Ebionite Restoration - Christian Renewal
Those who read the scriptures in search of Life, find Death.
Those who search for God in the scriptures, worship the Demiurge.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of
death"
(Prov 14:12 NKJ)
Regardless of the number
of times that carnal men are warned that God is a Spirit, and can only be sought
through man's indwelling spiritual nature (Jn 4:24), the great mass of believers
perpetually reject the spirit and and turn to the written word of the scriptures
in pursuit of the "letter that killeth"
(2 Cor 3:6). Perhaps the most profound example of the
inability of the natural carnal mind to even begin to grasp man's own higher
soul and spiritual reality is provided in the words of Paul who said of the
baptized, totally committed believers as Corinth:
“I always thank God for you
because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been
enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge --
because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be
revealed”
(1 Cor 1:4-7 NIV).
What
the natural carnally minded believers had trouble in comprehending -- a reality
that continues to plague Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Atheists, and the people of
all religious faiths today -- is the reality that the religion preached by Paul
was one of Spiritual Transformation. Paul warned those he preached
to about the "letter that killeth",
that
their religious ideas and doctrines were merely elementary. Paul
attempted to convey this higher reality to believers who were unable to
comprehend the Mysteries of God, because he was a man who was not only
enlightened about the Kingdom within (see Gate
Of Eden), but had himself been permitted entrance into the Kingdom -- as
seen in his words that every Christian who beseeches the Lord today to
enlighten their understanding, is in fact asking to see and hear “…things
so astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in
words…” -- and after they gaze upon these mysteries, what they
have witnessed will be of such a profound nature that they will “…not
[be] allowed to tell them to others” (2 Cor 12:4 TLB).
Why? Why will they not be able to convey to the believers in the
Church what they have seen? Because in not having evolved through
the process of spiritual transformation, they are still of a carnal mind -- a
mindset that Paul warns: The...
“carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those
who are in the flesh cannot please God... For if you live according to the flesh
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you
will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom
8:7-8;13 NKJ).
When Paul warned that he could
only speak to the believers at Corinth as "...men of flesh, as
to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS), what he was warning was that
“Anyone who lives on
milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about
righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have
trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:13-14 NIV). And because they
are yet carnal -- not having undergone the process of spiritual transformation
-- Paul warned that
“And if anyone thinks
that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know”
(1 Cor 8:2 NKJ). For if man could simply open the scriptures
and be able to discern the Truth, Jesus would not have said of his disciples:
“For I tell you the
truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt 13:17 NIV).
Why did Jesus say these words? Because the majority of Jews who
attempted to read the scriptures literally, and observe the oracles of the Word
in a ritualized outward manner, were the counterfeit believers whose carnal
mindset had spiritually disenfranchised them from the Kingdom
within. The modern doctrinal teaching that the followers
of Christ are under the law of grace, and this grace has absolved them from
fulfilling the Royal Law of God because Jesus has done everything for them --
and so, Christians are free to live in any manner that they see fit so long as
they believe and have faith, is simply not within the framework of what Paul
wrote -- as seen in the words: “What shall we say,
then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer?... Therefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your
body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God,
as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your
body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master,
because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you
offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one
whom you obey -- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to
obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom 6:1-2; 6:12-16 NIV).
With regard to what we call sin, the requirement was set forth by Jesus
himself when he said: “sin no more, lest a worse
thing come unto thee” (John 5:14 KJV).
Speaking of those Christians who again turn to the
things of this world after beginning to embrace the gospel of Christ, the
Apostle Peter makes reference to the scriptures and states: “But
it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his
own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire”
(2 Pet 2:22 KJV).
We must come to terms with the reality today that
Jesus was not all-inclusive. It
is clearly seen in the Bible that Jesus commanded his disciples not to reveal
even the elementary precepts of the Gospel of God to those people who can be
likened to dogs and swine -- even when they profess with their mouths their
allegiance to the Lord. If
they were true believers, then they would know the Mysteries first hand. For this reason the Sacred Secrets that bring the
believer to maturity, are simply not written where the carnal and unworthy can
view them. This is confirmed
in the words of Clement, the 1st century disciple of Peter, who wrote: “We
remember that our Lord and teacher, as commanding, said to us, guard the
mysteries for me, and the sons of my house.
Wherefore also he explained to his disciples, privately, the mysteries of
the kingdoms of the heavens.” (Clementine Homilies).
What is important is for us to realize that Jesus
taught two gospels -- the good news or gospel of Jesus that was proclaimed to
the masses, and the Gospel of God, which were the Mysteries of the Kingdom that
was taught only to his disciples. This
is seen expressly in the words of Clement when said regarding the commandment of
the Lord that the disciples must “guard the mysteries
for me, and the sons of my house”.
Those who are in the house, are the disciples who have gained entrance
into the Spiritual Kingdom that he declared.
While those who were said to be “outside”,
or sense bound in this world, received only the good news announcing the
existence of the Spiritual Kingdom that they must seek with a purified body and
mind.
From a New Covenant perspective, knowledge that is
conveyed in the manner of instruction must be understood to be the manner in
which we must prepare ourselves -- road markers that we will perceive as we
travel -- changes in consciousness that we will observe -- and the route that we
must follow in our journey into the Kingdom.
The whole concept of the coming of the Kingdom is not from the
perspective that a physical kingdom will be inaugurated in this world -- but
rather, that the divide between the inner Kingdom (Lk 17:21) will be bridged,
and we will then exist in both realms simultaneously.
When the Bible states that we must pick up our own cross and walk in The
Way, what it is conveying is the need to purify the body and expand the mind in
preparation for the Kingdom to come within the consciousness that we are using
in this realm.
With regard to the spiritual term “house”,
Origen wrote in Contra Celsus: “I have not yet spoken
of the observances of all that is written in the gospel, each one of which
contains much doctrine difficult to be understood, not merely by the multitude,
but even by certain of the more intelligent, including a very profound
explanation of the parables, which Jesus delivered to ‘those without' while
reserving the exhibition of their full meaning for those who have passed beyond
the stage of exoteric teachings, and who came to him privately in the house.
And when he comes to understand it, he will admire the reason why some
are said to be without, and others in the house”.
What, then, is exoteric teachings? Paul calls it the “milk of
the Gospel” designed for the nourishment of immature believers who
he calls “babes in Christ” (1 Cor
3:1-2). These entry-level
teachings have to do with the cleansing and purification of the mind and body
from the defilements of this realm because “Nothing
impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or
deceitful” (Rev 21:27 NIV).
In our assessment of these statements, we must understand that spiritual
wisdom and understanding is not derived from the memorization of manmade
concepts -- but rather, it is the result of our endeavor to utilize a greater
potential of our mind.
The second century Church Father Clement of Alexandria
expressed this same message when he wrote that: “For
the prophet saith: Who shall understand a parable of the Lord save he that is
wise and knowledgeable and loveth his Lord?
For it is given to few to contain all things: For it is not as grudging
that the Lord commanded in a certain Gospel: ‘My secret mystery for me and for
the sons of mine house’” (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. V.10.63).
Dogs and swine are symbols -- symbols of those who
claim to be believers, and yet they attempt to alternate their lives between the
gospel and the things of this world.
