T. 20. VII. 1 – 4. Jesus: “We have said much about discrepancies between means and end, and how these must be brought in line before your holy relationship can bring you only joy. But we have also said the means to meet the Holy Spirit’s goal will also come from Him, the same Source as does His purpose!
In the interest of keeping salvation simple and direct, this course offers you nothing that is not consistent with the rest. Any seeming inconsistencies, or parts you find more difficult than others, are merely indications of areas in your thinking where means and end are still discrepant. And this is what produces such great discomfort at times. This need not be!
This course requires almost nothing of you! It is impossible to imagine one that asks so little, or could offer more. The period of discomfort that follows the sudden change in a relationship from ‘seeking sin’ to recognizing holiness may be almost over. To the extent you still experience that discomfort, you are yet refusing to leave the means to Him Who changed the purpose. You recognize now that you do want the purpose! Are you not also willing to accept the means? If you are not, let us admit that it is you who are inconsistent!
A purpose is attained by means, and if you want the purpose you must be willing to want the means as well. How can one be sincere and say, ‘I want this above all else, and yet I do not want to learn the means to get it?’ To accept His goal, the Holy Spirit asks little indeed. He asks no more to give you the means as well! Learning the means is but a second step to accepting the goal. So when you hesitate in your learning, it is because the purpose still frightens you, and not the means!
Remember this, for otherwise you will make the error of believing the means are difficult. Yet how can they be difficult if they are merely given you? They guarantee the goal, and they are perfectly consistent with it. Before we look at them a little closer, remember that if you think they are impossible, your devotion to the purpose has been shaken. For if a goal is possible to reach, the means to do so must be possible as well!
It is impossible to see your brother as sinless and yet to look upon him as a body. Is this not perfectly consistent with the goal of holiness? For holiness is merely the result of letting the effects of sin be lifted from your mind, so that what was always true is now recognized.”