Day: April 1, 2017

Is Salvation a Free Gift?

Lets take a close look at what pastors are saying to the public about Christianity. There are many pastors who are saying salvation is a “free gift” – that one has to do nothing, but just believe, and then all is said and done. This teaching is based on some fundamental errors of Protestant reformers of the 16th century – for a background, see The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Faith and The False Theological Definition of the word “Grace”.  It is based on false readings of the letters of the Apostle Paul – for which see Christus Victor, Pauline Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. As I said before, stress is placed on belief alone, and the will of the person is made passive, where one should DO NOTHING.  Yes, that’s right, they are telling people that one should DO NOTHING to receive salvation.

The message of DO NOTHING is quite apparent in this theology.  Here is a good example from a daily devotion of a popular pastor Rick Warren, from Is Salvation Really Free?:

If you were to ask 100 people on the sidewalk, “How do you get to Heaven?” you’d get a lot of different answers that could be summarized by the idea that you have to earn your way to Heaven. You’d hear things like, “Try to be good and do your best” or “Work really hard at being a moral person” or “Do more good things in life than you do bad things.” All of these ideas are based on works, not grace.
But salvation is a gift, and you don’t work for a gift. It’s free! You can’t earn it, you can’t buy it, and you can’t work for it.
This is the fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion. Christianity is the only religion that’s built on grace. Every other religion is based on works, and you can summarize them in one word: “do.” There are certain things you have do in order to gain God’s approval, to gain bliss, to gain heaven. There are always rules, regulations, and rituals — something you have to do.
On the other hand, if you were to summarize Christianity in one word, it’s the word “done.” Jesus Christ has already paid the price for you on the cross. It’s done!
A guy asked me one time, “Pastor Rick, what can I do to be saved?” I said, “You’re too late!” (That kind of shocked him.) “You’re about 2,000 years too late! What needed to be done for your salvation has already been done, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Several falsehoods are being taught here. One, religion is made to be of belief and lip service only, making the will passive. Two, the word “works” in the letters of the apostle Paul are taken to mean ALL ACTIONS, when from context it is clear he is talking about the Jewish rituals. Three, Jesus did everything, so we should do nothing. Four, salvation is being taught in terms of “vicarious atonement,” where sins are transferred from one person to another automatically. Five, this is the teaching of all of Christianity, when in fact it is the teaching of Protestant theology only.

Is it any wonder that Christianity has lost its moral authority? For there is nothing about morality in this teaching. And when one examines what Jesus taught, there is truly nothing Christian about what these popular pastors are teaching.

That this is clearly a false teaching, and that there is truly nothing Christian about it, is shown by just referencing the teachings of Jesus himself.  For one, Jesus commanded us to not just believe, but DO:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matt. 7:24-27)

And what did Jesus command? First, repentance from sin:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)

Repent means to turn away from sin.  And what else did he command? Jesus said this:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John 13:34)

And that, is really it. Repentance from sin, and love one another. Really simple.

THEN WHY DID JESUS COME? HOW DID HE SAVE HUMANITY?

This is the question that will come up when someone can’t take a simple answer. But in the simple answer, that Christianity is all about repentance and love, there is the answer.

To repent, this is done out of free will, and done according to the truth one is taught. And what is free will?  Free will in humanity has a spiritual origin: it originates from a balance between heaven and hell, which plays itself out in our own conscience. Every thought we have has a spiritual origin.

