Love does not require a sacrifice on the cross because Love simply forgives

 I think somebody will appreciate the invitation to think out of the box (tradition). Let's consider these questions.

Why would 'you' need grace from a God that is love? WHEN would LOVE have ever stopped loving? Are you sure that you have a clear understanding of what grace is all about? Love would simply forgive! NOT require a son on a cross!

These questions raise a pertinent point about grace because "grace" has often been used in a legalistic way in the christian circles. To some preachers, grace is like having a transaction with God, such as "God gives us his grace only when we give God our faith" or "God needs to punish Jesus to fulfill the law in order to give us his grace and forgiveness". That is not grace; that is legalism disguised as grace because the law is always conditional whereas grace is always unconditional.

Teachings that represent God/Jesus as a vindictive and vengeful divinity are actually anti-Christ because revenge and retribution are against his loving, gracious and non-violent nature. Jesus himself taught people not to return an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, but to love their enemies. It is amazing to think how much the mainstream christian teachings that propagate a picture of a judgmental and vengeful Jesus have the gospel upside down that is contrary to his true nature.

The cross simply demonstrates Jesus' love, compassion and forgiveness. He had said "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". If he had wanted revenge, he would have said something that was condemning.

Since God is love, and love keeps no records of wrong, then it does not make any sense for God to punish or require a sacrifice to atone for people’s wrongs. The “atonement for sin” theology therefore is man’s theology. I think Jesus came to help people repent (change their mindset) about God – that the idea of “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is not compatible with God’s love (which keeps no records of wrong), and that God’s heart is to love one’s enemies. He also came to show us that we are already innocent and perfect/complete, for the kingdom of God (innocence/righteousness, peace and joy) is within each of us.

This also answers the question “If God doesn’t require sacrifice for “sins”, then why did Jesus die on the cross?” because Jesus’ suffering and death was to demonstrate what Jesus himself taught in the sermon on the mount – he did not return an eye for an eye when he was beaten, and instead he blessed those who cursed him, and prayed for those who persecuted him. The cross is a demonstration of the love of God which keeps no records of wrong, and not to atone for so-called sins (which man-made religions have mistakenly taught).

I believe there are people who will appreciate the invitation to think out of the box and question religious traditions, so as to find their own freedom from any kind of bondage of fear and condemnation imposed by organised religions, and experience peace within themselves and with others.

Related posts

Once you start seeing The Love of God, Hell Won’t Make Sense ~Dr. Michel W. Jones
Progressive thoughts on why Jesus died on the cross and whether God’s justice is retributive or restorative

"Doomsday was never God's idea"

"Doomsday was never God's idea; it is a doctrine invented by religion to distract from the powerful message of the cross
Religion cannot bear the thought of an innocent world
That would make them lose both their power and their income"
- Francois Du Toit

I agree with his observation that religion is about power and money, so it is perhaps no wonder they invented the idea of doomsday to control people with fear and make money as well from the sales of their books, CDs, DVDs, etc about doomsday theories.

Yes, God's idea is never about doomsday, but about the unveiling of Christ in us the hope of glory - it is not about the destruction of the physical world but about the transition from the old world system of law and control to the new world system of grace and freedom. The message of the cross is indeed about dying to the old way of thinking and living in condemnation and conformity, and resurrecting to a new and higher way of thinking and living in peace and authenticity. The cross brings to end the illusion of separation and unites humanity as one family of God/Divine Unconditional Love.

God is love, and there is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear. For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Seeing our divinity with unveiled eyes

Someone said:  

"The word "evil" means "to veil"... All destructive behavior is born of our failure to see our divinity and to accept our divinity... I'm not a Christian and neither was Jesus, but the whole point behind forgiveness of sins is to remove this veil... this obstacle keeping us from loving our self... Most Christians completely miss the whole point of the Gospel entirely... they go on hating who they are and creating destruction as a result... The word Gospel means good news and yet most Christians have found a way to turn it into bad news."

