This thread was inspired by Helge's postings of a few months ago, when she was progressively posting installments about "Living with the Divine Love". I have decided to progressively post what has come to me regarding our present and future status as Divine Love Christians having by God's grace experienced the New Birth, which includes some wonderful happenings and privileges. For my insights, I am mainly drawing on the Padgett/Samuel's messages and the Bible -- which, despite the errors it contains, has a lot to say about the Divine Love journey.
My purpose is two-fold:
1. To confirm what the messages say about the Bible, namely that despite its shortcomings, it has all the needed information for salvation and therefore would indeed have to be the most important spiritual source besides the messages (https://new-birth.net/padgetts-messages ... l-2-pg340/)
2. To expand our understanding of our status as God's true children and our Divine Love journey by sometimes presenting the familiar concepts in different ways.
This was originally intended as a newsletter article, but it may be becoming a book! I am discovering some wonderful truths and gaining fresh insights -- more than I expected. Those whom I have shared this material with so far have found it inspiring, and so I hope the forum readers will as well. Feel free to comment or add your own insights. Below is the introductory section.
New Birth / Soul transformation / becoming true children of God
In speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus pointed out that to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God, one must be born again or born from above. He compared and contrasted the natural human birth with the “birth of water and the spirit.” (John 3:3-5). And indeed, the physical birth can serve as an analogy – though imperfect as all analogies are – of the spiritual birth. Here are some insights.
Before we are born as humans, we go through three stages: Firstly, conception when the short-lived female ovum is fertilized by the male sperm, giving it a much greater potential and longer life than it would have of and by itself. Secondly, there is a period of gestation or development, during which the embryo undergoes a remarkable transformation into a tiny human being with the characteristics of its parents. Thirdly, the actual birth, through which the baby enters the physical world.
The “New birth” or “birth from above” also can be seen as having three stages, summed up in Romans 8:29-30:
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Firstly, there is a “calling” – the soul is opened or awakened through the Divine Love, and the person is enabled to follow the Divine Love path. This is analogous to conception.
Secondly, we are “justified” – forgiven and raised above the law of compensation. The consequences for our sins and shortcomings will no longer come and haunt us in the spirit world – we are freed from the ultimate penalties of the law of compensation – though cause and effect still operate in this world. The more we develop into God’s likeness through soul transformation by the Divine Love, the more we’ll “walk in the Spirit” – be motivated by the Divine Love in our daily actions – and reap blessings as a result. Being justified and growing in the Divine Love and nature will not, however, make us immune to suffering and the challenges of earthly life. In fact, trials are stepping stones and provide opportunities for growth during this period of spiritual gestation.
Thirdly, we are “glorified” – this is when our souls are fully transformed from the image of God into divine substance and we are ready for the Celestial Kingdom. The new birth has at this stage come to fruition and we will have beautiful glorious bodies and countenances.
[to be continued]
New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
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jeanne
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Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
You've got my attention, Eva! 
Yes! Another book! May your be inspired with every word! Love and God Bless, Jeanne
Yes! Another book! May your be inspired with every word! Love and God Bless, Jeanne Stay centered in Divine Love and expect miracles to happen!
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Thank you very much Jeanne! 
Stay tuned!
Much love,
Eva
Stay tuned!Much love,
Eva
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Here is the next section:
The Calling
The calling includes concepts like soul awakening, soul enlivening or soul opening, as well as a radical change of heart. It is also a drawing and enabling. Of and by themselves, most humans are not interested in the things of God. By excessively pursuing material knowledge, many neglect their souls, which can get into such a state of inertia or lethargy that, so far as being a part of the person’s activities, it may as well be dead. (Vol 2/56)
Salvation – redemption from the penalty of the law of compensation and being given a place in the Celestial Kingdom of God – is by grace, not by human effort. Of course, human effort and cooperation are required once God has opened the soul of a person to receive the Divine Love, but the initial step and the soul transformation is accomplished solely by divine means.
In TGRABJ-V1-p317 we read: “No man can come to the Father’s Love, except he be born again. This is the great and fundamental Truth which men must learn and believe, for without this New Birth men cannot partake of the Divine Essence of God’s Love, which, when possessed by a man, makes him at one with the Father. This Love comes to man by the workings of the Holy [Spirit], causing this love to flow into the heart and soul, and filling it, so that all sin and error, which tends to make them unhappy, must be eradicated.
