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of Jacob Boehme |
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There is a "Mystery" (Secret) that the "church-at-large" has hidden from and deprived Christians the knowledge of almost since its inception !!! Jesus stated: "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!" **** Matthew 7:24-27 Around the year 300, the builders of His Church abandoned "The Rock" and began building upon a false foundation of sand. This was based upon intellectual learning and PURELY HUMAN reasoning, rationale, philosophy and understanding. Today, the so-called "christian church" - which Jacob Boehme refers to as "The Church of Babel" - rests upon this foundation of sand, and is more-and-more crumbling to pieces (as it justly deserves). So, just WHAT is "The ROCK" versus "The Sand" ?? Simple: The former is based upon revelation by God's living, Holy Spirit as attested to by Nature, while the latter is based upon the intellectual learning and reasoning of the human mind, devoid of said Spirit. It confuses the living, natural and organic with the doctrinal, dogmatic, forensic and judicial. All of nature - Eternal (Spiritual) as well as Natural - functions according to the principle of Birth - governed by the "Three Principles and the Seven Properties" taught by Jacob Boehme. All disruption, lack of harmony, and Sin - be it in living or inanimate creation - is a result of a lack of proper balance in these. These will be explained in detail later in this essay. Click HERE The "Church of Babel" - to the contrary - fashioned it's model according to man's reasoning and perceptions, and took its form from human justice with its courts and power, from human philosophy, and ESPECIALLY from man's precepts of RELIGION !! In the minds of the VAST majority of "christiandom" today, the Fall, SIN and Redemption is strictly a Forensic, Judicial and LEGAL affair. God, instead of being "Father", became Caesar, Dictator, Judge, Ruler and Sovereign !! His "Kingdom", rather than being made up as a FAMILY, became fashioned after the Courts of the Roman Empire and its Judicial System. Adam's SIN - now rather than being an error, a "missing of the designated mark", a deviation from the intended plan - became a CRIME requiring judicial investigation and punishment. According to the "new" theology, God no longer looked upon His World and His Creation with eyes of Fatherly Compassion, Love and Understanding. Now -- His "injured Honor and Judicial Dignity" needed to be placated, His "Justice" needed to be satisfied, His "Vengeance and Wrath" needed to be appeased - and MOST important - an appropriate victim was needed to pay for the Cosmic Crime that had been committed against this "Caesar God" !! All of these twisted distortions of the TRUE God shaped the theology of the "church" to come!! The theology of MOST of "Christendom" became that Adam (and in him MAN-kind) sinned in the Garden of Eden by transgressing God's law and becoming a moral criminal. God (as the Universal Judge) pronounced him "Guilty" and condemned him to (eternal) death. However, God (as Father) felt sorry for His children and came up with this plan -- Jesus would come to earth as a man, live a perfect life, and suffer and die instead of Man. In this way, God's "Justice" would be satisfied since, after all, there WAS a Cosmic Crime and SOMEONE needed to pay for it. So, now that God's "Justice" is satisfied, and He has expended the wrath that was due to Man upon Jesus, He can now say to Man, "I forgive you your transgression (sins) because someone else (Jesus) has already paid for your crime and I don't believe in 'double jeopardy'". Instead of a "New Birth" or renewal of the Life which was originally lost in Adam being THAT which was required to remedy our "Fall", Jesus is presented as the "Judicial Scapegoat" upon whom God (unjustly) placed the penalty for Adam's "crime" and from whom He extracted the required "payment". In other words, God poured out His (supposed) "Divine Anger and Wrath" upon Jesus and thereby spared us !! Now - rather than an ACTUAL "New Birth" being the outcome of the work that Christ did for us - that we might, by the power of God's indwelling Spirit, ACTUALLY lead Righteous Lives (living according to God's will for us) - Jesus rather "suffered in OUR stead - or INSTEAD of us rather than FOR us or ON ACCOUNT of us". He "paid the fine or penalty instead of us for the crime that was committed". The Father (the Judicial Magistrate) punished Christ instead of us. He placed the "needed funds" into our "empty account". In almost ALL of today's "Western Churches and Theology", the work that Christ did is "Reckoned on our behalf" - He "took our place and suffered and died INSTEAD of us". As a consequence, "His righteousness is IMPUTED to us". We are still "Sinners prone to continual Sin". However - or so THEY claim - now, when the Father looks at us, He no longer sees our filthy SIN stained garments (lives), but rather "His Son's White Coat of Righteousness" !! This travesty of injustice their "Human Wisdom" is pleased to represent as God's plan for Salvation, Redemption and Reconciliation instead of - through our NEW life and the indwelling of God's Spirit and Power - being ACTUALLY MADE to be Righteous in God's sight. It is by THIS change (and NOT by some fabled "Imputed Righteousness") that we are enabled to "do His Will", and are ACTUALLY and continually being "transformed into the Image of Christ" !! The BULK of the "christian church" no longer preaches and teaches "transformed lives unto the Image of Christ" as being the touchstone of salvation or the "new birth". NO, it is rather church membership and attendance, adherence to a particular creed, acceptance (at least by word) of chosen doctrines and teachings, adherence to particular church ordinances and rules, and avoiding certain thoughts and/or actions which the particular "church" under consideration define as being "sins" !! The "church is like a "secret society"- in which you have to get the wording of the "secret password" (doctrinal confession) exactly right, undergo the initiation rites, and live and abide by ALL of the rules - if you expect to become and remain a member. Those who fail to measure up are "cast out into the realms of eternal darkness" !!
