Salvation is like becoming a seed that has sprouted and grown a new tree . Some people never even get to be ripe fruit . offering the insights we need . He will bring us the strength and conviction to reject the thoughts that would have us dismiss the truth that should be guiding our lives .
new church life : september / october 2017
essentially unrecognized .
The Lord has described for us how salvation occurs . A wise person can recognize many elements of it in the Old and New Testaments . A more detailed and direct explanation has been given us within the teachings for the New Church . He has told us of a fundamental spiritual change that He wishes to bring about in each of us . It is a spiritual rebirth that does not take place in a moment , nor is it a state earned by doing more good deeds than bad ones . Consider the following :
These matters may be illustrated by comparing them to the fruit of trees . To begin with the first rational is like unripe fruit which ripens gradually until it produces seeds within itself . Then , having reached the point when it is ready to part from the tree , its state is complete . The second rational however , which the Lord confers on those who are being regenerated , is like this same fruit now lying in good soil , where the flesh surrounding the seeds decays and these express themselves from the core , after which they send down a root and also a shoot up above the ground that grows into a new tree and spreads out , till finally it produces new fruits , and after that gardens and orchards , according to the affections for good and true things which it is receiving ; see Matthew 13 : 31 , 32 ; John 12 : 24 . ( Arcana Coelestia 2657:4 )
Salvation is like becoming a seed that has sprouted and grown a new tree . Some people never even get to be ripe fruit . Their patterns of thinking and action are so flawed it is like a tree with only leaves , or blossoms that never form fruit , or fruit that rots on the branch or falls before a seed is even ready within it .
The spiritual challenge represented by the teenage Ishmael mocking the young child Isaac does not describe an early state of spiritual growth . Much goes on in a person ’ s spiritual development prior to this step .
We might wonder how we will be ready to recognize the failure of our natural rational faculty . How will we notice that we are dismissing the truth ? In the story Sarah , Isaac ’ s mother , is the one who notices what Ishmael is doing . Her attention to this problem represents an insight given to us by the Lord . ( See Arcana Coelestia 2651 ) If we truly want to be led by Him , He will certainly knock at the door of our minds ,
Salvation is like becoming a seed that has sprouted and grown a new tree . Some people never even get to be ripe fruit . offering the insights we need . He will bring us the strength and conviction to reject the thoughts that would have us dismiss the truth that should be guiding our lives .
What does this all mean for our own lives ? The Lord calls us to a spiritual journey like the one Abraham actually took . Several things are very important to know about this journey .
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