The Post Refugee: May 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

A Prison of Fear - A Commentary upon PeterHuff’s Egregiously Presumptuous Grasp Upon the Golden Ring of Salvation

PeterHuff says, “His word is sure, just as sure and secure as His salvation.” (source)

Your testimony as to the surety and security of God’s salvation appears somewhat presumptuous to me in light of the teachings of the Master Jesus Christ wherein he has set before us a wide variety of conditions that must be met if a soul is to be saved.

Moreover, your testimony as to the surety and security of God’s salvation appears even more egregiously presumptuous to me in light of the fact that YOU (Mr Peter Huff) are on record expressing your belief that those conditions have no meaning or relevance. In this regard I am referring mostly to our past exchanges on the subject of the importance of obedience to the Commandments of Christ (as a prerequisite unto salvation) on the Washington Post faith forums.

On this blog (the Post Refugee), I reopened that debate, under the post titled, Obedience to the Commandments of God And Obedience to the Commandments of Christ are the Requirements Unto Salvation

Therein I set forth the Master’s teaching recorded in Matthew 19:16-26, which the Master Jesus delivered as a direct response to a direct and simple question, ”Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”

Now, I have a sense, based on past exchanges, that your response would be similar to the one given by Rcofield, which was to totally ignore the simple and straightforward teaching of the Master Jesus given in response to a simple and straightforward question. When asked, “what do I need to do to get the prize?” The Master gives a concrete list, numbering nine (9) items. (The first requirement is to stop calling him good.)

As you can see from RcoField’s response (May 9, 2011 10:24 PM), he would march forward into each new day denying that this list of items which the Master has set forth, has any relevance to him whatsoever. (What is the purpose of the Master’s requirements if one believes that he is already saved, and nothing can change that?) And as you (PeterHuff) appear to see eye-to-eye with RcoField on this issue, I am thinking, here too is a person that denies the requirements unto salvation set forth by the very Son of God, the Lord Christ, which would make of your own salvation, and that of RcoField, doubtful to say the least, and yet you, and he, exhibit this interesting belief that your salvation is not only secure, but already accomplished.

A very interesting incongruity to be sure, espousing a belief in Jesus Christ, yet leaving people in a state of utter confusion, when it comes to comprehending the relevance of His Teaching.

What I am thinking here, in terms of what might explain this, is that this could be a good illustration of the telephoto effect principle that I set forth in a recent post titled, The Subject of the End Times and the Telephoto Effect, where you have the high mountain peak of salvation before you, and you are convinced it is very close, in fact within your reach, so close and so sure it is before you, that you will not entertain any idea AT ALL that there is a long path to walk before you can get from where you are, to the top of that peak.

The teaching referenced above in Matthew 19:16-26 is one of many efforts the Master Jesus Christ made to help people understand that there is a large expanse of ground to cover between here and there, that there is a trail which travels over many hills, and down into many valleys, and up over many hills again, even before you get to the base of the peak (of salvation).

I simply cannot fathom that the Master made it more clear, or could have made it more clear, when someone asks him directly, what must I do to inherit eternal life, and the Master says, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, as it were. And A, B, C, D, E, F and G, go into one of your ears, and out the other, after which they drop on the ground, never to be pondered again.

And so, clearly, there is something going on, in your world, and that of RcoField, that will not allow this information to get a foothold in your head, or his.

”No, No, No, No”, you say, ”these requirements have nothing to do with me, we are standing on the top of the peak of salvation right now.

And you say this, even though the Master Jesus Christ teaches something quite different.

What is it that has you (and RcoField) clinging so tenaciously to the ILLUSION of a salvation already accomplished, and so absolutely opposed to hearing what the Master has to say about the requirements that must be met unto salvation?

In this regard, we can discern AT LEAST a very strong desire unto salvation for yourself and RcoField. In other words I detect that you are driven by a very intense desire to have salvation --- you want it so intensely and so passionately that you will not accept any argument that might appear to take it away from you.

What is at the root of such an intense desire, that will brook no point of reason, no point of truth, to turn it back? Indeed, not even a point of truth spoken from the very mouth of the Master Jesus Christ?

The Intense Fear Associated with
the Idea of Burning in Hell Forever
I have a theory as to what accounts for this lock hold you have on the telephoto effect, where you steadfastly deny that there is anything in between you and the mountain peak of salvation. And I believe it has to do with FEAR.

Yes, I believe that this intense desire for salvation is driven by a very intense FEAR. Very intense. A fear that is inordinate, and for all intents and purposes, baseless and ungrounded in reality.

And let me say at the onset, that I am not bringing up the subject of fear for the purpose of making you more fearful, or to chastise you for it, or to criticize you for it, or to condemn you for it. No. I have my eye on the goal of freedom from fear in the here and now. Yes. Freedom from fear NOW, not in some future time.

This is what the Power of Jesus Christ is all about. It is about freedom from fear NOW. If you come out of this period of contemplation and introspection with a greater understanding of the Power of Jesus Christ in the moment, to act to set you free from all fear, by a POWER that washes your feeling world, your mind, your heart, with the waters of heavenly BLISS, right now, then you will have found the true path to true comfort and to true knowledge.

Remember that Christ said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) (If you make the effort to meet the conditions for entry as Christ specified those conditions so clearly).

My purpose here is to bring forward this principle, which holds immutably, that what you fear will come upon you, and that such fear becomes a prison within which the soul is repeatedly tortured by the arrival at the very door, of exactly what is feared. Having brought forward this principle, my purpose is to see if we can identify a way out of this prison of fear, even that door of love that opens unto the true path unto freedom.

Peterhuff, please tell me the truth. Do you personally fear burning in hell forever? Is that part of your inner experience? Do you feel that fear in your bones? Do you face that fear every day, so much so, that you have to beat it back every day? This would explain much.

I know that the knee-jerk reaction will be to deny. Please set that aside for the moment, for your real salvation depends on it.

The presence of this fear (within your temple) is clearly and unmistakably indicated by the fact that you believe, quite passionately, along with RcoField, that so many billions of people WILL BE burning in hell. If you believe that many billions of people will burn in hell forever, the prospect of burning in hell has to be very real for you personally. If a horrible and disastrous outcome is very real to you, and you are imprisoned in a doctrinal framework that will not allow this disastrous outcome to be set aside, it will become a source of great fear for you.

And how do you deal with that fear? Of course you try to escape it. But how? Because false doctrine allows for this fear to be forced upon you, it is false doctrine that will save you from it. You cling to a doctrine that allows you to believe that this fate, while it will certainly fall on billions of other people, it will nevertheless, not fall on you.

Yes, your doctrine tells you, that this fate of eternal damnation, while it will have billions of people burning in hell forever, it will not touch you. Why? Why will this fate not touch you? Because you “believe” in Jesus Christ. Because you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And that’s it. Case closed. You believe he died for your sins. And that was 2,000 years ago. And so, today, 2,000 years later, you are clean. Your salvation is secure. You are safe. You will not burn in hell. You wipe the sweat of terror off your brow, and say to yourself, what a RELIEF! God I love Jesus Christ for setting me free from my fear! These other people, they can burn in hell forever, even by the billions, but not me, I am safe. I will live forever, because I Believe Jesus Christ died for me.

This intense fear of eternal damnation makes for a very narrow and error filled belief structure.

Your fear of eternal damnation drives you to find an escape route, that will allow you to dodge that fate. And you find that escape route in the false doctrine that says that Jesus paid the whole price for you, and because he paid the whole price for you, you are saved, and if you will only believe THAT, your salvation is secure.