The Bible sheds further light on this truth. Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw people receiving a new heart – which Jesus later acknowledged as being the receiving of the Divine Love. This would change the relationship between God and the individual, abolish the old covenant based largely on letter-of- the-law obedience, and establish the new covenant wherein the law written in the heart through the Divine Love would motivate to loving actions. This would transcend human striving to keep the law – at which people fail, and in the spirit world reap the penalties of the law of compensation. More on this point later.
Ezekiel 36:26 – I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Jeremiah 31:31 … “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me.
John 6:44-45, 65 – “No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him, … It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. [and receives my teaching.] … He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
With the opening of the soul and change of heart by the Divine Love imparted by the Holy Spirit comes receptivity to spiritual knowledge and development of soul perceptions.
While a soul is not instantaneously cleansed by receiving a portion of the Divine Love, the inflowing of the Love into a person’s soul starts him on the way of right thinking and causes him to realize that his soul is open to the influence of this Divine Love. Both mortals and spirits may receive this awakening of Divine Grace as soon as they realize that they have sinned and fall under judgment (penalties of the law of compensation), and that this Love is the only thing that will free them from having to pay these penalties. (Vol 2/56). This is the act of repentance, exhorted to by God’s prophets, apostles and Jesus himself.
Mark 1:14-15 – After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news [of the re-bestowal of the Divine Love that will open to its recipients God’s Kingdom]!”
Acts 3:19 – Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.
Through Dr. Samuels, Jesus elaborates on this repentance in contrast to the repentance preached by his cousin, John the Baptist. “John preached repentance … in the traditional sense of the word - a turning away from sin and error and renewed obedience to the Law of Moses, with love to God and one's neighbor, which leads to the condition of the perfect natural man. I also preached repentance, … [but] I meant … a turning anew to God and a seeking of the Celestial Heavens through prayer, for I taught that the great gift of immortality had been re-bestowed upon mankind by the Heavenly Father in my person and that the soul’s yearning for His Love and its seeking for this Love through earnest prayer was real repentance. And when I said, "I come not to call the righteous but the sinner to repentance," I meant that sinners could by turning to God receive the gift of the Divine Love as well as the righteous, for it was available to both, but alas, it was not the righteous but the sinners of my day who repented and sought God and His Love, while the righteous, or those who considered themselves righteous, refused in their self-satisfaction the great gift that was theirs for the asking.”
So the calling / drawing / enabling / coming to repentance can be compared to human conception. It changes a child of God by creation – which we all are because our souls were created by God – into a true child of God. Like the male sperm impregnating the female ovum, an initial amount of the Divine Love has started them off on a journey to the Celestial Kingdom and immortality by giving them a new heart, new understanding and perspective, and new relationship with God.
[to be continued]
The Calling
The calling includes concepts like soul awakening, soul enlivening or soul opening, as well as a radical change of heart. It is also a drawing and enabling. Of and by themselves, most humans are not interested in the things of God. By excessively pursuing material knowledge, many neglect their souls, which can get into such a state of inertia or lethargy that, so far as being a part of the person’s activities, it may as well be dead. (Vol 2/56)
Salvation – redemption from the penalty of the law of compensation and being given a place in the Celestial Kingdom of God – is by grace, not by human effort. Of course, human effort and cooperation are required once God has opened the soul of a person to receive the Divine Love, but the initial step and the soul transformation is accomplished solely by divine means.
In TGRABJ-V1-p317 we read: “No man can come to the Father’s Love, except he be born again. This is the great and fundamental Truth which men must learn and believe, for without this New Birth men cannot partake of the Divine Essence of God’s Love, which, when possessed by a man, makes him at one with the Father. This Love comes to man by the workings of the Holy [Spirit], causing this love to flow into the heart and soul, and filling it, so that all sin and error, which tends to make them unhappy, must be eradicated.
The Bible sheds further light on this truth. Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw people receiving a new heart – which Jesus later acknowledged as being the receiving of the Divine Love. This would change the relationship between God and the individual, abolish the old covenant based largely on letter-of- the-law obedience, and establish the new covenant wherein the law written in the heart through the Divine Love would motivate to loving actions. This would transcend human striving to keep the law – at which people fail, and in the spirit world reap the penalties of the law of compensation. More on this point later.
