Salvation for Dummies - The hypocrisy of the Self-Righteous Christian

When a Christian proclaims salvation in Christ, we are not demonstrating this salvation as freedom from sin. This is a mistaken view that the unbelieving world holds. We are not free from sin any more than an Atheist. Conversely, an Atheist has the capacity to live a wholesome life leading to a higher standard of righteous behavior. Claiming something does not relieve a person from the task of acting on that belief. Our own works are not the point of salvation, but they ARE a product of it. Believers are set free from sin and death at a later date. This is true. In the mean time, our lives must show evidence of this salvation. The only thing we have is a hope of this salvation in the future. Hope in salvation is what sets the believer apart from those who do not profess faith and belief in God. Sin will still be present.

To the unbeliever, this looks like hypocrisy. We are claiming something we cannot demonstrate, which is complete mastery over sin and death. As Christians, we will continue to sin and we will all die. This is no different than anyone else living on the planet today. There is NO difference other than our hope, which is in the one (Christ) that HAS overcome sin and death. We cannot overcome ourselves, and this shows us to be equal to everyone else on this Earth. In the end, it is a faith in hope and a determination to find love at its completion.

If you read a recent thread I did, you will see the point here: Righteousness, Self-Righteousness and Wickedness.

I can clearly tell you that I am a follower of Christ, but my sin is always before me. The hunger to do wrong is still there, yet I have a hope that my future baptism into a new life will be free from this. Becoming a Christian does not bring salvation in this life. Yes, it brings a more fruitful life. It brings regeneration of the soul. There is no doubt that we are changed when we start the process of walking away from our sin. We are changed, but not finished with the process. Life happens to us all equally. Faith brings a future hope of salvation as the promise of removing the curse that we all endure. Until then, we are simply walking away while others are walking into the pit further. Many Christians are living the same life as non-believers in this world. The key is held in the knowledge of Faith, Hope and Love. Apart from this fruit, there can be no salvation in the future. It starts with faith leading to hope, but ends in a heart that can love others.

Judgment of others cannot produce this fruit, yet truth is a judge. This is the paradox for the Christian. By proclaiming the truth, we are denying the ignorance of others. Ignorance ignores truth. Does truth judge? Yes, but the one proclaiming that truth cannot be the judge of another person. The truth judges only.

Hebrews 9

28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

What is the Point in salvation?

We are waiting. Salvation comes at a later date. Until then, you must be born again. Baptism is the involution of the soul into the material world for the purpose of repenting. We are ALL here for this purpose. It's a work in progress. When a Christian claims a changed life, it is true, yet sin remains. If you have been born into this current day and age, then you have willingly been baptized into the waters of life for the purpose of walking away from sin. The symbolism we use in the church for baptism is symbolic of this process. Because of the veil over the temple, you do not remember this fact about yourself.

Those who condemn Christians as hypocrites do not see the facts about their own baptism. In Israel, the temple had a veil. That veil was there to keep the people from seeing what was right there inside the temple. Within each of us, there is a Holy Spirit waiting to emerge from behind the covering. Christians are proclaiming this truth, yet we are ALL out of context to that truth while we are here. Only truth can condemn the soul. A Christian cannot judge or condemn anyone apart from self-righteousness, which is itself wickedness. No condemnation is necessary. The law keeps the soul in check. Break the law and it will break you.

We are commanded to judge not. By judging others, we truly condemn ourselves. We must simply proclaim the truth that is our hope for the future. Does the Atheist condemn the Christian? Does the Christian condemn the Atheist? In either case, is this the point of denying ignorance? Not at all. Truth is evident and those who embrace ignorance are easy to spot. It is only necessary to show the truth by our own lives lived. Truth is evident to the one who is running toward it.

Those who do not place their hope in the message of Christ have the freedom to look in other places. If hope is found, then life can be focused that direction. For Christians, their hope is found in seeing that we have none apart from the message Christ proclaimed. This would be an easy claim to dismiss if it were not for the present condition of the world. The truth of the Bible is evident. Now, more than ever, we have the ability to see truth and deny ignorance by the light of current events.

The fruit of our hope reveals the truth behind it. Read that again! The fruit of our hope reveals the truth behind it.

Where is your hope in the future and what fruit does it produce? When all things are reduced to the root, we find the simple message of Christ. Be holy, for I am holy. Judge not lest you be judged. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself. Remove the need for law with love for others.

Please tell me, is there a higher message in which you can place your faith and hope for the future?

Each of us are locked up and under custody to the law. When are we free?