That is the sum total of what you think it means to believe in Jesus Christ, and as your other commentary indicates, the total body of His teaching, which involves teaching souls what they must DO to be saved, is basically irrelevant, as none of it fits or dovetails into your illusion of a salvation already accomplished.

This intense fear of eternal damnation drives you into this tiny thimble sized cup of darkness and irrationality. You need to come out of there. You must deal with this FEAR. For your soul cannot take that fear and its concomitant irrationality with you into the heaven world.

Intense Fear as the Inverted
Origin for a False Love
Now, tell me the truth. Isn’t this the reason, the only reason you “love” Christ, because of what you perceive to be his promise of salvation? A promise so glorious to you, because it offers you a path by which your intense fears can be escaped?

In this state of fear, you are trapped in this situation where your definition of what it means to believe in Jesus Christ is determined solely by the pressure of the fear upon you. You have a horrible outcome at the center of your mind’s eye. Simply horrible is this idea of burning in hell forever. You fear that outcome intensely. And here comes this “savior” who offers you an escape route, he sacrificed himself for you, and because of that, because he suffered, you will never have to suffer. All you have to do is believe that he suffered for you, that he paid the price for you, and that defines the escape route for you around this horrible possibility of burning in hell forever. And you “love” him for it.

The Children of God have been under the influence of fear induced belief structures for a very long time. And Jesus Christ understood this, and he knew that fear can serve as a basis for the generation of a false love.

He gave us this important teaching to help us sort through what is true love, and what is false love.

John 14:15 - ”If ye love me, keep my commandments”

If one’s allegiance to the Master Jesus Christ is not based on true love, then the individual will have a problem with seeing, and appreciating, the value in the commandments set forth by the Master Jesus Christ, for example, the list of items that the Master gave in Matthew 19:16-26 as requirements unto salvation.

If one has difficulty coming to closure with the common sense and straightforward meaning of that teaching, then this must be a sign to you, that what is operating in your world is not true love, but a false love, predicated on this intense pressure of fear that you feel related to the horrible prospect of burning in hell forever.

Indeed, see how easy it is for you and RcoField both to smash the hopes and dreams of Jesus Christ himself, in your denial of his promise in John 14:12. If you truly loved him, you would identify with the hopes and dreams he has expressed in that promise, and work in the direction of fulfilling them, not denying them.

And looking above, we see you quote a diatribe of an atheist making a mockery of the Master Jesus Christ. What purpose is served by spreading the poison of an atheist into the minds of the people on this thread? And why did you do it? Is it love that spreads that kind of poison into the minds of those who respect Christ? No, this is not love. It is hate.

Actually, you will find that you have flowing through you a hatred for the Real Christ, who requires you to come into alignment with all heavenly standards BEFORE you can inherit eternal life. You wonder, how can that be that hate flows through me? You say you “love” the Christ that has saved you from the horrible fate of eternal damnation. How is that GoldenEagles says I hate Christ?

You are allowing an inordinate fear to press in on you, which keeps at the center of your attention, this horrible prospect before your attention, of burning in hell forever, and you base your relationship to Christ solely in this fear matrix. But the object of your fear is a lie. You will never burn in hell forever. No one will ever burn in hell forever. In your “worship” of this lie, you have become polarized against this truth that the Master Jesus Christ speaks concerning the requirements a soul must meet to inherit eternal life.

In this state of polarization, which is a posture of rebellion against the truth itself, this opens you up, and makes of you a channel for the hatred of the demonic world. (Your recent statement on the other thread serves as an illustration of this principle as well)

You are serving a “Christ” that has been defined for you, by the demonic world. They have filled you with an intense fear of burning in hell forever, and they have created for you, by the pressure of this fear, an escape route that is defined by this “Christ” who has paid every one of your debts for you, and saved you from this horrible fate. All you have to do to find your way to this escape route, is to keep this lie in your mind.

Consider this important teaching that juxtaposes fear and love.

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

This is why the Master Jesus repeatedly said, FEAR NOT. The presence of fear drives out true love, and what is left, is not a vacuum. Where there is “Not Love”, there resides the energies of hate, which explains why you cannot anchor any sentiment in defense of the billions of souls which you believe require eternal damnation.

Indeed, fear is always an entry point for the hatred of the demonic realm.

To love God, is to trust God. Even to trust in His Love, which would NEVER assign billions of souls to eternal damnation. To Love God with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole soul, is to know for sure, and without a doubt, that he has no intent, at all, ever, to assign you, or anyone else, to eternal damnation, no not even his worst enemies. And so, your fear is proven to be a fraud. This fear has you fearing something that you should never fear.

Consider this important teaching.

John 12:47 - “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”

If your fear of eternal damnation where a high flying blimp, this statement by the Master Jesus Christ has just shot an arrow right through it, and we can see, that that false belief should fall to the ground, and have no more life in your world. But it does not fall down. What keeps it up, even when the Master Jesus Christ has shot an arrow right through it?

Both you and Rcofield have this issue of intense unworthiness before God. Neither you, or RcoField can grasp the idea that God loves you, even that God loved you BEFORE he sent Jesus Christ to bring you home. Again, this indicates an inner world characterized by fear. It is an energy forcefield that keeps the sentiments of love, and the ideas of love, from coalescing in your feeling world and mind.

And of course, you both have this inability to grasp the idea that God’s Love would forbid the eternal damnation of billions of souls. Again, this indicates an inner world characterized by fear.

Where there is fear, the heart cannot attune to the domain of love, and thus, the mind cannot include the domain of love into the developing belief structure. In this state of fear, the soul cannot meet even the first requirement of being saved, and that is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind, and your soul.

The Origin of Inordinate Fear
This is an inordinate fear, artificially amplified to gargantuan proportions, bursting asunder, and making into a pile of scrap lumber, the framework of truth and reason. Where does such a fear come from?

This level of fear is projected at you from the demonic realm, projected into your feeling world for the purpose of controlling you. This fear has you worshiping a Christ that does not exist, a Christ that will give you “salvation” for no effort.

Again, Matthew 19:16-26 depicts the real Christ, who gives you a list of nine (9) things you MUST do if you are to inherit eternal life.

The origin of your fear is indicated by your relationship to the teaching in Matthew 19:16-26. When you confront the words of the real Christ in Matthew 19:16-26, and start to entertain the truth in your mind that your salvation is not sure at all, that it depends on your capacity to repent, and to be obedient to the commandments of God and Christ, what do you feel? Do you feel love for those words? No, you feel FEAR. You fear those words, and you turn away from those words. Like RcoField, you deny those words.

But, it is important to understand, that this is not YOUR fear. It is the fear projected into your world by the demonic presence that dogs you wherever you go. How do you think that great idea came into your mind on the other thread which caused such an uproar? How do you think that great idea came into your mind on this very thread where you think it is a great idea to spread the poison of an atheist diatribe? Where do get this sense that an atheist has anything at all valuable to say? As this fear pours into your world, what pours in with it are the sentiments of the demonic realm. When I first brought up the teachings of Jesus Christ on the subject of demon possession, which was on the Washington Post, why did you make common cause with an atheist to mock that important subject matter? All of this is because you are being controlled by a strong and intense fear that is projected at you by the demonic realm.

Indeed, where do you think these strong feelings of unworthiness come from as well? It is part of the demonic subterfuge that has you imprisoned deeply in a (false) sense that you deserve to burn in hell forever.

