Over the years I have come to understand that intellectual blindness/ignorance is a wilful choice. Most of us choose to remain blind/ignorant in certain areas of our life. I do not refer to this in a demeaning manner, but as a simple observation. I am just sa guilty of this and still am. This isn't seen any more clearly than in the gender issues going on today. But, that isn't what this is about. This is about Christianity and what we have been led to believe and still choose to believe. If you've read any of my other posts, you've probably noticed that I don't conform to the current theological understanding of salvation. However, you should've also noticed that I don't just use scripture to back up what I'm saying, but I also try and explain why in a logical and common sense manner the reasons I believe what I believe.
What do I mean that I don't conform to current theological understanding of salvation? I mean that I believe it to be incorrect. I'm not saying we can't be saved by believing what we currently believe. But, we could definitely have a far greater acceptance of Christianity, and as a result, a far greater number of people receiving salvation.
Yes, I am well aware that Jesus said "Everyone will hate you because of me" Luke 21:17. We like to use this in defence of why we are so hated. The problem is, today, most people outside the scope of any religion don't even know who Jesus is. The problem isn't Jesus, the problem is our lack of love which, ultimately, stems from incorrect theology.
Lets go back to the fall of Adam. One of the first core beliefs we learned was that physical/human death came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. Which ultimately leads to the belief that Jesus' physical death on the cross paid for the sins of the world. We then choose to ignore all the contradictions and holes this leaves us in scripture. So instead, we focus on sin as being the main problem. In fact, coming in a close second to Jesus dying for our sins, dealing with our sins is the next main focus of Christianity and therefore, should be the focus of the rest of the world too.
Human death did not enter the world through Adam's sin. Death was a natural part of human life right from the start. Hence, the tree of life and the commandment to eat from it, Gen 2:16-17. Why would I choose to believe something that appears to contradict Rom 5:12? There are many reasons, but I'll focus on just two.
First, evil only produces more evil. If death came through sin, then death also must be an evil. Yet, death is always used in the forgiveness of sins. Seems rather contradictory to the character of God for him to use evil to forgive evil. Second, is the fact that the tree of life is able to give everlasting life to a sinner, Gen 3:22. Lets say, for example, you came into possession of a new drug capable of making someone live forever. You give this drug to a person who is slowly dying and will eventually die from terminal cancer. Except, the drug cannot cure the cancer. What would be the outcome? The man would eventually die. Unless the drug is able to cure any and all potential threats of death, it's rather useless. So, if death is the result of sin, then it would be impossible for the tree of life to give everlasting life to a sinner when their sin will ultimately lead to death.
The death Adam suffered was spiritual death, not physical. And just as important, his spiritual death was the immediate punishment given by God, Rom 6:23, Prov 10:16.
When Paul speaks of sin entering the world through one man and death through sin Rom 5:12, he isn't speaking of the world in a literal sense. He is speaking withing the context of man's relationship with God. We know this because sin was already in the world- The serpent deceiving Eve. The analogy I like to use here is marriage. In a marriage there is no hate, even though the world is full of hate. However, given the right deception, hate could enter into that marriage and destroy it. This is exactly what happened. The serpent deceived man, man sinned, and the relationship with God was destroyed.
There is this concept of original sin which is the idea that we are all guilty of Adam's sin. It's based mostly on Rom 5:12-21 and sometimes Psalm 51:5. We are not guilty of Adam's sin. In fact, sin isn't even the focus of what Paul is peaking of here in Romans 5:12. Paul's focus is on the fact that we are dead as a result of Adam's sin. He says that sin entered the world through one man and through sin 'death,' and death came to all men. Death is what's at issue here, not our sin. He says death came to all men because we were all in Adam, we all come from Adam, and therefore we all suffered death as a result of Adam's sin. This is why our image is now different from that of God's image, Gen 5:3. Spiritual death is what separates us from God, not our sin.
When Adam sinned, God being true to his very nature, had to punish that sin. That punishment was immediate spiritual death. This is extremely important because any sin Adam may have committed after that, the consequences had already taken place. He was already separated from God. And since we all come into the world in the image and likeness of Adam, spiritually dead, our sin isn't the issue here. It's the fact that we are dead and separated from God.
Sin is not a physical issue, it is a spiritual and a moral issue. The spiritual issue deals with our relationship with God, while the moral issue deals with our relationship with our neighbours. I am only focusing on the spiritual issue as it deals with our understanding of salvation.
Now, if we are not guilty because of Adam's sin, would we not still be guilty of our own sin? Yes! Obviously! But again, we are already dead and were dead even before our first sin. So logically, salvation must be the receiving of new spiritual life and not the forgiveness of sins. However, if the wages of sin is spiritual death, then before salvation can even be offered, the punishment for sin must be taken care of or we can never be saved. You see, if you were given new life, but your sins were not forgiven, then you would just die the very next sin you commit. Likewise, if your sins are forgiven, but you are still dead, then you're obviously not saved, which just so happens to be the present state of the unsaved.
In old testament times the high priest would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. To do so he would need to enter into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God, to offer this sacrifice. There was a curtain that separated this room from the rest of the temple. This curtain symbolized the separation between man and God. No one but the high priest, and only once a year, could he enter this room, and only after he himself was cleansed of his own sins. Basically, without being cleansed of his own sins, the high priest could not come into the presence of God to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness for the people. Today, anyone can come to God for salvation. So what changed? Everything has changed, but at the same time nothing has changed.
Everything has changed- At the very moment Christ died on the cross, God tore that temple curtain in two. God did this to show the world that the punishment for sins has been taken care of. As a result, anybody can now come to God for salvation. Jesus, paying the penalty for all sin, satisfied God's just judgment over sin. There is now no longer any penalty for sin to be handed out by God. Jesus took it all. This act brought forgiveness to the entire human race. Simply put, everyone who has come into the world from the cross forward has come into the world already forgiven. But remember, you can be forgiven and still be spiritually dead. That is, forgiven but unsaved.
And nothing has changed- If we need to come to God for salvation first and then we are forgiven, or we must ask to be forgiven before we can be saved, then we are all screwed. If we have not already been forgiven, cleansed of our sins, then no one can approach God for salvation. You cannot ask God to forgive you your sins when you must first be forgiven your sins before you can even approach God for forgiveness. It's a lot like "I cannot get a job because I have no experience, but I have no experience because I can't get a job." As I similarly stated earlier, salvation is not found in getting your sins forgiven. It is found in receiving new life. This new life is found in the resurrection of Jesus, not his death, 1Cor 15:17.
I mentioned that sin is not a physical issue. If it were, then yes, physical death would be the penalty for sin. But, if this were true, then why does our own death not pay the penalty for our own sins? The idea that Christ's physical death paid the penalty for sins is rather silly when you take the time to think about it. Take the worst sin you've ever committed to date. It was paid for at the cross. Take the worst sin every single human to ever exist has committed, collectively, and compare that to yours. Would your worst sin even be considered a drop in the bucket, at that point? Jesus paid for those. Now, take all your sins collectively, and compare that to the collective sins of the entire human race. Again, would yours even be considered a drop in the bucket? Jesus paid for these as well. Okay, now take the thief on the cross beside Jesus, who is being crucified for being a thief. Was the punishment Jesus experienced much worse than what the thief experienced? To some degree, yes. But relatively speaking, the physical punishment Jesus suffered paying for the sins of the entire human race would only amount to possibly God raising an eyebrow, if even that.
Jesus' physical death did not pay for our sins. Sin, in relation to salvation, is a spiritual matter. If the punishment for sin is spiritual death for man, then Jesus would need to suffer the same thing to pay the penalty for man's sin. This is a punishment far worse than anything man could ever dish out, and man can dish out some pretty horrific punishment. For the first time in all of eternity, Jesus world be separated from God. Even the thought of it left Jesus sweating blood while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:44. So, if Jesus' physical death didn't pay for our sins, then why his physical resurrection? Simple. How else was he to prove he was God if not through his physical resurrection?
John 14:6. This single verse is a prime example of why Christianity is so hated. Out of what we think is love, we like to proclaim that Jesus is the only way to God, If you don't believe in Jesus, well... then it sucks to be you. When in reality, we are saying this out of ignorance. The most common response is "What of those who have never heard of Jesus?" My thoughts exactly! What of those who have never heard of Jesus, like Abraham for example, but still they believe in God? Are they also outta luck? If this is what Jesus is meaning, that he is the only way to the father, then him saying "No one comes to the father except through me" assumes there is or was another way to the father. Yet, scripture is clear that there has never been any other way to the father except through faith. It also assumes that Jesus and the father are not the same, John 10:30, and that Jesus is somehow less than the father, John 14:8-11, John 1:1. However, when you take into account the fact that everyone is already forgiven of their sins, this verse then takes on a whole new meaning.
Saying he is 'exclusively' the only way to the father is like me saying that by plane is, exclusively, the only way from LA to Miami. If you do not come by plane, you cannot get to Miami. That would be ridiculous. There are many ways to get from LA to Miami. By plane, automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, walking, train, boat, even a hot-air balloon. Some, obviously, will take far longer than others, but all will get you there. The reason they will all get you there is because whatever mode of transpertation you choose to take, they all have one thing in common. They are all forms of travel.
Jesus is saying however you choose to come to the father, regardless if it's believing in him or if you've never even heard of him, it will have been through him. Because he paid for the sins of the world, anyone can now come to God for salvation. Therefore, anyone who does, they will have come through/by Jesus regardless of what mode of travel they chose.
There is so much more I would like to say regarding our salvation, but I'm thinking this is already far too long a read. So, I will just leave it at that. I hope this helps you in your understanding with regards to salvation.
What do I mean that I don't conform to current theological understanding of salvation? I mean that I believe it to be incorrect. I'm not saying we can't be saved by believing what we currently believe. But, we could definitely have a far greater acceptance of Christianity, and as a result, a far greater number of people receiving salvation.
Yes, I am well aware that Jesus said "Everyone will hate you because of me" Luke 21:17. We like to use this in defence of why we are so hated. The problem is, today, most people outside the scope of any religion don't even know who Jesus is. The problem isn't Jesus, the problem is our lack of love which, ultimately, stems from incorrect theology.
Lets go back to the fall of Adam. One of the first core beliefs we learned was that physical/human death came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. Which ultimately leads to the belief that Jesus' physical death on the cross paid for the sins of the world. We then choose to ignore all the contradictions and holes this leaves us in scripture. So instead, we focus on sin as being the main problem. In fact, coming in a close second to Jesus dying for our sins, dealing with our sins is the next main focus of Christianity and therefore, should be the focus of the rest of the world too.
Human death did not enter the world through Adam's sin. Death was a natural part of human life right from the start. Hence, the tree of life and the commandment to eat from it, Gen 2:16-17. Why would I choose to believe something that appears to contradict Rom 5:12? There are many reasons, but I'll focus on just two.
First, evil only produces more evil. If death came through sin, then death also must be an evil. Yet, death is always used in the forgiveness of sins. Seems rather contradictory to the character of God for him to use evil to forgive evil. Second, is the fact that the tree of life is able to give everlasting life to a sinner, Gen 3:22. Lets say, for example, you came into possession of a new drug capable of making someone live forever. You give this drug to a person who is slowly dying and will eventually die from terminal cancer. Except, the drug cannot cure the cancer. What would be the outcome? The man would eventually die. Unless the drug is able to cure any and all potential threats of death, it's rather useless. So, if death is the result of sin, then it would be impossible for the tree of life to give everlasting life to a sinner when their sin will ultimately lead to death.
The death Adam suffered was spiritual death, not physical. And just as important, his spiritual death was the immediate punishment given by God, Rom 6:23, Prov 10:16.
When Paul speaks of sin entering the world through one man and death through sin Rom 5:12, he isn't speaking of the world in a literal sense. He is speaking withing the context of man's relationship with God. We know this because sin was already in the world- The serpent deceiving Eve. The analogy I like to use here is marriage. In a marriage there is no hate, even though the world is full of hate. However, given the right deception, hate could enter into that marriage and destroy it. This is exactly what happened. The serpent deceived man, man sinned, and the relationship with God was destroyed.
There is this concept of original sin which is the idea that we are all guilty of Adam's sin. It's based mostly on Rom 5:12-21 and sometimes Psalm 51:5. We are not guilty of Adam's sin. In fact, sin isn't even the focus of what Paul is peaking of here in Romans 5:12. Paul's focus is on the fact that we are dead as a result of Adam's sin. He says that sin entered the world through one man and through sin 'death,' and death came to all men. Death is what's at issue here, not our sin. He says death came to all men because we were all in Adam, we all come from Adam, and therefore we all suffered death as a result of Adam's sin. This is why our image is now different from that of God's image, Gen 5:3. Spiritual death is what separates us from God, not our sin.
When Adam sinned, God being true to his very nature, had to punish that sin. That punishment was immediate spiritual death. This is extremely important because any sin Adam may have committed after that, the consequences had already taken place. He was already separated from God. And since we all come into the world in the image and likeness of Adam, spiritually dead, our sin isn't the issue here. It's the fact that we are dead and separated from God.
Sin is not a physical issue, it is a spiritual and a moral issue. The spiritual issue deals with our relationship with God, while the moral issue deals with our relationship with our neighbours. I am only focusing on the spiritual issue as it deals with our understanding of salvation.
Now, if we are not guilty because of Adam's sin, would we not still be guilty of our own sin? Yes! Obviously! But again, we are already dead and were dead even before our first sin. So logically, salvation must be the receiving of new spiritual life and not the forgiveness of sins. However, if the wages of sin is spiritual death, then before salvation can even be offered, the punishment for sin must be taken care of or we can never be saved. You see, if you were given new life, but your sins were not forgiven, then you would just die the very next sin you commit. Likewise, if your sins are forgiven, but you are still dead, then you're obviously not saved, which just so happens to be the present state of the unsaved.
