The Precursor
January 2002
The Newsletter of the Cincinnati Society
of the General Church of the New Jerusalem
Instant Salvation--"An Error of the Present Age"
Divine Providence is a book which talks of those laws and processes by which the Lord saves a person and brings him into heaven. And this book, this very significant book, closes by talking of the false belief that a person can be saved, instantly, without the laws of Providence, and by the Lord's mercy, no matter how badly he or she may have lived. And, earlier in the same book, this same idea -- the idea of instantaneous salvation -- is said to be an error, error of the present age "(DP 279:4).
It is indeed an error of the age -- not only the age in which the Writings were given, but the age in which the Writings are now to be received. We live in a time and an age in which people look for instant solutions and easy answers, in religion just as in everything else. It is an era when people, many lonely and anxious people, reach out for and crave acceptance. It is a time when disorders are so often overlooked in the name of tolerance and understanding. Ours is a world in which evangelists can speak on TV to millions of people, and tell them that they can be saved, they can be accepted, instantly and unconditionally, no matter how they have lived, by the grace of Jesus Christ.
We are a part of this world. And we would be foolish indeed to believe that our own thought is not affected, often in subtle ways, by the voice of the age. Indeed our own problems are no different, in essence, from those of others. We also can feel lonely, anxious, guilty. We also have done things that are wrong. We also want to be saved. We want to be accepted by our Creator, accepted despite our mistakes, our errors, our sins.
Now it is true that the Lord forgives us. No matter what we have done, and no matter what we may do in the future, the Lord always forgives us, for He loves us. It is also true that no matter what we may have done in the past, there is a way for us to be saved -- a way for us to be led by the Lord into heaven.
It is not true, though, and it never will be true, to say that we can be saved, instantly, apart from the way we live. The Lord loves all people. He forgives all people. He offers salvation to all people. His salvation, though, can be received only in freedom, a freedom which is exercised through the course and conduct of life. If it were any other way, there would be no hells, for the Lord would instantly lift all the devils up into heaven. Neither, though, would there be human freedom. And human freedom is something the Lord has given us, something He regards as precious, something He protects at every step. It is the freedom that we have to determine our course, our destiny, by the way we live, by the very course of our lives.
This is the reality, a reality we should never forget. The choice between heaven and hell is not exercised in some magical mystical moment. It is not determined by some instantaneous focussing of the will. It is not decided by some act of Divine intervention. These are ideas the hells would have us believe. They are fallacies -- falsities which encourage us to delay making any changes in the way we live. Constantly, continually, at every opportunity, the hells encourage us to make the way we live to be a matter of only minor importance.
Nothing, though, could be more important than the way we live. We must not put off living a life of good. The choice for heaven over hell is exercised only by shunning evil and by doing what is good during the normal conduct and course of our lives, in the way we live from day to day, from month to month, and thus, in the course we lay for ourselves from year to year.
And so, as we go forward into another year, let this be a year in which we allow the conduct of our lives to be governed ever more fully by the precepts of His Word, and by the dictates of His commandments. Let us not look for magical solutions, nor for ways to avoid doing what we know must be done, but, rather, let us trust, simply, in the leading of the Lord. If we obey Him, then He will lead us, through the course of our lives, and from year to year, ever closer to Himself, and ever closer to our eternal dwelling place in His heavenly kingdom.
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UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, all events are at the church building. If you are scheduled for a specific job and are unable to be there, please could you find a substitute, and, if possible, notify the pastor in advance. Thank you.
Sun. Jan. 6 Lay service. 11:00am. Meeting room. Lay Leader: To be decided. Regular service in Indianapolis. 11:00am (contact pastor for details).
Tues. Jan. 8 Reading Discussion Group. 7:30pm. 2 Thess. ff. Bring along a Bible.
Sat. Jan. 12 General Doctrinal Class. 7:30pm. Subject: "Worship." Workshop. No suggested advance reading.
Sun. Jan. 13 Holy Supper service. 11:00am. Usher: Don Latta. Sunday School: Pat Latta. Sunday School Subject: Exod. 1, 2:1-10. The Birth of Moses [see Dole Notes). Flowers: Dinah.
Mon. Jan. 14 Swedenborg Reading Group. 7:30 pm. Books and Co. 350 E. Stroop Road, Kettering, Ohio. Contact Jane Blair, (937) 859-4466, or the bookstore, at (937) 298-6540.
Sat. Jan. 19 Homeopathic Study Group. 10:00am. Meeting room. Privately sponsored event. All welcome.
Sun. Jan. 20 Lay service. 11:00am. Meeting room. Lay Leader: To be decided.
Tues. Jan. 22 Reading Discussion Group. 7:30pm. Bring along a Bible.
Wed. Jan. 23 Trustees. 7:30pm.
Sat. Jan. 26 General Doctrinal Class. 7:30pm. Subject: "Time." Suggested reading: TCR 31 [True Christian Religion].
Sun. Jan. 27 Regular service. 11:00am. Usher: Max. Sunday School: Margo (tentative). Sunday School subject: Exod. 3. The Burning Bush [see Dole Notes]. Flowers: Jane.
Mon. Jan. 28 Swedenborg Reading Group. 7:30 pm. Books and Co. 350 E. Stroop Road, Kettering, Ohio. Contact Jane Blair, (937) 859-4466, or the bookstore, at (937) 298-6540.
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Thank You . . .
. . . to Gillian and Patrick for hosting our Christmas potluck in December.
We also wish Gillian a speedy recovery from her recent surgery. Our hearts are with you.
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