It is interesting to see the word evil meaning "to veil", which hinders a person from seeing one's own divinity. It may explain why Jesus described the Jewish generation as evil because they failed to see their own divine nature. Jesus may have tried to unveil their eyes by telling them that their true identity is the light of the world. Perhaps the law had blinded their eyes to see the truth of who they are because they had thought they had to do something in order to become righteous. 

I am thinking that in Luke 11 when Jesus described whether their eye is single or evil, he could be referring to whether their inner eye/vision is veiled to see their own divinity. 

34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also isfull of darkness.

35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 

36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

(Luke 11:34-36)

To me, darkness simply means ignorance of one's own divinity. Jesus came to bring light to dispel people's ignorance of their divine identity, hence darkness is overcome by light. Sin in the Jewish context also refers to ignorance or amnesia of one's true identity and forgiveness of sin means unveiling of one's true identity, as pointed out by the post. Back then, the Jews and Pharisees failed to see their own divinity and hated themselves and became destructive, to the point they tried to kill Jesus too. Similarly, as noted in the post, many people in Christian circles fail to see the gospel or good news of their own divinity and so they hate themselves and others, seeing themselves as sinful and unworthy. Even though they may be taught to see Jesus as their covering with the robe of righteousness, and know they are crowned with glory, the underlying message they get from institutional church is that there is nothing good in them and only Jesus is their righteousness. But that is the old covenant mindset because the Jews put themselves under the law. The law is the one that condemns, not Jesus/God. God has all the while seen everyone as innocent and perfect/complete because he/she/it made us in divine image and declared us very good. The gospel of inclusion therefore unveils our mind to see the truth of who we are and see our original glory in the face of Christ our true identity. We will have single eye that sees our body as being full of light, knowing we are the light of the world.

A grace perspective of Jesus

"God sent Jesus to join the human experience, which means to make a lot of mistakes. Jesus didn't arrive here knowing how to walk. He had fingers and toes, confusion, sexual feelings, and crazy human internal processes. He had the same prejudices as the rest of his tribe: he had to learn that the Canaanite woman was a person. He had to suffer the hardships and tedium and setbacks of being a regular person. If he hadn't, the Incarnation would mean nothing."
Anne Lamott ~ "Grace (Eventually)"

I agree with Anne Lamott's grace perspective of Jesus regarding the purpose of his incarnation, which is to be a human being and participate in the fullness of the human experience with all its affections, temptations and temperaments. These would include a full range of emotions and experiences such as boredom, tiredness, sexual arousal, prejudice, shortness of temper, and so on. If Jesus had not been so attuned to the inner voice of the heavenly father (his highest self), he would probably have done some harm to others, like any other human being.

I believe Jesus knew he couldn't be a perfect human being who is prim and proper in every way, and he chose not to put himself under the law, knowing he himself would be disqualified by the ridiculous demands of the law. For example, Jesus said if anyone says to a brother "you fool" in anger, he has committed murder, and if anyone looks at a woman with lust, he has committed adultery. Come to think of it, Jesus being a full-blooded human would have been guilty of both because he has indeed called the Pharisees names in anger, and he certainly would have been sexually attracted to women even though the bible made no mention of that. I think that's why Jesus chose to live by the heartbeat of love instead of the law because love does no harm to a neighbour. Hence, when he lived by the rhythm of love (also known as the unforced rhythm of grace), he got into trouble with the law because on a number of occasions, he broke the law by healing the sick on sabbath days out of his compassion for them.

Jesus is also able to sympathise with our weaknesses and feel what we feel because he was tempted in all things as a human being yet he was without sin (which I believe means that he did not forget his true identity even though he experienced temptations and failures/weaknesses - he held on to the truth that he remained a beloved son of God). Hence, when the Pharisees asked him to condemn the woman caught in adultery, he refused to do so and defended her, and later told her he did not condemn her (because he also did not condemn himself when he committed adultery in his heart) and he reminded her to go and sin no more (as in continue to remember she is still a beloved daughter of God and nothing will ever change her true identity and she can hold her head high and not allow herself to be suppressed or oppressed by religion).