Regardless of what these people profess with their lips, they do not love
the Lord. Therefore, only the
disciple, the one who has put the doctrines, the slavery to materialism, and the
culture of this world behind him, and has entered within the house, can receive
the true Gospel and Mysteries of God.
In his famed work De Principiis, Origin explains who
can be a recipient of the Mysteries of the Kingdom and the Gospel of God: “Whoever
has clean hands, and therefore lifts up holy hands to God… let him come to
us… Whoever is pure, not only from all defilement, but from what are regarded
as lesser transgressions, let him be boldly initiated into the mysteries of
Jesus, which properly are made known only to the holy and the pure… To those
who have been purified in heart, he whose soul has for a long time, been
conscious of no evil, especially since he yielded himself to the healing of the
Word, let such a one hear the doctrines which were spoken in private by Jesus to
his genuine disciples”.
The dogs and swine who attempt to live an alternating
lifestyle -- clinging to this world while attempting to half-heartedly embrace
the gospel of Jesus, cannot “lift up holy hands to
God”. Having never become cognizant of the spiritual essence
within them -- an essence that lies beyond the great divide of heaven and earth
-- they remain sense bound, and cannot refrain from sin. They therefore never become “pure…
from all defilement”, even from what are “regarded
as lesser transgressions”.
Because they do not possess the spiritual power and strength that
cleanses them from the defilements of the carnal world, they make excuses for
their unholy condition, and create dogma explaining why man cannot be perfect
and sinless. Because the
believers who know only the exoteric doctrine of the Christ continue to cling to
this world, and have never been purified by the healing of the Word, they
continue to dwell in what we call sin. Having never been purified, they do not possess the
knowledge of those who were “…initiated into the
mysteries of Jesus, which properly are made known only to the holy and the
pure”. Therefore, they never come to “hear
the doctrines which were spoken in private by Jesus to his genuine disciples”.
It makes no difference what they call themselves;
i.e., Christian or Jew, minister or rabbi, priest, bishop, prophet, etc., they
cannot be Jesus' “genuine disciples”
until they have been “purified in heart… for a long
time, been conscious of no evil, especially since he yielded himself to the
healing of the Word”. Because
they remain “outside”, they do not know
or understand what Jesus truly taught.
They may preach the good news, and appear to live a religious lifestyle,
but they are not very much different than the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus
condemned for exactly the same reason.
Thus, the doctrine of perpetual redemption, and the consecration of a
carnal lifestyle as seen in our churches today, simply had no place among the
genuine Christians of the first three centuries.
In the Martyrdom of Ignatius (first Century
Overseer of Antioch), Ignatius speaks of himself as a disciple of John.
In his Epistle to the Ephesians he writes that he has been “initiated
into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred”.
In his Epistle to the Trallaus he speaks of the mysteries and writes: “Might
I not write to you things more full of mystery?
But I fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are babes.
Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being able to receive their
weighty import, ye should be strangled by them”.
Ignatius also writes that though he is aware of the mysteries, he is not
yet “by any means perfect, nor am I such a disciple
as Paul or Peter”.
What preacher of the gospel today warns his
congregation that if he was to reveal the true teachings of the New Covenant --
the Gospel of God -- he would “inflict injury on you
who are babes” in Christ?
What teaching of the Lord could a present-day preacher of the gospel
reveal that the congregation of believers are not “able
to receive their weighty import”?
If Ignatius, either of the two Clements, or Origen was with us today,
what profound mystery could they speak regarding the true teachings of Jesus
that believers today would be “strangled by them”?
What must be immediately recognized is that when we
speak about the Christianity of the first three centuries, we are not talking
about the same religion that exists today.
That's right! Because
of the political agenda and doctrines that were forced upon the church in the
fourth century (see The
Death Of The Religion Of Jesus), it is easily demonstrated that the
Christianity we know today is a mere shadow of what Jesus taught, and was
believed over the first three centuries of our Common Era.
Moreover, we can never even begin to move beyond the entry level milk,
and partake of the solid spiritual food that enables us to embrace the Gospel of
God, until we come to terms with the fact that the Christianity of the first
three centuries was so profoundly different than what remains today, that what
is practiced today must be recognized as a new religion that came into being in
the fourth century, and was revised into still an almost totally new form at the
time of the Reformation.
We cannot today even relate to sacred teachings that would “strangle” the common believer, because we no longer possess the Gospel of God -- and have only the good news that was preached to the multitudes. Because the Church became carnal, and of the flesh, we have only preserved the doctrine that Origen spoke of as “preached in the Churches… for the simpleminded and for the ears of the common crowd who are led on to live better lives by their belief”.
The scriptures are the Key of Knowledge that must be turned within to open the door to the Kingdom and enter the True Temple. In a total abandonment of the spiritual essence and purpose of the teachings of Jesus and TheWay, believers have rejected the Spirit and adopted the way of the very people that Jesus portrayed as blind guides who are making the people the children of hell. The man known as the Apostle Paul warned the first followers of Jesus that death comes to those who embrace the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6) -- and yet, carnal believers continue to conclude that these words don't apply to them. That the vast majority of mankind is deaf and blind to the Truth and their own Higher Soul and Spiritual Reality, is because they are focused in the wrong direction -- i.e., the things of this world -- and this can be readily seen in the words of Jesus: “For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt 13:15-17 NIV).
Those who know me, know that I almost never use the word Demiurge -- which is defined as "...a Gnostic subordinate deity who is the creator of the material world". I rarely use this term because having been an Essene, Ebionite and Nazirene, I never embraced the very anti-Jewish theology of the Apostle Paul and his Gnostic disciples (see The Gnostic Paul). But that does not mean that Paul -- who was portrayed as Simon Magus by the original disciples and followers of Jesus -- were wrong in what they stated with respect to the worship of a counterfeit God by the carnal Jewish sects of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Because the vast majority of Christians ignore this all-important warning by Paul, they too have fallen victim to the same fate as the Sadducees and Pharisees who Jesus condemned as counterfeit believers.
The Torah The Jews Cannot Receive,
And The House The Christians Are Barred From Entering!
The Two Are One And The Same
While I will demonstrate below that the most spiritual of Jewish and Christian minds have all attested to the fact that the scriptures are an allegory that both instructs the multitude of readers through the use of parable and enigma -- i.e., in the manner of spiritual nursery rhymes which are used to convey truths to the immature mind -- while reserving the Mysteries of God and the Oracles of the Living Word for those who are worthy to receive them. What the Apostle Paul writes with respect to the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6) in reference to those who are under the grave misconception that they can read the literal text of the scriptures and ascertain the true meaning, is explained by the 2nd century Church Father Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata when he explained: “...now that the Savior has taught the Apostles, the unwritten rendering of the written, this has been handed down also to us”. What Clement is stating is that it was Jesus who taught his disciples the inner meaning of the scriptures by opening their minds so their understanding could pierce through the garb of the allegorical enigmas that blind the perception of carnal men -- i.e., "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45 NIV). Clement then goes on and explains that “the mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in the voice, but in his understanding”. And in the allegory of the scriptures, it is this Law that was shattered (Ex 32:19) that the Children of Israel could not receive because they were too carnal in their understanding -- and this is the symbol of the Spiritual Torah/Law that can only be received by those who are of a purified mind/body and live a consecrated life to The Most High. Thus, the warning of Paul is no different than that of the Jewish mystic who states to those who attempt to find God in the literal meaning of the Torah/Law: "Thus the tales related in the Torah are simply her outer garments, and woe to the man who regards that outer garb as the Torah itself, for such a man will be deprived of portion in the next world" (see No Jew Has Read The Torah/Law). Quoting the Zohar it is further written: "So it is with the Torah. Its narrations which relate to the things of the worlds constitute the garments which clothe the body of the Torah; and that body is composed of the Torah's precepts, gufey-torah (bodies, major principles). People without understanding see only the narrations, the garment; those somewhat more penetrating see also the body. But the truly wise, those who serve the most high King and stood on mount Sinai, pierce all the way through to the soul, to the true Torah which is the root principle of all. These same will in the future be vouchsafed to penetrate to the very soul of the soul of the Torah."
