Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6772

6772 Must state.... free will state....

February 27, 1957: Book 72

The course through the earth's creation brings a certain maturity to the spiritual, because the beingness cannot work against God's will, since it is active in a state of compulsion according to God's will. And this bound state is the only possibility to withdraw the beingness from the influence of the adversary, from which it otherwise could not be released eternally. But God helps the weak, which is dominated by an evil power.... He helps it to once reach the state of being able to decide in free will, thus also to escape from this evil power. Since God's adversary also has a right to this spiritual substance, which voluntarily followed him into the abyss, he cannot be denied the opportunity to fight for it, and therefore he also makes use of the time when he can influence its will in every way so as not to lose his followers. However, the state of maturity which the spirit has reached through its path through the creations also enables it to resist the adversary's desire, because God also exerts His influence, (insofar as) He nevertheless does not interfere with free will.... The walk through creation is therefore a gift of grace from God, that the one who has sunk into the depths is granted assistance to reach a certain height again. But then the being's own responsibility comes into play, for now only his will decides. Consequently, the human being.... the spiritual being in that state of maturity.... no longer exposed to coercion, neither from good nor from evil, he is free but still extremely weakened in will, which is why God's adversary often finds it very easy to win the human being's will, just as, conversely, the blessings of the act of salvation are at his disposal again which strengthen the will, and the world of light also tries to gain influence in every way. But the decision to which side the will is directed must be left to the human being alone. And this is the battle which every soul.... the spiritual in the human being.... has to wage on earth in which it can be defeated but also emerge victorious.... There can never be an excuse for the soul if it is defeated by the adversary, for every soul can survive the battle because God provides it with all necessary means. And therefore every soul must also bear the consequences of its decision, it cannot be spared them, but on the other hand it will also be immeasurably happy if it passes this battle. The great grace of having been liberated from the adversary's rule for eternities is already a certain obligation to now make the right decision; but the human being lacks the knowledge about his course of development beforehand, because he must not feel any compulsion on God's part either, so that he truly decides freely. But as soon as he receives the knowledge on earth he should also make use of it by striving for perfection, for in the last days before the end the human being will be reminded of the great responsibility of his earthly life by receiving knowledge which would otherwise have remained hidden from him, because in view of the end the new banishment in the creations is also mentioned, which threatens those who completely fail in earthly life. Although the belief in this is only decisive as to whether the soul derives an advantage from this knowledge, it can awaken its sense of responsibility and still be evaluated as a final gift of grace. And then the soul will be spared the dreadful fate of a new banishment, it will have made its decision of its own free will after all, not under compulsion....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers