979:2: “Cease therefore to inquire in thyself, ‘What are the good works that I
shall do, or what good shall I do that I may receive life eternal?’ Only abstain
from evils as sins, and look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach and lead thee.”
Mr. Kaage puts this teaching in his own words admirably. He also situates
it in a “thesis” about the necessity of undergoing temptations in order to
experience spiritual rebirth. In this process we have two freedoms: the freedom
to think well of others, and the freedom to shun evils as sins against the Lord.
When we exercise these freedoms, he says, “we are raised up into the life of
heaven by the Lord.”
Thesis 83: Salvation, or heavenly life, is purely a gift; it can never be
earned or merited by anyone.
Kaage: “When self-infatuation and the delusion of self-reliance are
removed, the Divine enters in with heavenly good. Therefore, happiness is
purely a gift. It can never be earned or merited by any amount of effort. It
is totally free, and there is nothing we can possibly ever do to attain eternal
happiness by our own effort. Happiness can be received when we simply open
ourselves to the life of love and humility flowing through us constantly. The
great peculiarity of life is that we can never earn the right to heaven, happiness
and salvation. . . . and yet, at the same time, if we do not put forth our very best
effort, we cannot receive them.” (p. 162)
Silverman: At first glance, this thesis sounds a lot like the Old Church idea
that there is nothing you can do to earn salvation. But Mr. Kaage adds the allimportant idea that we can open ourselves to receive the free gift of salvation,
a gift that is already there within us. It is “the life of love and humility flowing
through us constantly.”
Whenever we feel ourselves removed from this constant flow of love and
humility, it’s good to know that it is “self-infatuation” and “the delusion of selfreliance” that keep us separated from that ever-present flow.
What this means, then, is that we must put forth our very best effort
to overcome the delusions of self-infatuation and self-reliance, while
acknowledging that the Lord alone is the power within every effort. We are
accustomed to calling this the “as-of-self ” principle. We must make efforts
to shun evil, as if from ourselves, while acknowledging that the Lord alone
provides the love, wisdom and power to do so.
Thesis 87: Heaven cannot be imposed upon us.
Kaage: “Our unity with the Divine requires the right tone. We cannot form
a bonding relationship with God if we are simultaneously afraid of Him and
concerned about how He might treat us. If we fear being judged harshly for
who we are or what we do, this may well cause us to change our behavior, but
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