immortality it may receive through the Life-giver if obedient. Its worth can be known only by grasping the life of the saved in the kingdom of glory, a life measured by the life of God, and the rich reward laid up for those who overcome. Earthly treasure passes away and nothing gained from the world can make up for losing the soul, yet the soul can be purified and made holy, and through Christ's offering it can receive the heavenly treasure of life measured by the life of Jehovah. Even a poor person possesses inward wealth and dignity the world could never bestow, and even those degraded by sin and held in ignorance can be saved and transformed by divine power. The soul redeemed and cleansed from sin, with all its noble powers dedicated to God's service, is of surpassing worth in view of the glorious inheritance prepared for those who love Him. Heaven marks that worth with joy in the presence of God and holy angels over one sinner that repents, expressed in songs of holy triumph.
The ruin of one soul is so deep no line can sound it, including losing Christian experience and going into infidelity for worldly gain such as education. The loss of even one soul, turned away from the word and forfeiting eternal life, is beyond measure, and nothing a person might gain can be given in exchange for the soul or outweigh losing Christian experience. Against that loss stands the eternal weight of glory and bliss and the eternal glory and joy that every soul saved will surely enjoy, which far outweighs anything gained in this world and shows the soul's immeasurable worth. Therefore youth must not be encouraged to go where misrepresentations and falsehoods would leaven them and endanger their souls.
Christ's Death Measures Value
The worth of the soul is proved by what was given for it, for Christ left the realms of bliss and His royal throne, humbled Himself to clothe divinity with humanity, and made an infinite sacrifice that gives unmistakable tokens of His love and the value He places on humanity. He shed His precious blood, bled and died a shameful death on Calvary, endured the cross and its shame, and gave His life to win the world back to loyalty to God. No earthly gain can serve as an adequate price or exchange for the soul, and if a person gains the whole world and loses the soul there is no profit, for nothing that can be offered can compensate for its loss or pay in exchange for it. That reckoning summons each person to estimate the value of the soul and to strike the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure, turning love from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure. It is owed because He gave His life, engraved the name on the palms of His hands, pledged happiness and peace and His own joy, and became poor to enrich with eternal riches, and it calls for giving Him the whole heart without delay, using means to spread the knowledge of His grace, and accepting membership in His royal family that He may be honored and His name glorified. His sacrifice provides a time of probation in which character may be developed and salvation worked out with reverence as God works within, dispensing while living the means lent by God, giving back to the Lord a portion of His own, using means without delay to advance His cause, and laying up treasure above.
Souls cost the life of God's only begotten Son, purchased with an infinite price by giving Jesus to a shameful death for eternal salvation. Those bought with that price are accountable to Jesus Christ who gave His life for souls, and are to serve God faithfully and set a right example as they work to save others. They must take part in His sacrifice and have a special interest in it by laying hold on the painful self-denying part of the work and making effort with means to save souls and to establish soul-saving work, even to the point of going into debt without worry when the money is used for that purpose, as in establishing a printing office and sanitarium at Washington. Loving the world, its friendship, its practices and its display is selling oneself to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last, throwing away one's own soul and injuring the souls of others by wrong influence and example. The question is put personally to value pleasing and glorifying God above the opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness, rather than letting Christ have died in vain.
Selfishness is death, for as no organ of the body can live if it keeps its service to itself, and as the heart quickly loses power if it fails to send life-blood to the hand and the head, so the love of Christ must be diffused as life-blood through every part of His mystical body. People are members one of another, and the soul that refuses to impart that love will perish, for a person who sells the soul to the enemy through selfishness and neglect of duty puts it in peril. To try to save life by keeping it for self is to lose it, while to lose life for Christ and the gospel is to save it, because gaining even the whole world leaves no profit if the soul itself is lost. Following Jesus therefore requires bearing the cross, accepting humiliation and reproach, and giving up hopes of worldly pomp and pleasure, with willingness to suffer as He did in order to share His glory.
No Price Recovers Loss
Once the soul is lost nothing can be given in exchange to buy it back or replace it at any price, and all the treasures of earth are not rich enough to purchase what is forfeited. Gaining the whole world gives no profit if the soul is lost, for no earthly gain can make up for that loss and no worldly gain equals its worth. What is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings — cannot be bought with earthly wealth, and loving the world, its friendship, its practices and its display is selling oneself to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last. Anxious, burdened seekers for worldly gain are blind and insane, captivated by the glitter and tinsel of this world while eternal things are not valued, turning from the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed and glorious prospects of the better life. The only hope is to humble the heart before God, not close the eyes to danger, and not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, yielding possessions, talents, and affections in grateful devotion to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter and counting no sacrifice too costly on the altar of faith and love.
Christ spoke to correct hearts and minds absorbed in getting gain, with men working at high pressure in buying and selling, lifting His voice like the trump of God to break the infatuating spell that was paralyzing every spiritual sinew and muscle. The question is put personally to one purchased with an infinite price by giving Jesus to a shameful death for eternal salvation, calling her to stop throwing away her own soul and injuring the souls of others by a wrong influence and example, and to value pleasing and glorifying God above the opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness rather than letting Christ have died for her in vain. For parents this means no inducement of high wages or of apparently great educational advantages can justify sending children away from home influence to schools or places where they will meet unnecessary temptation and great temptations, where the religious impressions and discipline in the fear of God received in early years are effaced and the love of God is taken out of the heart. It is a clear, distinct message and warning to be proclaimed to all who take an active part in the work of the world, to teachers and leaders of the people, and to those bearing heavy responsibilities in public life including physicians and teachers, ministers, lawyers and judges, public officers, businessmen, and men of influence and authority. It meets the neglected rich, thousands of whom are starving for spiritual food, and many in official life who feel their lack of something they do not have and find nothing to touch the soul in church teaching, pressing them by personal effort with a plain Thus saith the Lord that peace and rest are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if they repent and are converted God will use them in His cause.
Possessions cannot be taken beyond death, and once probation has ended the soul cannot be covered by Christ's righteousness. Gaining riches while neglecting God and the needs of the suffering poor leaves a person spiritually poor, and worldly attractions are deceptive, for death soon separates people from the idols they chose and the world and everything in it must be left behind. Life and probation may end unexpectedly, and time spent serving self and neglecting eternal interests leaves a person unprepared for heaven, so each person must choose whether to seek eternal life by making God and His righteousness the first concern, counting the cost of following faithfully and using God-given time and abilities for good works with eternity in view. Violation of God's law brings condemnation that cannot be silenced or escaped; it takes away peace in this life, follows the evildoer to the grave, testifies against him at the judgment, and at last destroys soul and body like a fire that cannot be quenched. Those who reject offered mercy forfeit eternal life and the immortal inheritance, and once lost the soul is lost forever.
