Forgiveness of Sin
St. Peter – November 29, 1918 (II:153-154)

Let me write a few lines for I am very anxious to write you in reference to a truth which obtains in our spirit world, and with which you may not be acquainted.

As you may not know there is in our world a law which makes the soul of one who has not yet been purified suffer the penalties for the acts of sin and evil of which he may have been guilty during his earth life; and there is no forgiveness of these acts in the sense that forgiveness is taught by the theologians and churches, but the only forgiveness is the cessation of recollection of these acts so that they become as though they had never been; and, as the soul becomes naturally pure and in harmony with the laws of its creation, it then comes into its natural condition, and then, and then only, forgiveness takes place.

God does not forgive by the mere act of pronouncing forgiveness or by any arbitrary and sudden blotting out of sins, and thereby removing the condition which creates the inharmony; and so you will understand, that He cannot forgive sin in this way, neither can the popes, priests, teachers or churches, and the pronouncing of forgiveness by these men constitutes a deception of and an injury to the persons who pray and ask for forgiveness, and for such deception these men will have to answer when they come to the spirit world and realize the truth of forgiveness and the great deception that they had practiced upon those who were their followers and believers in these false doctrines. Many spirits are now living and suffering in darkness in their purgatories just because of their beliefs, and the results thereof, in these misleading teachings.

There is no forgiveness until man makes the effort by struggling and succeeding in getting rid of these recollections; and such riddance can be obtained only by men realizing the fact that sin is only the effect of their having done those things, and thought those thoughts which are out of harmony with the will of God and the laws governing the creation of man.

There can be no sinning of the physical body or of the spirit body, but only of the soul caused by the exercise of the will in a manner antagonistic to the will of the Father. The body, of course, is affected by these inharmonious thoughts and impelling directions of the will, and is caused thereby to commit the act which is the external demonstrator of the inharmonious exercise of the will; and as God leaves to man the freedom of exercising his will, as such will may be influenced by the thoughts, desires and affections of his appetites and lusts, so God leaves to man the application of the remedies that will free the soul from such influence and effects as are caused by this exercise of the will; and only when these thoughts and appetites and lusts become eliminated from his soul and desires, does the soul come into its natural condition and in harmony with the will of God.

Man, himself, must be the actor and the initiating force to bring about these changes in his will, and no assurances of forgiveness by popes, priests or churches can eradicate these contaminating influences, or remove that which is the cause of the sin or the effect of the cause. You must see that there can be no relationship between the assurance of forgiveness and the sin or the cause thereof.

Prayer to the Father for forgiveness or supplication to priests and church is supposed to effectuate the objects sought, but this belief is erroneous and does not bring the relief prayed for; yet prayer is a very important element in forgiveness, and while the Father does not, and the priests and church cannot, forgive sin in the manner mentioned, yet true, sincere prayer to the Father for forgiveness will bring its answer, and affect, not the sin, but the soul and state of men, so that their will and appetites and desires may be influenced in such a way that they will receive and realize the fact of a wonderful help in changing these appetites and desires, and in turning their thoughts to those things that will enable them to remove from their recollections the acts and thoughts, which are the causes of the existence of their souls in a state of sin. If men would only realize these truths, and, when they desire the forgiveness of their sins, pray to the Father for help in turning away from these thoughts and in exercising their will in accord with His will and not expect any arbitrary forgiveness or removal of their sins, they would find themselves on the way to this forgetfulness and the true forgiveness.

Well, I desired to write this short message and am pleased that I could do so. Thanking you, I will say, good night. Your brother in Christ, Apostle of Jesus,

Peter.