The Spirit of Christ's Teaching

by Leo Tolstoy

I. —The Son of God

Man, the Son of God, powerless in the flesh, is free in the spirit. (Our Father.)

II

And therefore man must work, not for the flesh, but according to the spirit. ( Which art in heaven,)

III

From the spirit of the Father hath proceeded the life of all men. (Hallowed be thy name.)

IV. — The Kingdom of God

And, therefore, the will of the Father is that all men should have life and happiness. {Thy king- dom come. )

V. — The True Life

The fulfilment of the will of the Father gives a true life. ( Thy will be done. )

VI. — A False Life

And therefore, in order to attain to a true life, a man on earth must abstain from the false life of the flesh, and live in the spirit. ( On earth as in heaven. )

VII. — I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE

The true food of life is fulfilment of the will of the Father, and union with Him. ( Give us this day our daily bread.)

VIII. — Life not in Time

Therefore a man really lives when he thinks only of fulfilling the will of the Father in the present, and leaves all thought of the past and of the future. {Give us now our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. )

IX. — Temptations

The delusions of the individual and temporal life hide from men the true life, which alone is real, in union with the Father. (Lead us not into temptation.)

X. — The Struggle against Temptation

Therefore to get rid of evil, we must, every hour of our life, be in unity with the Father. (Lead us not into temptation.)

XI. — The Farewell Discourse

Personal life is a deception of the flesh, an evil. True life is the life which is common to all men. {But deliver us from the evil one. )

XII. — The Victory of the Spirit over the Flesh

Therefore, for the man who lives not a personal life, but in the common life which is through the will of the Father, there is no evil. The death of the body is union with the Father. ( Thine be the kingdom, the power, and the glory.)