In the day of judgment riches gained by clever schemes, sharp dealing, and withholding God's money give no help, peace, or happiness, and nothing can be given to buy back a lost soul. Talents of skill and worldly treasure were given to co-operate as channels to reveal His attributes, to impart wisdom and understanding, to advance His kingdom, and to relieve suffering by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping the widow and the fatherless. Those who let the tempter corrupt them, used His goods for selfish gain, robbed Him of glory and of His property, received but did not produce, withheld the means they should have imparted, and turned away from cries and tears that ascended to Him will be dealt with as unfaithful servants, with every act of oppression, double dealing, and fraud registered in His book against them. Worldly rich men who love to be thought rich accumulate wealth by withholding entrusted talents of means, tact and skill from advancing the gospel and relieving suffering, find no peace, happiness, or honor to the Redeemer in their transactions, lose the heavenly treasure and make the gospel treasure lose value in their eyes, and become the poorest men on earth when the time of dealing with unfaithful, rebellious subjects comes. The rich man who failed to live as a steward of what was entrusted to him ended his probation spiritually bankrupt, with no way to recover his soul, for wealth, pleasure, and worldly display cannot secure a person's standing with God.
Trading Soul for World
Thousands trade their souls to Satan for worldly gain or worldly pleasure, becoming so engrossed with the things of this life that they have no time to think of heaven or heavenly things. Feeling no need of coming to Christ, they use time, strength, and abilities to gather wealth, selling their souls in a very cheap market and bartering hope of eternal life for riches. At death they must part with all they gathered and others will take the wealth, while every soul is tempted and tried on whether to have eternal life at the sacrifice of earthly possessions.
Turning from heard truth because accepting it would hinder success in business is selling the soul in a cheap market, turning from God and the light, making a bargain with Satan, and violating conscience until conscience becomes ever unreliable. Refusing light repeats Eden's fruit of disobedience as with Adam and Eve, continuing in transgression and in confederacy with the great apostate and trifling with eternal destiny instead of valuing peace of mind, ceasing to transgress, and turning from companionship of the enemy. No worldly gain can make up for losing the soul and nothing can be given in exchange for it, so evidence God has given must not be turned from but all influence placed on the side of righteousness irrespective of worldly loss or gain. Gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost, for eternal life and heaven are worth more than this world, so worldly concerns must not absorb the mind nor neighbors choose the course when conscience points to truth, and sacrificing heaven for the world is no worthwhile exchange.
Gaining wealth or position by sacrificing truth or duty is a terrible exchange in which supposed worldly gain comes at the soul's expense, and no worldly possession or advantage can make up for the loss. Giving up truth in order to acquire property is a false promise, for God can scatter wealth faster than it can be gathered, while surrendering all to Him brings His blessing. No gain or relief in this world is worth sacrificing the soul's eternal interests, so faithfulness to God and duty in holy things must not be exchanged for temporal advantage, but the soul kept right with trust in God and humble waiting for success in His time and way.
Gaining wealth or advantage through unfair dealings is not worth forfeiting heaven and the crown of the overcomer, and it is better to bear disappointment, the cross, and shattered hopes than to lose the soul. Pursuing wealth and honor at the cost of making God and His righteousness secondary puts eternal interests in danger, so it is better to endure poverty, disappointment, and shattered earthly hopes than to imperil them, for God and mammon cannot both be served and the pursuit can lead to giving up serving God. No earthly wealth, success, or position can make up for losing eternal life, so it is better to endure disappointment, rejection, and loss of earthly prospects than to gain worldly honors and lose heaven, and earthly pursuits must not displace God and eternal things.
Outward pomp and show, pride and self-indulgence, and gaining the whole world profit nothing if the soul is lost, because worldly treasure is fleeting while eternal riches beyond all computation are obtained only through Christ. Monopolizing what God has lent as if it were personal property to use as one pleases is selfishness and covetousness, which is idolatry, and thinking possessions make a person valuable in God's sight is a snare and deception of Satan, whereas one who has found God is supremely rich in contemplating His treasure. Selfishness and avarice must not lead the wealthy to withhold from God what belongs to Him, for no possession or worldly gain can be given in exchange for the soul.
A life devoted to business and worldly interests can separate from God and lead children to set hearts on worldly things, and no possession or worldly gain can compensate for losing the soul. Making money through worldly business alliances is not worth the danger of losing the soul, and gaining the whole world while losing it is no profit beside the greater value of eternal things. Worldly business, possessions, or advantages must not control mind and affections, but earthly interests remain subordinate to eternal interests. In the perils of the last days every gain must be judged by what it costs spiritually, for a business investment can be a trick of the enemy to destroy faith by taking advantage of natural traits of character when financial interests rule. Safety requires watching diligently unto prayer, striving for the Holy Spirit's working in and by and through the life, and willingness to break harmful ties and change to a safer atmosphere rather than make shipwreck of faith. Worldly success is no true profit when it costs eternal interests, so business interests must not displace spiritual priorities and the soul's eternal welfare must take priority over self-serving and unimportant affairs by choosing to seek eternal life rather than lose it through neglecting God and His righteousness.
Putting business before religion is a foolish investment that brings ruin and disaster to the soul, for gaining wealth while losing it is grave loss. Investing money in the world where it does nothing to advance God's cause is robbing God and hiding His treasure, and the loss from such investment is so heavy it cannot be estimated. Means entrusted are to be used in His service, and withholding them through covetousness can hinder the work of preparing others for salvation.
Christ's warning to those absorbed in commerce and pursuit of riches calls them to seek the enduring heavenly inheritance and use means to win souls rather than exhaust themselves accumulating earthly wealth, for no payment can redeem the loss once made. Wealth is faithful stewardship to advance God's work, for burying it in earthly pursuits risks loss rather than lasting treasure and reward in His kingdom. Choosing worldly treasure at the cost of the heavenly reward is selling the soul for too little, so means and influence as entrusted talents are to be invested in God's work and turning people to truth rather than spent in gaining property while neglecting that work. Earthly riches and fame perish while eternal destiny is at stake, so entrusted wealth is to be used in serving God and helping the poor and suffering — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping widow and fatherless — not for selfish gratification, and gaining riches while neglecting God and the suffering poor leaves one spiritually poor. Possessions cannot be taken beyond death, and once probation has ended the soul cannot be covered by Christ's righteousness.