The teachings of Spiritual Judaism as practiced among the Essenes, Ebionites and Nazirenes, was to prepare the disciple to receive the Living Law of God from within themselves. And while the modern Church continues to embrace the 3rd century doctrines of Pagan Rome, the vast differences of what Jesus actually taught and what people today believe is summed up by A. Powell Davies: “Biblical scholars”, he writes, ”were not disturbed by what they found in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they had known all along that the origin of Christianity was not what was commonly supposed to have been” (quoted by Millar Burrows in More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls). And while the modern believer attempts to prove their beliefs through carnal interpretations of the scriptures, the original followers of Jesus only used the scriptures as a guide book -- i.e., the Keys of Knowledge -- to open the door to the inner Kingdom. Thus, in the Essene Gospel of Peace it is written:
And Jesus himself sat down in their midst and said: "I tell you truly, none can be happy, except he do the Law."
And the others answered: "We all do the laws of Moses, our lawgiver, even as they are written in the holy scriptures."
And Jesus answered: "Seek not the law in your scriptures, for the law is life, whereas the scripture is dead. I tell you truly, Moses received not his laws from God in writing, but through the living word. The law is living word of living God to living prophets for living men... God wrote not the laws in the pages of books, but in your heart and in your spirit... But you shut your eyes that you may not see, and you shut your ears that you may not hear. I tell you truly, that the scripture is the work of man, but life and all its hosts are the work of our God. Wherefore do you not listen to the words of God which are written in His works? And wherefore do you study the dead scriptures which are the work of the hands of men?"
"How may we read the laws of God elsewhere than in the scriptures? Where are they written? Read them to us from there where you see them, for we know nothing else but the scriptures which we have inherited from our forefathers. Tell us the laws of which you speak, that hearing them we may be healed and justified."
Jesus said: "You do not understand the words of life, because you are in death. Darkness darkens your eyes and your ears are stopped with deafness. For I tell you, it profits you not at all that you pore over dead scriptures if by your deeds you deny him who has given you the scriptures.
I tell you truly, God and his laws are not in that which you do. They are not in gluttony and in wine-bibbing, neither in riotous living, nor in lustfulness, nor in seeking after riches, nor yet in hatred of your enemies. For all these things are far from the true God and from his angels. But all these things come from the kingdom of darkness and the lord of all evils. And all these things do you carry in yourselves; and so the word and the power of God enter not into you, because all manner of evil and all manner of abominations have their dwelling in your body and your spirit. If you will that the living God's word and his power may enter you, defile not your body and your spirit; for the body is the temple of the spirit, and the spirit is the temple of God. Purify, therefore, the temple, that the Lord of the temple may dwell therein and occupy a place that is worthy of him.
"And from all temptations of your body and your spirit, coming from Satan, withdraw beneath the shadow of God's heaven.
In the same way that Paul called the Law of Moses a schoolmaster (Gal 3:24) that brought us into the presence of Messiah/Christ who would reveal to the Jews the Torah they could not receive, and invite the followers of Jesus into the House where they would be taught the Mysteries of God that could not be revealed to the carnal and profane, all scripture is a guide-book comprised of allegorical symbols and forms that assist the immature spiritual mind to connect with first their inner soul and spiritual natures, and ultimately the Kingdom of God which Jesus said was within us (see Gate of Eden).
What is the
truth? In the fourth century the Christian Church underwent massive
changes in doctrine and organization in order to make it compatible with the
needs of the Roman Emperor Constantine (see The
Death Of The Religion Of Jesus). Prior to that time the church
was wholistic and in the manner of a oracle of healing, prescribed a cure that
was appropriate for the disease of the individual.
In the approximate year of 178 of our Common Era, Celsus,
the Epicurean Philosopher and opponent of Christianity, published a rather
embarrassing work in opposition to Christianity known as The True Word or
Discourse. It is said
that this work was widely published and used by the Pagan world as an attack on
the Church. Seventy years
after its publication The True Word was still so widely circulated, that
the Church Father Origen was commissioned by St. Ambrosius to refute this attack
by Celsus.
In our endeavor to enlighten ourselves with regard to
a much clearer picture of the original Gospel message as it was envisioned by
the early Gentile church at that time prior to its secularization under the
government of Pagan Rome -- and in our effort to begin the process of
comprehending our present day theological limitations which was a result of the
Reformation -- it would be very helpful for us to begin by examining the church
prior to the time when its doctrine came under the direct control of a series of
Roman Emperors in the fourth century.
From this perspective, what we have in both The True Word, and the
official reply of the church in the form of Origen's work known as Origen
Contra Celsum, or, Origen Against Celsus, is a rather unique glimpse into
the beliefs and doctrines of the first and second century Gentile Christian
Church. Unique, in that the
text not only contains the allegations of the second century Pagan world against
the Church, but also the official reply of the Church to these allegations.
The document known as The True Word no longer exists, but its text
is largely preserved in the eight (8) books that Origen wrote in the endeavor to
refute the charges against the Church by the Pagan Philosopher Celsus.
In examination of this document, the modern Christian
must initially ask: Who today would accuse the Christian Church of being a “secret
system”? No one
-- because the Church today has lost its spiritual essence -- and is a mere
shadow of its former self over the first three centuries of its existence.
Therefore, it is important that we recognize that such an allegation
would be unheard of in our present time.
The modern Church views its mission as a sort of religious outreach to
save sinners -- and yet Celsus viewed sinners as being detrimental to a religion
such as Christianity. In fact, he
questioned why they were even tolerated. Before we inquire how such a statement could even be
made, let us remember that the Apostle Paul said the exact same thing when he
wrote: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.
For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can
light have with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14 NIV).
This view -- in and of itself -- is crucial to both demonstrate and
understand the major fundamental differences between a secular institutionalized
church -- which was born during the Nicene (Nicene Council in the year 325) and
post Nicene period (after the year 325) -- and the anti or pre-Nicene Church
(prior to the year 325 AD), during the first three centuries of our Common Era.
