shiny gold of a star, and perhaps even erase some of the black dots.
The church hierarchy had great power from this role. Too many people
focused on simple external definitions of good and bad behavior. The effects
of this system deeply troubled reflective people, like Martin Luther – with very
good reason.
During the Reformation, the Protestant leaders radically rejected the
medieval Catholic view. They replaced it with a concept of salvation by faith.
People need to have a faith that Christ died for the sins of those who believe in
Him. From this perspective, the spiritual rebirth that the Lord promised came
from this faith.
One explanation of this doctrine is that a person can be “born again” in
a moment of acknowledged belief. From this perspective, what a person does
and does not do is not the key to salvation. There is no need to balance gold
stars with black dots. The clergy are not the people who decide how bad a
certain behavior is or what a person must do to atone for it. Salvation is a
matter of faith – period. In this view, salvation depends on a key idea or insight.
The teachings for the New Church present a very different concept of how
each of us receives salvation or how we can become angels to live in heaven to
eternity. Today’s story from Genesis illustrates one part of our preparation for
heavenly life.
The conflict between Ishmael and Isaac is part of the story of Abraham’s
life. The teachings for the New Church reveal how Abraham’s life reflects a
parable of human spiritual development. It started with the call of Abraham,
described in Genesis 12, and continues step by step through various ups and
downs of his and his family’s life.
Each step of this saga describes a different element in the miracle of our
spiritual rebirth. Each step helps us receive the life and joy of heaven. The
steps included learning what the Lord teaches, and making better decisions
from this knowledge. It included potential obstacles or dangers that can – for
shorter or longer periods – stop our spiritual progress, such as the problem
reflected in King Abimelech taking Sarah from Abraham.
The fundamental underlying theme is that each of us needs to learn from
the Lord and work from our best understanding to live according to what He
teaches. We need to seek the Lord’s help in recognizing the key spiritual battles
that He calls us to face. We need to recognize and acknowledge faults and flaws
in our natural approach to so many situations. We have to ask the Lord’s help
in changing these faults and flaws.
Sometimes it is a matter that we care too much about the wrong things.
Other times we do not care enough about some of the right things. Sometimes
hurtful and dangerously incorrect ideas dominate our thinking. All of this
plays out in our patterns of motivation, thought, word and deed. The Lord
calls us to act from what seems to be our own power to change these patterns,
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