No inducement of high wages or apparently great educational advantages can justify sending children away from home influence to schools or places where they will meet unnecessary and great temptations, where religious impressions and discipline in the fear of God received in early years are effaced and love of God taken out of the heart, for gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost and nothing can pay for or replace it. The ruin of one soul is so deep no line can sound it, including losing Christian experience and going into infidelity for worldly gain such as education, against which stands the eternal weight of glory and bliss every saved soul will enjoy, far outweighing anything gained in this world, so youth must not be encouraged to go where misrepresentations and falsehoods about God's messages and ministers would leaven them and endanger their souls.
The soul is worth more than three thousand dollars a year multiplied many times over, so no higher pay compensates for it. Turning down a lucrative position in order to obey truth, glorify God, do good to others, learn the Lord's ways more perfectly, and be fitted for heaven is gain, while accepting large pay at the cost of disobedience and separation from God's work is loss of the soul. Pursuing education without knowing God and obeying the laws governing human life can ruin mind and body through harmful habits, lose peace and self-control, and destroy for this life and the life to come, for seeking earthly knowledge while laying aside the Bible gives up a treasure worth everything else.
Loving the world, its friendship, practices and display is selling to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last, with no payment able to buy it back. Choosing worldly associations and inducements as the portion risks losing the soul and immortal inheritance, against faithful service in advancing God's work, and selling the soul for empty pleasures or selfish, worldly aims is a loss that cannot be made good, calling for pursuing the bread of life and water of salvation. Losing the soul follows choices made day by day, including selfish decisions and conduct leading others away from Christ, making one responsible for harming other souls as well as one's own. One purchased at infinite price is called personally to stop throwing away the soul and injuring others by wrong influence and example, and to value pleasing and glorifying God above opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness.
No earthly gain or advantage compensates for putting the soul at risk, so rather than expose it to temptation or imperil its vital interests one should rather lose money, possessions, honor, or even life. No earthly advantage of wealth, honor, or anything else can be given in exchange for the soul, whose vital interests outweigh money, possessions, or even life itself and must not be put at risk for worldly gain. Disregarding human and divine laws in the sacred marriage relation is grave spiritual loss, for the life promised to the just is eternal bliss in heaven.
Taking and keeping burdens God has not appointed is rebuked by the truth that nothing compensates for losing the soul. A leader who accumulates many self-chosen responsibilities wastes means and exhausts physical and mental and moral power, becomes impatient and fretful, fails as faithful steward of means and souls, gives a wrong religious example, and pleases Satan and his angels. He must debar selfishness, keep respect to the recompense of the reward, cease lading himself with unappointed burdens, and place responsibility upon others to help carry the load. Knowing truth yet refusing to live by it, choosing self-interest and one's own will over Christ's way, destroys truth's saving power to convert the soul, and nothing offered in exchange can restore the soul so lost by pursuing worldly gain and rejecting His way.
Guarding Soul and Reaching Others
The soul must be carefully watched and guarded, for its loss follows choices made day by day and no worldly gain can compensate for losing it. It is guarded through Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, through trust in His word, through receiving His Word as the bread of life and the water of salvation, and through constant communion with God. Guarding the health of the soul parallels keeping the health of the body with its nerves, sinews, muscles, and harmonious action, and healthy Christians with guarded souls make a healthy church. That strength is gained by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, by receiving lifeblood and nerve power from Christ and the Holy Spirit, by being begotten again to a living hope and imbued with a new nature, enabling the soul to rise higher and still higher.
Eternal life is to be won now, for now is probation, by fighting the good fight of faith to the utmost power, by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, by hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and by becoming pure gold rather than hay, wood, and stubble instead of letting what serves as Satan's snare to deceive and destroy cause loss of the soul. Keeping the soul requires obedience with all the powers and life itself if necessary, for when the Son of man comes in His Father's glory with His angels to reward every person according to works with eternal life with Jesus, that reward is given not according to faith alone but according to works. Everlasting life is gained by accepting God's law as guide and living in harmony with God's will in a character fit for the heavenly family, while those who reject that will have no place in God's city and earthly riches and the interests of this life prove temporary. Saving the soul means making Christ a personal Saviour and becoming true and pure and holy, a wise virgin, a partaker of the divine nature, complete in Christ, perfect without spot and blameless, one with Christ in God, attaining the righteousness of Christ. This comes by resisting all wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness, and pride, and by exercising self-control through Christ's all-sufficiency, working out salvation with fear and trembling while God works to will and do His pleasure, for life is greater than food and the body greater than clothing, a person rises in moral value with God only through what Christ has made possible, a great price was paid for redemption, untruthful, impure, unrighteous, evil natures cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, if sin is not destroyed it will destroy the sinner, and the Lord must destroy those who refuse to be changed.
Each person's salvation is an individual responsibility to use God's Word as guide and instruction, to personally work out salvation and strive for eternal life with the Lord, to act for oneself rather than be governed by human influence, and to keep the soul right while trusting God and waiting humbly for success in His time and way rather than exchanging faithfulness to God and duty in holy things for temporal advantage. The question calls for giving soul, body, and spirit to Christ without delay, for giving Him the whole heart, affections, soul, mind, and strength, and for keeping the heart open to His love and trusting and honoring Him with the whole heart, since the Saviour is needed for both this life and eternity. This cooperation in saving one's own soul is owed because He gave His life, graved the name on the palms of His hands, pledged happiness, peace, and His own joy, became poor to enrich with eternal riches, and reveals in His sacrifice the value of the one soul saved that is above the world's riches, with surrender also using means to spread the knowledge of His grace and accepting membership in His royal family that He may be honored and His name glorified. Following Jesus requires turning from self-indulgence, renouncing self, bearing the cross, accepting humiliation and reproach, giving up hopes of worldly pomp and pleasure, and willingness to suffer as He did in order to share His glory, with reform and education serving the saving of people rather than worldly advantage.