Ezekiel 36:26 – I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Jeremiah 31:31 … “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me.
John 6:44-45, 65 – “No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him, … It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. [and receives my teaching.] … He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
With the opening of the soul and change of heart by the Divine Love imparted by the Holy Spirit comes receptivity to spiritual knowledge and development of soul perceptions.
While a soul is not instantaneously cleansed by receiving a portion of the Divine Love, the inflowing of the Love into a person’s soul starts him on the way of right thinking and causes him to realize that his soul is open to the influence of this Divine Love. Both mortals and spirits may receive this awakening of Divine Grace as soon as they realize that they have sinned and fall under judgment (penalties of the law of compensation), and that this Love is the only thing that will free them from having to pay these penalties. (Vol 2/56). This is the act of repentance, exhorted to by God’s prophets, apostles and Jesus himself.
Mark 1:14-15 – After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news [of the re-bestowal of the Divine Love that will open to its recipients God’s Kingdom]!”
Acts 3:19 – Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.
Through Dr. Samuels, Jesus elaborates on this repentance in contrast to the repentance preached by his cousin, John the Baptist. “John preached repentance … in the traditional sense of the word - a turning away from sin and error and renewed obedience to the Law of Moses, with love to God and one's neighbor, which leads to the condition of the perfect natural man. I also preached repentance, … [but] I meant … a turning anew to God and a seeking of the Celestial Heavens through prayer, for I taught that the great gift of immortality had been re-bestowed upon mankind by the Heavenly Father in my person and that the soul’s yearning for His Love and its seeking for this Love through earnest prayer was real repentance. And when I said, "I come not to call the righteous but the sinner to repentance," I meant that sinners could by turning to God receive the gift of the Divine Love as well as the righteous, for it was available to both, but alas, it was not the righteous but the sinners of my day who repented and sought God and His Love, while the righteous, or those who considered themselves righteous, refused in their self-satisfaction the great gift that was theirs for the asking.”
So the calling / drawing / enabling / coming to repentance can be compared to human conception. It changes a child of God by creation – which we all are because our souls were created by God – into a true child of God. Like the male sperm impregnating the female ovum, an initial amount of the Divine Love has started them off on a journey to the Celestial Kingdom and immortality by giving them a new heart, new understanding and perspective, and new relationship with God.
[to be continued]
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Could we avoid calling ourselves "Divine Love Christians"? This is just personal, but I don't feel comfortable being put into that drawer. I find it a slippery slope to call ourselves "true" children of God, as you put it in the title. We are the "true" children as opposed to...whom?Eva wrote:Eva wrote:...our present and future status as Divine Love Christians..
I know that you mean the Soul that has been redeemed by receiving the New Birth (in the end or whenever) and has reached atonement with Father, thus becoming the "True" child of God. But I just think we should be very careful with separating ourselves from millions of other people, who in their tradition and lives are aware of their being true children of God and trying to reach unification (atonement, self-realisation, New Birth or whatever) with Him.
I realise I say this because I'm so much involved with and inspired by modern Hindu spirituality, but I can't help it, reading Yogananda and others..
Just my thoughts.
Love
Arie
P.S. Of course on this forum such thoughts are perhaps not at the right place, but I'm just thinking how and with whom exactly I'd like to be associated in my present phase of development..
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Love is inclusive. Therefore we need to allow many different perspectives here. Since we all posses filters and biases, there is not going to be full consensus as to how to present Divine Love accurately. Our experiences are different, yet the Divine Love is the same. Unfortunately all gets filtered through the mind and what gets expressed in our sharing and writing will reflect our life's experience. Are Divine Love followers Christians? I would say not in the common perception of the term but certainly in the true sense which is following the teachings of Christ as we understand them. So calling ourselves Christians is a valid term and not calling ourselves traditional Christians is also valid. It gets tricky when we are bringing in the Bible as a reference point to our beliefs. Those beliefs are certainly stated there but are not accentuated like in Padgett. The Bible makes me uncomfortable too as its truths are often cloaked in such ambiguous language. I applaud Eva's attempt to wade into this book and winnow out the truth. Its certainly not my cup of tea but I'm happy to encourage her as it may interest some who are more orthodox Christians.
