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ONE of the most dangerous mysteries to place in the hands of the vulgar is that of the doctrine of grace. When once union has been accomplished between the human and the divine wills, there is grace. And the man under grace cannot sin mortally. Conformity between the human and the divine wills is the condition of salvation, and salvation is not forfeited through any specific act, unless such act be wilful and indicate a condition of rebellion.
Of a man under grace, David is a type. His heart was right with God; his intuition was unfallen. So that even his many and grievous sins did not, and could not, alienate him from God. The man who is deliberately in opposition to the divine will is in far greater danger than the man who, having a true intuition,
sins more flagrantly. It is not by a specific act, or many specific acts, that the soul is destroyed; but by a state of heart in constant opposition to the divine will. Hence the axiom of the Calvinist, "If you are under grace you cannot sin"--that is, mortally.
*** Whence one reason for the appellation "Son of David" applied to the Christ. The man must first be "under grace" before he can become regenerate. It is an indispensable step in his soul's progress. Wherefore the latter is said to be the son of the former.
93:4 London, December 1880. Spoken in trance. Referred to in Life of Anna Kingsford, vol. i, pp. 402-403.