What are the conditions of indemnity, and what types of conditions are there?

Indemnity conditions are the principled actions humanity must undertake to reverse the effects of the Fall and restore our relationship with God. Indemnity is the payment of a condition to overcome past mistakes, separating us from Satan. There are equal, lesser, and greater indemnity conditions, requiring efforts opposite to the actions of the Fall, such as absolute faith and sacrificial love. Fulfilling these is our responsibility in God's love-motivated plan for restoration.

Understanding indemnity conditions is essential for grasping how restoration actually works—how fallen humanity can return to God's original ideal. This concept explains the practical mechanism by which the effects of the Fall are reversed and humanity's relationship with God is restored. It highlights that the damage caused by the Fall is not simply forgiven but must be systematically undone through specific, principled actions.

The Biblical Foundation: Conditions for Restoration

Scripture consistently reveals that restoration, both individual and communal, requires specific conditions or actions. After Israel’s profound sin with the golden calf, Moses intervened on their behalf, undertaking severe conditions. Exodus 34:28 states, "And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." This forty-day fast was an equal indemnity condition to restore the broken covenant. Similarly, after David’s grave sin with Bathsheba, God required a severe condition for the restoration of justice and order, stating through Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:14, "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

Jesus himself frequently spoke of conditions for discipleship and salvation. In Matthew 16:24, he declared, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." This passage clearly links following Christ with conditions of self-denial and suffering. The apostle Paul echoed this sentiment in Philippians 3:10, expressing his earnest desire to "know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Peter further illuminated the purifying purpose of trials and suffering, explaining in 1 Peter 1:6-7, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." These biblical examples underscore the principle that restoration often involves a price or specific action, a "condition" that reverses the effects of deviation from God's will.

Divine Principle's Clarification: The Principle of Indemnity

The Divine Principle defines indemnity as the payment of a condition to restore something to its original state through overcoming the consequences of a past mistake. It is like a creditor forgiving a debt based upon paying a conditional amount. The Fall resulted from a series of unprincipled actions—disobedience, distrust of God, and selfish love—which severed humanity's direct connection to God and established a fallen lineage and nature. Therefore, restoration requires fulfilling indemnity conditions, which are precisely the opposite of the actions that caused the Fall. This is not arbitrary punishment but a fundamental Principle of Restoration, allowing humanity to separate from Satan and connect with God.

When Adam and Eve fell, they established a pattern of distrust toward God, self-centered love, and a reversal of proper dominion. To separate from Satan, we must set up conditions of love and faith that God can accept. The Divine Principle teaches that indemnity conditions involve taking a course opposite to that which caused the Fall. If the Fall involved disbelieving God's word (Genesis 3:6), restoration requires absolute faith in His word. If the Fall involved Adam and Eve putting their own desires before God’s command, restoration requires putting God first. If the Fall involved improper love (premature, self-centered love), restoration requires cultivating proper, sacrificial love centered on God and others.

There are three types of indemnity conditions: 1. Equal Indemnity: Restoring something by setting up conditions of the same value as the damage. For example, Moses fasting for 40 days again after breaking the commandments (Exodus 34). This can be understood as "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21:23-24). 2. Lesser Indemnity: Restoring something through a condition of less value than the original. For example, believers receiving salvation through faith in Christ's redemption, or being baptized, or partaking in Holy Communion. 3. Greater Indemnity: A condition given when a lesser condition has failed, requiring a greater sacrifice to indemnify both the original object and the failed attempt. For example, Abraham offering Isaac after failing to divide birds for an offering (Genesis 15, Genesis 22), or the Israelites wandering 40 years for failing the 40-day spying mission (Numbers 14:34).

These conditions are our responsibility to fulfill to free ourselves from Satan's dominion and restore God's dominion. Humanity has also accumulated vertical indemnity conditions over a long expanse of time due to failures, which central figures must horizontally restore in a short time. For instance, Jesus chose 12 disciples and 70 followers to restore conditions accumulated from Jacob's course and Moses' course.

The Completed Understanding: Love-Motivated Restoration

The convergence of biblical teachings on conditions for discipleship and the Divine Principle’s explanation of indemnity reveals that restoration is neither arbitrary nor punitive, but profoundly principled and love-motivated. God does not demand suffering for its own sake, but rather provides the necessary means by which we can actively participate in returning to our original value as His children. Just as physical rehabilitation after an injury requires specific, sometimes painful, exercises to reverse damage, spiritual restoration necessitates conditions that reverse the damage of the Fall. This understanding empowers us, changing our perspective from passive victims of fallen nature to active participants in our own restoration and the restoration of the world. Every condition we fulfill with a sincere heart brings us closer to the original ideal God intended and helps to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

The Different Types of Indemnity Conditions

The conditions in Scripture fall into these recognisable kinds, and knowing them makes the pattern in biblical history readable rather than arbitrary.

An equal indemnity condition restores what was lost at its full value. When Moses broke the first tablets, he returned to the mountain and kept the same forty-day fast again, so that the covenant could be given anew on the same basis on which it had first been received.

A lesser indemnity condition is God's grace at work. Fallen people could never repay the full value of what was lost, so God accepts a smaller condition offered with sincere faith. This is why a believer can be reborn through faith in Christ, baptism and Holy Communion, rather than by paying the full price of the Fall himself.

A greater indemnity condition arises when a lesser condition is not fulfilled. The one who failed must then restore both the original purpose and the failure itself, which is why Abraham was asked to offer Isaac after the mistake with the birds, and why Israel's forty days of spying became forty years in the wilderness.

"To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22) sets the spirit of all three. No condition works mechanically: whether equal, lesser or greater, it must carry a heart genuinely turned towards God, or the condition is kept in form and lost in substance.

Living the Principle

1. Separate from Satan: Consciously choose to connect with God, overcoming selfishness and evil in relationships, and cultivate a love relationship with God. 2. Fulfill our portion of responsibility: Understand that setting indemnity conditions is our responsibility to free ourselves from Satan's dominion. 3. Embrace greater conditions when necessary: If a lesser effort falls short, be prepared to make a greater effort to indemnify the original intention and the failure. 4. Cultivate sacrificial love and faith: Actively pursue love centered on God and others, and develop unwavering faith in His word, reversing the patterns of the Fall.

These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. .

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