Soul Development Without the New Birth
In this mediated message, Luke explains that soul development without the new birth is possible by humans destroying their own creatures of sin and error. This message is continued. For more on this topic, see this page.
Luke Discusses the Development of the Soul in Its Natural Love Wherein the New Birth Is Not Experienced
I AM HERE. Luke.
I come tonight to say a few words concerning the great Truth of the development of the soul in its natural love wherein the New Birth is never experienced.
I know that men think that this natural love has a part of the Divinity of the Father’s Nature in it, and that, as they develop in the way of purifying it and ridding it of those things which tend to impair its harmony, they will realize that there exists this Divinity in their souls of which we have written. But this is not true. For this natural love partakes only of those elements which the Father implanted in it at the time of man’s creation, and in none of these elements are any of the qualities of the Divine Nature.
It is difficult to explain just the distinction between the Divine Love coming from the Father and the natural love also coming from Him, and, yet, the latter not having any of the Divine Nature or Qualities. But this is a fact. The natural love may become so purified that it may come into perfect harmony with the laws governing its condition and composition, and, yet, fall far short of having any of the Divine Love in it. And, so, as we have explained to you, the soul may obtain this Divine Love and thereby become a part of the Father’s Divinity.
I will now try to explain how the natural love of man may be developed so that his soul may come into harmony with the law of love—the natural love—and make him a very happy, pure and contented being.
In the first place, I wish to say that there is no such thing in the world as original sin or evil. God did not create them or permit them to exist, except as he permits man to use his own will without limitation. I mean by this that He does not say that a man shall do this or do that in the exercise of his will. As respects this will, man is untrammeled. But He does say, and His Laws are inexorable in this particular, that when man, in the exercise of the great power of free will, causes that will to come into conflict with the Will of God, or to violate His Laws, he, man, must suffer the consequences.
This may be illustrated by your natural laws declaring the freedom of the press. Man may publish whatsoever he pleases and, so long as he does not thereby violate the rights of others or of decency, he may make his publications without fear of the law. But when he violates the law in the exercise of this freedom of speech, as you call it, then he must suffer the consequences of this violation.
So it is with the mortal who, in the exercise of his free will, violates the Will of the Father or the laws limiting its exercise by the mortal. He must suffer the consequences. And the results of this violation are that sin and evil are created, and, this, in no other way. Surprising as it may sound to you, man is the creator of sin and evil, and not God Who is only Good.
Then the question arises, “How can sin and evil be eradicated from the world?” And every thoughtful man will have the same answer, and that is: by men ceasing to violate the Will of God, or of His Laws, which restrict the exercise of the wills of mortals to that which, in its right exercise, will not produce sin or evil. In other words, when men bring about inharmony by the wrong use of their wills, they can apply the right use of their wills and not disturb that harmony, which, when it exists, leaves no room for the presence of sin and error.
So, you see, the one thing necessary in order for men to become happy and free from everything that defiles them, or causes unhappiness or discord to exist, is to develop their souls in this natural love until this love comes into perfect unison with the laws that control it. And thus may be applied the oft-quoted expression: “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” But this means love in its purest and most perfect state.
Now, how can this development of the natural love be accomplished by men?
The mind, while a powerful helper in this regard, is not sufficient of itself to bring about this great and desired result. It is true that, with every mortal, there is a constant warfare between the appetites and lusts of the flesh and his higher desires. Hence, it is said, that these appetites and desires are sinful, and that they are the cause of evil and the inharmony that exists in the lives of mortals. But this statement is not altogether true. For as man was made with spiritual aspirations and desires, so was he made with appetites and desires of the flesh; and the latter, of themselves, are not evils.
The failure to make the distinction between the fact that these appetites and desires of the flesh are not evil, and the fact that only the perversion of them brings evil, is the great stumbling block that stands in the way of man’s de- veloping this natural love in the manner that I have indicated. These, what are sometimes called the animal appetites and desires, may be exercised in such a way as to be in perfect harmony with the laws that control them, and, in such exercise, not interfere with or prevent the development of this natural love to perfection.
But, in the free exercise of his will and in his wanderings, man has gone beyond the limitations which the Law of Harmony has placed upon him. He has added to, and increased and distorted, the appetites and desires of the flesh which were originally bestowed upon him. Hence, he has himself created those things that are not in harmony with his creation.
So, you see, man is a creator as well as a creature. As the latter, he cannot alter or change any of the effects of his creation; but, as the former, he can alter and change and even abolish the effects of his own creation. For the creator is greater than the things that he created, although these things of his own creation have held him in bondage and unhappiness to a more or less extent ever since he became their creator. The strength of this apparent paradox is that the creator, man, has for all these long centuries believed in this bondage, and has submitted to his creations; and he still does so.
So, what is the remedy?
Simply this: Man must awaken to the fact that he is greater than his creatures, that they are subject to his will, and that whenever they bring discord and unhappiness by their existence and workings, and cause his will to be exercised in opposition to the Will of the Father, they must then be destroyed and never be permitted to come into existence again. Let men become the masters of their creatures, and obedient to the great Will of their Creator, and they will realize that sin and error and unhappiness will disappear, that their natural love will come into harmony with the laws of its creation, and that the earth will indeed become a heaven and the brotherhood of man established on earth.
If men will only think, and, thinking, believe that all sin and error, and the resulting unhappiness and sorrow in the world, are children of their own creation and not the children of God, and that, in the economy of His Universe, God leaves the control and management and even the existence of these children to the will of their parents, they will understand why evil exists, why wars and hatred and misery continue on earth to blight the lives and happiness of mortals, and why, as some say, and especially the so-called “Christians,” that God permits all these things to exist and flourish and apparently contradict the great Truth that He is Good and the Fountainhead of all Goodness.
The universe and the inhabitants thereof, and the greatest production of His Power, man, were all created by God. But sin and error and their awful followings are the creatures of man. The Laws of God’s Universe work in harmony, and all is good. And even the apparent inharmony which man has created does not affect that great harmony, but is confined in its working to man, himself. Only man is apparently in inharmony, and that is caused by man, himself.
Suppose, for a moment, that man’s will was working in accord with that of the Father. Can you imagine that there would be any of these creatures of man’s perverted will in existence? Would there be any evil or hatred or disease or suffering known to the consciousness of man? I tell you, no!
Now, I say, man, their creator, must destroy these inharmonious creatures. He must kill and bury deep and forever these children of the perverted exercise of his will. And, until then, sin and error and all their concomitants will continue to live and flourish and torment their creator.
And I say here, with all emphasis and with a full realization of the great significance and responsibility in the sight of God which I assume in saying it, that man can destroy these bastard creatures of his will that are so perverted and discordant!
His natural love, if permitted to assert its God-given powers and functions, is sufficient to bring his will in accord with that of the Father, to turn his thoughts away from these children of his, and to make him conscious of purity and truth. The dead desires and dead appetites will bury their dead children, and man will come into his own again.
But then comes the question: “How is man to accomplish this great end, so devoutly to be wished for?”
Well, it is late now, and I will write upon this important feature of this development of his natural love in my next message.
So, with all my love, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ, LUKE.
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