Galatians 3

23 Before the coming of this faith,[j] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

When does truth set you free? When you claim the promise and apply the message. Until then, we are still children under a guardian. All of us are here to repent in this baptism of life. Even Christians.

We are our own salvation. If you want to be saved, you need only look in a mirror to find the key. You don't need Jesus anymore than you need your mother to hold your hand.

That sounds real good. It sounded good the first time I heard stories about Jesus and His message. In 1960 in a country church in Big Creek, Mississippi. I never heard of the Rapture or liberals or conservatives until starting in the 1980's when it became about collecting money for the beautiful building. I wish you luck in reviving the current breed of judgmental, political christians back to Jesus.

AfterInfinity
We are our own salvation. If you want to be saved, you need only look in a mirror to find the key. You don't need Jesus anymore than you need your mother to hold your hand.

edit on 25-10-2013 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

By this, you mean find Christ? If you know you are the body of Christ here, as a slice of one loaf, then you realize you share that bread. Partaking of the bread of life is seeing yourself in Christ. There is only one way to the Father.

The process starts with removing the idol of self. It then reveals the cup you bear and the bread we share. One blood and many veins. We are all a slice of the loaf. The point is to keep from being burnt toast.

1 Corinthians 13

14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

MOMof3
That sounds real good. It sounded good the first time I heard stories about Jesus and His message. In 1960 in a country church in Big Creek, Mississippi. I never heard of the Rapture or liberals or conservatives until starting in the 1980's when it became about collecting money for the beautiful building. I wish you luck in reviving the current breed of judgmental, political christians back to Jesus.

Thank you. I think it is a shame more Christians do not see the facts. We are not set free from sin in our own lives while we are here. We are set free from sin after this refinement in the wilderness is finished and not before. There is a difference. Sin is still here and we are still under the guardian of law. Faith sets us free from the results of sin, yet we will still suffer sin in this life. Sin takes the soul and causes baptism to engage. Salvation is being set free from the process. This can only come when we actually see the point, which is what many Christians miss. Love others. They will sin and so will you. It's not about overcoming our own sin. It's about the one who already has done this for us. He leads us out and not our own works.

There is an interesting point here to ponder. How is it that we are set free? The Bible says it is the blood of Christ. What is in the blood?

Father in Hebrew is Aleph Bet (Alphabet / Letters). Son in Hebrew is Bet (House) Nun (Seed). If God is the Aleph (Strenght) Bet (House) and the strong house, then the Son is the House of Seed. What is DNA? How do we find salvation from the curse in DNA? With the Word (Christ). Who writes that word into the house of seed? The Father (Letters / Alphabet). The blood of Christ takes on a whole new meaning and salvation becomes clear if you know what is hidden from you under this veil.

I love this passage in Deuteronomy.

Deut 4

19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

What pops out here? First, we have an inheritance in the Heavens (Space). Second, we are in a refinery in Egypt (picture of Earth). How do we inherit the heavens if flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God? We need new bodies (robes). What writes a new robe for us to live in? WORD!

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

Can a self-righteous Christian write his own word? Not a chance. Christ and Christ alone. That's the way to the Father and the Kingdom in the Heavens.

AfterInfinity
We are our own salvation. If you want to be saved, you need only look in a mirror to find the key. You don't need Jesus anymore than you need your mother to hold your hand.

edit on 25-10-2013 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

Actually I would argue that meeting Medusa is another way of saying "meeting Jesus".

Basically looking at ones self honestly and fixing the problem at square one.

All the same to me, it just gets lost in the translations.

reply to post by EnochWasRight


Good post as always. The difference between the saved and unsaved is the quickening of the spirit that takes place when someone calls upon the name of the Lord and is saved. Once this quickening takes place, there is a new creature created and the battle begins. The battle is between the "old man" and "new man" as Paul describes in Colossians 3. Every Christian must make the conscious choice to "put on the new man" everyday, and by doing so one lives in the spirit and not the flesh. Paul said that he dies everyday, meaning that he dies in the flesh everyday and puts on the new man.