By the time Jesus came, hell had obtained dominion over humanity, and even started to rise into the lower heavens of the spiritual world.  The angelic realm was losing its influence over humanity, and the former truths that had been revealed had been perverted and darkened.  To correct this, God himself descended and became incarnate as a human. From his soul, he was Divinity itself, but from the body he inherited from Mary, he could be tempted to commit a sin. So once the incarnation took place, a great spiritual battle took place between the Lord and all of hell. This continued until he glorified his human body and made it one with the Divine. That he launched an attack directly against hell, Jesus so declared to his disciples:

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. (Matt. 12:28-29)

Again:

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. (John 12:31)

And again:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:17-18)

And between the time Jesus died on the cross, and rose from the dead, something interesting happened: he made a descent into the underworld and hell to release captive souls held there. For that see Jesus the Shaman – Descent into the Underworld. It is not discussed much in modern churches, but that in reality is how he saved humanity: by a spiritual battle against the power of hell.
THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE IS NOW WITHIN US
As Jesus fought against spiritual temptation and sin within himself, so He now can fight for us in our battles against temptation and sin.  But it involves not us alone, but asking for his help. This is done through the Holy Spirit, which is available to all who turn away from sin. It is a life long process. It involves not just the thought, but our very will itself. It takes place within, when we ask Jesus to come dwell in our heart:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev. 3:20-21)

As I said before, the answer is all within repentance, and loving each other according to the Lord’s commandment. That is the way of salvation. Repentance must of a necessity be done before acts of love and goodness, for evils must be removed before goods can be implanted in the heart. Inasmuch one withdraws from evil, the person will drawn towards the good. It is through repentance that the redemption of Jesus Christ is effected in each and every person, for each time we repent, we put ourselves in conjunction with the Lord who can then act through us.
So is salvation a free gift? If by free gift one means that each person should do nothing, the answer is no.  If by free gift, that God came to dwell among us while we were yet sinners to save us, then the answer is yes. If one recognizes that the good that one does originates from God who is goodness itself, it is even more true that salvation is a free gift. For that is the spiritual meaning of a “covenant” – inasmuch as each person approaches God, so God will approach that person. It is a two way relationship. And this is done first by repentance, and then by living by his commandments through love.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Posted by at 11:53 PM 

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The next great religion will have science agreeing with faith

       God has been working to share with the human race a new, unifying paradigm between   science and religion for more than two hundred years now. The problem with this new heavenly revelation is that it is anti-intuitive and will catch most people by complete surprise—because it will challenge both current scientific and theological models of reality.

Rather than people widely embracing this new heavenly dispensation, God’s divine effort to correct humankind’s flawed ideas of fundamental reality will be seen as a threat by most of those who have a vested interest in defending contemporary institutions. This defensive thinking will have to be pushed to the wayside in order to make room for new ideas coming from heaven. And that will cause an intense battle over entrenched worldviews (reputations and careers will be on the line).

Most scientists shun religion because they despise any kind of “truth system” which simply requires mere belief rather than rigorous testing and rational discernment (blind faith). Theologians, on the other hand, believe that there is an invisible, spiritual and metaphysical element to the design of the cosmos.

This division means that both approaches to reality have flaws.

In order for there to be a rational system for uniting science and theology together, all new universal laws have to be discovered in which both truth systems can share an inner consistency. In other words, both systems will have to point to similar first causal principles.

Scientist/theologian Emanuel Swedenborg made a lifelong search for these inner consistencies. He discovered that universal scientific truth contained and reflected doctrinal and theological concepts—like a mirror. In terms of causal links between heaven and earth, spiritual truth flows into and terminates into scientific/natural law (one is prior and the other posterior). In other words, correct scientific constructs correspond perfectly to spiritual constructs. Swedenborg called this unifying model of top-down causal reality the science of correspondences.

This is not only a difficult notion to sell to contemporary thinkers but it has also caused some confusion among many Swedenborgian academicians. The reason is, that although these scholars accept Swedenborg’s theological discoveries as superior to other faith systems, many feel his science is dated. They will point to the fact that Swedenborg only had 18th century ideas and calculus to work with rather than the New Paradigm mathematics of quantum mechanics or multi-dimensional string theory.

Wrong!