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As stated earlier, "All of nature - Eternal (Spiritual) as well as Natural - functions according to the principle of Birth - governed by the "Three Principles and the Seven Properties". All disruption, lack of harmony, and Sin - be it in living or inanimate creation - is a result of a lack of proper balance in these." Jacob Boehme's concept of the threefold structure of creation describes reality as the dynamic interaction of three eternal principles or "worlds" that flow from the nature of the divine itself. These are not merely static realms but active forces or qualities (darkness/wrath, light/love, and the created world) that combine to form the entirety of existence, from the spiritual to the physical. Although this process may seem to be rather, "esoteric and mystical", it none- the-less forms a solid foundation upon which the ENTIRE working of BOTH the eternal (spiritual) and natural realms of Creation are based and operate -- including an ACTUAL and real explanation of Adam's Fall, SIN, and Restoration !! Adam's "Sin" consisted in using his power of divine, creative will or "Imagination" to transfer himself from the Divine (Eternal) World which was meant to be his proper home into the lower or created world. His "Fall" was nothing less than his separation from God's indwelling, governing presence (Spirit). Since this Spirit was the harmonizing, unifying force within the Seven Qualities, this loss created a break or disruption at the"forth quality", resulting in a separation of the first three qualities of the "dark" world of chaos and conflict from the last three of the "light" world of accord, love and unity. This is so because the first "Three Qualities" constituted "Nature" separate from the Spirit or Indwelling Presence of God. The second "Three Qualities" constituted the first three transmuted by the forth (God's Light Love, or Spirit) into the second three. You might say that the first three constituted the proper "receptacle or vessel" which God's Spirit might fill and work through. In other words, they were "The Hunger" and God's Spirit was the "Food". When said Spirit was withdrawn or broken off, ALL that remained was the insatiable Desire, Hunger and Want of their unnatural state, since it was NOT God's design that they should exist separately (see the following for an explanation). This "SIN" and "Fall" was not merely a one time act of disobedience or rebellion which could be repaired merely by an act of "Divine Forgiveness". Rather, it resulted in a disruption of the entire "Sevenfold Cycle" of the creation of which Adam had chosen to become a part of. It required NOT 'forgiveness" on God's part, but an ultimate institution of a whole new creation, once more indwelt and governed by God through His Spirit !! THIS would be ADAM's (Mankind's) "salvation from SIN" and his restoration back into union with God. The three principles are: The First Principle: Darkness, Wrath, and the Fire World -- Emanating from the aspect of God the Father, this is the dynamic, active, and "masculine" principle. It is associated with the qualities of contraction, harshness, and a fiery anguish or "sourness". It is the origin of God's wrath and the potential for evil, which is a necessary tension for creation to become manifest. The first principle is considered the "ground" or foundation out of which the others arise.