Your efforts Arie to integrate some Eastern philosophies with Divine Love seems no different to me than what Eva is doing. You are trying to blend ideas so that it suits your personal philosophy. Nothing wrong with that as long as you stay on track with praying for Divine Love. You may some day write about your perspective and influence some who believe in these ideals and they may add Divine Love into the mix. The trick is to be clear on the objective and consistent in our journey towards it. As humans we want to embellish with our minds rather than acknowledge with our souls. None of us has that crystal clear picture so we continue to struggle and piece together a picture of truth that works for us. In the end it will be those true but rare insights which come with our soul's awakenings that will contribute to our absolute knowledge of truth. And that my friend is an individual matter. In the mean time , you will talk in the language of your belief systems, while others talk in theirs. Are any of us 100% right? Not likely, but since God created us all unique then isn't it a blessing that we have the free will to choose our path to Him and we are truly blessed when we can accept that those paths are going to vary in many different ways.
Loving our brothers and sisters for their differences is part of understanding truth. Its inevitable that my understanding will vary from yours and all others but we share that experience of our souls being deeply touched by the Divine. Words are rather trivial when such an event happens and we are swept up by God's Love. The truth then becomes a wordless miracle and a soul understanding that cannot be denied. Describing that experience will never be adequate on this forum or anywhere else. We're just manipulating shadows of truth with our words hoping to connect in some way to those of us who have known this revelation or inspire others who have not. The mind is completely inadequate in regards to this task. Saying 'I love you because you are my brother or sister and I accept you as one of God's Children' is as close as we can come to acknowledging each other. We have all been touched by something very special and that marks us in a way that we share a beautiful experience together. It does not say that we are superior to anyone else but rather something quite beautiful has happened to us within our souls. That beauty may be expressed in many different ways, speaking about it in words is probably one of the least effective ways. Going out into the world and truly giving to someone in a loving way can speak volumes. Trying not to judge others is a good beginning and accepting that we're all different is just reconciling our thinking to what is reality.
It took me a long time to get to that place of accepting differences in the Divine Love community but the alternative would be to continue to stew in judgement. Not very much fun. Love accepts and embraces others. As long as we can go there, we are enhancing each other's experience. So, I'll stop preaching now and get back to the garden on this beautiful day. Arie, I appreciate your dedication to truth as I do Eva's. You approach it differently but who wants the same flowers in every corner of God's Garden? Variety is the spice of life is it not. Thank you both for making the effort to express yourselves here in this forum. We need more like you. Much love......Al
Your efforts Arie to integrate some Eastern philosophies with Divine Love seems no different to me than what Eva is doing. You are trying to blend ideas so that it suits your personal philosophy. Nothing wrong with that as long as you stay on track with praying for Divine Love. You may some day write about your perspective and influence some who believe in these ideals and they may add Divine Love into the mix. The trick is to be clear on the objective and consistent in our journey towards it. As humans we want to embellish with our minds rather than acknowledge with our souls. None of us has that crystal clear picture so we continue to struggle and piece together a picture of truth that works for us. In the end it will be those true but rare insights which come with our soul's awakenings that will contribute to our absolute knowledge of truth. And that my friend is an individual matter. In the mean time , you will talk in the language of your belief systems, while others talk in theirs. Are any of us 100% right? Not likely, but since God created us all unique then isn't it a blessing that we have the free will to choose our path to Him and we are truly blessed when we can accept that those paths are going to vary in many different ways.
Loving our brothers and sisters for their differences is part of understanding truth. Its inevitable that my understanding will vary from yours and all others but we share that experience of our souls being deeply touched by the Divine. Words are rather trivial when such an event happens and we are swept up by God's Love. The truth then becomes a wordless miracle and a soul understanding that cannot be denied. Describing that experience will never be adequate on this forum or anywhere else. We're just manipulating shadows of truth with our words hoping to connect in some way to those of us who have known this revelation or inspire others who have not. The mind is completely inadequate in regards to this task. Saying 'I love you because you are my brother or sister and I accept you as one of God's Children' is as close as we can come to acknowledging each other. We have all been touched by something very special and that marks us in a way that we share a beautiful experience together. It does not say that we are superior to anyone else but rather something quite beautiful has happened to us within our souls. That beauty may be expressed in many different ways, speaking about it in words is probably one of the least effective ways. Going out into the world and truly giving to someone in a loving way can speak volumes. Trying not to judge others is a good beginning and accepting that we're all different is just reconciling our thinking to what is reality.
