How I Used Truth - Lesson 5 - Annotation 10
How may the day of deliverance (salvation) from undesirable conditions "be hastened for every man?
10. Consciously finding the Christ presence within himself, and turning in prayer to it, will hasten the day of salvation, or the day of deliverance from undesirable conditions, for every man, it is very clearly expressed in "the text on page 64 in the following words,
"Let him at once begin to withdraw himself from outside sources and external warfare, and center his thoughts on Christ the Lord within himself."
Understanding that we are sons of God, spiritual beings, is the first step in laying hold of our salvation. (See the Annotations for Lesson Nine, Lessons in Truth, which deal with the meaning of "salvation.") The lesson brings out the idea that while the word salvation does come from a root word meaning "to save," it also means ""that which saves or delivers from danger or difficulty; the source, cause, or means of preservation." We eventually reach the point where we discern that the Christ, our own spiritual nature, the God Presence within, is our salvation. This being so, the one way to hasten our deliverance from unpleasant conditions in mind, body, or affairs is to turn consciously to this Presence. This process we call prayer.
As our consciousness is lifted through acceptance of the indwelling Christ as our salvation, we are freed from limited beliefs that have caused unwanted conditions in our human experience. Keeping close to Spirit through our prayer times saves us from the mental causes that produce mistakes, The understanding that comes through prayer gives us the perception and the power to change the results of mistakes of the past.
The text refers on page 6l to gospel and to law, and to the working out of our salvation (How I Used Truth 61). The word gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "godspell" meaning "good tidings, good news." In the Christian faith this has come to mean the good tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Gospel, then, teaches the truth (as the text points out on page 6l) "that Christ, the Father in you, is your salvation."
As the word law is used here it refers to all the work that is necessary on our part to accept the "good news" of our salvation ever available to us. It is, however, possible to make the "working out of our salvation" so all-important that we overlook the real goal -- the acceptance of salvation here and now. Through the ages some religionists have emphasized the works first; but Truth reveals that the Gospel, or the truth of salvation, must come to our consciousness first, then the works follow. In other words, once there comes to us even a flash of the truth of our relationship to God, when we see ourselves as His sons, we can begin the redemptive work in our consciousness and in our life.
Through awareness of our divine nature, in times of meditation, prayer, and the silence, we will seek to conform to the spiritual standard in all of our thinking, feeling, speaking, acting, and reacting. If we try to make our minds function positively without the understanding that such activity is normal for us as spiritual beings, we may find that we are using the power of self-will rather than letting God work through us to express His nature. Once we become keenly aware of our oneness with God, we do not find it hard to say, "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). While the Gospel tells us that salvation is the free gift of God, we have to prepare our consciousness to accept the gift before it can be used to transform our outer life.
"Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
This renewal of the mind cannot take place by intellectual processes alone but is brought about through the inspiration that comes in and through moments of prayer. The gospel and law work together, but we need to keep well in mind that gospel must come first. The statement made on page 137 of the book Lessons in Truth makes this point very clear:
"True, there is law; but there is gospel also. Nor does gospel make law of no effect; it fulfills law."
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Preceding Entry: In its true sense, what is work?
Following Entry: What does the hand represent or symbolize?