Moreover, Origen's reply to Celsus portrays the great obstacle that inhibits
both modern Jews and Christians from comprehending the true purpose of the
scriptures -- which is to use them as the Key of Knowledge that the disciple
turns within them in the endeavor to receive the Living Law that gives Life to
the reader. On this great spiritual truth the Church Father Origen
defended Christianity against the attacks against the church by Celsus, the
second century Epicurean philosopher, when he wrote that the true depth of the
Gospel message is difficult for the reader to perceive, “…including
a very profound explanation of the parables, which Jesus delivered to ‘those
without’ while reserving the exhibition of their full meaning for those who
have passed beyond the stage of exoteric teachings, and who came to him
privately in the house. And when he
comes to understand it, he will admire the reason why some are said to be
without, and others in the house”.
Origen responded to the allegation of Celsus by
explaining that: “For
there are in the divinity of the Word some helps towards the cure of those who
are sick”, meaning the sinners.
Origen then clarifies his statement and writes that these sinners are by
no means invited to “…participation in mysteries,
then, and to fellowship in the wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God ordained
before the world to the glory of His saints”.
To demonstrate this truth in Origen's reply to Celsus,
we can see the same exact message in the assertion of Paul that there were
different doctrines -- i.e., the “milk”
for the carnal believer -- the lesser mysteries for the seeker -- and the deeper
things of the spirit for the genuine Christian -- of which Origen wrote: “Now,
in answer to such statements, we say that it is not the same thing to invite
those who are sick in soul to be cured, and those who are in health to the
knowledge and study of divine things. We, however, keeping both these things in
view, at first invite all men to be healed, and exhort those who are sinners to
come to the consideration of the doctrines which teach men not to sin, and those
who are devoid of understanding to those which beget wisdom, and those who are
children to rise in their thoughts to manhood, and those who are simply
unfortunate to good fortune, or -- which is the more appropriate term to use --
to blessedness. And when those who have been turned towards virtue have made
progress, and have shown that they have been purified by the word, and have led
as far as they can a better life, then and not before do we invite them to
participation in our mysteries. ‘For we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect’”.
What we have demonstrated in this reply to Celsus by
Origen is the framework of a True Spiritual Church.
The Word is presented at varying levels in accordance with the needs of
the individual. The sinner is
invited to partake of the healing of the Word -- and if they repent, and have a
change in heart and mind, they will have prepared themselves to move onward.
After purification from the transgressions and mindset of this world, and
servitude to man's carnal nature, the minor mysteries can be revealed to the
disciple -- which minor mysteries will then enable the disciple to begin the
process of gaining entrance to the spiritual kingdom within them.
As the disciple gains spiritual strength and vitality, and develops his
innate spiritual attributes -- attributes which lie dormant in the carnal
believer -- the disciple is then able to take the hand of the Lord and walk in
the footsteps of the Master.
This great spiritual truth is seen in the words of Origen when he writes regarding the mysteries of God: “…others again, which to the pure in soul and body exhibit the revelation of the Mystery, which was kept in secret since the world began, but now is made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets, and by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Origen then goes on to explain that the Christ will appear to, and teach, everyone who will be His disciple and follow in His footsteps: “…which appearing is manifested to each one of those who are perfect, and which enlightens the reason in the true knowledge of things”. In these words Origen confirms the essence of Christian doctrine -- a spiritual doctrine -- that even today, the Messiah/Christ is the One and Only Teacher for the genuine disciple of the Light.
A very important insight into the very essence of the
genuine teachings of Jesus known as TheWay, is contained in an article in the
Encyclopedia Britannica under the heading, The History of Christian Mysticism,
where it reads: “Although the essence of mysticism is
the sense of contact with the transcendent, mysticism in the history of
Christianity should not be understood merely in terms of special ecstatic
experiences but as part of a religious process lived out within the context of
the Christian community. From this perspective mysticism played a vital part in
the early church. Early Christianity was a religion of the spirit that expressed
itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness”.
These words must be a profound revelation to a body of
believers who have been barred from the use of reason.
When Jesus commanded his disciples: “But you,
do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are
all brethren” (Matt 23:8 NKJ) -- what he was saying is that the
genuine follower of the Christ is the one who opens the inner door of the mind
to the Master, and develops their “sense
of contact with the transcendent”.
What is being said here is that both Judaism and
Christianity in their original form is a purely spiritual religion, and the
natural environment of the genuine Church is mysticism -- which is defined as
one's personal communion with God. In
this we can see the great dividing line between the Jewish sects of the
Sadducees and Pharisees, and the Essene Mystics who worshiped the Father in a
Spiritual Temple that was beyond the comprehension of the carnally minded Jew.
Paramount, then, to understanding one of the primary differences between
Genuine Christianity and pseudo-Christianity, is the understanding that genuine
Christianity is a spiritual religion, and it “expressed
itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness”.
Thus, the religious ideas expressed by Luther and Calvin -- where man
rejects reason, and closes the mind in order to cling to the dogma of a manmade
church -- concepts which remain to this day as the foundation of modern doctrine
-- not only had no place among the first Christians, but were in fact alien to
the very core teachings of Jesus. What
this means is that the church which came into being in the fourth century, was
the anti-church -- i.e., a shadow church that was ruled by the god of this
world.
When the Encyclopedia Britannica states with regard to
the church prior to the fourth century: “…From
this perspective mysticism played a vital part in the early church. Early
Christianity was a religion of the spirit that expressed itself in the
heightening and enlargement of human consciousness” -- it is this
spiritual element that died when the church was made a secular institution by
the Emperor Constantine. Sadly, it is this same spiritual element that continues
to remain dormant even in the world of Christendom to this very day.
In those many places where the Bible speaks of the
Mysteries of God as seen in the words: “we speak of
God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our
glory before time began” (1 Cor 2:7 NIV); the Apostle is quite
clear that this “secret wisdom” cannot
be comprehended by men who perceive life and the scriptures with a carnal
mindset -- but rather, with a spiritual mindset that is established upon the
mystical senses founded in the higher powers of mind.
And if we ask the question as to why carnal man is incapable of
perceiving the Mysteries of God that are spoken of by the Apostle?
Because these elements of mind that are necessary to perceive the higher
reality of man, are centered in parts of the ninety percent of the mind which
the natural person is unable to access -- and it is these sections of the mind
that are said to lie dormant within all people.
Thus, only the mystic -- or spiritual Christian -- has the ability to
perceive the Mysteries of God, and know the True Messiah/Christ, and enter the
Genuine Temple of the Lord, because they endeavor to expand their consciousness
by going beyond the ten percent barrier of mind that limits man in his natural
state.
Of the term Spiritual, Nelson's Illustrated Bible
Dictionary writes: “Of the spirit or non-material.
The word spiritual refers to non-material things, including a spiritual body (1
Cor. 15:44-46) and spiritual things as distinct from earthly goods (Rom. 15:27;
1 Cor. 9:11). But the most important use of the word is in reference to the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit gave the law (Rom. 7:14) and supplied Israel with water and
food (1 Cor. 10:3-4). The Christian's every blessing is from the Spirit (Eph.
1:3), as is his understanding of truth (1 Cor. 2:13-15; Col. 1:9). His songs
should be sung in the Spirit (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), and his ability to
understand Scripture correctly is given by the Spirit (Rev. 11:8). He is to be
so dominated by the Spirit that he can be called spiritual (1 Cor. 2:15; Gal.