It took me a long time to get to that place of accepting differences in the Divine Love community but the alternative would be to continue to stew in judgement. Not very much fun. Love accepts and embraces others. As long as we can go there, we are enhancing each other's experience. So, I'll stop preaching now and get back to the garden on this beautiful day. Arie, I appreciate your dedication to truth as I do Eva's. You approach it differently but who wants the same flowers in every corner of God's Garden? Variety is the spice of life is it not. Thank you both for making the effort to express yourselves here in this forum. We need more like you. Much love......Al
Endless journey,endless Love.
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Thanks for the sermon, Al 
! Hope your garden isn't suffering because of it 
. No seriously, I very much appreciate your words. On the other hand I'm a bit angry with myself for stepping into another word-discussion again whereas I'm so overfed with words and reading and computer-screens and and and ... that I had actually promised myself to stop with it. But there you are: I find myself triggered again 
.
I just wanted to correct one or two things or rather try to clarify:
So that's actually the only reason for me reacting here again. And I do so with LOTs of respect and love for all the thinking and writing and editing and assembling that is being done here by people like you and Eva and Helge and and and..
But now I'm going to withdraw into my own little "garden" of being on my own and finding stillness in order to hear God.. This weekend I'm going to retreat in a Benedictine monastery, alone. I'm looking forward to many hours of just being as close as possible to myself and my Heavenly Father .
Much Love
Arie
! Hope your garden isn't suffering because of it . No seriously, I very much appreciate your words. On the other hand I'm a bit angry with myself for stepping into another word-discussion again whereas I'm so overfed with words and reading and computer-screens and and and ... that I had actually promised myself to stop with it. But there you are: I find myself triggered again .I just wanted to correct one or two things or rather try to clarify:
Of course I'll always stay on the track of Divine Love; there's no escaping there anymore! Not that I would ever want to.. It's much more that I'm finding Divine Love in much more situations and in many more people nowadays than I would have ever expected. It is most certainly not my intention to ingrate Eastern philosophies or create some personal philosophy by blending anything that tasts nicely. No, I'm actually trying to get rid of anything that tends to be or become a philosophy or a belief-system. What attracts me in what I deliberately call "modern Hindu spirituality" is the discovery of a HUGE community of people that - based on a 100-year tradition of Hindu masters that have been and are reaching out to the West and embracing Christianity (or rather: Christ), especially ever since Yogananda - is amazingly inspiring and globally succesful in connecting people in the Love of God. And most importantly: I'm trying to learn humility (which they call Bhakti) and complete surrender to God.AlFike wrote: Your efforts Arie to integrate some Eastern philosophies with Divine Love seems no different to me than what Eva is doing. You are trying to blend ideas so that it suits your personal philosophy. Nothing wrong with that as long as you stay on track with praying for Divine Love.
So that's actually the only reason for me reacting here again. And I do so with LOTs of respect and love for all the thinking and writing and editing and assembling that is being done here by people like you and Eva and Helge and and and..
But now I'm going to withdraw into my own little "garden" of being on my own and finding stillness in order to hear God.. This weekend I'm going to retreat in a Benedictine monastery, alone. I'm looking forward to many hours of just being as close as possible to myself and my Heavenly Father
.Much Love
Arie
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Geoff
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Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Dear Arie,arie2012 wrote: And most importantly: I'm trying to learn humility (which they call Bhakti) and complete surrender to God.
I accept you are much closer to these things than I am, but 12 or 15 years ago when I was studying the late Sai Baba I formed the conclusion that this actually meant Love of god, not surrender. Surrender is very Islamic, and in their perspective is respect rather than love. Love can obviously and should include respect, but starting with respect you can have a dose of fear, and thats not good.
hugs
Geoff
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Dear Arie, Al and Geoff,
Thank you for your comments of respectful "iron sharpening iron" sharing (though I somehow sensed a touch of annoyance in Arie's first post). There are some excellent points that Al brought out, to numerous to comment on. Oftentimes, seeming disagreements are simply a matter of semantics. Other times reading familiar concepts in different words can enrich our understanding (at least that's how it works for me). At all times, language is the only tool we have to express spiritual realities to one another and is often inadequate -- not to mention different languages and translations!
