3359 Free will.... Knowledge of good and evil.... The new earth....

December 7, 1944: Book 44

The human being has free will.... But the use of this free will necessitates a clear understanding of what it should as well as what it can strive for, since the will must be able to choose either direction in order to make a decision.... Hence it must be possible for the human being to distinguish between good and evil otherwise the freedom of his will would be futile or could be questioned. And for that reason God gave the human being intelligence.... Therefore, not to use intellect means to ignore the gift of free will, thus the human being has the duty to apply his intelligence or else he will be held responsible. And this results in the necessity to reflect on the meaning and purpose of life, because it also gives rise to all other questions which have to be considered in order to make a free decision.

In order to achieve spiritual growth it is absolutely essential for the human being to clarify his inner attitude towards God, towards righteousness, for him to learn to understand that a sincere relationship with God is the purpose of earthly life.... that his free will consciously strives towards God and affirms what is good. Hence he also has to know of the power of evil, he has to get to know it so that he can despise it and choose between one and the other. For this reason evil cannot be expelled from the world or the human being could never make a free decision of will. Evil has to be given some room to vent its fury.... And this is God’s adversary’s influence on human beings which is not denied to him because he can, at the same time, release the powers of good, i.e. the human will is prompted to aspire for good or for bad. Consequently even evil forces are of service to God because they inadvertently help the soul to ascend if it uses its free will correctly.

However, they frequently use their influence beyond what is allowed.... in that they, whose actions are not refused by God, try to prevent good actions.... by making it impossible for people to freely choose between good and evil.... by withholding the knowledge of good, of God, and thus try to compel the human will. And for that reason God puts an end to their activities for a long time.... He confines the forces, who had a limited amount of freedom, for a long time, but at the same time also prevents people, who have not yet clearly decided or whose decision gave evil forces power over them, from using their free will. Only those who have chosen God of their own accord and in spite of the greatest temptations will stay alive because they need no further test of will since they have endured the most difficult trial.

In the coming period only people who have undertaken this test of will can live on earth, who knew the effects of the opposing forces, who were exposed to them and yet escaped them by virtue of their free will, because only they have attained the degree of maturity which allows them to live on earth without being influenced by God’s adversary; while those who have failed must endure the long process of development again until they get at the stage once more when they can use their freedom of will.... Human beings always have to encounter good and evil and therefore the earth will remain a battlefield for both powers as long as immature spirits are embodied on it.... In the beginning the new earth will only accommodate beings of light, i.e. mature human beings shall live on the new earth and keep in constant contact with the beings of light in the spiritual kingdom, and God’s might and power will prevent evil from approaching the people. But the first people of the new earth don’t need further trials and therefore negative forces need not be close to earth either, which manifests itself in the fact that earth is in a state of profound peace, in a condition of mutual understanding and with societies of people living in perfect harmony, because love rules and no God-opposing entity can exist in the presence of love.

But this condition will not last forever because later generations will once again give power to God’s adversary over themselves, they will gladly give in to his temptations and distance themselves to the same extent from God, Who wanted to create a paradise for them on the new earth.... And thus the battle between light and darkness will start anew, and this shall again continue until the end of a redemption period, in order that human beings can decide of their own free will which Lord they acknowledge; and they will be judged in eternity in accordance with their free will.... they will have to suffer in darkness or approach eternal light until they are united with the primal light....

Amen

This proclamation is used in the following themebook:

Themebook	Title	Download
45	The New Earth	ePub   PDF   Kindle

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