faith is more than just mental belief. The various aspects of faith will now be discussed.
The New Testament in the book of Galatians mentions circumstances “before faith” and “after faith has come”, and contrasts living by faith with keeping the law. These points in time can occur on a global or individual level.
Globally the time of faith starts with Jesus’ coming and his announcement about the re-availability of the Divine Love. Before that, moral (as well as some ceremonial) laws were to guide human behavior. However, as history and the Old Testament show, these God-given laws were often disobeyed, which brought about unpleasant consequences. The law of cause and effect or the law of compensation was in full operation both on earth and in the spirit world. But when Jesus announced the re-bestowal of the Divine Love, not everyone was ready to accept the Good News – in fact most were not.
We learn from TGRABJ/3/303 that “the teachings of the Master were twofold, and for those who were not in a condition to hear and understand his higher spiritual truths, he preached those things, which if followed, would make them better men and women and cause them to progress in the development of their natural love.” Paraphrasing what follows, natural love teachings and the work of preachers and teachers who have limited understanding must therefore not be undervalued, for people differ in their intellectual and spiritual conditions. The truths taught may by their influence on the hearts of the hearers turn their minds to spiritual things of the higher nature. This then may open their souls to the influence of Celestial spirits, and from that may follow longings for the Love of the Father.
On an individual level, the time of faith has to do with one’s spiritual development. This determines a person’s readiness to accept Jesus’ invitation to take on his light yoke and embark on the path of faith, grace and Divine Love, as contrasted with the more difficult natural love pathway of striving to keep the law and overcoming one’s weakness on one’s own strength.
The passage in Galatians 3:23 to 4:7 gives us insights on our position before and after embarking on the Divine Love path, or, as the scripture calls it, the path of faith. In verses 23 and 24, Paul explains the role of the law, or moral teachings: it was a temporary “tutor” before we were ready to follow the path of the Divine Love and faith. The passage then moves on and tells us what happened when “faith” came:
Galatians 3:23-26 – But before faith [Divine Love teaching] came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ [Divine Love], that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
Chapter 4 of Galatians then continues and concludes:
Galatians 4:1-7 – What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children [spiritually immature], we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law [redeem them from experiencing the law of compensation which every breaking of the law automatically brings], that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons [begotten of God and God’s true children], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts [Divine Love, which was first in Jesus’ soul], the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave [to the law], but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir [heir to God’s Kingdom through the Divine Love].
So in this context, faith is the time when Jesus brought God’s saving knowledge about the Divine Love to the world, or when we individually become ready to receive and act on this information.
In TGRABJ/2/337, we read of a process that leads to the development of faith. When a discovered or revealed truth is recognized as reality, it is put into action. This leads to belief of the mind, which in turn leads to faith with longings and aspirations at the soul level. The object of faith becomes real (of substance) which then leads to knowledge with conviction, and as a result, one can speak with authority as Jesus did.
The truth needed for salvation is what Jesus came to reveal and live, and God’s promises associated therewith. This is the teaching of the New Birth through Divine Love flowing into and transforming one’s soul. Of and by ourselves, we are not divine or immortal. Having sinned, we are subject to the law of compensation (in Bible terminology, judgment) which in the spirit world may involve considerable suffering before this law is satisfied. The law of Love transcends the law of compensation. If we believe and accept Jesus’ teaching, realize and admit our helplessness and sinfulness, and come to God, we are unconditionally and by grace promised the gift of the Divine Love.
TGRABJ/1/20, paraphrased, tells us that when individuals believe with all the sincerity of their minds and souls that the Love of the Father is waiting and available to each of them for the asking, and when they come to the Father in faith and earnest aspiration, this love will not be withheld from them. If, in addition to this belief, they pray with all the earnestness and longings of their souls that God open up their souls to the inflowing of this Love, the Holy Spirit will bring the Love into their souls in abundance. The person who will thus believe and pray will never be disappointed, and the way to the kingdom is guaranteed to be theirs. There is no need for a mediator, or prayers or ceremonies of priests and preachers. God Himself hears man’s prayers and personally responds by sending the Comforter – the Holy Spirit.
As more and more Divine Love is received in response to earnest prayer, faith increases proportionately. With this, the object of faith, the Love in the soul, becomes a perceived reality. So the more one prays, the more Love and faith is given, and the more awareness of the Love – the Love and its associated attributes become a felt substance and an object of knowledge. (Cf. Hebrews 11: 1.)
The Prayer Perfect (found in TGRABJ/1/40 as well as later in this book) tells us to ask: “that there may come to us faith – such faith as will cause us to realize that we are truly Your children and one with You in very substance and not in image only.” As the Divine Love transforms our souls, its emanating illumination assures us of its reality. The soul is no longer just an image of God, the Great Soul, but is becoming filled with the substance of the Father’s essence.
The Prayer goes on to say: “Let us have such faith as will cause us to know that You are our Father, and the bestower of every good and perfect gift and that only we, ourselves, can prevent Your love changing us from the mortal to the immortal.”
As discussed in an earlier chapter, the Bible confirms that we become God’s children in the same way that Jesus was the first son of the Father – through having God’s substance, His Love, abide in and transform his soul. If we believe Jesus’ teaching about the Divine Love and put it into action by praying for the Love, we are promised tangible results (substance), which will in turn increase our faith that the teaching is true. Further application of the teaching and growth in the Love will result in growth in faith. In a passage in John’s gospel, we read:
John 1:12-13 – Yet to all who received [Jesus], to those who believed in his name [his special mission as God’s messenger and his teachings], he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Furthermore:
Romans 8:14-17 – Those who are led by the Spirit of God [Divine Love] are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (See also Galatians 3:26 and 4:5, as well as Ephesians 1:5)
The key is believing in Jesus, and, even more importantly, accepting and acting on his teachings.