I can understand how Arie is finding truths embedded in the teachings of Hinduism since my husband has become interested in Buddhism a few years ago and is seeing the same. Looking over his shoulder, I must concur that Divine Love truth can be glimpsed in especially the later versions of Buddhism. I think it is important for those of us who can to "build bridges" between us and those of other persuasions and thus at the right time, when they are able to receive it, lead them to the truth taught by Jesus of the Divine Love transforming our soul as a condition of salvation, and in that sense become Christians.
Al has already commented on this issue of our identity as Christians, but I would like to add another point or two. There are Celestial spirits or those heading that way calling themselves Christians in the Padgett messages. Just go to Geoff's site and type "I am a Christian" in the Search window. Quite a few messages pop up, including these two: https://new-birth.net/padgetts-messages ... l-3-pg360/ and https://new-birth.net/padgetts-messages ... ol-3-pg84/. What else appears in the listing are two expressions, namely, "Divine Love Christians" and "New Birth Christians". These must be a part of Geoff's site organization, they don't appear in the messages themselves, but I believe they are both appropriate and valid.
Arie, if you are patient and bear with me, your question about "true children of God" will be addressed and hopefully answered in the next installment -- the one after this post, maybe tomorrow. Have a wonderful time at the Benedictine monastery!
Here is my next installment:
The Divine Love Journey as Gestation
Those presently on the Divine Love journey are in the process of development which can be compared to gestation – the prenatal development in the womb. Physically, the unborn embryo / fetus is already a child of its parents. In about nine months, it will be ready to be born into a different sphere, but its development will continue. On the spiritual level, we are at this stage true children of God and going through a process involving justification, purification and transformation, and indeed re-creation, till their soul development reaches such level that they will be born into the Celestial Kingdom of God. These stages of development will now be discussed.
Justification
As mentioned, all humans are subject to the law of compensation after this life. It is the law of cause and effect – all wrong actions and law-breaking bring about penalties that will have to be paid once we pass over into the spirit world. Jesus referred to this process as judgment.
Matthew 12:36 – But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
In TGRABJ 2/56, we read the same in different words: “No man, by his own exertions, can save himself from the operations of this law [of compensation], and he, so long as he has this idea of depending on his own powers, will have to pay the penalties. Of course, as he pays these penalties, he progresses nearer and nearer to a time and condition when the law will cease to operate upon him, and he will become comparatively happy; but such payment may require long years of suffering and unhappiness. … For every act and deed and for not doing what he should have done, he will have to answer the law.”
Other Bible passages refer to our human predicament that brings judgment or penalties of the law of compensation as curse, slavery, bondage, or imprisonment:
Galatians 3:10-12, 22; 4:3 – All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ … The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, … So also, … we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
Yet, there is a hope: Again, in TGRABJ 2/56, we are told, that while the penalties of the law of compensation cannot be avoided under ordinary conditions or circumstances, there is one exception. This is “the redemption of a man’s soul by the Love of the Father entering into it, and making it at-one with His own, and like His in all the qualities that partake of the Divine essence.”
The Divine Love is an undeserved and unearned gift of God – a gift of grace – yet available for the asking. After the first parents rebelled against God, this gift was withdrawn until the coming to the earth of Jesus. All who lived and died during that time came under the penalty of the law of compensation or judgment. Since Jesus’ coming, humans can be, by faith in the message of salvation that Jesus brought, freed from the bondage and penalties of sin. Despite their human shortcomings, they become justified, redeemed, no longer under condemnation.
The Scripture contrasts the two states of justification. The first is by keeping the law and overcoming human weaknesses by one’s own efforts – the natural love path – which is a long arduous process involving the law of compensation. The second is justification by grace and faith in Jesus’ message of salvation through the Divine Love. This is a much easier way. Jesus invites those who are willing: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Romans 5:16-19 contrasts the two ways: “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam], death [loss of the potentiality of the new birth and immortality] reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness [through the Divine Love] reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ [who taught about and exemplified this gift]. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners [and subject to judgment or law of compensation], so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous [by forgiveness and transformation by the Divine Love].
Again we read in Galatians 3:13, 23-24: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law … Before this faith came [in Jesus’ teaching of salvation], we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith.
In Romans 7:14-23, the apostle Paul shares his struggles with his human nature but comes to a wonderful conclusion: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. … For in my inner being [heart/soul] I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my [soul] and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. [struggle between mind and soul or between our carnal nature and spiritual nature.]
Romans 7:24-8:1 – What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus [his teaching about the Divine Love] the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Paul puts it yet another way. As we are transformed by the Divine Love into new creatures by grace, we are also reconciled to God. It also becomes our responsibility to teach the message of reconciliation through the Divine Love – the gospel that Jesus brought. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ [Divine Love] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
In conclusion, Paul crescendos (Romans 8:31-39): “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? …. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [redeems from law of compensation] … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Divine Love that he announced and lived by and taught how to receive and live by, that guarantees us a place in God’s Kingdom.]
Justification is both an event and a process. With conversion and the Divine Love beginning to work in our hearts and souls, we are no longer under condemnation or the penalties of the law of compensation in the spirit world – though cause and effect still operate in this world. However, the more we develop into God’s likeness through soul transformation by the Divine Love, the more we’ll “walk in the Spirit” – be motivated by the Divine Love in our daily actions – and reap blessings as a result. Also, being justified and growing in the Divine Love and nature will not, make us immune to suffering and the challenges of earthly life. In fact, trials are stepping stones and provide opportunities for growth during this period of spiritual gestation.”
Justification continues as we are praying for the Divine Love and our soul is becoming transformed by the Love and more and more purified and at-one with the Father. The following sections discuss the different aspects of this process which includes both present and future realities.
[to be continued]
Thank you for your comments of respectful "iron sharpening iron" sharing (though I somehow sensed a touch of annoyance in Arie's first post). There are some excellent points that Al brought out, to numerous to comment on. Oftentimes, seeming disagreements are simply a matter of semantics. Other times reading familiar concepts in different words can enrich our understanding (at least that's how it works for me). At all times, language is the only tool we have to express spiritual realities to one another and is often inadequate -- not to mention different languages and translations!
I can understand how Arie is finding truths embedded in the teachings of Hinduism since my husband has become interested in Buddhism a few years ago and is seeing the same. Looking over his shoulder, I must concur that Divine Love truth can be glimpsed in especially the later versions of Buddhism. I think it is important for those of us who can to "build bridges" between us and those of other persuasions and thus at the right time, when they are able to receive it, lead them to the truth taught by Jesus of the Divine Love transforming our soul as a condition of salvation, and in that sense become Christians.
Al has already commented on this issue of our identity as Christians, but I would like to add another point or two. There are Celestial spirits or those heading that way calling themselves Christians in the Padgett messages. Just go to Geoff's site and type "I am a Christian" in the Search window. Quite a few messages pop up, including these two: https://new-birth.net/padgetts-messages ... l-3-pg360/ and https://new-birth.net/padgetts-messages ... ol-3-pg84/. What else appears in the listing are two expressions, namely, "Divine Love Christians" and "New Birth Christians". These must be a part of Geoff's site organization, they don't appear in the messages themselves, but I believe they are both appropriate and valid.
Arie, if you are patient and bear with me, your question about "true children of God" will be addressed and hopefully answered in the next installment -- the one after this post, maybe tomorrow. Have a wonderful time at the Benedictine monastery!
Here is my next installment:
The Divine Love Journey as Gestation
Those presently on the Divine Love journey are in the process of development which can be compared to gestation – the prenatal development in the womb. Physically, the unborn embryo / fetus is already a child of its parents. In about nine months, it will be ready to be born into a different sphere, but its development will continue. On the spiritual level, we are at this stage true children of God and going through a process involving justification, purification and transformation, and indeed re-creation, till their soul development reaches such level that they will be born into the Celestial Kingdom of God. These stages of development will now be discussed.
Justification
As mentioned, all humans are subject to the law of compensation after this life. It is the law of cause and effect – all wrong actions and law-breaking bring about penalties that will have to be paid once we pass over into the spirit world. Jesus referred to this process as judgment.