Look, this demonic presence has you saying things for which people feel the need to rebuke you, like I did on the other thread, and thus giving you more “reasons” to feel unworthy, which the demonic realm in turn amplifies. A very clever and successful strategy to be sure.

When you feel “filthy”, a word you used to describe yourself, what you are feeling is the filth of the demonic presence that has an inroad into your world through this projection of fear.

I know I can’t take away your fear by these words. But I can give you a basic understanding of the equation of manipulation you are under, and I can point the way out of this prison cell for you, unto the domain of real freedom.

The Path into the Knowledge of Love
Is the Only Path to Real Freedom
And this defines the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, wherein the soul is given the opportunity to repent, and to seek the path of true love, and the Master will accept the repentant soul onto the path that will lead to the knowledge of true love once again. And that is the only path that will lead to freedom from fear.

I would encourage you to compile all the things the Master Jesus Christ and the Apostles said about love, and read them aloud every day. The Master’s teaching on the subject of love is the center of all truth, indeed, but few there be that find it. Why only the few? It is because the demonic force, through fear, steers the majority away.

The goal for you (and your life actually depends on it) is to acquire a real sense, here and now, before you leave embodiment, of God’s Love for you personally. That is the key. You need to find the resonant frequence of Trust in a God who is totally good, and who would never sentence you (or anyone else) to eternal damnation. Not ever. That is the key. God’s Love for You personally. You must find this truth.

Jesus Christ knows about this, because he is the messenger of God’s Love for all of us.

While it is nice to know that Jesus loves you, this is not really the point. As he said, “Why call thou me good, there is one good, and that is God.”

The Master Jesus Christ, wants you to know how much the One Most High God Loves You personally. Why? Because it is the key to your salvation. Without that knowledge, a soul cannot be saved. When you know that, and of course, Jesus Christ is the only one who can give you that knowledge, which is a point for his exclusivity, you will then know why God wants to forgive you, always wants to forgive you, and will forgive you, because he Loves you. And knowing God’s Love for you personally, you will know why he would NEVER condemn you to eternal damnation. And moreover, knowing this for yourself, you will then know why he would NEVER condemn those five billion souls to eternal damnation. You will know that his forgiveness is operative, and that this requires that he give people additional time and opportunity to come fully into alignment with all heavenly standards, as this remains the immutable requirement for every soul to enter into the domain of eternal life.

You, PeterHuff, and RcoField, are not the only people who are bombarded by the fear energies projected by the demonic hordes. We are all bombarded by this fear. Every person on earth is bombarded by this fear. As it is represents their key to controlling the Children of God. But you, as a Disciple of Christ, are supposed to recognize this subterfuge, and you are supposed to fight back. You cast out the fear by a conscious and determined effort to focus on the truth of God’s Love. As God’s Love alone has the power to defeat fear. On that path that leads into the knowledge of true love, the disciple will be constantly bombarded by these fear energies, which requires the soul to rise ever higher into a deeper and more tangible realization of God’s Love. Thus the victory of the soul is defined as the victory over fear, by the Power of God’s Love. This is the path that the Master Jesus Christ sponsors unto the salvation of the soul.

No one can be saved, until they have manifested this victory over fear by the Power of God’s Love, through the sponsorship, tutoring, guidance, and empowerment of the Master Jesus Christ.

Because God’s Love and God’s Purpose are two parts of one whole, it follows, that the level of love any soul can realize, is always commensurate with the level of Divine Purpose which the soul has integrated into its life expression. And therefore, the path into the realization of God’s Love, is always a path that is asking the soul to come into an ever higher understanding of God’s Purpose, an ever greater alignment with that purpose, and an ever greater willingness to serve that purpose.

And because this is a Path unto the victory of Love in us, over the power of fear, and all manner of darkness, one can easily imagine how truly operative is the Reality of God’s Love when it comes to dealing with those who fall short of the goal. God will forgive, and will give the soul more opportunities to gain this mastery.

Nevertheless, Hell is Real
I am not saying that there is no such thing as hell. No. When I say that your fear will bring upon you the very thing that you fear, this means that you will indeed find that hell exists. Hell does exist. That is where the demons have their existence, a domain of total hate for God, and total fear of God. So you see where they get the fear to project into your own world, and even the feelings of unworthiness. These are the feelings that demons have in themselves, and they are pushing these feelings on you.

One must make every effort to be clear on this point. If you find yourself in embodiment, by definition, you are a Child of God whom our Father in Heaven, through his Love, desires to redeem. You may have fallen very low, through this subterfuge of fear, and through accepting the lie of unworthiness from the very mouth of demons. Believe it not. If you are in embodiment, you are a Child of God that the Heavenly Father wants to bring home. The challenge before you, is to become an expert on the reality of God’s Love for you personally a truth from which all genuine sentiments of worthiness are supposed to be present in your feeling world.

And so, if you don’t figure this out before the end of this life, in terms of how you are being manipulated through this fear of eternal damnation to stand against the most important Teachings of Jesus Christ, you will find yourself face to face with these manipulators.

Yes, you will spend some time in hell.

And you will stand before these demons face to face, and you will see the chains they have hooked into your feeling world. You will SEE these chains. You will see this, not as a punishment, but as a lesson, intended by God your Father to be branded into your soul, that these manipulators exist, they can manipulate you into defying the Truth of God, and of Christ, again I would reference your denial of the truth set forth in Matthew 19:16-26.

This lesson you must learn, that you are responsible for standing firm and refusing to be manipulated in such a manner, and you are responsible for learning this lesson, that it is only through the Power of the Master Jesus Christ, which can flow through his subordinate ministers, that can set you free from this manipulation in the hear and now.

This is not salvation in some future time. You need to learn how to invoke the Power of the Master Jesus Christ NOW to accomplish this act of salvation. I pray you will figure this out before you leave embodiment, and thus save yourself this experience in hell.

But I would add of course, that your sojourn in hell will not be eternal. It will be for as long as God deems necessary for you to learn the lesson. That there are demonic manipulators, you have developed a vulnerability to them (through the indulgence of fear - which follows from the leaving off from love) and you need to learn how to protect yourself in this regard.

Eventually, you will cry out to Jesus Christ THEN for freedom from this demonic connection, and lo a bright sword will descend and cut those chains (for the time being) and you will be allowed to rise into a higher domain. But this will not be the domain of eternal life, in as much as you spent little or no time at all during this life, making the effort to adhere to the heavenly standards that are a prerequisite to the inheritance of eternal life.

No, you are not ready to receive your rightful inheritance unto eternal life. You will be sent back into embodiment to integrate this lesson. During your next life, the demonic realm will again come knocking on your door, with strong impulses to fear and to hate, and you will have an opportunity to open that door, and allow those forces in again. The essential goal for you is to learn how to keep the door closed. And this can only be done through the Power of Light that Jesus Christ, either personally, or through a subordinate minister, will send into your world.

Truly, it would be better for you to learn that lesson now. It would be better for you to learn how to invoke the Power of Jesus Christ now, that will set you free from your (unfounded) fear of eternal damnation.

Truly, the doctrine of eternal damnation is a doctrine of the demonic force, that represents a system of chains upon the mind and feeling world, that keeps the soul imprisoned in a dungeon of darkness. And it is a hermetically sealed dungeon too. It is hermetically sealed, because the doctrine requires you do deny to five billion people the benefit of God’s Infinite Love, Mercy, and Forgiveness. And that which you deny to others, will be denied to you. To the extent you deny it to others, to the extent that you stubbornly deny it to others, it must be denied to you, that is the law. Which means, as along as you cling to that doctrine, denying the benefit of God’s love to others, the Light of Christ cannot enter your world to set you free. You must repent, and jettison the false doctrine, and extend to others the benefit of God’s Love, and in that way, you open a pathway for that Love, through Jesus Christ to set you free, truly free, from these chains of fear that these demons have wrapped around you, even from head to foot.