In my award-winning book Proving God I challenge this notion because Swedenborg was not satisfied with the scientific thinking of his era and developed some of his own new scientific doctrines to help him find a causal link between the physical human body and the human soul (who is trying to do that today?). To accomplish this great feat, he took the mathematics of his time (calculus of fluxions) and elevated it through ever-new analyses of infinities. This brilliant and primogenital approach to multi-level fluxions and kinetics allowed him to lawfully remove spacetime limitations to various processes and trajectories until they became non-material! This orderly approach is how he discovered the dynamics of correspondences and the inner consistencies between physical, mental and divine activity.

All process obeys the same rules!

Swedenborg claimed to have had God’s help and guidance throughout his life. This amazing claim, while counter-intuitive to our terrestrial sensitivities, cannot be easily dismissed when you consider that he put all these ideas into a wide bookshelf’s worth of publications for everyone to carefully scrutinize. He also cannot be easily dismissed because he designed the first true fixed-wing aircraft as a young man and later contributed important discoveries in brain science, including the first brain cell (neuron) theory.

He had even anticipated the newest leanings in modern neuroscience that emotion and feeling (loves) drove the human mind and that the human brain and neuron has even deeper levels of structure, where the higher operations of abstract thought and reasoning take place. As I hinted earlier, Swedenborg didn’t stop there. He provided a multi-level model of neural substrates in the cerebrum that continued into the non-physical domain of spiritual process!

Then he was chosen by the Lord God to make actual observations of the spiritual world. These unprecedented observations took place for almost three decades and were recorded in dozens of books!

His approach to theology later in life was always as a critical scientist and offered lots of rational evidence that God’s Holy Word also contained a multi-level architecture that provided the template for top-down causation in the human mind and the created universe—as well as new revelations concerning God’s continuous efforts at human salvation.

Studying his ideas will change the course of your life!

Posted on August 30, 2012by

http://www.provinggod.com

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Chapter XVII. All the Degrees in Trines.

THIS diagram presents the whole man in successive trines. The inmost A is drawn in three planes, also the spiritual sensual D, the spiritual corporeal E, the limbus F, the natural sensual G and the natural corporeal H.

The trinality of the natural body in its most obvious form of head, trunk and extremities is well known.

The natural sensual G is composed of the five senses, – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Some of these are more properly organs of the will and are called voluntary, others organs of the understanding and are called intellectual.

“The sensual which is subject to the intellectual part is especially the sight, that subject to the intellectual and next to the voluntary is hearing, that subject to both together is the smell, and still more the taste, but that subject to the voluntary part is the touch.”- AC 5077.

The trinality of each of the senses is included in the doctrine that in every created thing there are three degrees, – essence, form, and operation, derived from end, cause and effect, all three of which are necessary in the constitution of any and everything, that it may exist and be preserved. For example, in the sense of sight there is the essential of sight, the organ of sight therefrom and the use of these which is actual sight.

The trinality of the inmost besides being manifest from the doctrine of trinality in all things and in each (AC 9825), may be confirmed by the following considerations. The inmost is the especial abode of the LORD in man. From this He forms, preserves and governs the trines below. Hence the trinality of the internal and the external man. And as there is an influx from the LORD immediately from Himself into each of the three degrees below this Highest, there must be a degree of this His Sacred Abode from which He flows into each of the lower degrees respectively,. otherwise there would be neither adaptation nor correspondence.

Hence we see not only the trinality of the inmost A, but even a subdivision of each of its three degrees into three lesser as each heaven has three lesser planes composing it, and each degree of the mind three lesser degrees, and we may conceive a degree of the inmost to be within each of the nine subdivisions of the internal mind. From each subdegree of the inmost within its corresponding subdegree of the mind there is an immediate influx from the LORD into that degree of the mind, thus there is an immediate influx into each lower plane of the heavens and of the mind, without. passing through the plane or planes higher than it. Immediate influx into each of the angelic heavens does not mean influx from the LORD into them without any medium, for such influx they cannot bear, but into each without passing through the higher. That neither the angelic heavens nor the inmost itself can endure strictly immediate influx from the LORD or even from the spiritual sun is plain from the Writings. (HH 120.)