Matthew 12:36 – But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
In TGRABJ 2/56, we read the same in different words: “No man, by his own exertions, can save himself from the operations of this law [of compensation], and he, so long as he has this idea of depending on his own powers, will have to pay the penalties. Of course, as he pays these penalties, he progresses nearer and nearer to a time and condition when the law will cease to operate upon him, and he will become comparatively happy; but such payment may require long years of suffering and unhappiness. … For every act and deed and for not doing what he should have done, he will have to answer the law.”
Other Bible passages refer to our human predicament that brings judgment or penalties of the law of compensation as curse, slavery, bondage, or imprisonment:
Galatians 3:10-12, 22; 4:3 – All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ … The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, … So also, … we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
Yet, there is a hope: Again, in TGRABJ 2/56, we are told, that while the penalties of the law of compensation cannot be avoided under ordinary conditions or circumstances, there is one exception. This is “the redemption of a man’s soul by the Love of the Father entering into it, and making it at-one with His own, and like His in all the qualities that partake of the Divine essence.”
The Divine Love is an undeserved and unearned gift of God – a gift of grace – yet available for the asking. After the first parents rebelled against God, this gift was withdrawn until the coming to the earth of Jesus. All who lived and died during that time came under the penalty of the law of compensation or judgment. Since Jesus’ coming, humans can be, by faith in the message of salvation that Jesus brought, freed from the bondage and penalties of sin. Despite their human shortcomings, they become justified, redeemed, no longer under condemnation.
The Scripture contrasts the two states of justification. The first is by keeping the law and overcoming human weaknesses by one’s own efforts – the natural love path – which is a long arduous process involving the law of compensation. The second is justification by grace and faith in Jesus’ message of salvation through the Divine Love. This is a much easier way. Jesus invites those who are willing: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Romans 5:16-19 contrasts the two ways: “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam], death [loss of the potentiality of the new birth and immortality] reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness [through the Divine Love] reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ [who taught about and exemplified this gift]. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners [and subject to judgment or law of compensation], so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous [by forgiveness and transformation by the Divine Love].
Again we read in Galatians 3:13, 23-24: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law … Before this faith came [in Jesus’ teaching of salvation], we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith.
In Romans 7:14-23, the apostle Paul shares his struggles with his human nature but comes to a wonderful conclusion: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. … For in my inner being [heart/soul] I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my [soul] and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. [struggle between mind and soul or between our carnal nature and spiritual nature.]
Romans 7:24-8:1 – What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus [his teaching about the Divine Love] the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Paul puts it yet another way. As we are transformed by the Divine Love into new creatures by grace, we are also reconciled to God. It also becomes our responsibility to teach the message of reconciliation through the Divine Love – the gospel that Jesus brought. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ [Divine Love] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
In conclusion, Paul crescendos (Romans 8:31-39): “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? …. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [redeems from law of compensation] … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Divine Love that he announced and lived by and taught how to receive and live by, that guarantees us a place in God’s Kingdom.]
Justification is both an event and a process. With conversion and the Divine Love beginning to work in our hearts and souls, we are no longer under condemnation or the penalties of the law of compensation in the spirit world – though cause and effect still operate in this world. However, the more we develop into God’s likeness through soul transformation by the Divine Love, the more we’ll “walk in the Spirit” – be motivated by the Divine Love in our daily actions – and reap blessings as a result. Also, being justified and growing in the Divine Love and nature will not, make us immune to suffering and the challenges of earthly life. In fact, trials are stepping stones and provide opportunities for growth during this period of spiritual gestation.”
Justification continues as we are praying for the Divine Love and our soul is becoming transformed by the Love and more and more purified and at-one with the Father. The following sections discuss the different aspects of this process which includes both present and future realities.
[to be continued]
Re: New Birth and Our Status as True Children of God
Thanks Arie for your clarifications. Yes, love is everywhere if you care to look. I hope that your retreat brings greater understanding and Divine Love into your being. I'll include you in my prayers this weekend. Much love to you dear brother.
Thanks Eva for all your efforts here. Lots of interesting insights and conclusions. Blessings to you as you mark this journey of understanding. God bless.......Al
Thanks Eva for all your efforts here. Lots of interesting insights and conclusions. Blessings to you as you mark this journey of understanding. God bless.......Al
Endless journey,endless Love.