As far a judging others is concerned, it is not wrong to judge someone so long as you are not guilty of the same offense. One must "remove the beam from their own eye" as the Bible says. In other words, it is OK to judge as long as you are not being a hypocrite. I am overweight, and if I were to judge someone for eating too much then I would be a hypocrite, however if I were to judge someone for cheating on their spouse I would not be a hypocrite because I have never, nor will I ever, cheat on my wife. Judging someone is Biblical when you rebuke someone sharply for false teachings, as found in Titus. There are times when believers are commanded to judge, as long as the humility of the one judging remains in tact and the realization that your righteousness comes from Christ and not of yourself.

reply to post by EnochWasRight


Thank you for the thoughts. But, at 62, I have decided to return to my child like belief. When I heard about Jesus as a child and His stories, I heard His message with my child mind and it was wonderful. Love. I don't see any other complicated meaning. People just don't want to accept the personal, sometimes material sacrifice that comes from Love. Love is God.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime


I agree with all of what you are saying. The place where I differ is in the understanding of the back end of the process. The front end (like programming software) is the user interface. The back end is the knowledge of being born again. We will be raised to new life literally. Baptism in Christ is being born into the water again as a new person. The process ends at salvation, the same time of eternity for everyone. As you say, the quickening is the part where the process goes into a faster mode of development and enlightenment.

The problem I have with our current understanding is the part we get wrong. Most people are under the mistaken impression that we die and go to heaven. This cannot happen until time ends and eternity begins. We still have 1000 years remaining.

reply to post by EnochWasRight


Eternity never began nor can it end.

It always Was, Is, and Will Be.

There is only One-

" IAM the tube like Yam of Ma's Yaw
the Shark Jaw of the Dark Maw.
The Claw of the Only Lion Paw.
The Saw of the Law that Saul Saw.
Im talking Samuel, Immanuel, and the Lamb of Bethleham.

The strength of Samson, the sun of Uncle Sam
This riddles a gem locked in a barnacle covered clam jammed under the land.
Slide by and dont mind the sleight of sand
You can hide but you will find this is light in the hand, the trite might of the grand masterplan.

You can call it Pan, its IAMIAM 'to be to be' aka they Holy Bee, thats the secret of the IS that IS, the Eyes of ISIS ice.
One look will leave em cold as stone payin the price for rollin them dice.
That's Ma Deuce with the .50 cal ricochet slice.
Medusa on the Loose with a Scythe

reply to post by muzzleflash

Eternity never began nor can it end.

Eternity is the true time that is. Record a movie, then show it back in time. To the movie, time is happening inside the film can and projection mechanism. To the one who filmed it, it was yesterday, today or tomorrow and can be all of the above. It just depends on when the movie is playing from the frame of reference of the observer. For the character in the movie, it is today from the first frame to the last. The movie can be shown over and over again. Eternity does not depend on the set time the movie is shown or even the time-frame experienced by the characters in the movie. Frame-rate is not actual elapsed time. Perception is reality to the character in the movie.

Salvation from the story comes when our eyes are opened to a frame of reference beyond the story.

reply to post by EnochWasRight


As atheists choose to believe there is no God, that there can't be any gods, that then therefore the definition of sin becomes non-existent, but goodness remains existent, then where does goodness arise from? Does it arise from the fundamentally flawed human being? We can't all be good, if some are bad. And if there are some who are bad, then not all is good. So then where does badness arise from? From a perfect human? Do perfect humans even exist?

This is what Jesus taught, that no tree bears good and bad fruit at the same time, and no well gives sweet and bitter water at the same time.

And let's take this for the Christian. If your tree bears bad fruit, it is impossible for it to bear good fruit at the same time. Also, you can't give sweet water if the bitter water is there. You can't be therefore fundamentally both. That's why the Christian believes that Jesus makes all things new, that the born-again experience is to change our inward man. And that's not what any Christian is able to do, we can't change ourselves. The Buddhists also know this concept, but they attempt to change their inward man through constant effort. But they accept that at their core being, they are still fundamentally flawed. And if they are fundamentally flawed, then they have to go through cycles of birth, death and rebirth until they reach some state of bliss.

Now look at the Tao, it comprises of both positive and negative, good and bad dwelling within the same sphere. This is in opposition to the teaching of Jesus, who said good and bad cannot come from the same tree. Sweet and bitter water cannot be in the same well at the same time.

If people understood that "Christ consciousness" was not about achieving something through meditation, but that consciousness of good and bad are revealed in us, but not in Christ. Does the tree perceive that it has good and bad fruit? Does the well comprehend sweet and bitter water? The tree and the well have no consciouness whatsoever. But they, by nature, can only produce one thing. Either they produce good or they produce bad.

As humans, where then does good and bad arise in us? Where does positive and negative arise? If we say it is at the physical level, then we are not conscious beings. So therefore, it must arise from somewhere else in us. It does arise in our spiritual being. The inward man. And if it is inward, toward our consciousness, as the concepts of good and bad are then from a sole spiritual level.