The path out of this prison cell (of fear) for you, is to make a daily effort, even for the rest of your life, to study everything that Jesus Christ said about love, both directly and indirectly, and to focus on this fact, that this is the central part of his teaching, that no one can be saved, unless they master the principles of love. As these are the principles that rule the heaven world, and no one can enter therein, without the mastery of these principles.

And yes, to fulfill the promise Jesus Christ made in John 14:12 becomes a reality check for all the followers of Christ, as to whether they have, or have not, mastered the principles of love.

The Golden Key
The golden key, which the Master Jesus Christ has in his hand, is the knowledge of God’s Love for You personally. The importance of this key cannot be exaggerated. One must make this the central goal of one’s life, to receive that key into one’s own hand.

It is not that the soul must do certain things to make an unloving God love you once again. No, this Love is a Shining Reality at all times, above the cloud cover.

The point is, that the soul must work with the Master Jesus Christ to clean up, and restore functionality to the divine sensory systems of the soul, which will allow the soul to receive this knowledge, and to process this knowledge in an appropriate manner. These sensory systems are currently broken and polluted (by the energies of rebellion). Fear is an energy of rebellion. These sensory systems must be cleaned up, and repaired, and only the Master Jesus Christ, and his subordinate ministers, can do this.

A sign that this knowledge is beginning to dawn on the soul, is the growing understanding that the Love that God has for one, is a love that God has for all. It is this inner knowledge, made more and more clear by the Master Jesus Christ, to the one who earnestly seeks it, that gives the soul the capacity to adhere to the standards of the heaven world, for example, to love one another, as I have loved you. This is the word of the Father spoken through the lips of the Master Jesus Christ. It is a commandment that must be followed. No one can be saved until they master this commandment, and it can only be mastered through a consistent, and uninterrupted contact with the inner knowledge of the Reality of God’s Love for you personally, which again, can only come to the soul through a consistent application, unto the intercession of the Master Jesus Christ.

The Master Jesus Christ KNOWS how much God Loves you Personally. He KNOWS this. And he knows that this knowledge is the key to your salvation. The knowledge of this love is the center of the divine identity that can live a constructive and fruitful life in the heaven world unto eternity. No soul can live in that environment without this knowledge. And so, the Master Jesus Christ is poised, always ready to work with you, to prepare you to receive this knowledge, and then to give you this knowledge, always remembering, that the path to the realization of God’s Love, runs exactly parallel to the path that requires greater and greater commitment to the Purposes of God.

Make no mistake about it. When the Master said this, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14) this is exactly what he was speaking to. The fallen soul psychology is characterized solely by habit patterns of fear and hate, qualities amplified ad nauseam by demonic task masters. To find the way unto a state of mastery unto the principles of love through such a briar path is not easy. Actually, it is the most difficult thing a soul will ever have to do, as it requires the defeat of pride itself.

Yes, pride is the defender of fear, the primary demonic inroad. The faculty of pride looks upon fear as wisdom, and clings to it, and in this way clings to a state of manipulation and slavery to the demonic realm.

As you move forward along this path, into the narrow way, remember this principle. If one denies the benefit of God’s Love to another, even to billions of souls, through the application of this doctrine of eternal damnation, this denial, so grossly insensitive to the truth concerning God’s Love for every child, represents a barrier of darkness within your own world that cannot be penetrated by the Light of Truth. The soul, to walk the path of knowledge unto God’s Love, must jettison this false doctrine.

PeterHuff and RcoField, I encourage you both to stand fast in your refusal to allow pride to further hold you in this prison house of fear, and thus alienated from the truth of God’s Love for you personally.

The truth is, that God’s Love for you personally is like unto a brilliant sun that shines in an everlasting manner, just above that thick cloud cover of fear which you have allowed the demonic world to drape over your minds and feeling worlds. Please work with the Master Jesus Christ, to bring about a break in that cloud cover. When the landscape of your soul is bathed in the Light of Reality, you will have a much different perspective, and you will know, that you have nothing to fear from the Loving Hand of God.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Just How Central is the Subject of Demon Possession, and the Casting out of Demons, to the Teachings of the Master Jesus Christ?

I believe it is very important for all of us to understand and take deeply to heart just how central, to the Teachings of the Master Jesus Christ, is the fact of demon existence, and the capacity of demons to manipulate embodied individuals.

Why is this so difficult for many Christians to grasp?

Indeed, it is because the demonic force itself leans on their feeling world with the sensations of doubt, fear, and disbelief. And these energies are powerful.

When we pray to the Master Jesus Christ, and we say, “Help thou our unbelief!” To this prayer the Master will respond. And in so doing, the Master first removes the demonic influence from our world, by extending a barrier of light around us. And for people who have a problem with profound disbelief in significant portions of Christ’s Teaching, for example, on the essential nature of repentance and obedience, this prayer must be said daily. In fact, if a person has a problem in this area, it must be said hourly. Yes, the power of the Master Jesus Christ must be directly invoked daily and hourly to give the soul freedom from this demonic influence. This alone will give the soul the opportunity to build up a momentum of belief and faith in the essential areas, where belief and faith in the importance of obedience as a virtue becomes stronger and stronger, and the person's capacity to practice obedience as a way of life becomes more and more successful and fruitful.

Eventually, because the soul has kept the vigil, the Master Jesus Christ will be able to say, “Thy faith has made thee whole.”

There are 25 primary references in the New Testament where the Master Jesus Christ set before us the truth that demonic forces can influence people and even possess them, and that these demonic influences must be, and can be removed in the here and now by His Power, which is the Power of the Father flowing through him.

Matthew:

4:23-24 All Galilee, Synagogues(vs.23)
8:14-17 Peter's house (vs. 14)
8:28-33 Seashore (vs. 32)
9:32-33 Outside (vs. 32)
10:7-8 Everywhere (vs. 7)
12:15,22 Great multitudes (vs. 15)
15:22-28 Coasts (vs. 22)
17:14-21 Multitude (vs. 14)

Mark:

1:23-27 Synagogues (vs. 23)
1:32-34 Door-House of Simon and Andrew (vs. 33)
1:39-41 Synagogues, all Galilee (vs. 39)
3:9-15 Small ship (vs. 9)
5:2-20 Out of ship (vs. 2)
6:10-15 House (vs. 10)
7:24-30 House (vs. 24)
9:14-27 Multitude (vs. 14)
9:33,39 House (vs. 33)

Luke:

4:33-36 Synagogue (vs. 33)
4:38-41 Simon's house (vs. 38)
6:17-19 Plain (vs. 17)
8:1-3 Every city and village (vs. 1)
8:26-39 Seashore (vs. 26)
9:37-42 Down from the hill (vs. 37)
11:14-22 Synagogue (vs. 15)
13:11-17 Synagogue (vs. 14)

Now, the Teachings of the Master Jesus Christ have always been considered the solid rock for the Children of God to stand on in the midst of the raging sea of materialist delusion, chaos, and strife. It is no less of a solid rock in this area. Actually, as you will see from the following observations, in this subject area we have our attention upon the most important aspect of the Rock of Christ, in terms of understanding the root cause of temptation and slavery, in terms of identifying their operation in our own worlds, and in terms of understanding that we face the all-important opportunity to invoke the Power of Christ unto salvation in the present moment in our efforts to be free from these influences.