1 John 3:23-24 – And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as [Jesus] commanded us. Those who obey [God’s] commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us [which imparts Divine Love].
1 John 4:13-18 – We know that we live in [God] and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit [which imparts the Divine Love]. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world [by revealing and living the way of salvation and immortality through the Divine Love]. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God [through the Divine Love transforming his soul], God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment [since the law of compensation will be transcended], because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Here are further tips on growing in faith and the effects thereof. Quoting from TGRABJ/2/137: “Let the love in you increase and pray to the Father for more faith in His promises, and for a greater inflowing of His Love. Very soon you will realize His actual presence in your soul to an extent that will make you know that you are one with him in Love, and in the possession of the divine essence. This will cause all doubt to leave you, and give you a faith in which no doubt will appear.”
Paraphrasing from TGRABJ/2/132, we get a few more insights: You must pray for more faith and trust implicitly in His promises, and in the promises of the Master, for they will be fulfilled and you will not be disappointed or left to yourself. Your soul must be developed with this Divine Love of the Father. Soul development in Divine Love goes hand-in-hand with earnest, sincere prayer to the Father. With such prayer will come faith, and with faith will come the substance of what you may now only believe. So pray often, believing that the Love of the Father will come to you, and you will realize your oneness with Him. Let not the things of the world distract your attention from these spiritual necessities, and you will find that all these material things will be supplied you. Be firm and courageous in your beliefs, and God will be with you in every hour of trial and distress. Let your faith increase until doubt shall flee away, and only trust in the Love and goodness of God remain with you.
In another message focusing on faith, TGRABJ/1/209, Jesus tells us (paraphrased): If you will earnestly seek God’s Love, you will find that there will come to you such a belief in His wonderful Love and in the nearness of His presence, that you will be free from all doubt.
Faith is not the belief that arises from the operation of the mind, but rather comes from the opening of the perceptions of the soul. Faith is greater than belief, and exists in its true sense only in the soul. Belief may arise from a conviction of the mind, but faith never can. No one can possess it unless his soul is awakened by the inflowing of the Love. Faith is based on the possession of this Love, and without it there can be no faith.
Faith is a progressive quality or essence of the soul, and increases as possession of the Divine Love increases. It is not dependent on anything else. Prayers for Divine Love call from the Father a response that brings with it faith, and with this faith comes a knowledge of the existence of this Love in your own soul. So when we pray to the Father to increase our faith, it is a prayer for the increase of Love.
True faith makes the aspirations and longings of the soul a real, living existence. It enables its possessor to “see” God in all His beauty and Love. This means that the person’s soul perceptions will be in such condition that the Father’s attributes will appear plainly to him.
We read further in TGRABJ/2/131 (paraphrased): The faith that you must try to obtain will transcend all the worries and troubles that may come to you. This kind of faith overcomes every obstacle, and makes you a true child of the Father and one whom He will never forsake or let go unprovided for.
The Bible confirms that true faith is conditional on the Love in the soul. In Galatians 5:6 we read, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” According to Mark Kramer, in Greek, the phrase “expressing itself” (translated from energeo) means “to be operative, be at work.” So, literally, Galatians 5:6 says, “... faith, being operative by the Divine Love (agape).”
Faith comes only with constant earnest prayer. As Jesus states in TGRABJ/1/209, “Your prayers call from the Father a response that brings with it faith, and with this faith comes a knowledge of the existence of this Love in your own soul.” The writer in the book of Hebrews echoes this:
Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV translation) or “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (KJV) In the original Greek text, the word hupostasis is used for “substance”, meaning: “that which has actual existence; a substance, a real thing.”
So faith, the amount of which is proportional to the Divine Love in one’s soul, gives us firm knowledge and conviction that the Love is real – of substance – and that we are true children of God. Faith further helps us to transcend our worries and concerns, gives us confidence in trials and assures us that God’s promises will come to pass.
We are also taught that many who haven’t specifically heard of Jesus or been exposed to the truth of the Divine Love, or those who have wrong beliefs about salvation, may at the soul level be desiring and receiving God’s Love and be transformed by it. For example, in TGRABJ/2/136, a message from Jesus tells us: “I know that the people who were worshipping me were not doing what I approve of or like, but their hearts were turned to God; and while they were making me the object of their worship, yet the spirit of God was with them, and the workings of the Holy Spirit were in the hearts of very many of them showing them the Love of the Father and the truth of His salvation. They, of course, are mistaken when they talk about being saved by my blood, for my blood has nothing to do with their salvation … But, notwithstanding this false belief, these people in their prayers actually aspire for the Love of God, and He knows the longings of their hearts and sends the Holy [Spirit] to fill them with this Divine Love which makes them become very close to the Father, and makes them happy.”
Many people of other than the Christian faith have rich spiritual understanding and may well be receiving the Divine Love at the soul level, and be true children of God and on the way to the Celestial Heavens. Therefore, no one is in the position to judge another as to their soul condition, much less their spiritual destiny.
So to sum up, belief in and application of Jesus’ teachings will result in the receiving of the Divine Love in our souls. With more Love will in turn come more faith, and true faith, arising from the soul, will eliminate doubts and transcend worries. There will be a certainty in knowing that we are truly God’s children, that God is our loving Father, that His Love is transforming our souls and making us at one with Him and immortal, that He is with us and close to us, that He will provide for all our earthly needs and help us overcome obstacles, and that our destiny in His Celestial Kingdom is assured.