Shifting to a Higher Awareness
"I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." (2 Corinthians 12:1–4)
In Neville’s philosophy, being "caught up to the third heaven" is symbolic of a shift in consciousness. Paul is describing a moment of spiritual elevation—a detachment from ordinary awareness and an entry into a higher, more creative state. The "third heaven" represents expanded awareness, beyond physical limitation, where the imagination becomes the primary reality.
The "man in Christ" symbolises the version of self that fully identifies with the "I AM." It is the state Neville often refers to as Christ-consciousness—the realization that your inner world creates your outer experience. The "inexpressible things" Paul hears in paradise are insights from this elevated state—truths about the nature of reality and self that defy logic but are known through direct inner experience.
Boasting in the Weaknesses of Our Current State
"I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say." (2 Corinthians 12:5–6)
Neville teaches that weakness represents the old state of mind—our limited assumptions and beliefs that we are separate from divine power. Paul’s boast in his weaknesses is an act of spiritual honesty: a recognition that our limitations are not fixed but can be transcended.
Boasting in weakness is not glorifying failure but acknowledging the state we wish to rise from. It is the moment of recognizing our old identity before assuming a new one. Neville emphasizes that we do not fix or fight the old self; we assume the new state of being. In doing so, the old falls away on its own.
The Thorn in the Flesh: Inner Resistance
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:7–9)
From Neville’s viewpoint, the "thorn in the flesh" is symbolic of inner resistance—those recurring doubts, fears, and limiting beliefs that seem to persist even after we begin to shift our consciousness. The "messenger of Satan" is not an external being but the ego’s voice, the conditioned mind that challenges our new assumptions.
God’s response—"My grace is sufficient" and "my power is made perfect in weakness"—speaks to the power of assumption even in the face of doubt. Neville taught that grace is the realization that we are always the operant power. When we stop resisting weakness and start seeing it as an opportunity to apply the Law, our creative power is revealed.
Embracing Weakness as the Gateway to Strength
"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Neville often spoke of the value of contrast. It is when we feel most challenged that we are invited to assume the new state with the greatest intensity. Paul’s paradox—"when I am weak, then I am strong"—is a metaphysical truth: the awareness of lack makes space for the assumption of abundance.
Weakness is the starting point of transformation. When we no longer resist it, but use it to awaken to our power, we fulfill what Neville called the Law of Assumption. We become strong not by fixing weakness but by identifying with the strength of the new self.
Conclusion: Paul as a Manifestation Teacher
In Neville Goddard’s philosophy, 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 is not about suffering for its own sake, but about recognizing how contrast and resistance serve the manifestation process. Paul’s journey from weakness to strength is an inner journey—one that mirrors our own path from unconscious belief to conscious assumption.
Just as Paul "boasts in weakness" so the power of Christ may rest upon him, Neville teaches us to embrace resistance as a doorway to the creative self. The grace of God is the power of imagination. And when we acknowledge this power, we transform weakness into strength, and possibility into reality.
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