A right understanding of this diagram exalts our conception of that Ladder or Way with steps set on the earth, and whose head reaches to heaven with the LORD above it and angels ascending and descending upon it. (Gen. xxviii, 12, 13.) “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. xvi, 11.)

Previous: Chapter XVI. The Limbus Retained After Death. Up: Discrete Degrees Next: Chapter XVIII. Man at Birth

Did God Create An Imperfect World?

The evidence seems overwhelming. The world is anything but perfect. This has led some to believe that a God of perfect love could not have been the author of such a flawed plan. But if we contemplate this notion a bit, we will see that to do otherwise would rule out God’s having to create a world of time and space.

God created the earth with a finite size, taking up a finite space. Was this a mistake? The imperfection of this finite design is that everything that will ever live cannot possibly occupy this limited space at the same time. So life forms come and go. They die but they reproduce to keep things going.

The only way to change this apparent “wasteful” situation would be to allow everything to live forever, and on a planet that kept getting bigger and bigger. This would also mean that one life form could never eat another.

But this would throw all organic process out the window – since the main function of internal organs is to process food and make it available to every cell in the body. Cells would no longer have to process anything for the body, either. (We certainly would not need an immune system in a world of perfect health.)

So, it would be no sense keeping our internal organs unless they were allowed to remain inside our bodies in order to “pantomime” the functions of life. Is it not within God’s Infinite power to keep us alive even with hollow bodies?

Why stop there? Plants would no longer have to turn the energy of the sun into starches. Earthworms would not have to labor to keep the soil fertile, etc., etc.

So what would everything be alive for in a perfect world if what they were designed to do became irrelevant? Idealists might respond by saying that everything in a perfect world would be alive to share the world in peaceful coexistence and happiness – people, bugs and bacteria.

But could a worm find happiness in not being a human? Therefore, in a perfect world, there would be no hierarchy. Evolution (and species extinction) would not be necessary if God simply created only humans – right off the bat.

But that would not make things perfect unless all humans were created as loving angels.

Furthermore, we would all have to look equally beautiful or handsome, and be equally intelligent, in order for the world to be a place of true equality and justice.

Unfortunately, in such a perfect cookie-cutter world, how would we maintain our unique personalities without enjoying first-person phenomenal experience? How would we be interesting to others?

I believe a true God of love would give us the capacity to choose what we love, good or bad, because this is the drive belt of who we are.

Think about that. Human free will and human disposition is founded on love itself. God protects this freedom of the human spirit above everything else. Heaven is a choice. And there is nothing that could prevent us from making that choice but ourselves.

The physical world of time and space was created in such a way as to offer us a full spectrum of influences so that we could prepare ourselves for a non-material afterlife. In God’s eternal, spiritual realm, we will find ourselves in a non-physical environment whose topological features, flora and fauna, reflect the qualities of our heart and mind.

What could be more perfect than a world tailor-made for each of us, and our personal proclivities?

Perhaps, in my next post, I will provide more detail concerning the nature of the biosphere that makes up the unique ecology of the spiritual world. Then I would like to address the issue of evil in God’s universe.

Stay tuned.

Posted on July 26, 2008by thegodguy

Website: http://www.staircasepress.com

This entry was posted in god, Inner growth, Life after death, love, metaphysics, Reality, religion, science, spirituality, unity and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

 

How do I find a new direction?

Do you need to find a new direction in your life? One sign is when you feeling a bit empty or discontented. Lacking much in the way of a sense of fulfillment in what you do?  Perhaps you are drifting through life without a clear sense of where you are going.

Having a meaningful sense of direction makes everything you do and see come alive in terms of what you are making of your life. But just how is this found?

Self-actualising motivation

New direction
Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow’s focus for psychological research was people who seemed healthy and creative, rather than those who were disturbed. He developed his well-known hierarchy of needs which included hunger, sleep, safety, belonging, love, self-respect and recognition. The hierarchy culminated in the need for what he called self-actualisation by which he meant wanting to make full use of one’s talents, capacities and potentialities. He reckoned we all have this desire deep within to find a new direction in life.

