Lesson 21. Learning to Love

Let us consider the example of an ordinary educational institution and what takes place there. At an early age, a child goes to school and enters the first grade. The learning process begins. Various subjects are explained to the child, and assignments are given to determine how correctly the child has understood and mastered everything. The child is given the opportunity to make independent decisions while completing one assignment or another. At the end of the school year, the student completes tests or takes examinations in the subjects studied and, after being evaluated, advances to the next grade. When I hear that a person has completed a certain grade, I already have an idea of the level of knowledge that person has attained.

Vocational schools and institutions of higher education help students obtain a focused education and master a profession or specialty in the field they have chosen.

For example, when a student enrolls in a police academy, upon graduating, the student receives a diploma and has the opportunity to work in law enforcement. Accordingly, a cook works in a kitchen, a medical worker as an orderly or physician, a bricklayer as a builder, and so forth.

Every educational institution has entrance examinations. After successfully passing them, the applicant’s information is entered into the list of students, the appropriate subjects begin to be taught, and assignments are given that the student must complete and submit. Upon completing the course of study, the graduate receives a diploma and legal status to work in the profession for which that person studied. If someone decides simply to listen to the course and take the examination without enrolling in the educational institution, then after completing the studies and receiving the knowledge, that person remains without an educational diploma and has no legal right to work lawfully in the chosen profession when a diploma and specialty are required for admission to that type of work.

Let us consider the same principle in the spiritual sphere. Does God have requirements in teaching a person the science of Salvation so that the person may inherit the Eternal Kingdom? Yes. They are written in the Bible and expressed in the teaching of Jesus. John 3:3, 5–7 says: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Certain conditions exist in the spiritual world: accepting baptism by water as a sign of the Covenant with God and being born again for Spiritual life. These are only the initial requirements for a person’s education to begin. Anyone who ignores them cannot be considered a student. Such a person remains close to the School, having the right to receive knowledge and participate in certain aspects of church life, but no more. In the eyes of Heaven, such a believer has not fulfilled the conditions for receiving salvation and may be lost. The next conditions are faith in Jesus and knowledge of His teaching, obedience to God’s commandments, reception of the fullness of God’s grace for victory over sin, and receiving the Power of the Holy Spirit for further growth.

All these processes of learning and spiritual growth take place sequentially, while the desires and abilities of each person are taken into account. If a student dies physically during spiritual education, that person’s further development is postponed until the resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ. After this event, the education continues according to the established order.

Knowledge of the science of Salvation does not descend upon a person’s life in a single moment. It must be mastered through effort and comprehended by applying the mind.

The School of Agape Love is a new educational institution with no counterpart in the world, and you and I, friends, are pioneers of this science in this form.

God the Father is the Owner and Director of this School. The Holy Spirit and Christ are the Spiritual Mentors Who reveal the meaning and depth of agape love during the learning process. The Lord Jesus is the Teacher. The instructor is the one who writes the lessons and assignments for you. Your examiners and those who test your knowledge are your relatives and those close to you—the people you meet every day in order to strengthen your theoretical knowledge through practice. Like every other educational institution, our School provides that during the learning process, every student will master precisely the agape love that we teach here. The student will receive the power that we study in this School. Heavenly authority will grant such a student legal status for admission to particular trials and kinds of work. The diploma of graduation from the educational institution and of acquiring the gift of Agape Love is God’s seal, which the Angels place upon the student’s consciousness.

Agape love is a very powerful and complex instrument of God for obtaining spiritual victories. In all its fullness, it is entrusted only to those who thirst to receive it for the purpose of waging war, who are prepared to buy it from Christ as gold tried in the fire and oil for the lamp, giving in exchange their spiritual, fleshly values and ambitions. God desires to teach the science of love to everyone who thirsts, and He does this confidently, precisely, and continually.

We are upon a battlefield. Dangers deadly to soul and body surround us, and various discoveries and trials await us. Only Love within the heart is able to overcome all this by standing firm, taking hold, and conquering. Special advantages in receiving unique gifts and privileges in the Heavenly Kingdom are promised to the one who overcomes.

Love and the Word of God within the heart are the victor’s weapons.

Have a blessed journey, friends.

1. Please read Matthew 23:8–10; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:5–8; and Galatians 5:6 in the light of this lesson.

2. Why does the Bible call Christ’s followers disciples? Read 2 Corinthians 3:2–5.

3. Please share how you imagine the School of Christ and what requirements and order exist within it.

4. In your understanding and for you personally, what status and purpose does this School of Love have?

5. Do you believe that through studying in this School you will know the love of Christ in your personal life and experience?

6. What did you understand from this lesson?

7. How long do you plan to study in the School of Agape Love?