6:1)”.
The words spirit and spiritual, which denote a “non-material”
reality that is not of this world -- and the words mystic or mystical, which
indicate the ability to see into these spiritual realms beyond the
three-dimensional limitations of this world -- and the words Messiah/Christ and
Anointed, which signify the illumination of the mind of the disciple by the
All-Knowing Power of God -- all possess a parallel meaning that are intertwined
in the New Covenant revelations that Jesus taught to his faithful disciples.
When absent, as in the case of the majority of believers today, these
words are indicative of the people of the simple faith.
All three terms represent a person who “is to
be so dominated by the Spirit that he can be called spiritual”.
What this means is that through the process of walking in The Way, the
promise of the scriptures became a manifest reality, as the Anointing enabled
the disciple to use those sections of the mind that lie dormant to the natural
man whose thinking is of this world. Moreover,
without the Spirit and the higher mystical powers that are brought forth by the
Anointing and illumination of the mind, a person cannot be a true and genuine
Christian -- which word in and of itself denotes an Anointed follower of the
Light of the Word.
If we are to begin to embrace the fullness of
Christian thought, then we must rid ourselves of the limitations and doctrinal
baggage that was infused upon the thinking of the believers during both the
fourth century when the teachings of The Way were Paganized, and the time of the
Reformation when the use of reason and higher knowledge was condemned. Genuine Christianity is a Spiritual Religion that
develops the higher centers of the mind -- which centers we call of a mystical
nature, because it is the activation of these centers of the mind that bestows
upon the disciple the Sacred Knowledge -- or Gnosis -- that enables the disciple
to perceive all things as they truly are in the Vision of God.
In the true sense of the word, Jesus can be defined as a Master among all
Mystics: He knew the thoughts of the people he came into contact with; he often
foretold future events; he understood the underlying laws that control the road
that all men walk -- he knew man's destiny from beginning to end -- he could see
and talk to demons and evil spirits that plagued the people who lived a sinful
lifestyle -- he could appear and dematerialize in the midst of people -- he was
able to perceive the cause of disease, which he said was sin, and when he healed
them, he possessed the power to forgive and negate these sins that plagued the
people -- and he was able to communicate directly with God and the prophets who
had lived in former times. Perhaps
more important, though, was the fact that it was promised by Jesus that his
followers would also possess these same higher mystical powers of mind -- as can
be seen where it is written: “I tell you the truth,
anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even
greater things than these” (John 14:12 NIV).
What the very words of the Bible conveys to the reader
is that all genuine Christians will be mystics -- i.e., they will perceive the
reality of Creation from a higher perspective -- and in the manner that leaves
grow on a healthy tree, these higher powers of mind will be a natural outgrowth
of their religious life. It
is the promise of the scriptures that the genuine follower of the Messiah/Christ
will not need to be taught the Truth from other men, because they will
communicate directly with God. They
will not even need the scriptures, because they will find the Living Word of God
revealed in the very essence of their hearts and minds (Heb 8:10-11). They will not build institutionalized churches made
with hands, because the doors to the true Church will be open to them.
Moreover, their minds will be Anointed and Illumined, and they will never
answer a question with the words: “God moves in
strange ways”; or the words: “You have
to have faith”; because genuine Jews and Christians will inherit
the promise -- and they will perceive the very underlying laws that control all
events in this world, as well as the destiny of mankind.
When Jesus said to his followers: “You are the
light of the world” (Matt 5:14 NIV), the great reality which was
being conveyed was that their vision of Creation would pierce the very depths of
darkness -- they would know all things -- and they would rule over the Prince of
Darkness, because they would possess the vision and power to lead mankind out of
the grips of the forces of Satan that shackles the lives of the people of this
world.
It is of course easy to conclude that modern
Christians do not exhibit the powers of mind that Jesus promised they would.
And when we question why the scriptures have not been fulfilled?
The answer to this question is a matter of perspective: Non-believers,
and those who reject the idea that man has a spiritual nature, would of course
like to say that modern Christians do not exhibit these promised abilities
because Jesus was a fraud, and this is just one of many examples of his
predictions that did not come true. Since
this conclusion is unacceptable to believers, they must ask the question: Did
Jesus just say these words and not mean what he said?
With regard to the statement that Christians will be able to perform
greater works than Jesus, the commentary Barnes' Notes writes: “Interpreters
have been at a loss in what way to understand this”.
Yet, there is a third reason why these predictions of
Jesus have not come to pass, and it is perhaps this third reason that is the
most unsettling to the modern believer.
If Jesus was genuine, and he truly meant what he said, then the only
other possible conclusion is that the modern church is no longer the True Church
of Christ. In fact, once it
is recognized that the modern church has very little in common with the original
church which Jesus ordained, and has adopted and embraced a series of doctrines
that are in conflict with the very essence of what Jesus taught, it is then easy
to understand why the present-day church is a mere shadow of what the Bible
states it should be.
What many believers today fail to realize is that the
answer to the dilemma is found implanted on their own lips as they gather
together for prayer and worship. Further,
the answer is again found in the words of the Apostle Peter, as contained in an
obscure writing of his disciple Clement, where he said that the genuine
Christian must learn only from the True Prophet as to the correct meaning of the
scriptures and the revelation of the Word.
“Hence, O beloved Clement", proclaims Peter, “if
you would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him
alone, because He alone knows the truth. For if any one else knows anything, he
has received it from Him or from His disciples”.
These words -- i.e., that you not only can, but you
MUST learn the things of God from Him alone, or from one of his genuine
disciples -- are as true today as when Peter originally spoke them to Clement in
the first century. They are
based upon the New Covenant teaching that Jesus came to teach the Truth, and
this Truth cannot be altered or defiled by either an impostor church, or the
doctrines of men. Therefore,
built into the essence of the Word is a means by which the truly faithful
disciple throughout any and every age in the history of man is able to learn the
Truth directly from the Lord Himself.
What this further means is that even during that timeframe when the
church was plundered into the very depths of darkness and despair, the truly
faithful followers of the Light were taught the truth directly from the One
Source of all Truth.
The problem is that the modern Christian has become so
accustomed to listening to the preaching and doctrines of other men, that they
have permitted themselves to become totally alienated from the very essence of
New Covenant teachings. We
have therefore been so estranged from the Word that Jesus taught, that few
Christians today can even envision the core teaching of the New Testament
scriptures -- i.e., that only what has been revealed to you by the Lord Himself
via your own spiritual nature is a valid Truth that you are to embrace.
The Great Reality that we totally fail to understand
is the fact that in the same way the true follower of Christ was not of this
world, neither was his Church! What
this means is that when we ourselves become spiritual, we will be able to see
the door to the Spiritual Church, open it, and enter therein.
While it is true that we will not use our physical body, Paul teaches
that we possess both a natural and a spiritual body, as seen in the words: “There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44 KJV)
-- and with respect to Paul’s own experiences with regard to entering the
heavenly realms the Apostle writes: “whether in the
body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth”
(2 Cor 12:2 KJV). It was the
witness of the first followers of Jesus that all those who faithfully followed
in The Way, and learned only from the Master, were themselves permitted into the
Spiritual Temple that they accessed through the inner door within their own
mind.