Temporal goods may be lost but loss of soul is of far greater consequence, so eternal interests must not be put below temporal interests and commercial interests must not absorb all the mind and occupy all the time, and each person must settle this matter with God without delay and choose whether to seek eternal life or lose it by neglect of God and His righteousness. Means God has lent are to be dispensed while living, given back to the Lord as a portion of His own, used without delay to advance His cause and win souls for Christ, and laid up as treasure above where the heart will follow, turning love away from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure and striking the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure. This puts means in this life to the very best use to advance the kingdom of God and save souls unto eternal life, laying up treasure where it will be secure and establishing principal and interest in heaven in order not to miss the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and to secure the position as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, rather than exhausting strength accumulating earthly wealth while crazed with the prospect of earthly gain. The question is a clear, distinct message and warning to be proclaimed to all who take an active part in the work of the world, to teachers and leaders of the people, to those bearing heavy responsibilities in public life including physicians and teachers, ministers, lawyers and judges, public officers, businessmen, and men of influence and authority. It meets especially the neglected rich and higher classes, thousands of whom are starving for spiritual food and many in official life who feel their lack of something they do not have and find nothing to touch the soul in church teaching.
Publications alone will not reach those in official life, and they need personal effort with a plain Thus saith the Lord, showing that peace and rest are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, calling to repentance and conversion so God can use them in His cause, with earnest, humble workers obtaining the qualifications to reach them successfully. The incomparable value of one soul, with the world insignificant beside it, is a central reason to connect medical missionary work with ministry, to give patients access to religious meetings, to value sanitariums because they have helped bring people to conversion, and to treat people as precious and serve sin-sick souls and those needing physical healing as genuine medical missionaries, for helping people be saved is a work of great importance. Those who have heard truth must not confine it to family but communicate what they hear to others, hunt up perishing souls who do not know truth and bring them in, because time is passing into eternity and little has been done to save them. They must take part in Christ's sacrifice who bled and died a shameful death on Calvary because souls cost that much, laying hold on the painful self-denying part of the work and making effort with means to save souls and establish soul-saving work such as the printing office and sanitarium at Washington, even going into debt without worry when the money is used for that purpose.
Anxious, burdened seekers for worldly gain are blind and insane, captivated by the glitter and tinsel of this world while eternal things are not valued, turning from the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed and glorious prospects of the better life, and all the treasures of earth are not rich enough to buy what is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings. The only hope is to humble the heart before God, not close the eyes to danger, and not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, but to yield possessions, talents, and affections in grateful devotion to Christ to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter, counting no sacrifice too costly on the altar of faith and love. Christ keeps, remembers, immortalizes, and pleads before the Father for the obedient, self-sacrificing, and faithful, while the selfish and proud are forgotten. The soul can be purified and sanctified through Christ's offering and receive the heavenly treasure of life everlasting, for the soul's salvation is the greatest concern and being true and loyal to Christ leads to eternal life. Sacrificing a Christlike principle for wealth is never worthwhile because it can discourage souls, so the question calls for recognizing the soul's worth and rejecting selfish, worldly principles that endanger it.
Gaining the whole world brings no profit if the soul is lost, for nothing a person owns or could offer can make up for its loss or buy it back once forfeited. The soul is of inestimable worth, valued above all wealth, honor, position and knowledge, and its worth is measured by what was paid for it when Christ left His throne, took humanity and gave His life on the cross to win it back. Thousands still trade it away cheaply for gain, pleasure, dishonest advantage, selfish use of means, or worldly friendship and ambition, yet at death all earthly treasures must be left behind and in judgment riches cannot give peace or cover sin. The question sounds as a trumpet call to break the spell of buying and selling and worldly care, urging every person young and old to count the cost and weigh time against eternity in light of Christ's coming in glory to reward each according to works. It is therefore to be guarded day by day by giving heart and life wholly to Christ, obeying His law, seeking first His kingdom, and using all means to advance His cause and save others, for losing life for Him is to save it.
Question's Meaning and Context
Gaining the whole world brings no profit if the soul is lost, and nothing a person possesses or could offer can compensate for the soul or serve as an adequate exchange for it. No worldly possession, advantage, wealth, or position can make up for its loss, for the world and its glory are temporary and will be destroyed and cannot outweigh eternal worth. Once the soul is lost nothing earthly can be given to recover or replace it at any price, and what people highly value may be abhorrent to God while those rich in worldly goods but not rich toward Him stand warned. The call is therefore to work that is sound for eternity rather than merely outward or temporary, turning the mind from earthly attachment toward heavenly realities, since sin leads to death while God gives eternal life to save the soul.
Christ speaks the question like a trumpet call breaking into a busy, confused world to break the spell of preoccupation and awaken minds to the worth of the soul. He lifts His voice like the trump of God against hearts absorbed in getting gain and working at high pressure in buying and selling, against dishonest merchandise and trade and scheming buyers and sellers, and against intense games and horse races where lives bought by His blood are thrown away. That infatuating spell paralyzes every spiritual sinew and muscle, and the question breaks it to make people reckon the cost of neglecting eternal life. Death ends all ambitious human projects and leaves only the question of the soul, whether it is hid with Christ in God, so eternal interests must not be sacrificed for worldly or selfish pursuits and God and His righteousness must come first. He sets before men the nobler world they have lost from sight, showing the threshold of eternity flushed with the glory of God, putting the world where it belongs as a subordinate object and pressing the use of God-given time to secure the precious treasures of heaven and cultivate everything useful and enduring as fruit for the heavenly garner.
The question calls each person to count the cost and make an honest reckoning by weighing Jesus against every attraction the world offers for the present time and for eternity. On one side is Jesus, which means life, truth, heaven, and a life that measures with the life of God, made possible because He shed His blood on Calvary's cross so soul, body, and spirit can be given to Him; on the other side is the loss of the soul. Answering rightly is the fruit of true conversion, estimating the value proved by His leaving the realms of bliss and His royal throne, humbling Himself to clothe divinity with humanity in infinite sacrifice, and turning love from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure. It strikes the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure, calling for dispensing while living the means God has lent, giving back to the Lord a portion of His own, using means without delay to advance His cause, and laying up treasure above.
The verse is set against the coming of the Son of man in His Father's glory with His angels and the hosts of heaven, not in the splendor of an earthly throne, when He will reward every person according to works with eternal life with Jesus. That reward is given not according to faith alone but according to works, so keeping the soul requires obedience, using all powers, and giving life itself if necessary, and present poverty, humiliation, suffering and death for Christ must not turn followers away to earthly hopes. Some standing there would not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom, yet the disciples did not comprehend this, fixing their eyes on the nearer view of earthly poverty, humiliation and suffering and on expectation of exaltation to the throne of David. They were oppressed with sadness and doubt that the Son of God should live as a despised, rejected, homeless wanderer and voluntarily go to Jerusalem to be put to death, leaving them in greater darkness, while the soul's eternal destiny stands set against heaven's glory and coming wrath on those who disregard God's law.
