Revelations of Divine Love · 47 of 127 · tr. Grace Warrack

Chapter XXXVI-a

"My sin shall not hinder His Goodness working....

A deed shall be done—as we come to Heaven—and it may be known here in part;—though it be truly taken for the general Man, yet it excludeth not the special.

For what our good Lord will do by His poor creatures, it is now unknown to me" Our Lord God shewed that a deed shall be done, and Himself shall do it, and I shall do nothing but sin, and my sin shall not hinder His Goodness working.

And I saw that the beholding of this is a heavenly joy in a fearing soul which evermore kindly by grace desireth God's will.

This deed shall be begun here, and it shall be worshipful to God and plenteously profitable to His lovers in earth; and ever as we come to Heaven we shall see it in marvellous joy, and it shall last thus in working unto the last Day; and the worship and the bliss of it shall last in Heaven afore God and all His Holy [ones] for ever.

Thus was this deed seen and understood in our Lord's signifying: and the cause why He shewed it is to make us rejoice in Him and in all His works.

When I saw His Shewing continued, I understood that it was shewed for a great thing that was for to come, which thing God shewed that He Himself should do it: which deed hath these properties aforesaid.

And this shewed He well blissfully, signifying that I should take it myself faithfully and trustingly.

But what this deed should be was kept secret from me.

And in this I saw that He willeth not that we dread to know the things that He sheweth: He sheweth them because He would have us know them; by which knowing He would have us love Him and have pleasure and endlessly enjoy in Him.

For the great love that He hath to us He sheweth us all that is worshipful and profitable for the time.

And the things that He will now have privy, yet of His great goodness He sheweth them close : in which shewing He willeth that we believe and understand that we shall see the same verily in His endless bliss.

Then ought we to rejoice in Him for all that He sheweth and all that He hideth; and if we steadily and meekly do thus, we shall find therein great ease; and endless thanks we shall have of Him therefor.

And this is the understanding of this word:—That it shall be done for me, meaneth that it shall be done for the general Man: that is to say, all that shall be saved.

It shall be worshipful and marvellous and plenteous, and God Himself shall do it; and this shall be the highest joy that may be, to behold the deed that God Himself shall do, and man shall do right nought but sin.

Then signifieth our Lord God thus, as if He said: Behold and see!

Here hast thou matter of meekness, here hast thou matter of love, here hast thou matter to make nought of thyself, here hast thou matter to enjoy in me;—and, for my love, enjoy [thou] in me: for of all things, therewith mightest thou please me most .

And as long as we are in this life, what time that we by our folly turn us to the beholding of the reproved, tenderly our Lord God toucheth us and blissfully calleth us, saying in our soul: Let be all thy love, my dearworthy child: turn thee to me—I am enough to thee—and enjoy in thy Saviour and in thy salvation .

§ Ask Guru about this passage →

Themes

Bhaktisoteriology

The path of loving devotion and self-surrender to a personal deity as itself sufficient means of liberation — the Gita's 'to those constantly devoted, I come forward as their deliverer,' Kabir's and the Sant poets' love-religion, the devotional stream that parallels Sufi love-mysticism. Distinct from mystical_union (the resulting state), fana_annihilation (the ego's unmaking at the path's end), ladder_of_love (eros staged toward Beauty), and prayer (the practice of address): bhakti names devotion as the soteriological road itself.

The text repeatedly urges the soul to 'enjoy in me' and turn away from all else to the Saviour, framing loving devotion as the primary path to joy.

All passages →

Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The passage explicitly states that the specific nature of the future deed is 'kept secret' and some things are 'privy,' yet God wills them to be believed.

All passages →

Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text emphasizes that God actively orders a future 'deed' for the salvation of humanity, working through His goodness despite human sin.

All passages →

Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The text asserts that human sin 'shall not hinder His Goodness working,' suggesting that evil is a deficiency that cannot obstruct the positive reality of divine action.

All passages →

Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The passage is saturated with the image of God as an active, personal agent who speaks, shows, touches, and calls the soul directly.

All passages →

Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text presents the paradox that man does 'right nought but sin' while God performs a deed of highest joy and worship, using this contrast to teach humility.

All passages →

Related passages · 8 parallels

neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 1)

“Section 10 10. But if Matter is devoid of quality how can it be evil? It is described as being devoid of quality in the sense only that it does not essentially possess any of the qualities which it admits and which enter into it as into a…”

Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)

egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 69)

“unity of a supreme and self-existent being, his eternity, his almightiness, and external reproduction thereby as God; the attributing of the creation of the world and of all living beings to this supreme God; the immortality of the soul, co…”

Shared concept: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)

neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIX

“But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”

Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)

egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 4)

“No man knoweth how to know Him--His name remaineth hidden; His name is a mystery unto His children. His names are innumerable, they are manifold and none knoweth their number--God is truth and He liveth by truth and He feedeth thereon. He…”

Shared concept: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)

neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVII-a

“Moreover, neither is it sufficient to assert, “ that nature, art, and the sympathy of things in the universe, as if they were the parts of one animal, contain premanifestations of certain 188 things with reference to each other; nor that bo…”

Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)

hinduism|The Bhagavad Gita|Chapter VII, Section 1b

“Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed Of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he…”

Shared concept: Bhakti — The path of loving devotion and self-surrender to a personal deity as itself sufficient means of liberation — the Gita's 'to those constantly devoted, I come forward as their deliverer,' Kabir's and the Sant poets' love-religion, the devotional stream that parallels Sufi love-mysticism. (derived)

hinduism|The Bhagavad Gita|Chapter X, Section 1a

“CHAPTER X. Yet again, O you of mighty arms! listen to my excellent words, which, out of a wish for your welfare, I speak to you who are delighted (with them). Not the multitudes of gods, nor the great sages know my source; for I am in ev…”

theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 55 (part 2)

“T HE Progenitors of Man, called in India "Fathers," Pitara or Pitris, are the creators of our bodies and lower principles. They are ourselves, as the first personalities, and we are they. Primeval man would be "the bone of their bone and…”