Summary of the gospel of grace from preterist-universalist and mystical perspectives

Here is a summary of the preterist-universalist view of the gospel of grace that I have been learning about the past couple of years, though my mindset has continued to evolve from this view some time last year to embrace a more metaphysical view, that includes gnostic or mystical aspects (such as interpreting God as our highest self, rather than a separate entity).

"Hell" can mean grave (Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek), which also has a metaphorical meaning of "hidden". So hell/hades can symbolise ignorance or amnesia (of our oneness with God, and of our true divine identity).

"Gehenna" - Jesus was referring to the garbage dump in Jerusalem (Ge - valley; henna - Hinnom; the Valley of Hinnom). Metaphorically, it symbolises the condemnation that the Jews experienced in their conscience during the tribulation, because they (mistakenly) thought their "god" was punishing them when the Roman army attacked their city.

The "Last Days", as I understand it, was referring to the end of the Old Covenant Age - the end of the Jewish religious system, the end of the law system. It also symbolises the end of the law mindset (doing in order to become), thereby the end of the separation mindset.

The ministry of reconciliation, as I understand it, is about God (our highest self) reconciling to ourselves through our true identity - Christ Jesus. To me, to be reconciled with God is to be reconciled with our true divine self, with the Universe - there is no more enmity or inner battles or condemnation in our own mind or consciousness - so we are completely at peace with ourselves.

There is no so-called future hell or lake of fire to be saved from. The lake of fire has already happened in AD70. The old identity in Adam (that was attached to external circumstances or performance) has already been done away, and it signified the end of condemnation. The only thing for people today is to awaken to their true identity (in Christ), or as spiritual beings on a human journey.

So that's my view in a nutshell in this stage of my journey. I think even the word "Christ" is not necessary for awakening - it is probably just specific to the Judeo-christian culture in the Middle East. Buddha or Krishna etc will do just fine as well - as long as it is about awakening to our true divine nature of Unconditional Love and Light in every one of us. :)

What the hell is the preacher talking about?

A preacher recently said that heaven and hell are real places, not metaphors. He claimed that Jesus described "hell" as having fires not quenched and worms not dying. He added that if heaven is a metaphor, then where is Jesus' present physical resurrected body today?

Then again, is not Jesus a Master of using parables and metaphors to bring His messages across, especially in the Jewish context? So, what makes one think that one parable is metaphorical and another parable literal?

For example, how can we claim that Jesus' speech about plucking out our eye if it offends us is metaphorical, and at the same time claim that when Jesus' speech about fire that is not quenched and worms that do not die is literal?

So what is my take on the above passage? Well, simply this: Jesus was using metaphors to describe the "condemnation of gehenna" experienced in the conscience of the unbelieving Jews during the destruction of the Jerusalem in AD70. And nope, Jesus' resurrected body isn't in a place called heaven - He is living in each of us. It is called "Christ in you, the hope of glory". We are all already seated together with Christ in the heavenly places, right here right now.

Those who preach the doctrines of hell continue to terrorize the minds of little children on a daily basis, and tragically, these preachers will continue to get away with abusing the minds and lives of impressionable little children until we stop the abusers. ~ Michael W. Jones

Resource links:
Jesus' teaching on hell (Tentmaker)
Bible Threatenings Explained (Tentmaker)
Are heaven and hell real places? Where is Jesus’ body today?

Salvation is for the Here and Now, Not One Day after We Die

The gospel of grace and peace proclaims that God has reconciled all things to Himself through Jesus’ finished work at the cross. (Colossians 1:20) Now that we know that all humankind has been reconciled to God, some questions may arise among those who have grown up in traditional or evangelical church teachings, such as:

• Does that mean there is no need for faith in Jesus?
• Is there still a need to preach the gospel?
• What about those who don’t believe the gospel?
• What exactly are we saved from?

The post below seeks to address these questions, and more.
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According to the gospel, Christ has been made unto us from God wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption. By one man’s obedience, all has been made righteous. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We all are included in His redemption. We are redeemed from the curse of sickness, lack, identity crisis, low self-esteem, guilt and shame, etc.

I believe salvation is for the soul (mind, will and emotions), so faith in Jesus is necessary. (Hebrews 10:39; James 1:21) When we believe the good news that we are righteous and accepted by God who has never forsaken us from the beginning, we will experience peace for our conscience and healing for our mind and emotions. We begin to live life with hope and expectancy of good things to come, and enjoy the divine dance with our loving God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is within us, and Christ in us is the hope of glory.

When someone dies without believing in  Jesus or having heard about Him, s/he will still be with God, for the spirit returns to Him who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). S/he will not be in a place called “hell” (which is implied as eternal separation from God or eternal damnation or everlasting punishment or torture). Hell or gehenna as mentioned in the gospel accounts refer to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD70 (which was described in the book of Revelations concerning the end of the old covenant age and the establishment of the new covenant world “new heavens and new earth”). Hades is simply grave or a place of the unseen (or ignorance of God’s love and of our true identity, which shall not prevail against the church).

When we proclaim this gospel of grace and peace, we are reminding others of their true identity. They will be awakened to who they really are, and start reigning in life through Jesus Christ. “Much more those who receive abundance of grace and gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One Jesus Christ (not one day after they die)“. (Romans 5:17; words in parentheses are mine) Praise the Lord for the good news. That’s why we continue to preach or proclaim the gospel so that more and more people will know the unconditional love and amazing grace of God, and become established in their true identity, and start to reign in life!

