Brother of Yeshua

Segment 1

If the beginning of one's walk in TheWay is initiated with repentance, then there must be a total severing with the sins of one's past in order to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus and TheWay. To have compassion and make excuses for the ways of this world -- attempting to portray the path of ignorance as being OK from the perspective of the teachings of Jesus and TheWay -- is merely the product of a defiled mind that Satan whispers to -- often telling you his name is Jesus Christ. So long as you keep following counterfeit shepherds who promote the doctrine that you are saved by Grace regardless of your actions, mindset and lifestyle, then you will continue to be apostates to the Kingdom and the Living Word of God.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked:

for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;

Segment 2

but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal 6:7-8 KJV)

These words represent the Universal Laws that bring about every experience in the trials and lives of the prodigal sons and daughters of the Most High, while they are struggling in what Jesus portrayed as this, the "far country" . Every event in the life of mankind, is initiated and brought about by pre-existent causes. This world is God's School House where his Offspring mature and evolve to fulfill the required maturity that Jesus noted in the words: "You, must therefore, be Perfect, as your Heavenly Father is Perfect" (Matt 5:48). And the parable of the prodigal son portrays the journey of the soul as he travails in this, the "far country" -- and it is impossible for him to return to the Edenic Kingdom of Origination, until he has put on the required "Wedding Garment" that is required in the parable of TheCall: "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'" (Matt 22:11-13 NKJ)

While the prodigal sons and daughters of the Most High are travailing in their struggles in this, the "far country", they are bound hand and foot by the Laws which immerse them in the lives that they are living in this world. They are mentally and spiritually shackled to the limitations of the organic flesh -- blind to not only their own higher soul and spiritual natures and realities -- but incapable of perceiving anything beyond the lessons of life that has been initiated by their own past actions -- and this is the meaning of being cast "...into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" And Jesus portrayed the judgment of the Laws as being cast into a prision, and warned: "Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" (Matt 5:26 NKJ). And this is why Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you (Matt 21:31 RSV). He did not say that they will never enter the Kingdom -- only that because they failed to pick up their own cross and follow in TheWay, that they will remain bound in this, the "far country" -- struggling with the Laws that must be overcome, in order to enter into Life.

Segment 3

Thus, Jesus warned: "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more" (Luke 12:47-48 KJV). The stripes with which each person is beaten, is in direct relation to their own past actions. That those who know the Masters Will, as in the case of the Christians, will receive the greater judgment of the Law and beaten with many more stripes than the common sinners who do not know the Lord's Will, is because they failed to live in accord with the knowledge that was given unto them. Thus, Peter warns the complacent Christians: "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: A dog returns to its vomit, and, A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud" (2 Pet 2:20-22 NIV).

Segment 4

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the multitudes the mindset and lifestyle necessary to begin the process of breaking the shackles of imprisonment -- the lifestyle necessary to reverse the Laws -- and permit the prodigal sons and daughters the freewill to seek the Kingdom. Thus, Jacob who people call James, the Brother of Yeshua who people call Jesus, warns the believers: "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless... The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell... With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water" (James 1:26;3:5-6;3:9-12 NIV). With the tongue we invoke Laws that imprison us. And thus, Jesus warned that "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matt 12:36 KJV). Yet, Christians treat these words as an anomaly that does not apply to them -- when in fact, it applies to them even moreso than the unbelievers.

Segment 5

While Paul correctly states that there is no salvation in the outward rituals and traditions of the written Law of the Jews, he warns the believers of the need to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor 10:5 NIV). Why? Because the Laws which control this world are imbued with the power to interact and respond to our every word, thought, desire and deed. And thus, every idle word invokes the Laws -- as does "...every thought... [that is not] obedient to Christ." To prevail over the Laws, the Brother of Yeshua tells us to " bridle the whole body" (James 3:2 KJV). Paul commands that each believer must "beat my body and make it my slave..." (1 Cor 9:27 NIV). Moreover, that faith meant an entirely different thing to the Apostle Paul than what is being preached from our pulpits today, can be seen in Pauls commandment to all who would call themselves a Christian to " Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV). To the degree that Paul warned: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Rom 8:13 KJV).

