From – Beyond Words & Thoughts
By Joel Goldsmith
Chapter 2 / Building a Consciousness of Grace
P.17
A Knowledge of Truth Develops Consciousness
The activity of the human mind is not power in the sense of spiritual power, and not all the knowledge that can be embraced in the human mind—even all the knowledge of truth—is spiritual power. Knowledge of truth acts to remove from us our ignorance of the nature of Spirit and Its activities and operations.
An example of this is that when we first come to the study of truth we believe that if we can just reach God we are going to have the power that will destroy all earthly errors; but, as our understanding of the principles grows, this ignorance is chipped away, and we stop looking to God with the expectation that He will remove the evils of “this world.” Similarly, as we learn through reading, listening, and study that there is but one power, we stop trying to use that one power to do something to another power called evil, sin, disease, or death. With this knowledge to truth, we are given the Grace to cease the mental activity involved in attempting to get God to overcome our enemies, and we are thereby enabled to relax inwardly and await the realization of Grace, which is the non-power.
The principles of truth that we learn through study and practice develop our consciousness to the place where we “resist not evil,” where we can put up the “sword,” where we can retire within ourselves in an inner peace, and in that descent of peace become aware of Grace. That Grace is not a power: It is a presence, and in the presence of Grace there is no need for any power because nothing of an erroneous nature is there.