For Boehme, this structure is a dynamic, ongoing process of divine self-revelation, not a static creation event. The human soul itself is a microcosm of this macrocosmic structure, capable of turning toward either the dark fire of self-centered existence or the divine light of love. Jacob Boehme's concept of the "sevenfold self-organization of reality" describes the seven essential qualities or "fountain-spirits" of Eternal Nature through which the unmanifested Divine Abyss differentiates itself to attain self-consciousness and manifest the phenomenal world. These qualities are not a sequence in time but eternal, co-dependent principles that work in perpetual, dynamic interaction. The process is a movement from an undifferentiated unity into a duality of opposing forces (darkness/light, wrath/love) and then into a structured, manifest creation. The Seven Qualities of Eternal Nature The seven qualities function like the different organs in a single body or colors that make up one picture; none can exist without the others, and all cooperate to produce the rich tapestry of reality. First Quality - The Astringent Quality (Desire): This is the beginning of contraction, a magnetic attraction that causes the eternal will to draw inward and create substantiality, darkness, and a foundational "acrid" quality. It is the will's initial act of self-conception.
This sevenfold cycle is an eternal process through which the unmanifest God reveals Himself to Himself, with human beings playing a crucial role in its conscious completion. |
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The following section is taken from "The Spirit of Love - The Third Dialog" by William Law. He derived his understanding from the deep, mystical insight and revelation that God was pleased to impart to His servant Jacob Boehme regarding the Nature of Creation, of Man, of his Fall, and of his Redemption. Law provides a much clearer and easier to understand restating of Boehme's writings, most of which require a considerable effort to understand. Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. **** James 4:1-3 For all that is in the world -- the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one's resources or in the stability of earthly things] -- these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. **** 1John 2:16 (amplified Bible) Covetousness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath, are the four Elements of Self, or Nature, or Hell, all of them inseparable from it. And the Reason why it must be thus, and cannot be otherwise, is because the natural Life of the Creature is brought forth for the Participation of some high supernatural Good in the Creator. But it could have no Fitness or possible Capacity to receive such Good, unless it was in itself both an Extremity of Want, and an extremity of Desire of some high Good. When, therefore, this natural Life is deprived of, or fallen from God, it can be nothing else in itself but an Extremity of Want, continually desiring, and an Extremity of Desire, continually wanting. And hence it is, that its whole Life can be nothing else but a Plague and Torment of Covetousness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath, all which is precisely Nature, Self, or Hell. Now Covetousness, Pride, and Envy, are not three different Things, but only three different Names, for the restless Workings of one and the same Will or Desire, which, as it differently torments itself, takes different Names; for nothing is in any of them, but the working of a restless Desire, and all this because the natural Life of the Creature can do nothing else but work as a Desire. And therefore, when fallen from God, its three first Births, and which are quite inseparable from it, are Covetousness, Envy, and Pride. It must covet, because it is a Desire proceeding from Want; it must envy, because it is a Desire turned to Self; it must assume and arrogate, because it is a Desire founded on a real Want of Exaltation, or a higher State. Now Wrath, which is a fourth Birth from these three, can have no Existence, till some or all of these three are contradicted, or have something done to them that is contrary to their Will; and then it is that Wrath is necessarily born, and not till then. Thus you see in the highest Degree of Certainty, what Nature or Self is, as to its essential, constituent Parts. It is the three aforementioned, inseparable Properties of a Desire thrown into a fourth of Wrath, that can never cease, because their Will can never be gratified. For these four Properties generate one another, and therefore generate their own Torment. They have no outward Cause, nor any inward Power of altering themselves. Therefore, all Self, or Nature, must be in this State till some supernatural Good comes into it, or gets a Birth in it. Therefore, every Pain or Disorder, in the Mind or Body of any intelligent Creature, is an undeniable Proof that it is in a fallen State, and has lost that supernatural Good for which