It is therefore encouraging and empowering to see Jesus in the light of grace because he showed us how to be fully human and accept ourselves in the totality of our humanness with all our affections, emotions, temptations and temperaments.

Grace vs ethical rules

"There is a strong tendency within the church for people to extract and teach the ethical framework found in the Gospels. For instance, people might set up a community in which they attempt to live out principles such as giving to someone in need, turning the other cheek and living simply.
There are however a number of interrelated problems with this approach. Firstly it tends to generate guilt. In other words, the more that we hold up certain principles the worse we will feel when we fall short of them.
This leads to the second problem, namely repression. In order to deal with the guilt we will be more likely to avoid a direct confrontation with our failings. In this way we will tend to intellectually disavow what we are doing.
 ....
The trick is to create an atmosphere of love, grace and acceptance where people are not told what to do. Where people learn that heresy which claims that, while not everything is beneficial, everything is permissible. In other words, while there are destructive things we do, they can be brought to the light without fear of condemnation. In such an environment ethical acts will emanate from the body just as heat emanates from light. One will not have to be taught that they should look after their neighbour as if it were something that we need to be told, they will simply be more inclined to do so.
The desire to have ethical rules to follow tends to lead to the action they forbid. This causes the spiral into guilt, repression and disavowed symptoms. In contrast laying such ethical propositions to one side and learning to accept both ourselves and the other in grace opens up the path to what we have set aside."

- Peter Rollins (from "Stop Teaching the Ethics of Jesus!")

 I think Peter Rollins has touched on the core of the gospel, which is love, grace and acceptance, emphasising their supremacy over ethical rules. I learnt that whenever people focus on ethics, rules and principles, they are putting themselves under the law which only produces guilt, condemnation and repression. The more people try to live up to their perceived standard, the more they feel repressed and ashamed of their failures, and eventually the works of the flesh will manifest, such as envy, jealousy, outburst of wrath, and so on. Religious adherence to law and ethics may look impressive on the outside, but people are dying on the inside, by trying to stay on the performance treadmill.

Conversely, when people have a revelation of our true identity as love and perfection, made in God's image, there is no need for outward rules and regulations. We are guided by the spirit of love and grace within, even as we follow the bliss, living by the unforced rhythm of grace freely and lightly. We simply live life intuitively, not going by right or wrong, or the knowledge of good and evil. Even if we make mistakes here and there, we know there is no condemnation and we can simply pick ourselves up and dust ourselves and continue our journey while learning from our experiences. Our true identity remains the same, regardless of our performance, because we are forever innocent, righteous, perfect and blameless, and nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our part is to keep resting and stop doing, so to speak. The more we rest in our true identity, the more our heart is established in grace, and we will not be tossed to and fro by legalistic or condemning teachings. 

Like what Peter Rollins wrote, people need to stay in an environment of love, grace and acceptance. There is no need to worry about behaviour modification because the more people are conscious of their true identity and how unconditionally loved they are, the more true and effortless transformation will take place from the inside out, and the fruit of the spirit will result - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. Against such, there is no law. Such transformation takes place subconsciously without people having to try to do anything in order to become something. As we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the lord (our true identity as beloved, beautiful and blameless) we are being transformed from glory to glory into the same image, even by the spirit of grace within us and not by our own efforts. 

"Awake to your innocence and remember who you are. You are the music, you are the melody, you are the song. You are a workmanship created in love." - HM

Spiritual interpretation of the scripture

Any god whether it be a Yahweh, an Allah, a Jesus, a Mother, or a Father is a manifestation of the subconscious mind to establish security in a perceived 'unsettling' world. I am Yahweh, the God-Man standing, Allah is my anatomy (Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head), Jesus is my Self-deliverance from Sin (ie, the lower nature). My brain is Mother and Father (Right and left); the Mother being my creative nature; the Father being my analytical mind. It's all me playing 'hide-and-go-seek' on myself. — with Silas Rodriguez.

I agree with my best friend on the spiritual interpretation of the passage from the scripture about "honouring one's father and mother, that it may go well with you" that it is actually about honouring both sides of our brain - the creativity and intuitive aspect as well as the logical and analytical aspect of our brain. Indeed, the letter (literal interpretation) kills (or condemns), but the Spirit (metaphysical interpretation) gives life.