At Olivet the question also looked beyond individual loss to the destruction of the nation, leading people to recognize the soul's worth in that wider judgment. It presses the need to prepare for judgment and not let worldly cares or pursuits distract from that concern, for gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost and nothing can buy it back or replace it. Violation of God's law brings condemnation that cannot be silenced or escaped, taking away peace in this life, following the evildoer to the grave, testifying against him at the judgment, and at last destroying soul and body like a fire that cannot be quenched.
The verse is the question of questions for every parent, teacher, student, and human being young or old. No scheme of business or plan of life is sound or complete if it embraces only the brief years of this present life and makes no provision for the unending future, so youth must take eternity into the reckoning and choose enduring principles and possessions. Parents must not prize worldly standards and pleasures above God's standard of righteousness but prepare their children for immortal life by training them for Jesus, since no worldly gain can be exchanged for eternal life. It is a text for earnest, solemn appeal that calls hearers to weigh temporal gain against eternal loss, convicts hearers, is received with respectful attention, and makes a solemn impression that becomes a savor of life. God leads different minds to this same verse without human consultation to press its appeal.
Soul's Surpassing Worth
The soul is beyond all price, of inestimable and immeasurable worth, worth more than the whole world and more than all earthly gain, wealth, honor, position, knowledge, or possessions. Money is of no use to a person who has lost the soul, for no earthly gain can make up for losing it and all earth's treasures are not rich enough to buy what is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings. Nothing can be given in exchange for it once it is lost, so no risks with it must be run and gaining riches while losing the soul is a disastrous exchange. Beside one soul the whole world sinks into insignificance, and anxious, burdened seekers crazed with the prospect of earthly gain are blind and insane, captivated by glitter and tinsel while eternal things are not valued and the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed prospects of the better life are turned from. The only hope is to humble the heart, not close the eyes to danger, not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, but to consider eternity and what provision has been made for the future immortal life. Eternal life is to be won now in probation by fighting the good fight of faith to the utmost, seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and becoming pure gold rather than hay, wood, and stubble, instead of letting what serves as a snare to deceive and destroy cause loss of the soul. Wealth is therefore to be used as faithful stewardship to advance God's work and save souls unto eternal life, laying up secure treasure above and establishing principal and interest in heaven so as not to miss the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and membership in the royal family as children of the heavenly King, for where treasure is the heart will be also; burying means in earthly pursuits risks loss rather than lasting reward, and possessions, talents, and affections must be yielded in grateful devotion to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter, counting no sacrifice too costly.
One soul saved is worth more than all the wealth, property, gold and silver in the world, and in divine estimation one soul saved outweighs all the riches of the world. No amount of wealth, even when vast and hoarded, has weight beside a person's salvation, for the Son of God died for that soul and no worldly gain can equal what a person would give to save the soul. Beside it the world is insignificant, and because one soul is worth more in God's sight than the whole world, people are to be treated as precious, including sin-sick souls and those needing physical healing. A soul won to Christ can also help save others, so the prospect of losing eternal bliss makes seeking and saving the lost a work worthy of every effort and sacrifice. The prospect of a patient's salvation is therefore a central reason to connect medical missionary work with ministry and give patients access to religious meetings, and Christ's sacrifice reveals the value of the soul and calls for its willing surrender to Him, along with body and spirit.
The soul's worth is seen in its spiritual possibilities, the advantages it has received, the capacities it may develop through God's word, and the immortality it may receive through the Life-giver if obedient. Its worth can be known only by grasping the life of the saved in the kingdom of glory, a life measured by the life of God, and the rich reward laid up for those who overcome. Earthly treasure passes away and nothing gained from the world can make up for losing the soul, yet the soul can be purified and made holy, and through Christ's offering it can receive the heavenly treasure of life measured by the life of Jehovah. Even a poor person possesses inward wealth and dignity the world could never bestow, and even those degraded by sin and held in ignorance can be saved and transformed by divine power. The soul redeemed and cleansed from sin, with all its noble powers dedicated to God's service, is of surpassing worth in view of the glorious inheritance prepared for those who love Him. Heaven marks that worth with joy in the presence of God and holy angels over one sinner that repents, expressed in songs of holy triumph.
The ruin of one soul is so deep no line can sound it, including losing Christian experience and going into infidelity for worldly gain such as education. The loss of even one soul, turned away from the word and forfeiting eternal life, is beyond measure, and nothing a person might gain can be given in exchange for the soul or outweigh losing Christian experience. Against that loss stands the eternal weight of glory and bliss and the eternal glory and joy that every soul saved will surely enjoy, which far outweighs anything gained in this world and shows the soul's immeasurable worth. Therefore youth must not be encouraged to go where misrepresentations and falsehoods would leaven them and endanger their souls.
Christ's Death Measures Value
The worth of the soul is proved by what was given for it, for Christ left the realms of bliss and His royal throne, humbled Himself to clothe divinity with humanity, and made an infinite sacrifice that gives unmistakable tokens of His love and the value He places on humanity. He shed His precious blood, bled and died a shameful death on Calvary, endured the cross and its shame, and gave His life to win the world back to loyalty to God. No earthly gain can serve as an adequate price or exchange for the soul, and if a person gains the whole world and loses the soul there is no profit, for nothing that can be offered can compensate for its loss or pay in exchange for it. That reckoning summons each person to estimate the value of the soul and to strike the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure, turning love from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure. It is owed because He gave His life, engraved the name on the palms of His hands, pledged happiness and peace and His own joy, and became poor to enrich with eternal riches, and it calls for giving Him the whole heart without delay, using means to spread the knowledge of His grace, and accepting membership in His royal family that He may be honored and His name glorified. His sacrifice provides a time of probation in which character may be developed and salvation worked out with reverence as God works within, dispensing while living the means lent by God, giving back to the Lord a portion of His own, using means without delay to advance His cause, and laying up treasure above.
Souls cost the life of God's only begotten Son, purchased with an infinite price by giving Jesus to a shameful death for eternal salvation. Those bought with that price are accountable to Jesus Christ who gave His life for souls, and are to serve God faithfully and set a right example as they work to save others. They must take part in His sacrifice and have a special interest in it by laying hold on the painful self-denying part of the work and making effort with means to save souls and to establish soul-saving work, even to the point of going into debt without worry when the money is used for that purpose, as in establishing a printing office and sanitarium at Washington. Loving the world, its friendship, its practices and its display is selling oneself to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last, throwing away one's own soul and injuring the souls of others by wrong influence and example. The question is put personally to value pleasing and glorifying God above the opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness, rather than letting Christ have died in vain.