The genuine Christian doctrine is easy to confirm.
Jesus never ordained a class of priests whose job it was to perform
rituals and prayers on behalf of the people.
The religious principles that Jesus taught were purely spiritual -- i.e.,
his disciples were to go forth and proclaim to the people that if they changed
their direction, and walked in The Way, they could enter into the Kingdom of
God, and be saved from the fate of death that this world holds.
The disciples and apostles were not to teach, as our religious
authorities teach today -- but rather, they were to lead the people to the One
Teacher -- the True Prophet -- that is the only Genuine Source of Knowledge for
the disciple of the Light.
In addition to the scriptures where Jesus commands the
disciples not to be called teacher, for there is only One Teacher (Mt 23:8),
this same Truth can be demonstrated using the first century witness known as the
Recognitions of Clement, where St. Clement quotes the teachings of the
Apostle Peter. In chapter 59,
under the heading of The True Prophet, Clement writes: “But
I would not have you think, that in saying this I take away the power of judging
concerning things; but I give counsel that no one walk through devious places,
and rush into errors without end. And therefore I advise not only wise men, but
indeed all men who have a desire of knowing what is advantageous to them, that
they seek after the true Prophet; for it is He alone who knoweth all things, and
who knoweth what and how every man is seeking. For He is within the mind of
every one of us, but in those who have no desire of the knowledge of God and His
righteousness, He is inoperative; but He works in those who seek after that
which is profitable to their souls, and kindles in them the light of knowledge.
Wherefore seek Him first of all; and if you do not find Him, expect not that you
shall learn anything from any other. But He is soon found by those who
diligently seek Him through love of the truth, and whose souls are not taken
possession of by wickedness. For He is present with those who desire Him in the
innocence of their spirits, who bear patiently, and draw sighs from the bottom
of their hearts through love of the truth; but He deserts malevolent minds,
because as a prophet He knows the thoughts of every one. And therefore let no
one think that he can find Him by his own wisdom, unless, as we have said, he
empty his mind of all wickedness, and conceive a pure and faithful desire to
know Him. For when any one has so prepared himself, He Himself as a prophet,
seeing a mind prepared for Him, of His own accord offers Himself to his
knowledge”.
What does Peter say to us in these words? That the
True Prophet “is within the mind of every one of
us”. This
concept is Spiritual -- and is the foundation of the Living Church that the Lord
inaugurated. Jesus warned his
followers not to go to a teacher or religious authority in this world -- even
when that teacher or authority says that he knows the Christ.
What is very clear in these words which are parallel and in harmony with
the Bible, is the followers of Jesus were not to learn from men -- who
themselves do not know -- and in true Spiritual-Gnostic fashion, they were only
to go to the Source of all Knowledge, the True Prophet.
The Apostle Paul wrote that the baptized believers at Corinth
did not know the Gospel of God, and could not be taught the Mysteries and true
Christian teachings because they were too carnal to receive them.
This great dilemma that Paul wrote about -- and has been continually
ignored by the majority of Christians throughout history -- was explained by
Peter when his disciple Clement wrote his warning to believers: “…and
if you do not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from any
other”.
From a first century Christian perspective, there is
only one way that you can learn and know the truth, and that is through your own
dormant spiritual nature. “Expect
not that you shall learn anything”, says Peter, if you attempt to
learn from the doctrines of men -- even when these men are the leaders of your
church, synagogue, mosque, or temple.
Why? Because Jesus
himself commanded: “But you, do not be called
'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren”
(Matt 23:8 NKJ). Therefore,
whoever will teach you -- except by example and the manifestation of the Light
in their own lives -- from the perspective of the New Covenant, is a disciple of
the antichrist.
Peter embodies the very essence of the genuine
teachings of The Way in the words: “But He is soon
found by those who diligently seek Him through love of the truth, and whose
souls are not taken possession of by wickedness. For He is present with those
who desire Him in the innocence of their spirits, who bear patiently, and draw
sighs from the bottom of their hearts through love of the truth”.
In this statement you will find the dividing line
between the genuine Christian and the Christian of the flesh -- i.e., the
genuine Christians are those who are willing to embrace the Light, and learn
only from the True Prophet which they manifest in their lives by only doing what
is of the Light -- whereas, the Christians of the flesh calls upon the name of
the Lord, but they adhere to the teachings of men, and live in accordance with
the culture of this world. Once
these words of Peter are realized in the life of the believer, only then is it
comprehended that it is the desire for the Truth -- and the Truth alone -- that
will turn you in the direction of The Way.
It is this desire that must rule your hearts and minds in such an all
encompassing manner, that the believer rejoices in the labors of clearing the
rubble of this world out of our lives, and strives to make themselves the good
ground that is the only consecrated environment which the Lord will recognize as
being genuine. In this
respect, the True Prophet can only be found by those who cultivate and prepare
themselves -- physically, mentally and spiritually, for the coming of the Lord.
From a New Covenant perspective as set forth in the
parable of the sower and the seed, you already have the Word planted in the
essence of your heart and mind. Throughout
the parables, the Word is spoken of as being male, and the disciple as female.
What this means is that one only has to apply a practical knowledge to
the equation in order to understand the process that is taught in the parable of
the sower and the seed. In
the same way that a woman attracts a man to her, the disciple attracts the
manifestation of the Word into his life by preparing the environment of his mind
and body in the endeavor to make it the good ground.
In the same way that a man is seeking an attractive woman in which to
place his seed, the Word is seeking an attractive environment in this world in
which to manifest the Light.
All the confusion and conflict of religious doctrine
that is present in the world today can be attributed to one dominant cause --
i.e., for the believer to prepare themselves does not mean that the True Prophet
can be found by those who search for him holding firm to the doctrines of men,
or the lifestyle and culture of this world -- but rather, one must prepare
themselves to make their life so it will be in conformity with the Will of God.
Peter warns that those who do not become disciples of the Light, and fail
to cleanse themselves from the defilements of this world, the True Prophet
remains “inoperative” -- they cannot see
him, hear him, or even conceive of his existence, even though he dwells in the
spiritual kingdom within each and every one of us. The True Prophet can only be revealed to those
who truly desire the knowledge of God, and reject everything else. But what is the knowledge of God? The knowledge of God is Truth and Light, and can be
possessed only by those who are prepared to move beyond this world of carnal
opinion and dogma.
In chapter 62, Clement then goes on in his quotation
of the Apostle's teachings: “And, therefore, since
amongst these philosophers are things uncertain, we must come to the true
Prophet. Him God the Father wished to be loved by all, and accordingly He has
been pleased wholly to extinguish those opinions which have originated with men,
and in regard to which there is nothing like certainty - that He the true
Prophet might be the more sought after, and that He whom they had obscured
should show to men the way of truth. For on this account also God made the
world, and by Him the world is filled; whence also He is everywhere near to them
who seek Him, though He be sought in the remotest ends of the earth. But if any
one seek Him not purely, nor holily, nor faithfully, He is indeed within him,
because He is everywhere, and is found within the minds of all men; but, as we
have said before, He is dormant to the unbelieving, and is held to be absent
from those by whom His existence is not believed”.
