For the Father is Sweet and His Will is Good
The following is an excerpt from The Gospel of Truth, translated by Mark M. Mattison with commentary below. For the Father is sweet and his will is good. He knows the things that are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them.
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8/12/20266 min read
For the Father is Sweet and His Will is Good
The following is an excerpt from The Gospel of Truth, translated by Mark M. Mattison with commentary below.
For the Father is sweet and his will is good. He knows the things that are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them. For by the fruits one knows the things that are yours, that they are the children of the Father, and one knows his aroma, that you originate from the grace of his countenance. For this reason, the Father loved his aroma; and it manifests itself in every place; and when it is mixed with matter, he gives his aroma to the light; and into his rest he causes it to ascend in every form and in every sound. For there are no nostrils which smell the aroma, but it is the Spirit which possesses the sense of smell and it draws it for itself to itself and sinks into the aroma of the Father. He is, indeed, the place for it, and he takes it to the place from which it has come, in the first aroma which is cold. It is something in a psychic form, resembling cold water which is [...] since it is in soil which is not hard, of which those who see it think, "It is earth." Afterwards, it becomes soft again. If a breath is taken, it is usually hot. The cold aromas, then, are from the division. For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he brought the hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but the unity of the Perfect Thought prevail. This is the word of the Gospel of the finding of the Pleroma for those who wait for the salvation which comes from above. When their hope, for which they are waiting, is waiting - they whose likeness is the light in which there is no shadow, then at that time the Pleroma is about to come. The deficiency of matter, however, is not because of the limitlessness of the Father who comes at the time of the deficiency. And yet no one is able to say that the incorruptible One will come in this manner. But the depth of the Father is increasing, and the thought of error is not with him. It is a matter of falling down and a matter of being readily set upright at the finding of that one who has come to him who will turn back. For this turning back is called "repentance". For this reason, incorruption has breathed. It followed him who has sinned in order that he may find rest. For forgiveness is that which remains for the light in the deficiency, the word of the pleroma. For the physician hurries to the place in which there is sickness, because that is the desire which he has. The sick man is in a deficient condition, but he does not hide himself because the physician possesses that which he lacks. In this manner the deficiency is filled by the Pleroma, which has no deficiency, which has given itself out in order to fill the one who is deficient, so that grace may take him, then, from the area which is deficient and has no grace. Because of this a diminishing occurred in the place which there is no grace, the area where the one who is small, who is deficient, is taken hold of. He revealed himself as a Pleroma, i.e., the finding of the light of truth which has shined towards him, because he is unchangeable. For this reason, they who have been troubled speak about Christ in their midst so that they may receive a return and he may anoint them with the ointment. The ointment is the pity of the Father, who will have mercy on them. But those whom he has anointed are those who are perfect. For the filled vessels are those which are customarily used for anointing. But when an anointing is finished, the vessel is usually empty, and the cause of its deficiency is the consumption of its ointment. For then a breath is drawn only through the power which he has. But the one who is without deficiency - one does not trust anyone beside him nor does one pour anything out. But that which is the deficient is filled again by the perfect Father. He is good. He knows his plantings because he is the one who has planted them in his Paradise. And his Paradise is his place of rest.
1. "The Father is sweet and his will is good."
The passage begins with reassurance.
Unlike a harsh ruler demanding obedience, the Father is described as:
kind,
generous,
life-giving,
trustworthy.
The author wants the reader to rest rather than fear.
"He knows the things that are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them."
In other words, The Father already knows who you truly are.
You don't have to create your true identity.
You awaken to it.
2. "His aroma"
A beautiful metaphor.
An aroma cannot be seen.
Yet everyone recognizes it.
Likewise,
the presence of God is recognized by its effect.
A loving person has a kind of "fragrance."
A peaceful person has a different atmosphere from an angry one.
Paul uses similar imagery when he speaks of believers as "the aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15), although the Gospel of Truth develops the symbol in a more mystical direction.
The text says, “people know you by your aroma.”
Meaning:
Your true nature quietly reveals where you come from.
3. "The Spirit smells the aroma"
Physical noses smell physical perfume.
The Spirit "smells" divine life.
In other words,
only spiritual awareness recognizes God.
The Spirit naturally returns to its source,
just as fragrance rises through the air.
4. Cold and warmth
The text says, “the first aroma is cold...then later, God brought the hot Pleroma of love.
This does not refer to temperature.
Rather:
Cold represents
separation
lifelessness
division
isolation
Warmth represents
love
life
unity
communion
5. Division
The text says, “God came and destroyed the division.”
Humanity experiences itself as
separated from God,
separated from others,
divided within itself.
Christ reunites what has become fragmented.
This reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas saying:
"When you make the two one..."
Both texts point toward inner wholeness rather than merely external religious conformity.
6. The Pleroma
"Pleroma" means Fullness.
An important words in Gnostic literature.
Deficiency = ignorance.
Pleroma = complete divine life.
Imagine an empty cup.
The cup isn't evil.
It is simply empty.
The Father fills what is empty.
7. Repentance
Turning back is called repentance.
The Greek word metanoia literally suggests a change of mind or turning.
Here repentance is not mainly feeling guilty.
It is returning home.
Turning toward the Father.
Awakening from the wrong direction.
8. Forgiveness
How forgiveness is described.
Not as a courtroom.
Not as debt payment.
Instead, forgiveness is the light entering deficiency.
The darkness disappears because light arrives.
Ignorance disappears because truth appears.
Again, this is a very different emphasis from later legal models of salvation.
9. The Physician
Christ is a physician.
A doctor does not avoid sick people.
He seeks them.
Likewise,
God seeks those who lack wholeness.
Not because they deserve punishment,
but because they need healing.
This image fits remarkably well with Jesus' saying:
"Those who are well have no need of a physician."
10. Anointing
Oil heals,
refreshes,
strengthens,
and consecrates.
The author says
the ointment is
the Father's mercy.
Christ anoints troubled people,
not merely with oil,
but with compassion.
11. The filled vessel
A vessel full of oil can anoint others.
An empty vessel cannot.
Likewise,
a soul filled with divine life naturally shares it.
But unlike ordinary oil,
God's fullness never runs out.
The Father continually fills those who come to Him.
12. Paradise
He knows his plantings because he planted them in Paradise.
The image changes again.
Now we are trees.
The Father is the gardener.
Paradise is not merely a future location.
It is the place where God's life grows within us.
His "rest" is where the soul finally belongs.
Summary
The Father is loving, kind, and trustworthy. He already knows who you truly are, so you can stop striving and rest in Him. His life is like a beautiful fragrance that quietly reveals itself in those who belong to Him. Because humanity became divided through ignorance, we experience emptiness, fear, and separation. Christ came to heal that division, filling our emptiness with the fullness of divine love. Repentance is simply turning back toward the Father, and forgiveness is the light that removes our darkness. Like a physician, Christ seeks those who are spiritually sick, healing them with the Father's mercy until they are whole again. The Father continually fills what is empty, nurturing His children like plants in His own garden until they find their true home in His eternal rest.
This passage consistently treats salvation as healing rather than legal acquittal. The dominant images are awakening, fragrance, warmth, fullness, medicine, gardening, and rest. Sin is presented less as a crime to be punished than as a deficiency to be healed, and Christ's work is to restore people to the wholeness and unity for which they were created.
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