Paul said "no good thing resides in me", his flesh is that of broken humanity full of sin. But the recognition that no good thing resides in him came from a spiritual level. And that's where the change is made, at the spiritual level.

But no matter how much meditation, no matter how much conditioning, no matter how much one tries, it never changes the fact that in humanity, good and evil exist. If our conscience teaches us that good is to be obtained, then it acknowledges a bad that must be done away with. And that's what Christ does, by His victory over death, by His infilling, then the mere human being no longer has to grow bad fruit or give bitter water. Until that moment, we only had bad fruit or gave bitter water. Good could not be given in that state.

Why do we call something good? Is it because it is different than the bad we are accustomed to? But no person can stand on their own and say "I am all good, there is no bad in me", because we all know bad resides in us. To say differently we are liars. Why do you think gurus tell their students that it may take many years and perhaps many lifetimes to achieve removing badness, or negativity in them? They recognize the difference in goodness and badness.

But atheists who chose to not believe in God, have to even admit that badness resides in the heart of humanity. Where does this badness come from?

And then attempt to charge God with a crime against the natural law "Survival of the fittest", or to put it bluntly as people have "kill or be killed". Why do they attempt to charge God for a crime that has no law to begin with in their naturalist worldview? They claim God is genocidal, and yet the universal law says survival of the fittest? And if we are connected to the universe, then we are to be charged as genocidal, but from what law?

Where's the law in the universe that says God can't be genocidal? Where is the law outside of man's construct that says God can't be? The universe makes no such law.

reply to post by WarminIndy


That was an interesting read. All of what you are saying is summed up in a simple concept. God's will is to give only. We are made to receive. The will of the robber is to take. Light reveals what it hits.

EnochWasRight
reply to post by WarminIndy

 

That was an interesting read. All of what you are saying is summed up in a simple concept. God's will is to give only. We are made to receive. The will of the robber is to take. Light reveals what it hits.

OK, I can agree that light reveals what it hits. That is a good way of putting it.

Every now and then the robber thinks to give back what he stole. Maybe the light hit him and revealed to him the badness of robbing.

AfterInfinity
We are our own salvation. If you want to be saved, you need only look in a mirror to find the key. You don't need Jesus anymore than you need your mother to hold your hand.

edit on 25-10-2013 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

Have you heard of alcoholics anonymous?

The only thing that the belief in "salvation" gives one is relief from the fear of death. But, many belief systems can do that. For instance, the belief in reincarnation can ease the fear of death.

“Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.”
― Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan

windword
The only thing that the belief in "salvation" gives one is relief from the fear of death. But, many belief systems can do that. For instance, the belief in reincarnation can ease the fear of death.

Salvation relieves the fear of death? This isn't my experience.

In my experience, there was a time I would have embraced death before I believed in God. I never had a fear of death and almost died several times.

The only thing I fear is that in this life, I depart without accomplishing what I should. I don't want to go before I am finished with what I am here for. And I don't want to go out of this world with a whimper. But I think that just might happen. But the fear of death, that never crossed my mind.

I like music, and sometimes different songs can speak to me on a personal level, and here's my answer...

That's what I am telling people, you don't have to live like a refugee. (BTW, I like Jonny Gray). Yes, as this Christian is a little on the unorthodox side, I do think you can find meaning in music. It does reach a spiritual level in people.

reply to post by WarminIndy

I don't want to go before I am finished with what I am here for.

What are you here for?

windword
reply to post by WarminIndy

 

I don't want to go before I am finished with what I am here for.

What are you here for?

I am just middle aged now, I got a lot of time left to find out

I wasn't put here to be a parent, that's the one thing I know so far (unless in the future I marry someone with children)

So far, I've only managed to become a local celebrity, be a published writer, work, meet famous people, survive tornadoes, hurricanes, a house fire, and a very bad childhood.

I've managed to go to college twice. I've managed to be married once. I've managed to make a small fortune just to lose it.

But I also managed to make friends. I danced the Hustle at my best friend's wedding reception as the Maid of Honor. I've had the good and the bad in my life. And it isn't over yet.

So there is more for me to do. But if the doctor told me that I am going to die next week, then it would not frighten me. I survived cancer.

I have prepared my speech for my own funeral. And in the event that one day I should ever be held captive and threatened with beheading, I also have a speech for that. You just never know what the future holds, so be prepared for anything.

But the one thing I think is my purpose, is to make a difference. And I'm not going to shout my accolades on that one.

reply to post by windword


Of all the life after death philosophies, I hope reincarnation is not the one. I do not want to do this over again as a human. A bird, that would be great.