What is the Rock of Christ, in real terms, if it is not the Power of Christ extended to us in the here and now, a power that sets us tangibly FREE from all manner of influence and manipulation by the darkside?

And of course, the Master Jesus Christ himself was subject to this demonic influence, wherein he was tempted 40 days, and 40 nights, and he had to prove himself invulnerable to it, before he could proceed with his mission.

Remember, the day will come soon, when high technology sensing systems will be able to peer into the astral plane, exposing these demonic entities for what they are, and the truth of these statements will become common knowledge to all the people of the planet. At that point, people will be able to understand the origin of their most potent delusions, and thus be able to take direct action in cutting off these influences by the Power of Light, which the Master Jesus Christ will gladly send into any and all states of slavery when requested.

However, it must be understood, that the entry point for all demonic influence is in the holding fast to falsehood and error. When an individual harbors a substantial error, for example, that one can have salvation without any effort on their part, the demonic force will defend that falsehood with great force, as it represents an invasion beachhead that they have established upon the shores of the soul, from which they will attempt to march inland to possess the whole country.

One illustration of the fact that this invasion force has already marched for a considerable distance inland, is in the soul's expression of potent degrees of self-hatred and self-condemnation, which indicate the fact that the soul has become trapped under a heavy and oppressive cloud layer, so thick that the soul has lost all faith, and belief, in the reality of the sunshine. The sunshine is God’s Love. And it shines always. However, under this thick cloud layer, the soul can no longer grasp the idea that the Child of God is greatly loved by God the Father. We see the demonic force right there defending its invasion route when we hear expressed through the very mouth of the victim an intransigent desire to REJECT the truth about God’s love for the soul personally, not only refusing to acknowledge self-worth in the sunlight of God’s love, but actively arguing against it.

There is no greater truth than this, God’s Love for the Soul. This is just too obvious that God must love the people of the earth to be putting all of this effort towards their salvation. For this truth to be totally hidden from the eyes of the soul, the demonic force must enter in upon the soul landscape a considerable distance, and produce a very thick cloud layer of delusion over that landscape.

The tangible sense of, and belief in, the principle of personal unworthiness before God, indicates the presence of a demonically established cloud cover which is designed to eventually suffocate the soul unto death.

When Jesus Christ spoke of setting the captives free, this is what he was talking about. But the captives have to cooperate, in as much as the entry point of demonic influence is the soul’s freewill choice to accept error and falsehood as truth.

This is why it is so important to identify error, and to cast it out. This is why it is so important to make sure our belief structures incorporate, in a balanced manner, ALL the principles which Jesus Christ taught. When we find that we choose one, and reject another, we know that this desire to reject the teaching of Jesus Christ in one area, represents such an invasion beachhead, which the demonic force will vigorously defend, as noted, and we can see this in the fact that the mind of the victim becomes impervious to all reason on a particular point of truth.

I am of course reminded of RcoField’s total rejection (in this post) of the truth that obedience to the Commandments of Christ are a prerequisite unto salvation, a prerequisite unto the inheritance of eternal life, even though the Lord Christ made this very plain, and very clear (see this post).

When we consider, against the bright backdrop of the foregoing principles, the saying of Jesus Christ, “Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” we can better understand what he was getting at. The idea is to clean the house out completely, so there is no allegiance to error whatsoever, and in that state, there is no entry point for the demonic influence. There is only Light, which the demonic force cannot penetrate, as the Light of Christ consumes darkness on contact.

Remember the event where the Master Jesus Christ said to the Apostle Peter, "Get thee behind me Satan." Here the Master is showing us an example wherein his own disciples are subject to the demonic influence. The Apostle Peter has a substantial entry point for this kind of manipulation, wherein, within his soul psychology he still has an allegiance to error, an entry portal through which the demonic force can extend their hands, in a manner of speaking, and place them directly on the steering wheel of his feelings, his thoughts, and his mouth.

From this scripture, we see that the Lord Christ is telling us that Peter has a very long way to go before he becomes invulnerable to the manipulations of the demonic force.

Luke 21:31-34 - "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."

And so too, the Apostle Paul, who said, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” What is it that actively opposes our desire to do what we know is right? It is a projected power of darkness that challenges our determination, and leads us in the opposite direction. St. Paul was bearing witness to the fact that he was vulnerable to this force as well. Of course, his prior history of helping to put Chrirtians to death, could have told us that.

When the Master said, that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, he was speaking to this vulnerability to various degrees of demonic manipulation, where the soul wants to climb a particular mountain (of virtue) but the demonic forces have a chain around the soul’s neck, and can pull the soul into the nearest ditch instead.

Every embodied soul has these vulnerabilities. That is why the world is still said to be ruled by the forces of darkness. The only way out of this predicament is for the soul to reconsecrate itself to the truth, and work with the Master Jesus Christ to anchor a forcefield of Light that can thereafter block the entry of all further temptation.

It is the goal of the Master Jesus Christ to teach the soul anew, how to live completely within the Light, and thus to become, once again, impervious to any further temptations or manipulations by the darkside. And this state of Total Light, which represents an internal state of total consecration to the truth, is the prerequisite unto salvation, for no soul can enter into the heavenly kingdom having any residual allegiances to falsehood, error, and the darkside generally.

In as much as this process of confronting error, and casting it out, is an incremental process, whereby the soul is required to make a conscious choice, one step at a time, we come to appreciate that the process of redemption can be a long and tedious process that may require many lifetimes for those souls who have become so intransigently wed to falsehood and error, as we see in those cultures in the Middle East who cling to hatred as if it were a virtue.

Those that HATE have no hope, in that condition, of ever knowing, through the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, the reality of God’s Love for them personally. The forcefield of hate presents a barrier to the entry of all truth. Truly it is God’s desire to save these souls, and wean them from these deeply held alliances to the darkside, and Jesus Christ is committed to the prospect of victory for them, but it will take time.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Is This Piece of Music a Piece of Common Ground We Can All Share?

Is this piece of music a piece of common ground we can all share? If you think so, please tell me why.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Subject of the End Times and the Telephoto Effect

People who are interested in knowing WHEN the “END TIMES” will come upon us, according to the prophesy of Master Jesus Christ, are more often than not subject to a scriptural telephoto effect, where the object of attention, in this case the “End Times” is not presented within scripture with sufficient reference points to help the reader comprehend the actual distance, in other words, the vast scale of the landscape which actually exists between the current position of the reader, and distant object (the end times) referred to by the Master Jesus.

Being subject to this telephoto effect, and thus not being able to discern the true distance, many sincere and devout people have erred in predicting the coming of the end times in the short term, rather than looking to the long term which would be a much more realistic posture for the mind to take. Why a long term view would be a more realistic posture to adopt, I will briefly explain.

But first, to help the reader get a firm grasp upon what I mean by the “telephoto” effect, I offer this photograph of the Cathedral Group, in the Grand Teton National Park, taken from above and north of Lake Solitude, obviously with a telephoto lens, which makes it APPEAR that these peaks are much closer to the viewing position at Lake Solitude, than they actually are.

The pyramid shaped lower peak structure towards the left side of the frame is Mount Teewinot. The highest peak structure in the frame is the Grand Teton. The lower peak structure directly to the right of the Grand Teton, is Mt. Owen. These three peaks are commonly referred to as the Cathedral Group.

What the viewer needs in terms of fully grasping the true distance between the viewpoint at Lake Solitude, and the Cathedral Group, which appears so close in this photo, is an opportunity to walk the trail along the southern extending Cascade Canyon which separates the two.