In old testament times the high priest would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. To do so he would need to enter into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God, to offer this sacrifice. There was a curtain that separated this room from the rest of the temple. This curtain symbolized the separation between man and God. No one but the high priest, and only once a year, could he enter this room, and only after he himself was cleansed of his own sins. Basically, without being cleansed of his own sins, the high priest could not come into the presence of God to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness for the people. Today, anyone can come to God for salvation. So what changed? Everything has changed, but at the same time nothing has changed.
Everything has changed- At the very moment Christ died on the cross, God tore that temple curtain in two. God did this to show the world that the punishment for sins has been taken care of. As a result, anybody can now come to God for salvation. Jesus, paying the penalty for all sin, satisfied God's just judgment over sin. There is now no longer any penalty for sin to be handed out by God. Jesus took it all. This act brought forgiveness to the entire human race. Simply put, everyone who has come into the world from the cross forward has come into the world already forgiven. But remember, you can be forgiven and still be spiritually dead. That is, forgiven but unsaved.
And nothing has changed- If we need to come to God for salvation first and then we are forgiven, or we must ask to be forgiven before we can be saved, then we are all screwed. If we have not already been forgiven, cleansed of our sins, then no one can approach God for salvation. You cannot ask God to forgive you your sins when you must first be forgiven your sins before you can even approach God for forgiveness. It's a lot like "I cannot get a job because I have no experience, but I have no experience because I can't get a job." As I similarly stated earlier, salvation is not found in getting your sins forgiven. It is found in receiving new life. This new life is found in the resurrection of Jesus, not his death, 1Cor 15:17.
I mentioned that sin is not a physical issue. If it were, then yes, physical death would be the penalty for sin. But, if this were true, then why does our own death not pay the penalty for our own sins? The idea that Christ's physical death paid the penalty for sins is rather silly when you take the time to think about it. Take the worst sin you've ever committed to date. It was paid for at the cross. Take the worst sin every single human to ever exist has committed, collectively, and compare that to yours. Would your worst sin even be considered a drop in the bucket, at that point? Jesus paid for those. Now, take all your sins collectively, and compare that to the collective sins of the entire human race. Again, would yours even be considered a drop in the bucket? Jesus paid for these as well. Okay, now take the thief on the cross beside Jesus, who is being crucified for being a thief. Was the punishment Jesus experienced much worse than what the thief experienced? To some degree, yes. But relatively speaking, the physical punishment Jesus suffered paying for the sins of the entire human race would only amount to possibly God raising an eyebrow, if even that.
Jesus' physical death did not pay for our sins. Sin, in relation to salvation, is a spiritual matter. If the punishment for sin is spiritual death for man, then Jesus would need to suffer the same thing to pay the penalty for man's sin. This is a punishment far worse than anything man could ever dish out, and man can dish out some pretty horrific punishment. For the first time in all of eternity, Jesus world be separated from God. Even the thought of it left Jesus sweating blood while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:44. So, if Jesus' physical death didn't pay for our sins, then why his physical resurrection? Simple. How else was he to prove he was God if not through his physical resurrection?
John 14:6. This single verse is a prime example of why Christianity is so hated. Out of what we think is love, we like to proclaim that Jesus is the only way to God, If you don't believe in Jesus, well... then it sucks to be you. When in reality, we are saying this out of ignorance. The most common response is "What of those who have never heard of Jesus?" My thoughts exactly! What of those who have never heard of Jesus, like Abraham for example, but still they believe in God? Are they also outta luck? If this is what Jesus is meaning, that he is the only way to the father, then him saying "No one comes to the father except through me" assumes there is or was another way to the father. Yet, scripture is clear that there has never been any other way to the father except through faith. It also assumes that Jesus and the father are not the same, John 10:30, and that Jesus is somehow less than the father, John 14:8-11, John 1:1. However, when you take into account the fact that everyone is already forgiven of their sins, this verse then takes on a whole new meaning.
Saying he is 'exclusively' the only way to the father is like me saying that by plane is, exclusively, the only way from LA to Miami. If you do not come by plane, you cannot get to Miami. That would be ridiculous. There are many ways to get from LA to Miami. By plane, automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, walking, train, boat, even a hot-air balloon. Some, obviously, will take far longer than others, but all will get you there. The reason they will all get you there is because whatever mode of transpertation you choose to take, they all have one thing in common. They are all forms of travel.
Jesus is saying however you choose to come to the father, regardless if it's believing in him or if you've never even heard of him, it will have been through him. Because he paid for the sins of the world, anyone can now come to God for salvation. Therefore, anyone who does, they will have come through/by Jesus regardless of what mode of travel they chose.
There is so much more I would like to say regarding our salvation, but I'm thinking this is already far too long a read. So, I will just leave it at that. I hope this helps you in your understanding with regards to salvation.