it was created. So certain a Truth is the fallen State of all Mankind. Here lies the absolute, indispensable Necessity of the one Christian Redemption. Till fallen Man is born again from above, till such a supernatural Birth is brought forth in him, by the eternal Word and Spirit of God, he can have no possible Escape or Deliverance from these four Elements of Self or Hell. While Man indeed lives among the Vanities of Time, his Covetousness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath, may be in a tolerable State, may help him to a Mixture of Peace and Trouble; they may have at Times their Gratification's, as well as their Torments. However, when Death has put an End to the Vanity of all earthly Cheats, the Soul that is not born again of the supernatural Word and Spirit of God, must find itself unavoidably devoured, or shut up in its own insatiable, unchangeable, self-tormenting Covetousness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath. Oh!, that I had Power from God to take those dreadful Scales from the Eyes of every Deist, which hinder him from seeing and feeling the infinite importance of this most certain Truth. |
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I am going to primarily examine THREE major categories -- Original Man, Fallen Man and Redeemed Man (meaning woman also). These encompass the THREE principles of Sin, Redemption and Sanctification (the New Life). (I.) Original Man -- Sin **** Theology's attack and slander of both the Character and Love of God begins right at the start of Divine Revelation, The Book of Genesis and the Creation of Man. Western Theology asserts that God is of the character of a warden or parole officer - Man was His charge, placed in the Garden under probation. The Tree of Good and Evil was placed there as a TEST to see whether or not Man would be obedient to the will of God, or rebel unto his OWN self-will. God placed the probation - NOT to eat of the tree - as the main term of his "test of obedience". As the sad story goes, Man DID choose his OWN will, DID eat of the forbidden fruit, and was cast out of the Garden by God as a "Cosmic Criminal" for his offense. William Law and Jacob Boehme (and the SPIRIT of Scripture) paint quite a different scenario: They see God as a loving Father, delighted in His new child, and anxious to guide and mature him in the ways of His (God's) creation. The account in Genesis, rather than being a TRIAL, is instead the explanation of a loving father to His immature son of the ways of this new world and life that he finds himself created into. In effect, God explains WHO and What he (Adam) is and how he will need to conduct himself to avoid disaster. God goes on to explain that Adam had been created as a THREE part, semi-divine being - inhabiting all three principles or "worlds" of creation: (1) The Divine, Light World of God's Spirit
Man's TRUE life was to be the Divine Life of the Spirit, and it was in THIS that he was to live and function as his "life principle". As long as he did so, he could function in and care for the external creation as its "lord and god", and bring it to increasing measures of maturity and glory. He was, however, NOT to long for this external world, nor want to be a part of it, nor partake of its existence, nor want HIS spirit or essence to mingle with ITS spirit or essence. If he were to do this, due to his nature and the nature of the created world that he inhabited, he would loose his divine spirit and his connection with God, and be cast down into the created nature that he longed for. This was NOT an arbitrary fiat of God Himself, but merely the natural outworking of the nature of his existence. Well, sad to say, as children STILL do today, Man ignored his Father's wise instruction, chose his own will and way, and suffered the consequences !! "To Miss the Mark" -- or the TRUE Nature of SIN !! Thus, as the Apostle Paul tells us: "So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned" **** Rom 5:12 SIN, we will see, is NOT ANY particular action nor series of actions, but became the ACTUAL STATE of Man(kind). He had "missed the mark" of his intended creation - to live in union and harmony with God, his Father, via the indwelling Holy Spirit life-force that he had been given. Man was now separated from God by an impassible gulf, separated from the indwelling - life giving Spirit of God, and isolated in this created world. He could no longer do ANYTHING but "SIN" !! I recently thought of a parallel example as it relates to a "mentally damaged" person that I have shared a house with for a long period of time. This person is not what one would normally classify as "insane", but their mind no longer functions properly in the realm of understanding and analytical, deductive, rational thought.
Almost everything that this person does or thinks, therefore, "misses the mark" of the "NORMAL", expected action and thought process. They are "WRONG" in the sense of NOT conforming to "healthy, expected norms" !!