The good people at NaturalBornHikers.com have given us a hike-a-long resource that fulfills our needs in this regard superbly. They have documented a hike, with narrative and photos, which begins at the mouth of Paintbrush Canyon, which takes a loop northwest, to the alpine divide that separates Paintbrush Canyon, from Cascade Canyon, down the divide to Lake Solitude, where the above photo was taken, and then southeast along Cascade Canyon with exhilarating views of the Grand Teton peaks along the way. You can really get a sense of their actual distance, when you are in the canyon valley, and have the valley landscape as your foreground perspective.

NaturalBornHikers - Paintbrush Canyon/Cascade Canyon Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

(Use the Hike Narrative and the Photo Gallery in conjunction with each other).

1. Hike Narrative
2. Photo Gallery

After comparing the above photo (which illustrates the classic telephoto effect) with the photos taken during this hike along Cascade Canyon, you will have embedded in your mind an excellent illustration of just how much information the above photo is MISSING. The above photo is beautiful, no doubt about it. But because of the telephoto effect, it is misleading, in terms of the true distance between the viewer and the peaks.

This is exactly the case that we have in scripture, where the Lord Jesus Christ gives us the prophesy of the End Times:

Matthew 24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The terminology used here by the Master Jesus Christ should be taken as those words, carefully chosen, which the minds of the people, at that time, would have the best hope of understanding, and thus passing on in the oral tradition. And those minds had a very limited perspective. Yes, they were victims of the telephoto effect, believing that the object in question, the end times, is much closer, than it actually is.

The truth is, that the end times of which the Master speaks represents an event on a truly universe sized scale. In other words he speaks of the end of the entire physical universe, where the whole thing will be dismantled, and be no more, as there will no longer be a need for it. That is what the end times is all about. God our Father said that he will not strive with flesh and blood forever. That there will be an end point to this striving. That is what the Master Jesus is referring to. The time when God decides he is through striving with flesh and blood, but not just on this planet, but on all the planets throughout the entire physical universe.

How can you communicate this idea, so vast, to people who did not even know, at the time, that they lived on just one of billions and billions of planetary homes revolving around billions and billions of stars, within billions of billions of galaxies? You must use simple language. Today, we can grasp this idea, because of the images given to us by Hubble Space Telescope. Today, we have more of a capacity to think big, as God thinks. (even though the physical universe, as vast as it is, is only a drop in the bucket to Him.)

Now, to understand the End Times, one must first have an accurate grasp of the beginning. For the end can only be the end of what first began. Why are we here, and when did we come here? An important clue is given in the whole of Revelation 12.

Revelation 12

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

This speaks of the Great Rebellion, in very literal terms, where Lucifer drew a third of the stars of heaven (The Children of the Most High God) into a state of rebellion. It speaks of the creation of the physical universe, in allegorical terms, as the "earth", as a rehabilitation institution, into which the rebels where cast, again, for the purpose of redemption. The expanse of the physical universe testifies to the actual numbers of divine souls who were drawn into the rebellion, and whom God our Father was determined, and remains determined, to save.

The “End Times” refers to a time in the long distant future, when all the souls in this (universe sized) institution have been given ample and repeated opportunities to be redeemed. Those souls who have taken advantage of the opportunity, those souls will be saved. Those souls who have rejected the opportunity, those souls will be cast into the Lake of Sacred Fire, to be consumed. No, they will not suffer forever. They will be dead forever after, that is true. But when someone is actually dead, they do not suffer. The capacity to be consciousness is taken away, and that act of taking consciousness itself away from these rebels corresponds to God’s merciful nature. He has no desire to see them suffer eternally. They will simply be put to a final death, as the Lord God has finally determined that there is no conceivable scenario where further opportunity would be of any use whatsoever for these rebels, who cling to their hatreds with fists so clenched, that the bones in their hands, as it were, are literally fused in that posture.

Now, in all truth, it is absolutely impossible to know when this end time will come, as countless numbers of souls are still being processed through the redemption procedures on countless homeworlds in countless solar systems in hundreds of billions of galaxies.

Therefore, it is a fool’s errand to believe one can know when the end will come. It is impossible.

The attention of the soul would be more wisely focused on achieving the goal that the Master Jesus Christ set before each one of us who have obviously been assigned to this rehabilitation institution, as either inmate, or staff, as the requirements for both are the same:

Matthew 5:48 - Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Staff members, in their contact with the cultures of rebellion on this and other planets have themselves, in many cases, become corrupted in the course of their service, and have fallen in step with the traditions of rebellion from which they had first come to set the people free. How does this happen? It begins with falling for the deception that anger and hatred is a virtue. The sense that hatred is a good thing will cut the soul off from the resource of divine guidance, and without the resource of divine guidance, even the staff member will begin following the blind leaders of the blind into the ditch.

Those souls, inmates and staff alike, who have achieved this goal of perfection, as Jesus stated it, will find that when the End Time comes, having worked with the Master Jesus Christ to have every vestige of hatred for God, and rebellion against God removed from their soul psychology, having been persuaded of the wisdom of love and respect and obedience to God, and made the effort to return to those heavenly standards, and made the effort to conform our whole lives to those heavenly standards, even over the course of many lifetimes, that these are the souls who will be “saved”. They can return to their eternal life in the heavenly worlds, having had the opportunity, and taken advantage of the opportunity, to return to a state of total harmony with the standards of the heaven world.

Think about it, and deeply. How can a soul, who has any appetite left for rebellion against God, be allowed to return to the heaven world? It is impossible. The soul that sins, it will die, and keep on dying.

At this end time event, those souls who have refused, over vast stretches of time, to return to the standards of the heaven world in their thoughts, feelings, and behavior, these souls will be assigned to the second death, that is, the permanent form of capital punishment in the heaven world, where the Lord God determines that the soul no longer has any capacity to appreciate heavenly standards.

If anyone should wonder how I know these things, wonder not.

John 14

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

In the mean time, it should be understood, that the entire redemptive process follows the Law of Forgiveness. The teachings of the Master Jesus Christ are clear on this point.

Matthew 18

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Truly, the standard of forgiveness which the Master Jesus Christ admonishes us to uphold, does God our Father uphold in his own behavior infinitely more perfectly. Therefore, those who are not able to wiggle out of the chains of hatred (which is the central form of rebellion against God’s Law,) and the behavior patterns and belief structures predicated thereupon, are forgiven many many times, and therefore, are given many many opportunities to be cranked through the wringer of one physical life after another. Indeed this system of multiple life opportunity is a central feature of this institution.

This is the way that God our Father upholds his standards of perfection and his core identity of love, mercy, and compassion at the same time. Scripture makes it clear that the soul must repent, must learn obedience, must adhere to the standards of heaven. God makes his heavenly standards clear. And there is an ironclad requirement to adhere to them. Yet, he also makes his core nature of love, mercy, and forgiveness clear as well. He gives people opportunity to make the necessary adjustments.

Therefore, when people have a problem in toeing the line, God our Father will give people many many opportunities to get it right. And in that regard, it would not surprise me in the least, that the End Times which Jesus Christ referred to, would be literally billions of years into the future.