Of course there are limits to what anyone can achieve. With my eyesight problem, I would never have passed the R.A.F medical to get into jet pilot training which was my teenage dream. My article Drifting — how to stop deals with limitations on our aspirations due to nature and nurture.

Opportunities for a new direction

However, how open-minded are you to new realistic possibilities? Do you notice prospects for change? Or perhaps you are too set in your ways and too fixed in your ideas to take up new personal contacts, new avenues of information?

According to your interests you could join a relevant social network looking for personal contacts that might lead to something worth trying, whether it be a local voluntary project, a new type of skills training, a business venture in a new market. Some people are prepared to pursue any unexpected job break however humble with the hope it might lead towards something better.

Others sadly allow the obvious difficulties they face to overwhelm them and turn them into victims of their circumstances.

From a spiritual angle, I would suggest you will fail to perceive any meaning in what you do in so far as you lack a basic love of life. Not having enough feeling would sadly confirm Paul Sartre’s famous phrase ‘Man is a useless passion’. This is a denial of any meaning to existence and it simply adds to a sense of futility and boredom.

In contrast, one spiritual dictum I rather like is

The more you put into life then the more you will get out of it.

In other words, the more you go out of your way to try something then the more chance you have of finding something that suits you whether it be a hobby, a job, or a partner. I would suggest looking for a meaningful fulfilling role is like looking for a mate —  creating opportunities, looking around, kissing frogs.

So with all your heartfelt desire why not search out for opportunities to pursue?

What hinders us from finding a new direction

We are quite good at deceiving ourselves as to any higher calling which apparently is at odds with the prevailing climate of opinion and conventional styles of living. Don’t all these throw a blanket over the anxiety generated by the impermanence and uncertainty that only a deeper perception of life reveals?

Unfortunately, when feeling anxious we tend to escape or avoid whatever feels threatening. We play down our chances in life when it feels too much of a challenge; when our complacency, our fears, our resistance to change are all threatened.

Openness to a new direction means accepting this anxiety and not hiding from it.  It means being open to possible failure as well as success.

Story of Aung San Suu Kyi

How would it feel to build a life away from your own country and then return there to find it in turmoil? How would you respond to being asked to lead a protest to save your country, knowing the personal sacrifice that will involve? Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of a dead national figure in Burma who was called to lead Burma’s democracy movement in opposition to its military dictatorship. Despite their loving relationship, she and her husband were willing to suffer long separations, and a dangerously hostile regime, for the sake of trying to help the country find peace in a situation of political turmoil which continues today. She exemplifies finding meaning and purpose in life in terms of ‘looking above’ self which is discussed in How do I find meaning and purpose for my life?

The transpersonal dimension beyond the individual

Few people these days seem to gain a sense of ultimate meaning or direction from their understanding of traditional religious beliefs. However, in his research Maslow found that self-actualisers often had the ability to have mystical experiences. As a non-religious person he nevertheless supported the notion of ‘transpersonal psychology’ a field of study of human experience concerned with something which is beyond and bigger than the individual person — something many call the spiritual dimension.

What fulfillment is

People who feel fulfilled in what they do live fully in each moment. They put their trust in doing what feels right for them rather than living up to the expectations of others. There is often an acknowledgment of a spiritual reality within the physical universe. This for many means intending well towards others for the sake of the common good rather than for the sake of self.

According to spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, there is a different Divine purpose uniquely there for each of us if we allow ourselves to be carried along by the stream of Providence. He adds the idea that there is a heavenly role prepared for each of us if only we try to find it.

