Ideas about salvation are important

Hello Neil,

It is almost 2 AM and to be frank I would rather be settling down into a cozy sleep than posting a comment on this blog, but something you wrote compels me to respond. The Spirit of the Living God is prompting my heart on your account. Judge for yourself whether my words shall ring true. I humbly ask that you please read all of this, though it is, admittedly, long. Here, in short, you will find an evangelical Christian perspective on salvation.

I am a Christian. I was not always one. In university I studied Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, Jainism and Sikhism. I have read large portions of the Koran as well as the entire Bhagavad-Gita. In my earliest days of seeking, I pursued Wicca, and even dabbled in ceremonial Magick. For several years I defined myself as a Kabbalist, then a Christian Kabbalist, and finally, a Christian. I too believed that there are many paths to the One and Eternal God. I studied many faith systems because my understanding of God was expansive and inclusive. I could not and wished not to conceive of a God delimited by narrow conceptual boxes imposed upon Him by flawed human perception and comprehension. I loved to wax philosophical and muse about the significance of human culture and our inherent compulsion to worship. My faith was strong. Over time, God shaped my heart; it melted like wax in His beautiful Hands. Gradually, He set my understanding aright. It was never a process driven by fear. (In fact, the Bible makes clear that "the one who fears is not yet made perfect in love, because perfect love drives out all fear".) Never did I feel threatened by hellfire. God's grace and love pierced and engulfed my heart. I began to Know, even as I am Known.

I had a *genuine* relationship with God during this exploratory phase of my life. I felt the Lord's presence when I prayed. I earnestly yearned for Him and sought His presence daily. During this time, I learned many important lessons that I know God has used to shape and mould my heart. ("For all things work for the god of those who love the Lord, and who have been called according to His purpose". Romans 8:28)

Then I had what I consider to be a miraculous experience.

At 21 years old, I had a dream that Jesus was in my house. Interestingly, though my parents were never Christian, I found Him in my parent's bedroom. As I was rummaging through the fridge for a late night snack, I became aware of His presence and exclaimed to myself: "Oh my God, my Lord is in my house!" I immediately made my way to their room and there saw Jesus, clad in a white robe, looking very recognizably like Himself, as He is depicted in popular culture. I knew right away who He was. (I am not saying that this is what Jesus actually looks like; perhaps He appeared to me in this way so that I would immediately recognize Him.) I went to Him and He spent a long time just cradling me in His arms. For what seemed like a period of timeless bliss, He simply held me, gently stroking my hair; I have never felt such a profound and complete peace in my life. Then he did something that astonished me. He *blew* (literally, breathed) i to the very centre of my being (into what many new age devotees call the "solar plexus".) I felt a wonderful tingling sensation rush throughout my entire body.
Then He spoke to me. He said: "Your heart was blocked and you were in danger of dying, but everything is going to be o.k. now." In response, I asked him something patently ridiculous (considering the fact that I was only 21 at the time.) I inquired: "Is it because I smoke, Lord?"

You see, I assumed in my dream that He was referring to my arteries being physically clogged. :-) He looked at me and said, quite simply, "You really are addicted, aren't you?" From that moment, I gained what some might call lucidity within my dream, for I had begun to awaken and my state of consciousness changed. I realized I had JESUS with me, and I wanted to ask Him many questions!!

Just before I woke up, I projected to Him a mental image of the Tree of Life, which I had been studying up to that time, and asked Him, "Is this good, Lord?"

I will never forget His answer. "Yes, He responded, it is good, but from now I want you to see it like this: and the image of the ten-sphered tree of life was transformed into a triangle, which I later came to associate with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The next morning, I told my dream to the woman who would become my mother-in-law, who had recently become Christian. She was very surprised, and exclaimed that she too had had a dream- a horrible one in which an old hag was attempting to choke me. Remembering this always causes me to shudder. We live in a spiritual battle zone in which the forces of evil are always straining against the forces of good.

It is only years later, when I began to seriously read the Bible, that I discovered, to my amazement, that in the Book of Acts, Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to His disciples by blowing on them. :-)

It did not happen overnight, but it is at this point that my life and deeply held convictions began to change.

Neil, the only way a person can go to hell is to *choose* to go there. Of that I am certain. According to the Bible, God did not WILL that any should perish, but that all might have eternal life. (Jesus did NOT say that NONE would perish.)

We must remember that among the many precious gifts God gave us, we may count free will. Jesus also stated that He did not lose any of those whom the Father gave Him. His sheep know His voice and follow Him. They will not follow the voice of a stranger or a hireling, who does not care for the sheep.

