OrEd-T-17.9-Conditions of Forgiveness

OrEd-T-17.9- Conditions of Forgiveness74. The holy instant is nothing more than a special case or an extreme example of what every situation is meant to be. The meaning which the Holy Spirit's purpose has given it is also given to every situation. It calls forth just the same suspension of faithlessness, withheld and left unused, that faith might answer to the call of truth. The holy instant is the shining example, the clear and unequivocal demonstration of the meaning of every relationship and every situation, seen as a whole. Faith has accepted every aspect of the situation, and faithlessness has not forced any exclusion on it. It is a situation of perfect peace simply because we have let it be what it is.75. This simple courtesy is all the Holy Spirit asks of us, to let truth be what it is. We will not intrude on it, attack it, nor interrupt its coming. We let truth encompass every situation and bring us peace. Not even faith is asked of us, for truth asks nothing. We let it enter, and it will call forth and secure for us the faith we need for peace. But we must not rise against it, for it cannot come against our opposition.76. The gift of faith is freely given wherever faithlessness is laid aside unused, and makes a holy instant of every situation. Then the power of the Holy Spirit's purpose is free to use instead. This power instantly transforms all situations into one sure and continuous means for establishing His purpose and demonstrating its reality. What has been demonstrated has called for and been given faith. Now the situation becomes a fact and faith can no longer be withheld. The strain of refusing faith to truth is enormous and far greater than we realize. But to answer truth with faith entails no strain at all.77. To us who have acknowledged the call of our Redeemer, the strain of not responding to His call seems to be greater than before. This is not so. Before, the strain was there but we attributed it to something else, believing that the "something else" produced it. This was never true. For what the "something else" produced was sorrow and depression, sickness and pain, darkness and dim imaginings of terror, cold fantasies of fear and fiery dreams of hell. And it was nothing but the intolerable strain of refusing to give faith to truth and see its evident reality. 78. Such was the crucifixion of the Son of God. His faithlessness did this to him. We must think carefully before we let ourselves use faithlessness against him. For he is risen, and we have accepted the cause of his awakening as ours. We have assumed our part in his redemption, and we are now fully responsible to him. We will not fail him now, for it has been given us to realize what our lack of faith in him must mean to us. His salvation is our only purpose. In every situation we see only this, and it will be a means for bringing only this. 79. When we accepted truth as the goal for our relationship, we became givers of peace as surely as our Father gave peace to us. For the goal of peace cannot be accepted apart from its conditions, and we had faith in it, for no one accepts what he does not believe is real. Our purpose has not changed and will not change, for we accepted what can never change. And nothing that it needs to be forever changeless can we now withhold from it. Our release is certain. We give as we have received. And we demonstrate that we have risen far beyond any situation that could hold us back and keep us separate from Him Whose call we answered.