The Ultimate Christian Attainment - Divine Union

Jean Guyon
Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ
The Ultimate Christian Attainment – Divine Union (pgs.127-29)

There is something in this universe which is the very opposite of God; it is the self. The activity of the self is the source of all the evil nature as well as all the deeds of man. On the other hand, the loss of the selfhood in the soul increases the purity of the soul! In fact, the soul’s purity is increased in exact proportion to the loss of self! …….

So, how can two things so opposite as the soul and God ever be united? How can the purity of God and the impurity of man be made one? How can the simplicity (or singleness) of God and the multiplicity (endless fickleness) of man ever melt into one element? Certainly much more is required than just the efforts that you can make. What then is necessary for union to be achieved? A move on the part of Almighty God Himself. This alone can ever accomplish union.
For two things to become one, the two must have similar natures. For instance, the impurity of dirt cannot be united with the purity of gold. Fire has to be introduced to destroy the dross and leave the gold pure. This is why God sends a fire to the earth (it is called His Wisdom) to destroy all that is impure in you. Nothing can resist the power of that fire. It consumes everything. His Wisdom burns away all the impurities in a man for one purpose: to leave him fit for divine union.…..

God wishes to make your soul pure. He purifies it by His Wisdom just as a refiner purifies metal in the furnace. Fire is the only thing which can purify gold. Again, the fire that consumes us – utterly – is His highest wisdom. This fire gradually consumes all that is earthly; it takes out all foreign matter and separates these things from the gold. The fire seems to know that the earthly mixture cannot be turned into gold. The fire must melt and dissolve this dross by force so that it can rid the gold of every alien particle. Over and over again, the gold must be cast into the furnace until it has lost every trace of pollution. Oh, how many times the gold is plunged back into the fire – far, far more times than seem necessary. Yet you can be sure that the Forger sees impurities that no one else can see. The gold must return to the fire again and again until positive proof has been established that it can be no further purified. There comes a time, at least, when the goldsmith can find no more mixture that adulterates the gold. When the fire has perfected purity – or should I say simplicity ¬– the fire no longer touches it. If the gold remained in the furnace for an eon, its spotlessness would not be improved upon nor its substance diminished!