New Church Foundation

We see an example of the regeneration process in recovery from addiction. The person with an addiction has to come to the point of acknowledging that there is a problem. Then the person has to see the dysfunction of the situation and take responsibility to do something about it. The person will need help from a Higher Power to stop the addictive behavior and put something positive in its place.

Readings

He who would be saved must confess his sins, and do the work of repentance. (The New Jerusalem 159)

To confess sins, is to know evils, to see them in yourself, to acknowledge them, to make yourself guilty, and to condemn yourself on account of them. When this is done before God, it is the confession of sins. (The New Jerusalem 160)

To do the work of repentance, is to desist from sins after you have confessed them, and from a humble heart have made supplication for remission, and to live a new life according to the precepts of charity and faith. (The New Jerusalem 161)

The repentance which takes place in a free state is of avail, but that which takes place in a state of compulsion is of no avail. (The New Jerusalem 168)

Those only who are being regenerated, undergo spiritual temptations. (The New Jerusalem 187)

Frequently Asked Question

Q. Does God participate in my spiritual growth or do I have to do it alone?
A. The Lord God Jesus Christ is the only one who can make us new. It is truly a miracle of mercy that He performs in our lives daily. Yet, it is essential that we work on our spiritual growth as if our behavior makes a difference. "You can therefore reform and regenerate yourself as if of yourself, so long as you acknowledge in your heart that this comes from the Lord... It is true that you cannot from yourself contribute anything, not in the slightest, to that process. Yet you have not been created statues; you were created human beings, so that you could do it from the Lord as if of yourselves... In short, act from yourselves and believe that it is from the Lord; that is how to act as if of yourselves" (True Christianity 621).

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