The importance of this statement to the people of the
simple faith is the very essence of the New Covenant promise! What Clement is stating is that you -- you the reader
of this book -- regardless of who you are, or your present station in this life
-- has the ability to find the True Prophet and know the Truth -- but, so long
as we continue to cling to the doctrines of men, and the philosophy and
materialism of this world, the True Prophet will remain dormant as to an
unbeliever. A believer in
Christ, then, cannot be defined as someone who believes in the manner of their
choosing -- in what is culturally correct -- or in the doctrines of their church
-- but rather, genuine belief in Christ means that the person believes that if
they incorporate the teachings of Christ in their life -- and then live them in
word, thought and deed -- that they will begin the process of opening the inner
door to the Kingdom and learn directly from the True Prophet.
What we must therefore recognize is the fact that,
many who call upon the name of the Lord are in reality unbelievers, because they
attempt to call upon the Lord while holding fast to the doctrines of
Constantine, Justinian, Darwin, and a whole host of other prophets and servants
of the anti-christ. It is in
reference to these false teachers and their flocks that the Lord spoke of when
he said: “These people draw near to Me with their
mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matt
15:8 NKJ). Why? It
is because the doors to the Kingdom are only opened with the desires of the
purified heart, and not with the lips.
What you say means little -- but what you do and accomplish with your
life is of paramount importance in the eyes of the Lord.
If one truly loves the Lord, then they will rid
themselves of all falseness, and cling only to the Truth.
Whoever is therefore not willing to surrender to the truth, are the
unrighteous people that the Apostle speaks about: “And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness” (2 Th 2:10-12 KJV).
What the Apostle is here stating is that only those
who rid themselves of the baggage of this world, and truly walk in The Way, will
perceive the reality of Life -- all others, regardless of how well-meaning they
are, regardless of how they praise the Lord with their lips, will be given a “strong
delusion”. In
our analysis of this great truth it is important for us to comprehend the flaw
that the authors of the scriptures saw in the people of the Nations -- i.e.,
they called upon the name of the Lord, but they lived their lives in accordance
with their culture -- and thus, they denied God in their actions and deeds.
Now I understand that by merely raising these
questions I will invoke the standard response that God would never let such a
thing happen to His Church. Yet,
we must also be cognizant of the fact that if God would never let such a thing
happen, then why were we not only warned in advance to beware of these pitfalls,
but we were also warned in the Bible itself that the defilement of the church
was imminent, as seen in the words: “Let no one
deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away
comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes
and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he
sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. …The coming
of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs,
and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe
the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Th 2:3-12 NKJ).
It is very clear that the Apostle foretells the
believers to beware, because the disciples of Satan will rule over the church.
It is also very clear that those who are swayed by the doctrines of the
church will receive a “strong delusion, that they
should believe the lie”.
Why? Because they
embraced doctrines of lawlessness, and they did not possess a love of the truth.
And if we inquire as to what truth is?
From the Apostle's perspective, it is not something that is believed, but
something that can be proven. And
if we ask what constitutes proof? From
the Apostle's perspective, it is that condition that has been brought about when
we overcome this world, and we are able to sit at the feet of the Master -- in
the Spiritual Church that the gates of Hell cannot defile -- and we Know God in
the manner of the prodigal son who has returned home to his Father's Kingdom.
This is proof -- and anything less is the “strong
delusion” that the disciples of Satan who appear to us as ministers
of light has caused us to cling to through the process of faith in manmade and
unprofitable doctrines of belief.
In my own search for answers many years ago, I came
face to face with the great Christian dilemma: If the bible warns that I cannot
trust the religious authorities of the church -- that I cannot trust my own
natural (carnal) intellect and feelings -- then on what biblical basis would I
put my trust in any of the many groups or sects I had encountered?
Should I do as many other Christians seemed to do, and just join the
church that best suites my social and emotional needs?
These are important questions for Christians to face and confront.
Does not the scriptures warn us that: “For
those who guide this people are leading them astray; and those who are guided by
them are brought to confusion” (Isa 9:16 NAS). In view of the fact that I was in a great deal of
confusion, this scriptural warning must be recognized by every person today
seeking Truth and Light.
These words which are totally ignored by those who
attempt to read the scriptures today, were spoken in reference to the parable of
the sower and the seed (see Sower
And Seed) -- which parable is both the most ignored, and one of the most
important elements of the Gospel message that must be embraced by all people
today. The spiritual concepts
that are in fact taught in this parable are of such an exalted magnitude, that
they should be seen as the very starting place for all those who desire to know
anything of any genuine import. In
order to live a life of genuine substance, the life of every child should be
molded in accordance with the concepts revealed in this parable -- a parable
that is so important to those in pursuit of all Knowledge, both secular and
religious, that Jesus warned the people: “And he said
unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?”
(Mark 4:13 KJV). And to put
this great biblical truth in the more modern language of the New Living
Translation: “But if you can't understand this story,
how will you understand all the others I am going to tell?”
You can’t!
If you fail to understand the meaning of this parable, then you can never
comprehend a single truth of any great importance.
Moreover, I confirm this well defined biblical statement with respect to
all of man’s endeavors in his quest to know himself and his true role in the
vision of Creation. It makes
no difference if you are a man of faith, science, or philosophy, unless you
understand the meaning of this parable in relation to your own life, then you
can never know anything of a genuine value and significance.
What Jesus declared to the wise and prudent was this
great truth: There exist Keys of Knowledge that when possessed by a man or woman
in search of the Truth, and used to open the doors within the mind that enables
man to gaze beyond the limitations of this world, that man or woman has the
capacity to know all the Ultimate Truths of Creation, because man is a great
deal more than he appears. What
the Bible states is that because all of mankind is the offspring of the Eternal
God, he is congenitally endowed with the capacity to embrace the Ultimate Truths
of Creation -- i.e., as written in the Psalms: “I
said, 'You are ‘gods’; you are all sons of the Most High.'” (Ps
82:6 NIV). The problem is that instead of taking hold of these
Keys of Knowledge, we listen to secular and quasi-religious carnally minded
philosophers who do not possess the Keys of Knowledge, and thus they see and
hear with the congenital and natural limitations of this world, instead of
learning directly from our Heavenly Father.
One of the great realities of life that we fail to
recognize is that our beliefs very much support our lifestyle -- a lifestyle
that makes it convenient for us to live in accordance with our present-day
society. The result is that
what we see when we open our Bibles is only a fraction of the Divine Revelation
of Truth which has been limited by our present-day lifestyle and manner of
thinking. In order to embrace
Truth, we must become very cognizant of the fact that our perception of God,
Creation, and the very purpose of life itself, is all directly related to our
lifestyle and mindset with which we use to view the world and comprehend every
aspect of our existence. In
recognition of this fact, it must then be understood that in everything we
think, do and say, our vision of the world in which we live is filtered and
limited by the beliefs we have adopted -- beliefs which we fail to realize are
congenital to the thinking of this world.
Fundamentally one of our most serious of problems is seen in the fact
that even if we are a fundamentalist Christian, our present system of beliefs
have been imbued with a quasi-Darwinist perception of life.