Jesus shows us the Way to the Father, and it is very simple. It is a free gift, undeserved and unearned, that one need only to humbly accept with an open heart. It is not earned by good deeds (even the most extraordinary deeds are of no account to God if we do not do them in faith and with love, for even our most righteous actions are as filthy rags compared with the glory and perfection of the Living God. You see, God is holy. As such, we must accept Him on His terms, and He has made His terms abundantly clear for those of us with ears to hear and eyes to see. It is not about perceiving life’s vibrations or “attaining” enlightenment. It is about allowing God to humble us and empty us of our pride and self-righteousness. It is about seeking and submitting oneself wholly to His will. It is about dying to self and living for Christ in thought, word and deed. In so doing, we do the good works he has prepared for us.

The Way Jesus taught is the only way, because it is through a personal relationship with Christ that we come to know the Father. He told us there is no other way, except through Him. He and the Father are one. Only Christ can show us who the Father is and what He is like. Upon Him hath the Father set His seal of approval. This is difficult for some to accept, but Jesus said the way to destruction is broad… many find and enter through it. The way of Life is narrow, few find it and enter through it. He is the only gate. When we do not abide in Jesus, we can do nothing.

When someone offers you a free gift (in this case, the greatest Gift of all- salvation unto eternal life), do you grab an alternative instead, and then gripe because the merchant refuses to accept your terms? Of course not. It is the one who makes the offer who sets all terms and conditions. God wants you to exchange your imperfect, incomplete understanding of Him and your flawed human nature for His own holy nature… the very best He has for you, both now and forever. All you need to do to fulfill the terms of this offer is to accept it. But to accept it, the Bible teaches us that we must first submit ourselves in faith and so accept what the Bible clearly teaches- not in part but as a whole: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and as such, He is the only one who has the power and authority to make such an offer. Jesus tells us in the Bible that He has the authority to lay down His life and take it up again. No other apostle, teacher or prophet claimed this power nor appropriated it to himself. The Bible also teaches us that it is this same power- the power through which Jesus Christ was raised through the dead- that raises us from the clutches of spiritual death as well! We die to self and are born again in Christ. That is the true meaning of being “born again”. Salvation is found in no other. The old is gone, the new has come. J

It is by GRACE that we are saved, and not by works, that none should boast, as states the Bible. No matter how hard we strive to please God, we all make mistakes. Yes, we learn from them. Yes, they serve a purpose. But we err. We need to humble ourselves and admit that we sin. Sin is a manifestation of spiritual sickness. As such, we need to humbly accept and apply the physician's cure.

If you were afflicted by a terminal, metastasizing cancer, would it be sufficient for you to treat it as you would a common cold? Must you not accept your physician’s prescription, humbly acknowledging that he understands far better than you do how to treat your condition?

Jesus is the great physician. (He appropriates that title, when he says: it is not the whole who are in need of a physician, but the sick... for the son of man has come to save the lost sinner... Sin is spiritual illness which leads to death.)

Will you reject His clear prescription? And if you refuse to do so, I ask you; will it be the Doctor's fault if you perish? Shall it be God’s? No- you alone will bear the consequence of your rejection.

Now I will ask you, is there any one way in which to do anything at all? How about being born? Is there not just one way to enter the physical dimension of space-time? You must come out of a womb to begin life on earth. Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus taught Nicodemus, a respected leader of the Jewish people and teacher of the Law, that he must be "born again" if he wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? The gift is free and you need only humbly accept it.

Will God eternally condemn those who have never heard? I should think not! What about those who accept the Lord upon drawing their very last breath, or even shortly thereafter, should they call upon His name? The Bible says that all who call upon Him will be saved. (Out of genuine faith, even if your faith is only as a grain of mustard.)

Fire-and-Brimstone, Bullhorn “Christians” who love to get on their soapboxes and preach about hell out of self-righteous indignation would do well to remember the thief on the cross, to whom Jesus said: "Verily I say unto you that on this very day, you will be with me in Paradise". God is merciful, and does not will that any should perish.

“Go and learn what this means”, Jesus says: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice. God is love, and the Bible says that “perfect love drives out all fear.”

But YOU have heard. Will you reject a Love so great that it is willing to overlook every error you have ever committed, every unkind word you have ever spoken, every thought you know in your heart was wrong- because you think God must accept whatever atonement you are willing to bring to the table? I ask you: what makes you think your atonement is sufficient? On what basis do you hold this opinion? The ideas of Krishna, Mohammed, Buddha or the Ba’huallah? The universal energy that surrounds and nurtures us all? Do you know better than Christ? God says that His atonement is sufficient.

Will you reject because it does not conform to your limited understanding of justice and mercy? Look deeply enough, and there you will find pride. Circumcise your heart, therefore, and accept the Lord on His terms, as He has revealed Himself in His One and Only Son.