Everyone there does something specifically useful, for the Lord’s kingdom is a kingdom of uses. (Swedenborg HH 387)

Copyright 2013 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of Heart, Head & Hands Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems

What is the meaning of food for you?

meaning of foodThe meaning of food varies from person to person. Like religion and politics, food can be topic of conversation not easily mentioned in a social context. It can touch on some raw emotions whether you happen to mention junk food, meat-eating, the long food chain, child malnutrition, factory farming, or genetically engineered crops.

In his book A Greedy Man in a Hungry World Jay Rayner writes about the industry of self-help books, magazines and cookbooks focusing on weight-loss. He says this serves ‘a desperate mixture of fear, guilt and shame’ about how fat we look.

With the growth of meat-eating and bio-fuels together with an ever growing world population, the price of grain for human food has shot up on the world’s market. And so in contrast to over-consumption in the West, we find food poverty in some other parts of the world: in parts of Africa eating non-nutritious food makes one dangerously non-resistant to such things as malaria and pneumonia.

Yet obesity-related disease is a major health problem in some Western world countries one example being the dramatic rise in the rate of type 2 diabetes in the UK.

‘More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.‘
(John Kenneth Galbraith)

And so food is something that is important to many of us. This raises the question about your relationship to what you eat. What does hunger mean to you? What is the emotional meaning of food for you?

Symbolic meaning of food

Not every act of eating has a deeper meaning. Yet what we need and what we want are not always the same thing. We may have engaged in some form of comfort eating or have struggled with appetite. It can be hard to put one’s finger on what food symbolises for us personally. Trying to uncover this meaning of food you might want to think about any words, sensations or memories you associate with your favourite food. For some people, spicy food might possibly represent for them a longing for excitement, a sense of adventure, or a fiery spirit trying to assert itself within the confines of a more structured life.

For others, the richness and creaminess of ice cream may possibly represent envelopment and safety offering a feeling of physical and emotional fullness and speaking of warm summer days.

When trying to overcome a craving for food one needs to ask about what one is really hungry for. I suspect some or all of the following is in some sort of way relevant to me.

  • Bored so hungry for a bit of excitement
  • Frustrated so hungry for success
  • Tense with anger or anxiety so hungry for calm relaxation
  • Fed up and depressed so hungry for something pleasant and rewarding

The trouble is emotional hunger isn’t satisfied for very long by eating. Despite the few moments of being lost in the euphoria of a favourite comfort food, one usually ends up feeling similar to the plate — empty!

Arguably, we need to watch out to see if food might be acting as an illusory substitute to meet an inner hunger which we need to learn to deal with more honestly. In other words mindless eating, if a regular habit, not only misleads us away from dealing with our inner emotional state but over time can add pounds to body weight.

In contrast, mindful eating is being more connected to oneself: more aware of when you are hungry and when you are full: not allowing your eating to be determined by the amount of food available, what others are eating, or by your emotions but rather being mindful of what’s right for your body in the moment.

The meaning of food for the soul

I would like to suggest that from a spiritual perspective, it is okay to enjoy food as something for a healthy body and as a focus for a social occasion. However, to crave food is not spiritually healthy. It means indulging the stomach, and making the height of pleasure to consist in what you eat. Is this not being externally-orientated? In contrast, food for the mind meets our need for factual knowledge and comprehension, sustaining our appetite of curiosity. And food for the soul meets our hunger to know and gain insight into what is deeply true about life e.g. about principled ideas that connect with useful action.

This reflects what Christ said:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4)

According to spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, in the next life, although other senses are sharpened, our sense of taste will be dimmed. He points out that food is not something physically needed for its own sake; the afterlife being a spiritual and not a material realm. However, food for the soul is needed in the sense of love and wisdom feeding the ethical and spiritual side of our personal life: for example nourishing the growth of good sense, sincerity, caring attitudes and other good qualities of character.

  “Spiritual food, …consists in everything that is of use, and everything that is conducive to use. That which is conducive to use is to know what is good and true; that which is of use is to will and do what is good and true.” (AC 5293)

Copyright 2013 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of Heart, Head & Hands Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems