The Progressions of Faith
Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series
where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years,
the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them
with you. This morning we seek to understand the progressions of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Progressions of Faith
"The just shall live by Faith." Galatians Chapter 3, Verse 11.
Brothers and sisters, in this pursuit of divine perfection, of acquiring a moral and spiritual character
like Jesus, we have to confront the very meaning of faith as it applies to the pursuit of the greatest
spiritual achievement of our mortal careers. The first obstacle confronting us on this path is the
question of whether it is possible to achieve divine perfection in this life. And though we have been
taught that it is possible, we somehow have shied away from the implications of this truth. And what
kind of faith is necessary in order to achieve this divine perfection? Just what are the parameters of
divine perfection while living a life in the flesh? What does it look like?
We know that there are four reality states, and they are evil, sin, iniquity, and good. We have rejected
sin and iniquity which is the conscious and sustained rebellion against the Father's will. So that
leaves us with evil, the unintended, unconscious violation of the divine will. We know that evil is
a measure of immaturity. That is, the soul has not emerged to the point where it can discern
goodness. If you will, it has not developed the perception where it can discern and consciously
respond accurately to divine goodness and the result is evil. So then our task becomes then to
overcome evil and emerge into the good. Now we have been told that it is the goodness of God that
causes repentance. When we begin to feel in our soul the goodness of God against the backdrop of
the evil that we have been experiencing, and when we embrace this goodness, choose to do the
Father's will, then we have emerged into the goodness. We have been born again, have become a
child of goodness.
There are also two realities of relationships in the mortal life and they are truth and error. Again error
is also a measure of immaturity. That is the soul has not emerged to the point in its development
where it can discern true relationships. If you will, it has not developed the perception where it can
discern truth and consciously respond to accurately to this aspect of divine reality. The result of this
choosing is error. Our task is to overcome the error and embrace the truth. Now we have been told
the truth: God is our Father, and we are all brothers and sisters. All other relationships of truth are
derived from this primal truth. When we embrace this truth, then have we been delivered from error
in our relationships with the heavenly Father. We have been born again, have become a child of
truth.
Now we know that the Father's values of goodness and truth are infinite, eternal, and absolute. In the
mortal state, we know that it is impossible to exhaust the infinite, eternal and absolute potential of
truth and goodness. But we also know that in the mortal state, there is a limit to the comprehension
of divine values and meanings, and this is the level of translation, that state where the soul and spirit
become one. Now we know that Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, took on the form
of the human being and achieved human perfection. He paved the way and left his Spirit of Truth
surrounding the soul of man so that man can as it were repeat this same feat of perfection. This Spirit
of Truth imparts new prerogatives to the soul of man, among which are the ability to recognize truth
and goodness. This born again experience constitutes the deliverance of the soul from evil and error
and into the light of truth and goodness. And all of this is accomplished by faith submission to the
Father's will. And now we shall examine just what this journey of spiritual perfection is.
The journey of spiritual perfection is the acquirement of progressive divine values and meanings.
In this life this means the acquirement and comprehension of the ever increasing mass of divine
values and meanings until the level of translation is reached. As demonstrated by Jesus, this is a
progressive experience, and the faith that is required is also progressive. We know that this state is
achieved through intelligent prayer, worship and through service. "The enlightened spiritual
consciousness of civilized man is not concerned so much with some specific intellectual belief or
with any one particular mode of living as with discovering the truth of living, the good and right
technique of reacting to the ever-recurring situations of mortal existence." What is involved in this
process is the discovery of the divine values and meanings that dictate the good and right technique.
Our prayer life then becomes a communion where we discover these divine values and meanings that
we apply to our decisions of living. So then when we start out asking for the faith to grasp the divine
values and meanings, we must quickly move from asking for the faith to achieve the values of
perfection, and move to thanking the Father for those values and meanings. This act of thanksgiving
acknowledges the receipt of divine values and meanings, and they can then be applied to the
progressive life that we are living. As we began to acquire divine values and meanings, we begin to
recognize the changes in meanings of the values. This indicates the growth process. As we move
deeper and deeper into the comprehension of truth and goodness, so does our faith.
Faith becomes key here, because the reception of the divine values in our souls is faith achieved. And
when we act on these values, they become meaningful. And this process continues on and on until
the level of translation is reached. The experience is progressive and it is not unusual to have some
failures in executing these spiritual values and meanings into the outer life, but each failure of
execution is attended by greater and greater wisdom, greater skill, and greater growth and
development. The progressive exercise of faith not only requires that we acknowledge the reception
of divine values, the divine communications of the Father's spirit, and the divine meanings as
interpreted by the Spirit of Truth, but that we also actively seek these divine values and meanings
of perfection that we are desirous of receiving. Ask and you shall receive is the law of the spiritual
universe.
Progressive faith overcomes all doubts in the acquirement of spiritual values and meanings simply
because the obstacle to acquiring them is the failure to progressively exercise this faith. We must
have the courage to embrace the divine values and meanings that appear in our soul and mind and
that are consistent with our highest understanding of truth, beauty and goodness that resonate with
the divine love that is actuating us. There should be a progressive state of thanksgiving and joyful
worship, for after all it is the Father's will that we become perfect even as he is perfect, and when
we embrace these divine values and meanings, we are only doing his pleasure.
Each decision to execute divine values is rewarded by growth and greater skill in executing (living)
them. It is impossible to describe the process whereby new meanings grow out of old meanings and
old values are enhanced. But we can and do experience it. And as these values and meaning progress,
we move towards divine perfection. And such a display of these progressive divine values and
meanings are always attended by an ever deepening display of the fruits of the spirit. Eventually we
are recognized by our spiritual peers as displaying a mature spiritual character, a complete character,
a character of spiritual perfection within the flesh.
This concludes today's message on the progressions of faith. We hope you find something in this
message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Progressions of Faith