Selfishness is death, for as no organ of the body can live if it keeps its service to itself, and as the heart quickly loses power if it fails to send life-blood to the hand and the head, so the love of Christ must be diffused as life-blood through every part of His mystical body. People are members one of another, and the soul that refuses to impart that love will perish, for a person who sells the soul to the enemy through selfishness and neglect of duty puts it in peril. To try to save life by keeping it for self is to lose it, while to lose life for Christ and the gospel is to save it, because gaining even the whole world leaves no profit if the soul itself is lost. Following Jesus therefore requires bearing the cross, accepting humiliation and reproach, and giving up hopes of worldly pomp and pleasure, with willingness to suffer as He did in order to share His glory.
No Price Recovers Loss
Once the soul is lost nothing can be given in exchange to buy it back or replace it at any price, and all the treasures of earth are not rich enough to purchase what is forfeited. Gaining the whole world gives no profit if the soul is lost, for no earthly gain can make up for that loss and no worldly gain equals its worth. What is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings — cannot be bought with earthly wealth, and loving the world, its friendship, its practices and its display is selling oneself to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last. Anxious, burdened seekers for worldly gain are blind and insane, captivated by the glitter and tinsel of this world while eternal things are not valued, turning from the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed and glorious prospects of the better life. The only hope is to humble the heart before God, not close the eyes to danger, and not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, yielding possessions, talents, and affections in grateful devotion to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter and counting no sacrifice too costly on the altar of faith and love.
Christ spoke to correct hearts and minds absorbed in getting gain, with men working at high pressure in buying and selling, lifting His voice like the trump of God to break the infatuating spell that was paralyzing every spiritual sinew and muscle. The question is put personally to one purchased with an infinite price by giving Jesus to a shameful death for eternal salvation, calling her to stop throwing away her own soul and injuring the souls of others by a wrong influence and example, and to value pleasing and glorifying God above the opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness rather than letting Christ have died for her in vain. For parents this means no inducement of high wages or of apparently great educational advantages can justify sending children away from home influence to schools or places where they will meet unnecessary temptation and great temptations, where the religious impressions and discipline in the fear of God received in early years are effaced and the love of God is taken out of the heart. It is a clear, distinct message and warning to be proclaimed to all who take an active part in the work of the world, to teachers and leaders of the people, and to those bearing heavy responsibilities in public life including physicians and teachers, ministers, lawyers and judges, public officers, businessmen, and men of influence and authority. It meets the neglected rich, thousands of whom are starving for spiritual food, and many in official life who feel their lack of something they do not have and find nothing to touch the soul in church teaching, pressing them by personal effort with a plain Thus saith the Lord that peace and rest are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that if they repent and are converted God will use them in His cause.
Possessions cannot be taken beyond death, and once probation has ended the soul cannot be covered by Christ's righteousness. Gaining riches while neglecting God and the needs of the suffering poor leaves a person spiritually poor, and worldly attractions are deceptive, for death soon separates people from the idols they chose and the world and everything in it must be left behind. Life and probation may end unexpectedly, and time spent serving self and neglecting eternal interests leaves a person unprepared for heaven, so each person must choose whether to seek eternal life by making God and His righteousness the first concern, counting the cost of following faithfully and using God-given time and abilities for good works with eternity in view. Violation of God's law brings condemnation that cannot be silenced or escaped; it takes away peace in this life, follows the evildoer to the grave, testifies against him at the judgment, and at last destroys soul and body like a fire that cannot be quenched. Those who reject offered mercy forfeit eternal life and the immortal inheritance, and once lost the soul is lost forever.
In the day of judgment riches gained by clever schemes, sharp dealing, and withholding God's money give no help, peace, or happiness, and nothing can be given to buy back a lost soul. Talents of skill and worldly treasure were given to co-operate as channels to reveal His attributes, to impart wisdom and understanding, to advance His kingdom, and to relieve suffering by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping the widow and the fatherless. Those who let the tempter corrupt them, used His goods for selfish gain, robbed Him of glory and of His property, received but did not produce, withheld the means they should have imparted, and turned away from cries and tears that ascended to Him will be dealt with as unfaithful servants, with every act of oppression, double dealing, and fraud registered in His book against them. Worldly rich men who love to be thought rich accumulate wealth by withholding entrusted talents of means, tact and skill from advancing the gospel and relieving suffering, find no peace, happiness, or honor to the Redeemer in their transactions, lose the heavenly treasure and make the gospel treasure lose value in their eyes, and become the poorest men on earth when the time of dealing with unfaithful, rebellious subjects comes. The rich man who failed to live as a steward of what was entrusted to him ended his probation spiritually bankrupt, with no way to recover his soul, for wealth, pleasure, and worldly display cannot secure a person's standing with God.
Trading Soul for World
Thousands trade their souls to Satan for worldly gain or worldly pleasure, becoming so engrossed with the things of this life that they have no time to think of heaven or heavenly things. Feeling no need of coming to Christ, they use time, strength, and abilities to gather wealth, selling their souls in a very cheap market and bartering hope of eternal life for riches. At death they must part with all they gathered and others will take the wealth, while every soul is tempted and tried on whether to have eternal life at the sacrifice of earthly possessions.
Turning from heard truth because accepting it would hinder success in business is selling the soul in a cheap market, turning from God and the light, making a bargain with Satan, and violating conscience until conscience becomes ever unreliable. Refusing light repeats Eden's fruit of disobedience as with Adam and Eve, continuing in transgression and in confederacy with the great apostate and trifling with eternal destiny instead of valuing peace of mind, ceasing to transgress, and turning from companionship of the enemy. No worldly gain can make up for losing the soul and nothing can be given in exchange for it, so evidence God has given must not be turned from but all influence placed on the side of righteousness irrespective of worldly loss or gain. Gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost, for eternal life and heaven are worth more than this world, so worldly concerns must not absorb the mind nor neighbors choose the course when conscience points to truth, and sacrificing heaven for the world is no worthwhile exchange.
Gaining wealth or position by sacrificing truth or duty is a terrible exchange in which supposed worldly gain comes at the soul's expense, and no worldly possession or advantage can make up for the loss. Giving up truth in order to acquire property is a false promise, for God can scatter wealth faster than it can be gathered, while surrendering all to Him brings His blessing. No gain or relief in this world is worth sacrificing the soul's eternal interests, so faithfulness to God and duty in holy things must not be exchanged for temporal advantage, but the soul kept right with trust in God and humble waiting for success in His time and way.
Gaining wealth or advantage through unfair dealings is not worth forfeiting heaven and the crown of the overcomer, and it is better to bear disappointment, the cross, and shattered hopes than to lose the soul. Pursuing wealth and honor at the cost of making God and His righteousness secondary puts eternal interests in danger, so it is better to endure poverty, disappointment, and shattered earthly hopes than to imperil them, for God and mammon cannot both be served and the pursuit can lead to giving up serving God. No earthly wealth, success, or position can make up for losing eternal life, so it is better to endure disappointment, rejection, and loss of earthly prospects than to gain worldly honors and lose heaven, and earthly pursuits must not displace God and eternal things.
Outward pomp and show, pride and self-indulgence, and gaining the whole world profit nothing if the soul is lost, because worldly treasure is fleeting while eternal riches beyond all computation are obtained only through Christ. Monopolizing what God has lent as if it were personal property to use as one pleases is selfishness and covetousness, which is idolatry, and thinking possessions make a person valuable in God's sight is a snare and deception of Satan, whereas one who has found God is supremely rich in contemplating His treasure. Selfishness and avarice must not lead the wealthy to withhold from God what belongs to Him, for no possession or worldly gain can be given in exchange for the soul.
A life devoted to business and worldly interests can separate from God and lead children to set hearts on worldly things, and no possession or worldly gain can compensate for losing the soul. Making money through worldly business alliances is not worth the danger of losing the soul, and gaining the whole world while losing it is no profit beside the greater value of eternal things. Worldly business, possessions, or advantages must not control mind and affections, but earthly interests remain subordinate to eternal interests. In the perils of the last days every gain must be judged by what it costs spiritually, for a business investment can be a trick of the enemy to destroy faith by taking advantage of natural traits of character when financial interests rule. Safety requires watching diligently unto prayer, striving for the Holy Spirit's working in and by and through the life, and willingness to break harmful ties and change to a safer atmosphere rather than make shipwreck of faith. Worldly success is no true profit when it costs eternal interests, so business interests must not displace spiritual priorities and the soul's eternal welfare must take priority over self-serving and unimportant affairs by choosing to seek eternal life rather than lose it through neglecting God and His righteousness.
Putting business before religion is a foolish investment that brings ruin and disaster to the soul, for gaining wealth while losing it is grave loss. Investing money in the world where it does nothing to advance God's cause is robbing God and hiding His treasure, and the loss from such investment is so heavy it cannot be estimated. Means entrusted are to be used in His service, and withholding them through covetousness can hinder the work of preparing others for salvation.
Christ's warning to those absorbed in commerce and pursuit of riches calls them to seek the enduring heavenly inheritance and use means to win souls rather than exhaust themselves accumulating earthly wealth, for no payment can redeem the loss once made. Wealth is faithful stewardship to advance God's work, for burying it in earthly pursuits risks loss rather than lasting treasure and reward in His kingdom. Choosing worldly treasure at the cost of the heavenly reward is selling the soul for too little, so means and influence as entrusted talents are to be invested in God's work and turning people to truth rather than spent in gaining property while neglecting that work. Earthly riches and fame perish while eternal destiny is at stake, so entrusted wealth is to be used in serving God and helping the poor and suffering — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping widow and fatherless — not for selfish gratification, and gaining riches while neglecting God and the suffering poor leaves one spiritually poor. Possessions cannot be taken beyond death, and once probation has ended the soul cannot be covered by Christ's righteousness.
No inducement of high wages or apparently great educational advantages can justify sending children away from home influence to schools or places where they will meet unnecessary and great temptations, where religious impressions and discipline in the fear of God received in early years are effaced and love of God taken out of the heart, for gaining the whole world is no profit if the soul is lost and nothing can pay for or replace it. The ruin of one soul is so deep no line can sound it, including losing Christian experience and going into infidelity for worldly gain such as education, against which stands the eternal weight of glory and bliss every saved soul will enjoy, far outweighing anything gained in this world, so youth must not be encouraged to go where misrepresentations and falsehoods about God's messages and ministers would leaven them and endanger their souls.
The soul is worth more than three thousand dollars a year multiplied many times over, so no higher pay compensates for it. Turning down a lucrative position in order to obey truth, glorify God, do good to others, learn the Lord's ways more perfectly, and be fitted for heaven is gain, while accepting large pay at the cost of disobedience and separation from God's work is loss of the soul. Pursuing education without knowing God and obeying the laws governing human life can ruin mind and body through harmful habits, lose peace and self-control, and destroy for this life and the life to come, for seeking earthly knowledge while laying aside the Bible gives up a treasure worth everything else.
Loving the world, its friendship, practices and display is selling to the enemy to please him and ends in losing the soul at last, with no payment able to buy it back. Choosing worldly associations and inducements as the portion risks losing the soul and immortal inheritance, against faithful service in advancing God's work, and selling the soul for empty pleasures or selfish, worldly aims is a loss that cannot be made good, calling for pursuing the bread of life and water of salvation. Losing the soul follows choices made day by day, including selfish decisions and conduct leading others away from Christ, making one responsible for harming other souls as well as one's own. One purchased at infinite price is called personally to stop throwing away the soul and injuring others by wrong influence and example, and to value pleasing and glorifying God above opinion of those with no connection to truth and righteousness.
No earthly gain or advantage compensates for putting the soul at risk, so rather than expose it to temptation or imperil its vital interests one should rather lose money, possessions, honor, or even life. No earthly advantage of wealth, honor, or anything else can be given in exchange for the soul, whose vital interests outweigh money, possessions, or even life itself and must not be put at risk for worldly gain. Disregarding human and divine laws in the sacred marriage relation is grave spiritual loss, for the life promised to the just is eternal bliss in heaven.
Taking and keeping burdens God has not appointed is rebuked by the truth that nothing compensates for losing the soul. A leader who accumulates many self-chosen responsibilities wastes means and exhausts physical and mental and moral power, becomes impatient and fretful, fails as faithful steward of means and souls, gives a wrong religious example, and pleases Satan and his angels. He must debar selfishness, keep respect to the recompense of the reward, cease lading himself with unappointed burdens, and place responsibility upon others to help carry the load. Knowing truth yet refusing to live by it, choosing self-interest and one's own will over Christ's way, destroys truth's saving power to convert the soul, and nothing offered in exchange can restore the soul so lost by pursuing worldly gain and rejecting His way.