This universe, built originally as a rehabilitation institution in the wake of the Great Rebellion, has existed, thus far, for about 15 billion years. And as you know, it is still expanding. That means that its original purpose for existing, is far from being over.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Friday, May 13, 2011

The River of Life

Life is like a river, which begins on the mountain tops, in the middle of winter, and when the springs come, the crystal streams of childhood descend down the mountain slopes, and they travel through many beautiful mountain meadows, where the many move as one people, joining in the mighty rivers of adult responsibility, all of which finally pour back into the ocean of God.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

God's Love for Us Personally - Some Unfinished Business from the Last Washington Post Faith Blog

(here)

Rcofield, what is the story that INFALLIBLE scripture tells us about God’s love for you personally? Please do a review of this subject, and please explain the reason for your silence on this subject thus far. And please address the implications associated with this interesting scenario, where you appear to harbor, as a Baptist Minister, a belief structure, that is at odds with the central teaching in scripture regarding God's Love.

For example, your statement:

Rcofied: “I know enough of my own sinfulness to understand that I could never be a worthy object of the sacrificial death of the spotless Lamb of God. If I were worthy of salvation it would not be exclusively a work of God's grace. (Eph. 2:8-10) I am counted worthy of eternal life exclusively on the ground of Christ's justifying work of redemption.”

Appears to directly contradict this key teaching:

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

This teaching tells us that the Love of God for the people in this world, pre-existed the sacrifice of the Lamb. In other words, the sacrifice of the Lamb, was made possible only because God loved the people of this world. The love came first, the sacrifice came second. If God did not love the people in this world first, there would have been no sacrifice of the Lamb.

For God our Father to have love for the soul, even in the fallen condition, tells us that He sees value in that soul. By definition, to love is to see value. And scripture tells us that God loved the people of this world, and therefore, saw value in the people of this world, so much so, that he would send his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring us home.

When you say:

“I am counted worthy of eternal life exclusively on the ground of Christ's justifying work of redemption.”

This appears to be in error. In fact the above scripture makes it clear that you are counted worthy of (returning to) eternal life, because God loves you, and loved you prior to the mission of Jesus Christ. That is where your worth is, in God’s love for you.

And so, I would repeat my previous statement:

“if you accept the premise that it is the desire of God your Father to return you to the full stature of the Divine and Heavenly Identity which was yours before the Fall, and that it is the mission of the Master Jesus Christ to work with you to bring about this reunion with your prior Golden Identity, you can see, then, that one category of dirty garments that must be stripped off and thrown aside, are all ideas and feelings of unworthiness.”

The first step in throwing away the garments of unworthiness is to stop clinging to them, as if they defined who you are. Actually, against this bright backdrop of the Truth of God’s Love, all ideas and feelings of unworthiness are exposed to be patterns of falsehood.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Obedience to the Commandments of God And Obedience to the Commandments of Christ are the Requirements Unto Salvation

Amongst some members of the Christian Community, there is an (erroneous) belief entertained, and even celebrated with some amount of pomp and circumstance, that salvation is a Gift of God given to those who can form with their lips, these words, “I believe in Jesus Christ,” and that there is not any other requirement whatsoever, nor any further effort required by them to receive the greatest treasure God has to give, which is, freedom from this world of pain and suffering, and a guarantee of eternal life in the heaven worlds, indeed a paradise existence forevermore.

Of course it is true, that the Master Jesus Christ never taught any such thing. And scripture, which is, as a general rule, infallible, proves that he never taught any such thing.

For example, we have the words of the Master Jesus Christ, set forth clearly in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19, verses 16 through 26, which lays down the requirements that every soul must meet to gain the Gift of Salvation.

Matthew 19

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

The Master Jesus was asked a straight question: ” ... what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

Make note of this fact, that the Master did not respond to this question with the word “NOTHING.”

He said, “Keep the Commandments”

But that’s not all. He set forth the requirement of perfection itself, when he said to the young man, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

(It should be noted that the theme of perfection, as a requirement unto salvation, is spoken of elsewhere by the Master. For example, in Matthew 5:48 we read, “Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”)

Obedience to the Commandments of God are the foundation for salvation. These are the first order requirements. Added to that foundation, is the following of the Master Jesus Christ, which infers the obedience to, and the living of the commandments that he set before the people. These are the second order requirements.

The Master indicated how difficult this really was. Indeed this is no easy task. The message here is that salvation requires a substantial level of sacrifice, a level of sacrifice that this young man was not ready to make.

Because this young man was not ready to make the sacrifice required, does that make a dead letter out of the requirements that the Master Jesus Christ set before him?

Of course not. If such were the case, nothing in the Master’s teaching would be of any effect, if the people simply did not want to follow his teaching. But his teaching stands as the Word of God to us concerning what is true, whether people like it or not. In the above scripture, the requirements unto salvation are set forth clearly.

When the Master said, “ ... With men [foregoing the riches and enticements of this world] is impossible; but with God all things are possible. he was referring indirectly to the principle of reincarnation, that with God it is possible to give the person time and additional opportunity, where God our Father would work with the precious soul, and bring that soul to the point of development where the heart had acquired the courage to make the necessary sacrifices. For many people, they do not have this courage at the present moment. But over time this courage can be acquired as the example of the Apostles themselves indicate. For example, over many lifetimes, God had worked with the twelve Apostles, helping them to make their hearts both sensitive to the truth, and filled with the necessary courage, to drop everything, and to follow the Master Jesus Christ, when he said to them simply, “follow me.”

Their hearts were not filled with contrary voices at that point. They were not thinking to themselves, what about this, and what about that. Their hearts told them that this was the way to go, to follow the Master, and all things would work out unto perfection for them. It takes time and effort, working with God, to clear the heart of the contrary voices, and have living therein, only one theme generally, and that is the desire to do the Will of God when the opportunity arises.

Yes, a heart cleared of the contrary voices, is the fundamental prerequisite unto salvation, as one cannot take into heaven a heart filled with contrary voices.

This essentially is the requirement that must be fulfilled unto salvation. That the soul must work with God in the transformation of the heart, where human priorities are incrementally replaced with divine priorities. When this occurs, only then can the soul be saved, i.e. returned to its original divine estate in the heaven worlds. This is a long process, and it requires many lifetimes.

Monday, May 2, 2011

John 14:12 - The Teaching of Jesus Christ Regarding the Miracle Potential Within Every Man and Woman

Part 1

Rcofield says, “the question is not whether [Jesus] has the power and authority to [empower his disciples to walk on water] but whether or not [John] 14:12 has anything whatsoever to do with performing miracles. You are simply assuming that it does. You have yet to prove exegetically that it does, and that burden of proof still rests squarely on you.”

It is not difficult to explain why the reference to “works” in John 14:12 refers to the many miracles for which the Master Jesus Christ was known.

I would begin by pointing out that it is commonly held to be true, as a matter of common sense, that when the Master Jesus Christ is speaking of his “works” he is speaking of those works that testify to the Power of God the Father in him. These divine works illustrate the ability of the Power of God the Father to enter into this (material) world, and to manifest itself in ways beyond what would be considered the average experience framework of mortal man.