Segment 6

By virtue of the Laws which return to each of us the fruit of our words, thoughts, desires and deeds, Peter warned the flock of believers about the counterfeit shepherds who are wolves in sheep clothing: "These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity -- for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him" (2 Pet 2:17-19 NIV). The depravity that Peter speaks of is in fact parallel to the warning in the Epistle of James that "faith without works is dead" -- i.e., without the works of the spirit, "...they themselves are slaves of depravity -- for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him". Because of their own ignorance of the Laws that respond correctively to each of us, the counterfeit clergy-shepherds promise the people "freedom" in the Gospel and the Good News -- and yet, Peter warns that they "...themselves are slaves of depravity"??? Because these shepherds of the simple faith do not understand the words that Jesus said to the man who he had healed: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14 KJV). The counterfeit shepherds attempt to use Jesus as a sacrifice to live in a state of perpetual sin. And thus, these blind guides are not only disenfranchised from the very spiritual essence of the teachings of Jesus and TheWay, but they have themselves never been imprisoned by the very Laws that they preach to the flock of believers that they are exempt from observing. Perhaps the key to understanding what Peter portrayed as the false shepherds of the Church is found in the words: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:17-20 NKJ).

Segment 7

Thus, while Jesus condemned the rituals and traditions of the Pharisees which used animal sacrifice to promote the doctrine of perpetual sin, Jesus openly acknowledged that he was the one time sacrifice, and the Royal Law remains completely in effect and binding upon all people's of the earth.

Segment 8

One only has to open the pages of the Bible to see that the whole of the New Testament teachings is concerned with ethics, morality, and the manner in which each of us treats our brothers and sisters. The requirement is that we must be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). This state of perfection is referred to as the fulfillment of the Royal Law of God, and is measured in our forgiveness, acceptance and love of our fellow man. From a New Covenant perspective, whatever is divisive, and not in accord with the Royal Law, is of this world, and is an obstacle to our birth into the Kingdom. It is from this perspective that the requirement in the Book of the Revelation is set before us in the words: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful" (Rev 21:27 NIV). This same truth was expressed by Isaiah where it is written: "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it" (Isa 35:8 NIV). And this same truth is expressed in the words of Yeshua/Jesus when he warned: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matt 7:13-14 NIV). The "narrow gate" that Yeshua speaks that we must open in order for us to be born into the Kingdom, has its parallels in the birth canal that serves as the gate that each of us has emerged through when we physically entered into this present world. That the next stage of birth has its similarities, is merely the result that all realities are designed in accordance with the same Divine Pattern of Creation.

Segment 9

What is truly important for us to see in these solemn words spoken by the Lord, is that only those who "enter through the narrow gate" will enter into Life -- i.e., it is not those who believe, but those who follow in the footsteps who are the Genuine Christians. In order to enter into the Kingdom, the disciple must be bathed in the healing waters of consecration that cleanses them of all defilements of this world. Therefore, the people who embrace the culture and thinking of this world, even when they call themselves Christian, are those who walk the "broad road that leads to destruction" . What Yeshua warns us is that we cannot walk two paths -- it is either the one or the other -- and philosophical Christians will neither go to Heaven, to Glory, or inherit eternal life -- without entering through the narrow gate that is the entrance to the Kingdom. Moreover, if this is not accomplished while we are alive in the physical body in which we presently dwell, then we will have failed.

Segment 10

The Bible continually warns us that the path or the second birth and entrance into the Kingdom is not easy. The strife of the inner war within ourselves as embodied in the symbols of Armageddon is seen in the words: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJ). Thus, in the same way that a woman travails in labor to bring a child into this world, we must ourselves endure the "many tribulations" of spiritual labor to be born into the Kingdom of God. Since the Kingdom is within us, and Armageddon is therefore not an historical event -- but more factually, a spiritual event in the life of the disciple in search of Truth -- we must then totally re-evaluate everything we think we know about both the Gospel Message, and the life we are presently living. In fully comprehending these biblical statements in relation to the whole purpose of the teachings of The Way, let us again examine the definitive statement which conveys to us the very essence of the Gospel -- and especially the Revelation of John: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" (Rev 22:14-15 NKJ).

