places the old. It was law that Moses gave, Ja but we come to understand the true faith through Jesus Christ.

No man has ever seen God; the Son only, who is in the Father, has shown us the way of life.

A SUMMARY

THE UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE IS TO DO GOOD

The announcement of blessedness made by Jesus Christ is an announcement of understanding of life

THE understanding of life is this: The source of life is perfect goodness, and therefore human life is perfectly good in its nature. To understand the source of life, it is necessary to believe that our spirit, the life in man, came from this source. The man, formerly not living, is summoned into life by this, his origin. This source of life appoints blessedness for man, because its own being is blessedness.

To keep in harmony with the source of his life, a man must fix himself upon the one characteristic of this source which is comprehensible to him, and which finds blessedness in doing good. Therefore man's life must be devoted to this blessedness; that is, to doing good from love. But we can find no objects of goodness other than men. All our own bodily desires are out of harmony with this principle of blessedness; and therefore they, with all the life of the body, must be surrendered to the principle of blessedness, to active love to mankind.

Love to our fellow-men follows from the understanding of life revealed by Jesus Christ. The confirmations of this understanding of life are twofold. One is, that when not ac

cepted, the source of life seems to be an impostor, who gives to men an unsatisfied craving for life and blessedness. The other is, that man feels in his soul that love and goodness toward his fellow-men is the only true, free, eternal life.

The First Epistle of John the Divine

This is the announcement of the understand- : Ja. L. 8−3. ing of life through which men have fellowship with the Father of life, and therefore have eternal life.

This is an announcement of blessedness. The understanding of life is, that God is life and blessedness, and that in life and blessedness death and evil do not exist.

If we say that we are at one with God, while we feel we are living in evil and death, then either we are imposing upon ourselves, or we are not doing what we ought to do.

Only by living the same life as His, do we become at one with Him.

As a teacher of this life, we have Jesus Christ, the right-living. He freed us and all who will, from wrong-living.

The proof that we know the teaching of Jesus Christ is, that we carry out his commandments. Any one who says he knows the teaching of Jesus Christ, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him. But the man who carries out his commandments has the love of God in him. Only through love can we know that we are at one with God.

He who says he is at one with Jesus Christ, must also live as Jesus lived.

He who says of himself that he is in life and blessedness, but hates his living brotherman, is not in life and blessedness, but in

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1 Jn. ii. 15.

death and evil; and he does not know what he is doing; he is blind, hating the life which is in himself also.

To escape this blindness, a man must remember that everything in the world, in the earthly life, is the desire of the flesh, or vanity, and that all this is not from God. And that 16. all this passes away, perishes. And that only 17. he who does the will of God, which is love, endures for ever.

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Only he who recognizes that his spirit is the offspring of the Father, is united with the 24. Father. Therefore remain in the knowledge that you are, in the spirit, sons of the Father, God, and you will have eternal life.

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iii. 1. God gives us the opportunity of being His sons, and like Himself. So that, in this present life, we become His sons. We do not know what we are to be, but we know that we are like Him, and that we are united with Him.

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Confidence in this eternal life rids us of our mistakes, and purifies us to the Father's purity. 4. For whoever commits sin, violates the will of God.

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Jesus Christ came to teach us the way to deliverance from sin, and unity with God. 6. Therefore those who become united with Him can no longer sin. Only that man will 7. sin who does not know Him. But he who 8. lives in God, acts righteously; and only he 9. who is not united with God, does unrighteously. He who owns his origin from God, cannot do any falsehood.

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Therefore men are of two classes men of God, and men who are not of God; men who know the right and love the brethren, and men who do not know the right and do not love the brethren.

For, following the teaching of Jesus Christ,

we cannot refrain from loving one another. Through the teaching of Jesus Christ, we 1 Jn. iii. 14. know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren, and that he who does not love his brother is in death. We know that one who does not love his living brother does not love life. And he who does not love life cannot himself possess life.

By this teaching we recognize love, in the fact that life is given to us; and we know, therefore, that we also must give up our life for our brother. So that he who, himself having the means of life, sees his brother in need, and does not yield his own life for his brother's sake, -in him there is no divine love.

We must love, not by words, but by deeds, in truth. And he who so loves has a quiet heart, because he is at one with God.

If our heart is at strife in us, we subdue it to God. For God is higher than the wishes of our hearts. But if there is no strife in our hearts, then we are blessed, and that because we do all we can, the best deeds, and fulfil all that is ordained for us.

And this is ordained for us to believe that man is the son of God, and to love our brother. Those who do this are united with God, and are risen above the world, because that which is in us is greater, of more consequence, than all the world.

Therefore let us love one another. Love is from God, and every one who loves is the son of God, and knows God. And he who does not love, does not know God. Because God is love.

That God is love, we know because He sent into the world this Spirit, such as He Himself is, and thereby gave us life. We did not exist, and God was under no compulsion, but

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