Workbook · Part I
Lesson 71
Only God's plan for salvation will work.
What this lesson is saying
Today’s idea is: “Only God's plan for salvation will work.” In ordinary English: God’s plan is forgiveness. The other plans — winning, explaining, waiting — will not work.
God, in this workbook, is not a distant judge. Love is the name for the mind that is not at war. “God goes with you” means you do not have to fetch a spiritual state, then go live. The next room, the next person, the next fear is already the place.
You do not have to believe it first. You use the words on one real judgment — of someone, of yourself, of a situation — and then you take the next ordinary step.
This is not saying
This is not church language you have to swallow, and not a demand that you feel devout. If the word God gets in the way, use Love. The practice is the same: stop arguing that you are alone.
Why this can change a day
Loneliness, specialness, and attack all need God to be absent. Remembering you are accompanied changes how you treat a stranger, a partner, and the face in the glass — without a speech.
In your day
Same idea, three ordinary places — a relationship or encounter, the case against yourself, and a situation at work or at home. You do not need a special mood.
With someone
A night sound, a what-if, a news item that starts fear — and you treat it as the teacher.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Only God's plan for salvation will work.” Lock the door if a door should be locked. Care for the body. Then do not make the wave into a law about them, or about you.
Toward yourself
You walk a familiar street, enter a familiar room, and the day is already decided.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Only God's plan for salvation will work.” The day has not happened. Look at one actual thing, or one actual face, without the verdict. A minute. Then begin.
At work, at home, or in a situation
The name that already crossed your mind — the one you still want to be different so you can rest.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Only God's plan for salvation will work.” You already know the name. Hold the case for a moment. Then ask to see them without the shield. Keep any clear no. You do not have to be friends.
Two voices in the same mind
Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.
Unloving thought
This fear is information. Cancel the day. Stay small. The world is hunting me.
Jesus’s way
“Only God's plan for salvation will work.” This idea is a joining, not a theory. Receive it as much as you can. Then treat the next person as included.
Spalding · 2019 · episode #269
Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 71
Tina reads the official workbook lesson first. Then she channels. The video is the source. The notes below are study notes of that sitting — not a transcript, and not A Year of Forgiveness.
After the reading
In the video · Jesus speaking
This is the channeled portion — after Tina has read the lesson. Study notes of that sitting. Not a transcript.
- “Only God's plan for salvation will work.” Salvation is not a later rescue and not a rapture.
- It is the mind that stopped injuring itself with condemnation.
- Today’s idea is that, in working clothes.
How to sit today
Part I · Function
The idea is above. This is the one sitting this number asks — how often, how long, and the words. Not a second lesson.
- How often
- Two longer sittings plus frequent shorter ones
- How long
- Ten to fifteen minutes
How
- Think about the idea’s two halves: God’s plan will work, and other plans will not. Do not become depressed or angry at the second half — it is already in the first.
- Ask what God’s plan for you is today. This is the workbook’s first clear exercise in asking and listening.
Longer sitting
Two sittings — ten to fifteen minutes
- Today’s idea is: “Only God's plan for salvation will work.”
- Think about the idea’s two halves: God’s plan will work, and other plans will not. Do not become depressed or angry at the second half — it is already in the first.
- Say, slowly: “Only God’s plan for salvation will work.”
- Ask what God’s plan for you is today. Then listen. This is asking, not composing.
Short / hourly
Frequent shorter ones
- Say, slowly: “Only God’s plan for salvation will work.”
These scripts follow the workbook’s own method for this number — duration, frequency, and the sentences it asks you to use. They are a study paraphrase, not a replacement. Read the official lesson at acim.org and follow any wording it gives that is more specific than this card.
Words you may not know
Full glossaryCourse words do not mean what church, psychology, or ordinary English usually mean. These notes are for this lesson — tap a word.
Other voices — Tina, Ra, Carla
Short notes from the four streams. The teaching above is the lesson. These are doors if you want them.
Spalding
“Only God's plan for salvation will work.” Salvation is not a later rescue and not a rapture. It is the mind that stopped injuring itself with condemnation. Today’s idea is that, in working clothes.
Watch this lesson’s commentaryRa
This lesson is practice in polarizing with the person in front of you. Service to others is not a slogan. It is whether you treat them as the same being you are.
Open streamRueckert
A wanderer on Earth does not need a different lesson. She needs this one, done with her hands. Carla's whole archive is the proof: contact follows a life, it does not replace it.
Open stream