If the text of the Revelation represented the end of the world, as is commonly believed by the majority of Christians today, then why are those who remain outside the city portrayed as "dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" ? Armageddon, then, indicates the disciples personal tribulation described as the "pangs of birth", as he endeavors to overcome his own lower carnal nature through the crucifixion of what is symbolized by the flesh, in order that he can possess the Knowledge of the fruit of the Tree of Life, transcend the natural barriers of this world, and "enter through the gates into the city" .

Segment 11

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught the people how they must treat their brothers and sisters -- i.e., fellow prodigal sons and daughters who are themselves imprisoned in this the "far country" -- bound by the ignorance of the "outer darkness" of mind, consciousness and being -- and they must be Lights to their brothers and sisters who are imprisoned by the Laws and ruled over by the "citizen... of the far country" which Paul called the god of this world. Jesus had great compassion on the common sinners, because they were being misguided by the false shepherds of the Jews who engaged them in rituals of the written Law which Paul correctly called the "letter that killeth" . And in the same way that the carnal Jews promoted animal sacrifice, the Pagan Christians used Jesus in a similar vein as a perpetual sacrifice for the sins of the people.

Segment 12

Proof that when Paul was speaking of faith, he was not speaking of a faith that permits the believer to continue to sin after embracing the Gospel, is confirmed in the words in the Epistle to the Hebrews where it is warned that if a Christian sins willfully after becoming a believer, that they have crucified the Christ afresh, and no sacrifice (Jesus/Grace) can have any effect on their destiny of judgment as an apostate to the teachings of Jesus and TheWay: "For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.. For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries." (Heb 6:4-6;10:26-27 RSV). Therefore, the Christian who willfully sins after repentance and coming to the knowledge of the teachings of the Lord, is worse off than those who have never at all believed or even heard the Gospel message and the Good News.

Segment 13

The clergy and the shepherds of Jesus and TheWay must guide the faithful flock into a life of spiritual transformation -- and it is this transformation that frees the people from the constraints and shackles of the Law -- releases them from the prision -- opens their minds from the limitations of the "outer darkness" -- and permits them to receive the revelation of the Mysteries of the Kingdom that can only be imparted to those who are true Disciples of TheWay and in picking up their own cross, undergo the Alchemical Spiritual Transformation that permits the prodigal sons and daughter to put on the required Wedding Garment: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful" (Rev 21:27 NIV). By living the life ordained by Jesus, this permits the Disciple to walk upon TheWay of Holiness -- i.e., "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it" (Isa 35:8 NIV). And by manifesting the Light to the lost prodigal sons and daughters, the Disciple will experience the inner narrow gate opening unto them: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matt 7:13-14 NIV). Jesus does not say that the Kingdom is entered after you physically die and pass from this life -- but rather, it must be entered while still alive in the body-vessel. And this is why in the recently rediscovered Gospel of Philip which was suppressed by the Pagan Church of Rome, it confirms the above warning and states: "Those who say that first they shall die and (then) they shall arise are confused. If they do not first receive the resurrection (while) they live, they will not receive anything (when) they die." That those who walk what is portrayed as the broad-way reap what they have themselves sown in their own past, is what is expressed in the proper translation of the word destruction as correctly interpreted in a footnote on this word in the Schofield Reference Bible reads: There is no thought in these various words of annihilation but of something that is ruined and thus unsuitable or unable to fulfill its original purpose .

Segment 14

And thus, those who fail to bring about the next stage of soul-birth while in the body by putting on the required Wedding Garment of purity, are returned to this life in accord with their own past deeds -- i.e., "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'" (Matt 22:11-13 NKJ). And Jesus portrayed the judgment of the Laws as being cast into a prison, and warned: "Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" (Matt 5:26 NKJ). And this is why Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you (Matt 21:31 RSV). He did not say that they will never enter the Kingdom -- only that because they failed to pick up their own cross and follow in TheWay, that they will remain bound in this, the "far country" -- struggling with the Laws that must be overcome, in order to enter into Life.