Here is a fairly complete list of the miracle works of Jesus Christ, accomplished by the Power of God the Father in Him:

1. Changing water into wine.

2. Healing of the royal official's son.

3. Healing of a man possessed by a demon in Capernaum.

4. Healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law.

5. Healing the sick during the evening.

6. Catching a large number of fish.

7. Healing a leper.

8. Healing a centurion's servant.

9. Healing a paralyzed man.

10. Healing a withered hand.

11. Raising a widow's son.

12. Calming the stormy sea.

13. Healing the Gerasene demon-possessed man.

14. Healing a woman with internal bleeding.

15. Raising Jairus' daughter.

16. Healing two blind men.

17. Healing a mute man possessed by a demon.

18. Healing a man who was crippled for 38 years.

19. Feeding 5000 men and their families.

20. Walking on water.

21. Healing of many in Gennesaret.

22. Healing a demon-possessed girl.

23. Healing a deaf man with a speech impediment.

24. Feeding the 4000 men and their families.

25. Healing a blind man in Bethsaida.

26. Healing a man born blind.

27. Healing a boy possessed by a demon.

28. Catching a fish with a coin in its mouth.

29. Healing a blind and mute man who was possessed by a demon.

30. Healing a woman with an 18 year infirmity.

31. Healing a man with dropsy.

32. Healing 10 men suffering from leprosy.

33. Bringing Lazarus back to life.

34. Healing Bartimaeus of blindness.

35. The withering fig tree that produced no fruit.

36. Restoring a severed ear.

37. Catching of the 153 fish.

(Source)

At the source page, each one of these items links to a short explanation with scriptural references.

Part 2

Regarding these miracle works, a review of scripture makes clear, that when the Master Jesus Christ himself referred to his own works, he was referring to the miracle works that he performed, which proved by example and illustration, that the Power of God the Father was acting through him. In other words, these miracle works were accomplished for this central purpose, that the people would know that the Power of God the Father was working through him.
For example, in this situation where the Jews were asking Jesus if he was the Christ or not ...

John 10:24-25 - “The Jews therefore came round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou hold us in suspense? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my Father`s name, these bear witness of me.”

Wherein these Jews were about to stone him, he referred to his works again:

John 10:32 - ”Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?”

And he referred to his works again ...

John 10:37-38 - ”If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

(In the New International Version, the second reference to “works” is translated as “miracles.”)

The last passage makes it clear, that the Lord Christ was speaking of those works, which are defined as miracles, which only the Power of God the Father could perform.

This theme is underscored and highlighted in the situation where the Master Jesus is speaking to the two disciples of John the Baptist, in Matthew 11. Here the Master ties together directly, his works as the miracles he wants people to know about.

Matthew 11:2-6 - ”Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”

When the two disciples of John the Baptist departed, Jesus continued to speak to the multitudes, about John the Baptist, referring to his capacity to understand the portent of the works that Jesus did, and moreover, explaining the destructive fate awaiting those who do not recognize the meaning of the miracles that he performed, which he referred to as “mighty works.”

Matthew 11:20 - “Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:”

The Master is telling us here, that the works were meant to get the people’s attention, and to help them to believe.

Matthew 11:21-22 - ”Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.”

Matthew 11:23-24 - ”And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”

Part 3

And the Master Jesus Christ made the same case, more or less, to his own disciples:

John 14:10-11 - ”Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works` sake.”

And this of course is a crucial piece of scripture, because the all important promise follows thereafter, in John 14:12 ...

John 14:12 - “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.”

The term “works” as Jesus Christ used the word in John 14:12, refers to the “works” that the Father did through him, works that were intended to illustrate this point, that Jesus was in the Father, and the Father was in him. Only the works that were extraordinary, which are defined as miracles, fit into this category. These are the only kinds of works that prove that the Power of God the Father is acting directly in the world, through Jesus Christ.

And this points to the essence of the promise made in John 14:12, that those who believe on Jesus Christ, through them, will the works of the Father also manifest.

This is the promise, and the reality check, if you will. If the works of the Father do manifest through the disciple, the belief structure of that disciple represents the structure of truth to which the Lord Christ refers. If the works of the Father do not manifest through the disciple, the belief structure of that disciple is not the structure of truth to which the Lord Christ refers.

Of course the performance of these “works” is not without a purpose, as noted above. The works are intended to brand the mind with a powerful truth which will assist the soul in adopting the posture of repentance. The works and the purpose they are intended to fulfill, are always inseparable. Therefore, for the disciple to manifest these works, that disciple must occupy a commensurate framework of Holy Purpose.

Part 4

Remember at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Lord God gave to the people what we might consider a new commandment, “Hear ye Him.”

Matthew 17:5 - “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

The capacity to perform these works was given by God our Father to the Master Jesus for at least this purpose, to prove to the people that he came from God, and to encourage them to hear his words.

Therefore, when a disciple gets to the point where these works are manifest in his life, it will be true of that disciple as well, that the capacity to do the works, is given for the purpose of encouraging people to listen to him, as he now has something truly valuable to say. Obviously, Jesus empowered the original apostles for this very reason, that he wanted the people to listen to what they had to say.

On the other side of the coin, when we have Christians who cannot do these works, we have individuals to whom God our Father does not want to draw the attention of the people, as their words are yet still filled with errors.

When we look around, and see, that there is no one in the entire Christian community, that is able to do these works, we can conclude, that they have not reached that point of spiritual development, where they have something truly valuable to say. And this is in line with the aforementioned principle, wherein, to do the works that Jesus did, one must adopt the belief structure that Jesus Chris was referring to. If one cannot do these works, they have not the right belief structure, and thus, they have not anything truly valuable to say, at least in the sense that God our Father will not draw the level of attention to them, that is associated with the capacity to do these works.

Thus, the path to the accomplishment of the works that Jesus Christ promised that we would do, is the path of the refinement of our belief structures, so that when the capacity to do these works is bestowed, what we say to the people then, will work towards their own freedom, and not further slavery to the delusions of human pride, for which too much of Christian Doctrine has become a vehicle.

Thus, to BELIEVE in the promise that the Master made in John 14:12, and to seek to fulfill that promise, by seeking to learn how to do these works, we see that this path must and will invoke the mentorship of the Master Jesus Christ himself, who will teach that disciple what is the belief structure of truth that is the prerequisite, as the Master notes, to the doing of these works.

Yes, John 14:12 embodies the gateway principle to the Teaching of Jesus Christ Regarding the Miracle Potential Within Every Man and Woman. All men and women have the capacity to do the works that Jesus Christ did, having the same capacity to have the Power of God the Father operate in them, as it did in Jesus Christ Himself. As you can see, there are no cultural restrictions, no race restrictions, no gender restrictions. The only requirement is in the anchoring of the belief structure to which the Master Jesus refers when he says, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also ... “ and so forth.

Part 5

I would end this exposition on the Teaching of Jesus Christ Regarding the Miracle Potential Within Every Man and Woman, with the story of the Apostle Peter walking on the water. It proves the point, that Peter, who was only a fisherman, and certainly nobody special, had the miracle working potential within him, and the Master Jesus Christ had the power to bring that potential alive.

Matthew 14:22-33

22 And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away.
23 And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone.
24 But the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking upon the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters.
29 And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were gone up into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And they that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Summary

Rcofield says, “the question is not whether [Jesus] has the power and authority to [empower his disciples to walk on water] but whether or not [John] 14:12 has anything whatsoever to do with performing miracles. You are simply assuming that it does. You have yet to prove exegetically that it does, and that burden of proof still rests squarely on you.”

As you can see, RcoField, my conclusion is far more than an assumption. The words of Jesus Christ himself, in many places, proves beyond any shadow of a doubt, that his reference to his own "works" in John 14:12, encompasses the whole range of miracle works that he accomplished. The works that were paramount in his mind, were always those works which illustrated the working of God the Father in him.

The promise of Jesus Christ is this, that those who understand what it means to believe on him, they will accomplish the same miracle works that he accomplished, and greater miracle works than these. This is the PROMISE of the Lord Christ, that just as God the Father could work through Jesus Christ to accomplish many wondrous works, so too, can God the Father work through all of us to accomplish these same works. Clearly it is the desire of the Master Jesus Christ to show us how this is done. He would have never made that promise if it were not so.