On the words of John 17:3, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee," etc.; and that blessedness, with the children of God, begins here in their inward part, and is completed in eternity.

The Forty-Fifth Letter.

On the words of John 17:3, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee," etc.; and that blessedness, with the children of God, begins here in their inward part, and is completed in eternity.

Dear friend!

I will see whether I am able to answer your kind letter with a few words.

The saying you put forward, John 17 — This is life eternal, that they should know thee, etc. — aims both at this life and at the life to come. With the children of God, blessedness begins here, in their inward part, and is completed after this life: it begins here essentially; but two things one must not forget.

First: that this blessedness is not, indeed, felt by all and at all times, or known in the same measure. God does not always let the souls know how blessed they are, for self-love's sake: they must sometimes walk in dark faith (Hebrews 10:36–38), and be led through the cross, so that, well purified, they may attain the sanctification of God — which does not always seem to them, at such a time, to be joy and blessedness (Hebrews 12:10–11), although it really is blessedness. Where a soul wills nothing else than God, and seeks to hang upon Him through faith, prayer and abandonment, there she may be at rest, even though she should feel nothing in this life. Yet I do not doubt that, if only we ventured all upon it, and let neither comfort nor salvation into us from any created thing, the manna would not fail us utterly even in this wilderness.

Second: one must keep well in mind that the blessedness of Christians is experienced by degrees in this life. He who comes to Christ, in the first repentance, weary and heavy-laden, is refreshed by Him; he obtains the forgiveness of his committed sins, out of pure grace, for the sake of Christ's merit. When this is now felt somewhat perceptibly, then one knows the Father, and feels a blessedness, as the Scripture also so expresses it (Psalm 32:1–2; Ephesians 2:8). But one must not stand still there. Such believers, who were already blessed in the first degree, are exhorted by Paul that they should work to become blessed — not indeed by their own doing or work, but by the perceiving of, and obedience to, the grace of God, who wills to work in them, and in us also, both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12–13). These workings of God aim chiefly at this: that He destroy all the works of the devil in us — sin, creature, and self-love — but make God and the Unseen ever weightier, and draw us in to His blessedness-making presence; then the soul becomes able to experience what stands in John 14:21–23 and 2 Corinthians 6: namely, that the Lord Jesus reveals Himself inwardly to her, yes, sets up His dwelling in her. And whoever truly experiences this finds a far greater blessedness than the first — which consisted only in the remission of his sins, or in some glimpses of God's favor; of this John says: He that hath the Son hath eternal life. And yet this has its manifold degrees. All this Paul had experienced, and still he believed that he might experience something more in this life (Philippians 3). In sum: both the knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, and also the blessedness springing from it, can ever grow in this time, and is completed in eternity. Yet in this life there is so much of it to be experienced that unbelief ought never to think it. Even here in this life we can become partakers of the divine nature; and whoever cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). These are indeed high and divine things, but God has promised them in Christ Jesus, and grants them to us all gladly. Since, then, we now have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, and nowhere stand still, but in the grace-power of God seek to complete our sanctification (2 Corinthians 7:1).

Now I hope the dear friend will grasp my meaning in some measure, and from the above find his other question answered: where, or in what place, this revelation of God takes place? Nowhere else than in the ground of our heart. Within sits sin, hell, and corruption: within must the redemption and blessedness also come. God and all blessedness I do not rightly know, so long as it remains outside me. God and our Saviour is unspeakably near to us in our inward part; He entices us in, to become there partakers of Himself and of His blessedness. If we follow His drawing of love, forsaking the created thing through self-denial, and drawing near lovingly to Him through the prayer of the heart, then He will fulfil His promise in us. And behold, this is the unfailing way to our goal; and walking on this way, we may well be content with however the Lord deals with us — whether He lets us feel and clearly experience much or little in this life. Eternity is long enough for the enjoying. Only let us begin from below, and then follow the Lamb wherever it goes with us! The end will be good. The dear friend I commend to the gracious governance of God, and remain, with hearty greeting,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

Mülheim, the 6th of February 1744.

German

Der fünfundvierzigste Brief.

Ueber die Worte: Joh. 17, 3. Das ist aber das ewige Leben, daß sie dich u. s. w. und daß die Seligkeit bei Kindern GOttes hier in ihrem Inwendigen anfange, und in der Ewigkeit vollendet werde.

Lieber Freund!

Ich will sehen, ob ich im Stande bin, auf euer angenehmes Zuschreiben mit Wenigem zu antworten. Der von euch vorgelegte Spruch Joh. 17. Das ist das ewige Leben, das sie dich erkennen &c.

— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.

German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).