On a similar note, it occurred to me recently that the passage in 1 Corinthians about honouring God in our body and in our spirit is meant to be interpreted spiritually as well. Committing spiritual adultery is to be under the law (system of do's and don'ts). Hence, we are exhorted to stay under grace and be attuned to our true identity in Christ, that is not attached to any label or false identity such as prostitutes or murderers. Our true identity is divine unconditional Love, which is eternal and will never change. Yes, it is interesting to see scriptures in a new light that brings freedom, hope and life into our life.

1 John 2 What Does “Love Not the World” Mean?

Does “love not the world” mean to renounce all worldly pleasures like listening to pop music or watching movies? Or does the “world” refer to the deserving system of the world based on do’s and don’ts, as opposed to God’s system of undeserved favour?

Samuel Mathew wrote an enlightening article on this topic.

1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The apostle John exhorts us, not to love the world and the things in the world namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. For these things are not of the Father, but of the world.

The “world” here refers to the world’s system in general. The whole world runs by the system of knowing right & wrong, good & evil and doing the good or right thing as much as possible. The reward is determined by one’s performance. The driving forces behind this system are called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh denotes human strength and ability. The flesh always wants to live life based on one’s strength, will-power and ability. The prospect of living a life based on one’s resources and ability and achieving the end result looks very appealing (lust of the eyes). Pride in one’s ability is also a factor.

Verse 16 says that this system is not of the Father. In the garden of Eden, God told man, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. God never wanted man to live by knowing good & evil or right & wrong (Law), but He wanted them to live by eating from the tree of Life (God’s life). God made them in His image and likeness — just like Him. All they had to do was to live by His life and enjoy everything that He had created for them to enjoy freely. He did not give them 10 or 15 rules or principles on how to live a holy, moral, successful and prosperous life. The only command he gave them was to stay away from living by knowing good and evil or living by rules or principles. He warned them that eating that fruit would result in death.

But the tempter came and told Eve that eating this fruit would cause her to be like God. Remember, they were already like God, not by any of their works, but because they were created in His image and likeness. So Satan, put this idea in the mind of Eve, that she could be like God by her own doing and not by how God made her to be. She decided that she wanted to be like God, independent of God, by her own works by knowing good & evil. Gen 3:6 says that the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and a tree desired to make one wise (pride of life). By eating that fruit, man implemented this system of works or performance for the whole humanity.

Beloved, are you still eating from that forbidden tree by living by knowing good & evil or rules & regulations or are you living by the tree of life (the life of Jesus in you)? Living by rules and commandments may appear very good, may boost your ego by your performance and will satisfy your flesh, but the end result is death. Are you satisfied with how God has made you to be like Him — holy and righteous in Christ Jesus or are you trying to become like God by your holy living and good works? Verse 17 says that the world and its system will pass away, but he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. The will of the Father for you is to believe on the good news of the removal of your sins by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, whereby He has made you perfectly holy and righteous, just like Him, free from any of your works!

I think religious people, especially those in institutional churches, tend to target young people maybe because they are more impressionable and can be easily brainwashed with fundamentalist doctrines. Also they see themselves as "elders", and out of their insecurities, like to feel "respected" by young people, and do not like to see young people having fun and enjoying their life, especially while they think they are the ones serving "god" and working hard to "please the Lord". Miserable people love company, so they prefer the young people to join their misery as well. Deep inside, they are envious of the freedom young people usually have. As you also noticed, religious people don't like it when people in general are enjoying life and freedom - religious people think this is "worldly".

But if the truth be known, "worldly" actually means "conforming to the world system that is performance-oriented, and based on the principle of doing in order to become" (as we have learnt earlier). To be worldly is to be law-minded and sin-conscious. Anyone with common sense and growing to take responsibility for their own actions would rather abide by the universal principle of "all things are permissible but not all things are beneficial", rather than the oft-used religious threat of a mythical hell and God's wrath to try to keep other people and themselves under control.