Segment 15

These spiritual realities are all controlled by the Law -- i.e., "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:17-20 NKJ). And in the same way that the Ebionite Disciples understood that Jesus became the Anointed (Messiah/Christ) by fulfilling the Law, if they are to inherit the Salvation of the Promise, then they must do the same. They asserted that Jesus "was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Christ of God, since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law, he would have been the Christ." Hence, when the followers and disciples of Jesus in like manner "...thus fulfill the law, they are able to become Christs, for they assert that our Lord Himself was a man in like sense with all humanity." (Hippolytus, Refut. Omn. Haer. vii. 34).

Segment 16

Jesus became the first of the prodigal sons to return to the Kingdom of the Father from which all of us in the beginning left, and traveled into this, the "far country", and that he is the Author of TheWay -- the Only Way -- is because he was the first to complete the Journey of the Soul by totally fulfilling the Law. Thus, each of us must imitate and embrace the Pattern within the construct of our own lives. The Law that evolves each of us, and brings us to a state of Spiritual Maturity and Completion, is a Law of Corrective Action that we ourselves initiate through our words, thoughts, desires and deeds -- i.e., "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal 6:7-8 KJV).

Whatever is the conditions of our birth, that is the result of our own past actions. And it is for this reason that when the Apostle writes about the conditions of one's birth, he states in response to the question of For who resists His will? and writes: On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, Why did you make me like this, will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? (Rom 9:19-22 NAS).

Segment 17

When the question is asked: Who resists His will? It is important for us to recognize the fact that the disciple does not reply in the manner that our present-day church authorities would, and respond that each of us has choices to make in our lives. Your life at the present time, is the result of the choices you made in the past -- and your future will be the result of the limited choices you make in the present. And in the words of the Apostle that are basically not understood and rejected by the modern Church, it is easily observed that choices are not even part of the equation -- but rather: O man, who answers back to God? The Apostle then goes on to explain that, many people are born into this life as vessels of wrath prepared for destruction -- while other people are born into this life as a vessel for honorable use. In other words, because of their own past actions, the Laws returned back to them the fruit of their own past, which Paul portrays as vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. -- and they are the author of their own fate by virtue of the choices and actions of their own past. As an example of this Divine Providence in the life of the individual, the Apostle gives the example of Jacob and Esau, and writes: For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, The older will serve the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Rom 9:11-13 NAS).

Segment 18

In the words of the third century Church Father Origen -- the man St. Gregory of Nyssa called the prince of Christian learning in the Third Century When Origen speaks of the scriptures, he not only used the scriptures before the massive corruption in the fouth century, but he lived among the Ebionites and saw the originals in Hebrew Characters: We have frequently shown , writes Origen, by those declarations which we were able to produce from the holy Scriptures, that God, the Creator of all things, is good, and just, and all-powerful But since those rational creatures themselves, as we have frequently shown, and will yet show in the proper place, were endowed with the power of free-will, this freedom of will incited each one either to progress by imitation of God, or reduced him to failure through negligence Now God, who deemed it just to arrange His creatures according to their merit, brought down these different understandings into the harmony of one world, that He might adorn, as it were, one dwelling, in which there ought to be not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (and some indeed to honor, and others to dishonor), with those different vessels, or souls, or understandings. And these are the causes why that world presents the aspect of diversity, while Divine Providence continues to regulate each individual according to the variety of his movements, or of his feelings and purpose. On which account the Creator will neither appear to be unjust in distributing (for the causes already mentioned) to every one according to his merits; nor will the happiness or unhappiness of each one's birth, or whatever be the condition that falls to his lot, be deemed accidental; nor will different creators, or souls of different natures, be believed to exist ( De Principiis, Bk 2 Ch 9).