Guarding Soul and Reaching Others
The soul must be carefully watched and guarded, for its loss follows choices made day by day and no worldly gain can compensate for losing it. It is guarded through Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, through trust in His word, through receiving His Word as the bread of life and the water of salvation, and through constant communion with God. Guarding the health of the soul parallels keeping the health of the body with its nerves, sinews, muscles, and harmonious action, and healthy Christians with guarded souls make a healthy church. That strength is gained by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, by receiving lifeblood and nerve power from Christ and the Holy Spirit, by being begotten again to a living hope and imbued with a new nature, enabling the soul to rise higher and still higher.
Eternal life is to be won now, for now is probation, by fighting the good fight of faith to the utmost power, by seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, by hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and by becoming pure gold rather than hay, wood, and stubble instead of letting what serves as Satan's snare to deceive and destroy cause loss of the soul. Keeping the soul requires obedience with all the powers and life itself if necessary, for when the Son of man comes in His Father's glory with His angels to reward every person according to works with eternal life with Jesus, that reward is given not according to faith alone but according to works. Everlasting life is gained by accepting God's law as guide and living in harmony with God's will in a character fit for the heavenly family, while those who reject that will have no place in God's city and earthly riches and the interests of this life prove temporary. Saving the soul means making Christ a personal Saviour and becoming true and pure and holy, a wise virgin, a partaker of the divine nature, complete in Christ, perfect without spot and blameless, one with Christ in God, attaining the righteousness of Christ. This comes by resisting all wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness, and pride, and by exercising self-control through Christ's all-sufficiency, working out salvation with fear and trembling while God works to will and do His pleasure, for life is greater than food and the body greater than clothing, a person rises in moral value with God only through what Christ has made possible, a great price was paid for redemption, untruthful, impure, unrighteous, evil natures cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, if sin is not destroyed it will destroy the sinner, and the Lord must destroy those who refuse to be changed.
Each person's salvation is an individual responsibility to use God's Word as guide and instruction, to personally work out salvation and strive for eternal life with the Lord, to act for oneself rather than be governed by human influence, and to keep the soul right while trusting God and waiting humbly for success in His time and way rather than exchanging faithfulness to God and duty in holy things for temporal advantage. The question calls for giving soul, body, and spirit to Christ without delay, for giving Him the whole heart, affections, soul, mind, and strength, and for keeping the heart open to His love and trusting and honoring Him with the whole heart, since the Saviour is needed for both this life and eternity. This cooperation in saving one's own soul is owed because He gave His life, graved the name on the palms of His hands, pledged happiness, peace, and His own joy, became poor to enrich with eternal riches, and reveals in His sacrifice the value of the one soul saved that is above the world's riches, with surrender also using means to spread the knowledge of His grace and accepting membership in His royal family that He may be honored and His name glorified. Following Jesus requires turning from self-indulgence, renouncing self, bearing the cross, accepting humiliation and reproach, giving up hopes of worldly pomp and pleasure, and willingness to suffer as He did in order to share His glory, with reform and education serving the saving of people rather than worldly advantage.
Temporal goods may be lost but loss of soul is of far greater consequence, so eternal interests must not be put below temporal interests and commercial interests must not absorb all the mind and occupy all the time, and each person must settle this matter with God without delay and choose whether to seek eternal life or lose it by neglect of God and His righteousness. Means God has lent are to be dispensed while living, given back to the Lord as a portion of His own, used without delay to advance His cause and win souls for Christ, and laid up as treasure above where the heart will follow, turning love away from earthly treasure to heavenly treasure and striking the balance between earthly gain and heavenly loss, between temporal success and everlasting failure. This puts means in this life to the very best use to advance the kingdom of God and save souls unto eternal life, laying up treasure where it will be secure and establishing principal and interest in heaven in order not to miss the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and to secure the position as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, rather than exhausting strength accumulating earthly wealth while crazed with the prospect of earthly gain. The question is a clear, distinct message and warning to be proclaimed to all who take an active part in the work of the world, to teachers and leaders of the people, to those bearing heavy responsibilities in public life including physicians and teachers, ministers, lawyers and judges, public officers, businessmen, and men of influence and authority. It meets especially the neglected rich and higher classes, thousands of whom are starving for spiritual food and many in official life who feel their lack of something they do not have and find nothing to touch the soul in church teaching.
Publications alone will not reach those in official life, and they need personal effort with a plain Thus saith the Lord, showing that peace and rest are found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, calling to repentance and conversion so God can use them in His cause, with earnest, humble workers obtaining the qualifications to reach them successfully. The incomparable value of one soul, with the world insignificant beside it, is a central reason to connect medical missionary work with ministry, to give patients access to religious meetings, to value sanitariums because they have helped bring people to conversion, and to treat people as precious and serve sin-sick souls and those needing physical healing as genuine medical missionaries, for helping people be saved is a work of great importance. Those who have heard truth must not confine it to family but communicate what they hear to others, hunt up perishing souls who do not know truth and bring them in, because time is passing into eternity and little has been done to save them. They must take part in Christ's sacrifice who bled and died a shameful death on Calvary because souls cost that much, laying hold on the painful self-denying part of the work and making effort with means to save souls and establish soul-saving work such as the printing office and sanitarium at Washington, even going into debt without worry when the money is used for that purpose.
Anxious, burdened seekers for worldly gain are blind and insane, captivated by the glitter and tinsel of this world while eternal things are not valued, turning from the immortal, imperishable treasure and the blessed and glorious prospects of the better life, and all the treasures of earth are not rich enough to buy what is offered for a life of obedience — peace, hope, and infinite blessings. The only hope is to humble the heart before God, not close the eyes to danger, and not be blind to the higher interests of the soul, but to yield possessions, talents, and affections in grateful devotion to Christ to find happiness here and immortal glory hereafter, counting no sacrifice too costly on the altar of faith and love. Christ keeps, remembers, immortalizes, and pleads before the Father for the obedient, self-sacrificing, and faithful, while the selfish and proud are forgotten. The soul can be purified and sanctified through Christ's offering and receive the heavenly treasure of life everlasting, for the soul's salvation is the greatest concern and being true and loyal to Christ leads to eternal life. Sacrificing a Christlike principle for wealth is never worthwhile because it can discourage souls, so the question calls for recognizing the soul's worth and rejecting selfish, worldly principles that endanger it.