Thus it is with Mankind after "the Fall". Now, devoid of God's indwelling and empowering Spirit, his thoughts and actions can no longer measure up to the "expected norm" of his creation. They ALL SIN or "miss the mark". Some of his thoughts and actions may still be what humankind now calls "good", while others may be downright evil and wicked. However, NONE of them conform to the "created, expected norm", since that could ONLY be achieved by the indwelling, empowering Spirit of God !! If you ask 100 people what THEY think "SIN" means, you will probably get 100 different definitions. In almost every case (if not EVERY), however, the person will be discussing "acts of sin" and not SIN itself !! All of this is merely the OUTGROWTH of "SIN" -- that ORIGINAL event at the dawn of Man's history, and which Jesus Christ became man to overcome and eradicate. Sad to say, the TRUE nature of SIN has been so confused and obscured (and in MANY cases trivialized) that, in our present day society, we are in a state of NEAR-TOTAL ignorance and denial regarding it. Please Note: The numbers in parentheses (264, etc.) denote Strong's Concordance reference numbers. For all have sinned (missed the mark - 264) and fall short of (are wanting) the Glory of God **** For all have sinned (missed the mark - 264) and missed the beauty of God's plan (J.B. Phillips translation) **** Romans 3:23 (present tense)
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(II.) - Fallen Man -- Redemption **** If you understood the preceding explanation of "Sin", it should answer the oft-repeated question asked by unbelievers (and ALSO believers): "If God TRULY wanted to forgive Adam for his actions, why not merely FORGIVE him instead of instituting this complex system of Salvation and Redemption ??" Adam's "transgression" was NOT merely disobeying some "Divine Ordinance" for which God could simply say, "I understand that what you did, you did in ignorance and immaturity. You are my son, I love you, I forgive you" !! It was also NOT some "cosmic crime" for which the "Divine Judge" could convene the "Heavenly Tribunal", find Man guilty, and either impose or suspend just judgment. Nor could God (as some simple-minded "teachers" teach) merely transfer the "necessary compensation" into Adam's delinquent account from His (God's) account and tell Adam, "No problem, Adam, I Myself have paid the penalty for YOUR offense!!" NO, a Thousand Times NO !!!! This was NOT just a "breaking of The Law" -- This was (in modern terms) "a Rip in the Fabric of the Universe". One of the underlying principles of God's creation had been overturned, destroyed. Paradise had been banished from the earth and Hell brought in to replace it. The fault in this creation could NOT be mended nor merely repaired. The remedy needed to be as drastic as "a NEW Creation". The OLD needed to be done away with that the NEW might be instituted !! It is at THIS point that God begins to reveal His love to Fallen, wayward man. He implants the "seed" of His Spirit into fallen Man, to lie dormant until the "Times of Refreshing" should come. At that point, with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ - as FULLY man and Fully Divine - the seed takes root, introducing a brand new species of human being into the universe. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth. You have put off the old man with its practices and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. **** Colossians 3:3-10 Where formerly, Adam had been the father of the OLD humanity, Jesus Christ becomes the "father" of the NEW humanity. As we "die" spiritually to the OLD line, we can be "born again" spiritually through faith in Jesus Christ into the NEW line. As we, as offspring, partook fully of the nature of our OLD father, we likewise partake fully of the nature of our NEW father, again becoming semi-divine beings, filled with the Holy Spirit of God. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. **** Romans: 6:1-5 Therefore, the "salvation" that is brought to us in Jesus Christ is NOT some "legal fiction" of a "forgiven or paid debt" and an "an imputed righteousness". Jesus did NOT pay some debt owed to the Father for mankind's transgression, He did NOT bear the burden of God's supposed "wrath and vengeance" for breaking His Law, and He most certainly did NOT balance the "Scales of Justice" by taking man's place before God's "Bar of Judgment" and serving the sentence Himself. What Jesus Christ REALLY DID DO was to provide that bridge which Man needed, whereby he might once more be united with God, his Father and Creator, by enabling Man to again be birthed in possession of and united with God's Living Holy Spirit. Man's righteousness (or "right-standing") before God is NOT achieved by some "magical imputation", but by REALLY, IN FACT being able to fulfill God's just requirements and expectations by means of God's living Holy Spirit indwelling and functioning THROUGH man on a continual basis. As the Apostle Paul proclaims: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." **** Gal 2:20
