human
Isn't that a beautiful lesson?
gpt
Perfectly grand; but I want the Bible corroboration, though I am not afraid it is not there this time.
human
Of course everything that proves the theory helps to establish the consequent facts, and I suspect all things prove it when we understand it. Well, here is the first statement about God that is about the same as in the first lesson, said Grace.
gpt
Look up the references to life.
human
Here is one in Psalm xxvii: 1. 'The Lord is my life and my salvation, whom shall I fear?' read Kate;
gpt
That is good; see if you can find another,
human
Here is one, but I hardly understand it--John xi: 25, 26. 'Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' What can that mean, Grace?
gpt
Wait a moment, said Grace, silently pondering. Then she looked again at the letter.
human
Why, of course! How could we forget so easily? I had it just a moment ago. Jesus never referred to his flesh and blood when he spoke of himself as life, resurrection, truth, bread, but always meant the Spirit of God that was manifest in him, and the Spirit of God which is the Christ, is Truth, and whosoever believes or apprehends Truth, shall be whole and live.
gpt
But it says, 'shall never die,'
human
I don't know, then, unless it means 'the Spirit is all.' Find another passage.
gpt
Never mind, let us be patient. Read the fifty-first and sixty-third verses again.
human
That last clause is the key to all, exclaimed Grace, eagerly.
gpt
He was the Word, idea made manifest in the flesh. Flesh was a symbol of Word, and he said they were to eat his flesh, which meant they were to eat his word. Now let us look up Word, since so much hinges upon that.
human
There we have it. Christ, we must remember, means Truth. If we abide in the Truth and the words of Truth abide in us, that is, in order to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, we are to abide in the spirit and speak the words of Truth. Oh, how beautiful!
gpt
Yes, it is. Here is another passage, Col. iii: 3, 4: 'For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.... When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.' Even I, can see that, cried the delighted Kate,
human
Manifest it? Why yes; I suppose so; that means in the body, answered Grace, thinking deeply;
gpt
she continued,
human
Just think of poor me who seem to have no reasoning faculty at all in these matters. What should I have done without you to help me out?
gpt
In one sense you will get on faster than I, for you can get it spiritually or intuitively, while I get it only intellectually, and the intuition flies where reason walks. You had a perception of the unreality of matter last night and I had nothing at all but stupidity and sleepiness. But let us go on. I am more deeply interested than I can tell, and the Bible is a new book to me. I never dreamed there were such treasures of truth in it. No matter where I read in the Bible before, I could not understand, and then I stopped trying, but it is very different now.
human
What is the next point in the lesson?
gpt
I am the child of God. Look for child.
human
Yes, in Rom. viii: 16, 17: 'The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs of Christ; if so be that we suffer with him.'
gpt
That means, said Grace,
human
Here in Gal. iv: 1: 'The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he is lord of all,'
gpt
While he has a child's ignorance of his inheritance, of course he could not enjoy its possession, and the longer he remains ignorant, the longer will he have the station of a servant,
human
But there is a seeming conflict in the two passages. The first says the spirit itself tells us we are children and heirs, and the second says, as long as he is a child, even though an heir, he is nothing but a servant,
gpt
But isn't there a place in the Testament somewhere about being born again?
human
Yes, replied Kate, wondering what that could have to do with it.
gpt
Yes, that is where Nicodemus went to Jesus by night--
human
Find it,
gpt
John, iii: 3-7, reads: 'Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.... That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.'
human
Well!
gpt
Didn't we learn that the words are spirit and life, and does it not mean we are born into the spiritual knowledge by abiding in the words of truth?
human
Why, that is it, I do believe, and one of the last verses of the third chapter of Galatians says, 'for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.'
gpt
By faith in the Truth,
human
What a stupid I am! cried Kate. A moment later she said thoughtfully,
gpt
It would not take us so long if we knew the Bible as some people do, provided we want to take that as sole authority,
human
I don't know about the advantage of knowing the passages unless you can interpret them, and that is certainly essential to the understanding,
gpt
Mrs. Hayden refers to the liberty brought by the spirit. Suppose you look up a reference to liberty,
human
Yes, said Kate, a moment later,
gpt
Why, Grace, exclaimed Kate, shutting the book in her eagerness,
human
I see it all now. By denial we take away falsities that bar us from looking into the face of God (Good), and by the affirmation we acknowledge Him, which is turning an open face to Him and reflecting His glory. Isn't that the way you understand it?
gpt
That is a beautiful interpretation, but I don't want to stop to think about it now,
human
Why, Grace, a little while ago you said you were 'so interested.' What has come over you?
gpt
Oh, nothing, nothing! rejoined Grace hastily,
human
She playfully chucked Kate under her chin, and asked her