Steve McVey said, “the efficacy of the cross is done, whether we believe it or not. But by rejecting it, our experience will not be what our acceptance would facilitate. It’s the same ‘River of Fire’ (Dan 7:10) – God’s Love – that flows from the throne down upon all of us. To those who believe, it will be the joy of heaven.” I agree that those who believe the good news, it will be the joy of heaven.

As for those who don’t believe the gospel, I believe that it doesn't mean they will end up in a place called "hell" after they die. It simply means that they will not get to enjoy the benefits of salvation that believers enjoy while they are alive, which includes peace for the conscience, divine healing, freedom from guilt and condemnation, etc.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve became afraid of God after they disobeyed Him in the garden of Eden, but it wasn’t God’s love that caused them to distance themselves from Him because He draws people to Himself with lovingkindness. Rather, it’s the fallen human mindset that blinds people to see the reality of God’s love, and hence Jesus has come to show us how good and loving God really is. This good news of knowing how much God loves us will help to build our consciousness of God as our loving Father. In fact, our God is a triune God – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is in constant fellowship with us because He is a relational being, not a legalistic judge or book-keeper.

In conclusion, salvation is for the here and now, not one day in the future. “Behold, now is the accepted time (of favour); behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Jesus came to save us from the Adamic curse of living a performance-based life marked by stress, guilt and condemnation, that we might live the abundant life freely and lightly, flowing with the unforced rhythm of grace (unmerited favour), where He works miracles among us by the hearing of faith (about our right standing with God).

The Meaning of "Salvation" Depends on Context in which It Appears in the Bible

Someone has asked a question which I’ve also been thinking about lately: “Other than being saved from the destruction of Jerusalem, is there anything that the 1st century believers were saved from?”

Since salvation (‘soteria’ in Greek) means wholeness, health, deliverance, preservation and prosperity (in spirit, soul and body), I think salvation includes healing, provisions, etc.

For example, after Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus, he went on to say that there is no other name except Jesus by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12), the context was healing.

Another example: When the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years was healed after touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, Jesus told her “Daughter, be of good comfort, Your faith has saved you.” The Greek word ‘sozo’ (saves) means healing in that context. So yea, salvation includes healing.

Related Post:
“Created for His Pleasure!” by Jath van der Westhuizen

Matthew 23:33 What is the "Condemnation of Hell" that Jesus was Warning the Pharisees about?

Around AD30, several days before His crucifixion, Jesus warned the Pharisees about the impending destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in Israel.

Among other things, Jesus said, "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?" He continued to tell them, "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." (Matthew 23:33-36)

What was Jesus referring to when He warned the Pharisees about the "condemnation of hell"? I think it is important for us to understand Jesus' words in the proper context because mainstream or evangelical christianity has been using the term 'hell' loosely to refer to a physical place in the afterlife, reserved for unbelievers and sinners, to be burnt and tortured for eternity. This misunderstanding only serves to misrepresent God, painting Him as a petty and tyrannical judge who is far worse than an errant parent on earth.

The Greek word for "hell" in the above passage is "gehenna", which refers to the "garbage dump in Jerusalem that burns for a period of time". It is an allusion to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem that would take place in AD70. My understanding is that Jesus had warned the Pharisees about the condemnation of gehenna in the last days. (Matthew 23:33)

While the law ended at the cross, the Pharisees didn't believe that, and had a 40-year grace period to repent (change their mind and believe the good news of grace). The old covenant officially ended in AD70, with the destruction of the temple, and there would be no more sacrificial system. 

The Pharisees probably experienced condemnation in their minds or in their conscience, thinking that it was the end of the world for them, and mistakenly thought God was punishing them. I think that was the gehenna Jesus was warning them about. The judgment was in their mind, but God wasn't the one judging them - their own conscience judged them. (Matt 12:36) They experienced the second death by coming to the end of themselves. Without the physical temple, there were no more opportunities for them (if any survived the seige) to depend on sacrifices or rituals to make themselves righteous. That's my understanding for now.

How do we know the old covenant had passed away?

We read in Hebrews 8:13 "In that He says, 'A new covenant', He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." The author was telling the Hebrews that the old covenant was ready to vanish away. The book of Hebrews was said to be written around AD63-64. It would only be a few more years before the old covenant age would finally end in AD70, ushering the new covenant age, in which we all are living today.

It was a revelation to me when I realised that Jesus' reference to gehenna was addressed to the unbelieving Pharisees, which they would experience in their conscience when they mistakenly thought that there was no more opportunity to get close to God or to be right with God, when the temple crumbled before their eyes. It must have been a huge shock and disappointment for them - they would certainly have felt lost and completely alienated from God because they and their previous generations had been so dependent on their religious performance and rituals and the animal sacrificial system in the temple for the past hundreds of years in order to be righteous or to connect with God (or so they thought). Hence, Jesus had been telling them to repent (change their mind and believe the good news that the kingdom of God was already within them, not outside of them), in order to escape the condemnation of gehenna (in their conscience).

(This post is based on a discussion thread about preterism in Facebook.)