What Origen is stating is that, in the beginning, each soul was created equal and the same, and their place in life is not the result of an accident, or the indiscriminate manifestation of God's Will in the form of Divine Providence -- but rather, each soul's lot in life is the result of the exercise of their own freewill, and consequently is arranged according to their merit . This merit is not the result of some unknown condition -- but rather, is imposed upon each individual in accordance with what they have accomplished in their previous lives.

Segment 19

Origen then goes on to demonstrate this truth by using the very example which the Apostle Paul gave with regard to Esau and Jacob, and writes: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?' And that he might furnish us with an opportunity of inquiring into these matters, and of ascertaining how these things do not happen without a reason, he answers himself, and says, 'God forbid.' For the same question, as it seems to me, which is raised concerning Jacob and Esau, may be raised regarding all celestial and terrestrial creatures, and even those of the lower world as well. And in like manner it seems to me, that as he there says, 'The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,' so it might also be said of all other things, 'When they were not yet' created, 'neither had yet done any good or evil, that the decree of God according to election may stand,' that (as certain think) some things on the one hand were created heavenly, some on the other earthly, and others, again, beneath the earth, 'not of works' (as they think), 'but of Him who calleth,' what shall we say then, if these things are so? 'Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.' As, therefore, when the Scriptures are carefully examined regarding Jacob and Esau, it is not found to be unrighteousness with God that it should be said, before they were born, or had done anything in this life, 'the elder shall serve the younger;' and as it is found not to be unrighteousness that even in the womb Jacob supplanted his brother, if we feel that he was worthily beloved by God, according to the deserts of his previous life, so as to deserve to be preferred before his brother.

Segment 20

God did not hate Esau and love Jacob for no reason! Neither does God make people who are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction indiscriminately, as Augustine, Calvin and Luther believed. To even believe such a preposterous concept of Divine Wisdom is to affirm Peter's assertion that the Gentiles believe these absurdities because their minds are accustomed to take in things spoken against God." Respecting the Divine Order of Creation, Origen then continues referring to the Epistle to the Romans, and goes on and explains: For God must be believed to do and order all things and at all times according to His judgment. For the words which the apostle uses when he says, In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor;' and those which he adds, saying, 'If a man purge himself, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, unto every good work,' undoubtedly point out this, that he who shall purge himself when he is in this life, will be prepared for every good work in that which is to come; while he who does not purge himself will be, according to the amount of his impurity, a vessel unto dishonor, i.e., unworthy. It is therefore possible to understand that there have been also formerly rational vessels, whether purged or not, i.e., which either purged themselves or did not do so, and that consequently every vessel, according to the measure of its purity or impurity, received a place, or region, or condition by birth, or an office to discharge, in this world. All of which, down to the humblest, God providing for and distinguishing by the power of His wisdom, arranges all things by His controlling judgment, according to a most impartial retribution, so far as each one ought to be assisted or cared for in conformity with his deserts. In which certainly every principle of equity is shown, while the inequality of circumstances preserves the justice of a retribution according to merit. But the grounds of the merits in each individual case are only recognized truly and clearly by God Himself, along with His only-begotten Word, and His Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit.

Segment 21

Origen again demonstrates that our lot in life is the result of our own deserts, and writes: For God the Creator makes a certain vessel unto honor, and other vessels to dishonor; but that vessel which has cleansed itself from all impurity He makes a vessel unto honor, while that which has stained itself with the filth of vice He makes a vessel unto dishonor. The conclusion from which, accordingly, is this, that the cause of each one's actions is a pre-existing one; and then every one, according to his deserts, is made by God either a vessel unto honor or dishonor. Therefore every individual vessel has furnished to its Creator out of itself the causes and occasions of its being formed by Him to be either a vessel unto honor or one unto dishonor. And if the assertion appear correct, as it certainly is, and in harmony with all piety, that it is due to previous causes that every vessel be prepared by God either to honor or to dishonor, it does not appear absurd that, in discussing remoter causes in the same order, and in the same method, we should come to the same conclusion respecting the nature of souls, and (believe) that this was the reason why Jacob was beloved before he was born into this world, and Esau hated, while he still was contained in the womb of his mother.