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(III.) - Redeemed Man --- Sanctification -- The "New Man" **** The bulk of "the church" is STILL bound up in the same delusion that resulted in the Jewish leaders crucifying their long awaited Messiah. They would NOT accept the fact that the external, outward dispensation given through Moses - for A WHILE - had been brought to an end with the advent of Jesus Christ. Before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. **** Gal 3:23-26 God's ULTIMATE remedy for Man's fallen, alienated condition - his SIN condition - had NEVER been external rules and laws, tradition and ritual, outward formalities, or a REPAIR of Man's broken state. NO, God had something FAR more grand, magnificent and drastic in mind right from the day that he first comforted fallen Adam. He planned to do away with the old, tarnished, broken creation and replace it with a brand NEW one !! It would be one in which a merely CREATED being, MAN, would be elevated to near-divine status as TRUE Son's of God, possessing in themselves the Divine Nature. They would become the Heavenly, the Corporate Body of the Second Person of the Trinity, the ONLY uncreated Son of God - Jesus Christ Himself. Man would again be reunited with his God, Father and Creator - and would be enabled to fulfill his divine destiny of having God express ALL of his mighty wonders through His NEW Corporate Body, as had been His intention to do through individual men (and women) before Man's Fall. Just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body -- though many -- are one body, so too is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. **** 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Jesus Himself declares to us: "I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God - unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must all be born from above.' If I have told you people about earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?" **** John 3:3-12 Herein lies the ROOT of the problem. Down through the last 2,000 years, MUCH of "the church" and, EVEN WORSE, its leaders and teachers, have been themselves DEVOID of the Living Spirit of God !! They have declared it enthusiasm, foolishness, vanity - even HERESY - to believe that, as Jesus Himself and Paul stated: "It is ESSENTIAL that a Christian be 'born from above' with a VERY REAL rebirth and continual infilling by the living Spirit of God Himself". Lacking this, they had nothing more than carnal, earthy, natural minds - and could build nothing more or greater than a carnal, earthy, natural harlot of a "church" !! It is as the Apostle Peter wrote regarding Paul's letters: Speaking of these things in all his (Paul's) letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. **** 2Pet 3:16 Being "Born Again" came to mean nothing more than to join some religious organization, be baptized according to their particular ritual, subscribe to their particular creed and confession, and submit to their particular rules and prohibitions. There was no change in the "Inner Man (the TRUE Self)", nor often (usually) was anything taught nor even mentioned regarding such change. Often, the teachers and/or leaders knew of no such change THEMSELVES !! Churches, monasteries, and seminaries became nothing more than DEAD "religious cemeteries"- where the "old man (dead in trespass and sin)" continued to walk and talk and labor, adding Sin to Sin, building HIS "Tower of Babel" trying to reach God by His labors and "sacrifice". What more, REALLY, could be expected - how could those who were (spiritually) dead themselves be expected to impart life to others ?? His ego, pride, and vanity COULD not and WOULD not accept the fact that the needed work had already been done by another (Jesus Christ), and he needed ONLY to embrace and enter into the New Life that had ALREADY been prepared for him. He needed ONLY to DIE to ALL that constituted his OLD, sinful man and embrace the promise of the NEW Heavenly Man!!!! If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away -- look, what is new has come! **** 2Cor 5:17
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William Law and Jacob Boehme attempted to expound upon the details of such as God gave to them in THEIR visions. That is one of the things that makes reading their works so difficult, particularly those of Boehme. They try to convey what they saw and experienced in the words and concepts at their disposal, but they are trying to relate "Heavenly Glories" in earthly words and concepts. They know what THEY saw, but how do you tell a man who was born blind about colors or a man born deaf about sounds and music ??? Just as it is written, "Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him." God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the man's spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. We speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. He cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. **** 1Cor 2:9-14 All that I can recommend that YOU do is what I have endeavored to do for myself -- allow God to "renew your mind", allow God's indwelling Spirit to "teach your New Man of the heavenly realities". Also, DILIGENTLY and continually read and study your Bible from front to back with an OPEN mind, allowing God to saturate your mind in His perspective and impart to you His "world view". Above all, DO NOT just read your "favorite Scriptures" to reinforce the perspective that you have ALREADY formed or (even worse) that someone else has given to you. Work at DILIGENTLY and thoughtfully reading and STUDYING the writings of William Law, "The Spirit of Love and the Spirit of Prayer". This will take some DISCIPLINED work at first because of its (seemingly) alien nature. I do, however, guarantee you that the end result will be worth the effort -- IF your desire is REALLY a deeper and more mature understanding of God and His World. If and when God should prompt you that you are ready, expand your reading and study to the writings of Jacob Boehme. THIS will probably take some REAL work and dedication, for I found that understanding these was MANY times more difficult than understanding Law's writings. However, like in any other endeavor, "You will reap in proportion to what you sow. If you sow LITTLE, you will reap LITTLE. If you have the insight and determination to sow MUCH, God will see that ultimately, you will reap MUCH" !! My Prayers and Blessings in God go with you and with your Study and Labors.
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