******************************************************************
As for other prophets and teachers:

You say that the Koran is also the revealed word of God. If so, you accept that Mohammed was His messenger. Jesus says: "You will know a tree by the fruit it bears." I ask you, in his lifetime, what fruit did Mohammed *himself* bear? Does a true messenger of God consummate his marriage to a 9-year-old child? (According to the Holy Book, the 'Bukari' and several other contemporary texts, Mohammed married ‘Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consummated that marriage when she was nine years old.) Does the One true messenger of Allah rescind upon certain "prophetic utterances" because he claims to have been momentarily deceived by the evil one?

Yea, though a prophet might, the Son of God would and does not. (After all, King David, himself a prophet, arranged to have Uriah's wife Bathsheba killed, because he wished to have her for himself. He was severely rebuked by God through the prophet Nathan and repented. We have no evidence of repentance on the part of Mohammed. Humans, as we know, make are imperfect and make mistakes. Even prophets.)

Can the Lord Krishna himself bear a pure revelation from God and still support the Caste system which gives rise to such social injustice in India? (Krishna himself makes reference to the castes in the Bhagavad-Gita.)

Was any other mere prophet raised from the dead? (Yes, Elisha raised certain individuals from the dead by the power of God, but He did not have the power of the authority to lay down his own life and take it up again, as did Jesus Christ alone.) And if you would refute the resurrection- which one must accept by faith if one is to accept it at all- you must be ready to explain why his disciples, all of whom scattered and fled in fear when Jesus was crucified, became so zealously recommitted to their faith in Him. Almost all of the disciples died as martyrs. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down. Would you die for something you knew was a lie, especially once you had already fled and deserted your Master?

I didn't think so. Neither would I.

Something convinced the disciples to recommit themselves to Christ. If not the resurrection - as stated in the Bible, a compilation of documents whose historical and archaeological reliability has been well substantiated - then I ask you- what?

********************************************************************

Do not look to atrocities so-called Christians have committed in the name of Jesus and attribute them to the Author of Life Himself. Jesus Himself did not sin. His teachings are perfect. His life was perfect. He is the Unique Son of God, and is therefore uniquely authorized and qualified to bear His Father's message in fullness - not just in part. (For there is truth to be found in other religions, but Christ alone reveals the fullness of God.)

Is the arm of the Lord too short to protect His Word from gross perversion over the centuries? Compare and contrast the manuscript evidence we have for the New Testament and its accuracy throughout successive generations, with other documents from antiquity, and the scriptures of any other sacred tradition. You will find the historical reliability of the Bible to be quite impressive.

Jesus tells us that He who has seen Him, has seen the Father. He calls Himself the "bread of life" and the "living water", and says that whoever comes to Him will have streams of living water flowing out from him. May that stream wash over you, Neil, and cleanse you from the pride which blinds your eyes and blocks your ears. Listen to the Spirit's witness in your heart. That conversation you had with the part time-minister, are messages from the Living God, who loves you more than words can describe or encompass. This message comes from the Living One. You would do well to heed it.

I love you in truth, and will be praying for you in earnest.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
*********************************************************************

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1: 1-14

*******************************************************************

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." -Matthew 7:13-14

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:9-10

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." - John 10:14-16

"There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death." - Proverbs 16:25

***********************************************************************

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

***********************************************************************

This is my witness to you. God bless you, Neil, whose name means "champion". :-)

In Love and Truth,

Kristine.
(Whose name means Christ-bearer. My hope is that I have brought a witness of the Living God to you.)

In regards to the comment that Mounir posted, I agree with him in the sense that I know what he's meanng to say and his intentions by it. If we are all free to do as we wish, believe what we choose, and entitled to make mistakes all for the purpose of experiencing, then what does it matter what others believe? We're all experiencing independantly right? As long as it does not harm another.
I do not believe that religion as we've always known it in this paradigm is completely true anyways. There is a lot that the people of this planet have been deprived of- all for the sake of NOT CREATING WHO WE (REALLY) ARE. We have been kept from our fullest potential for eons and for a reason. Lies and fear have indeed kept our vibrations down. We are still so primitive about how and what we believe. The reason for of this is sheer genius- make them fight themselves.

What is the truth about "salvation". What does that even mean? Are we not all technically saved anyways? Didn't even Hitler go to "heaven"? We are all saved regardless. So until people start to realize that not one religion has it ALL figured out, there will always be wars.

You cannot convince someone who's brainwashed and oblivious of clarity and the obvious. This is up to them to figure it out- as long as it does not harm another. Until we are all on the same page, people will keep getting hurt. Indeed, you cannot know what is love until you know what is hate. So in essence even the evil on this planet served/s a very loving purpose. When Crist died on the cross he did not die for our sins. I preffer to believe that he was setting an example. Many examples. If there is no such thing as sin then he did not die for it. If I/ we "got" that then I'm sure Crist did too. - Hate and evil cannot kill you. You cannot die. He proved that 3 days later, right?

In a nutshell, live and let die.... Live and let live!

It's not up to the religions to "save" us, it's up to us.

:)