That man is blinded by what he believes and can see
nothing more than the limitations that his lifestyle and manner of thinking will
permit, is very much a part of human nature.
In the same way that the Atheist cannot even begin to make progress with
respect to searching for the truth of religion until he is at least willing
become agnostic and at least entertain the idea that God may in fact exist, the
modern-day Christian cannot embrace the higher concepts of the Gospel until the
believer is willing to question the doctrinal limitations that were placed upon
the church when it was under the control of Pagan Rome.
Moreover, this is easily demonstrated once it is recognized that the
fundamental framework of the doctrines we have inherited from past generations
of Christians were very much politically based, and were brought about by virtue
of the need to make the gospel accommodate the thinking of the people of the
fourth century.
If the teachings of the New Covenant were not first
Paganized, they never could have been embraced by a Pagan people.
It is not that the people were converted to a different vision of life
and manner of thinking -- they very much remained Pagan, and merely began to
include certain symbols that related to New Covenant thought into their
heathenistic life. The result
is that in every way the foundation of our doctrines reflect the cultural
beliefs of the people at that time they came into being, and were adopted and
ordained by the church because they permitted the people to live a guilt-free
life in accordance with the prevalent lifestyle that existed during that era in
man’s history. Perhaps more
than any other factor, it is this process of adopting a series of beliefs and
mindset that enables believers to live in accordance with their culture while
still perceiving themselves as fulfilling the requirements of God, that is the
greatest example of the success of what the Apostle Paul refers to as the powers
of darkness that control this world.
It has been said that the greatest deception of all
time is seen in the success of Satan in his ability to convince man that he does
not exist. If this is so, then
Satan's second deception is perhaps even greater than the first -- in that, he
has fooled the very elect -- i.e., the very religious authorities of the church
who have been warned and taught of his existence.
In total disregard of the admonition of the scriptures themselves, the
greater majority of Christians believe that the church is beyond the reach of
Satan -- that God somehow drew a line that Satan cannot cross over -- and
because of this force of Divine protection, Satan has not immersed himself in
every aspect of their lives! Yet,
to their own detriment, the leaders of the modern church ignore the warning of
the Apostle: “let no man beguile you in any wise: for
(it will not be,) except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against
all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple
of God, setting himself forth as God” (2 Thes 2:3-4 ASV).
What the Apostle is herein very clearly predicting is
that there would come a time when the god of the Christian Church will be a
false god. Historically
speaking, it has been almost universally recognized that the period in time that
the Apostle could have been referring to was in the fourth century when the
church made a covenant with the Roman Emperor Constantine.
With regard to this falling away, the Adam Clark Commentary writes of
this passage of Paul's Epistle: “[Except there come a
falling away first] We have the original word apostasia in our word apostasy;
and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of
religious truth, either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a
corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient
to salvation. But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and
perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction” (from the
Adam Clarke Commentary).
Not to depreciate or make less the significance of any
one of the individual statements presented in the above words, what the modern
believer must recognized is the far-reaching totality of the statement: “But
what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will
be, answered to general satisfaction”.
Ultimately, what this means to the modern believer is that each and every
church authority from the fourth-century to the present, as well as every single
preacher of the gospel, speaks from the position of concession -- which
concession is that there is a great void in their knowledge of the truth.
Thus, one of the core presumptions upon which our present-day doctrine of
faith is based, is that these words of the Apostle Paul are not true.
What the average person of faith fails to realize, is that this
presumption which is widely embraced today, is truly dangerous to each and every
Christian’s spiritual well-being!
In our quest to restore the pure Word of the Gospel,
it is important for us to question just what these words of the Apostle mean to
the modern believer? It means
that the church today is doing the best that it possibly can, under the
circumstances that it has been forced to function under.
If both historians and biblical experts are unable to tell us with
certainty to what degree these words of the Apostle effect our perception of the
gospel today, then we cannot be sure of a single thing!
While we have faith that our beliefs are authentic, when it is recognized
that our faith requires us to physically die before we can be sure of the
validity of anything that we presently believe, we may be playing Russian
Roulette with all the cylinders loaded -- and hoping for a misfire.
Unlike the believer who merely accepts what he is
told, modern religious authorities know that the history of the church is
extremely troubling. Men of
wisdom are alarmed that the religion of the common faith that still survives
even today, was brought about by the power of the sword.
Again, contrary to what they tell the uninformed believer, biblical
experts know that the condition of the scriptures is extremely disturbing.
Further, they also know that each and every conflicting sect and opinion
that calls itself Christian, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with
these almost uncountable number of conflicting opinions, bases its theological
position on seemingly valid scriptural statements of fact.
What this ultimately means is that each sect and
school of doctrinal opinion has been forced to accept one biblical theory over
the ideas of other schools of thought, which are also represented in the Bible
as an article of faith that their choice is the correct one, regardless of the
fact that there is often strong biblical reasons for the opposing opinions they
reject. The Evangelical
Christians, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Quakers, and the Unitarian
Universalists, all embrace conflicting beliefs -- and yet, each is able to use
the Bible to affirm their doctrines.
The Jehovah’s Witness, Evangelical Christians, Quakers and Unitarian
Universalists each take certain biblical passages and give them more weight and
prescience than other biblical passages that conflict with their opinion.
Regardless of what they preach to their parishioners,
each one of these sects arrives at their particular conclusion over the rest,
because they have faith that they are doing the best they can under the
circumstances they are functioning under.
If they were to be truly honest, each one of them could write a really
long list of the many important fundamentals of the gospel that confuses them --
but since they have faith that there is nothing better, and all explanations
that have been offered by each sect and authority are equally confusing, they
have long ago recognized the fact that they are powerless to do anything about
the biblical/religious dilemma that confronts them.
What is their alternative? Give
up the gospel? Because this
alternative is unacceptable, and something within them strongly conveys that
there is truth in the pages of the scriptures, they have no other choice than to
have faith that either what they see in the scriptures is the truth, or they
will be saved by virtue that the believe in Jesus as their Savior.
One of the major causes of the present state of
doctrinal chaos is the failure of modern pastors and church authorities to
recognize that the key to their dilemma is found in the prediction of the
Apostle that there would come a time of total abandonment of the Gospel with
respect to the desolation of all genuine spiritual Christian ideas and concepts.
What this means is that the Apostle predicts that in the near future, the
true religion of Jesus would cease to exist in this world.
In this respect, the words of the Apostle are quite clear in there
assertion -- i.e., from the time period of the first century of our Common Era
when it was written by the hand of Paul, it prophetically speaks of a time in
the near future when the teachings that Jesus placed in the hands of mankind
would cease to exist -- and it is the correct assertion of many Christians that
this in fact took place in the establishment of an institutionalized church
under the control of Pagan Rome in the fourth century.
What the modern Christian fails to realize is that the
total corruption of the doctrine of the church which the Apostle speaks of was
in fact brought about by the adoption of the Christ of Constantine, which
resulted in the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth.
While it is true that we use the name Jesus, and we call ourselves his
followers, what we have lost sight of is that the essence of the religion of the
New Covenant is spiritual, and where the physical body of Christ was crucified
by the carnal Jews in the first century, the spiritual body of Christ was
crucified in the fourth century (see The
Death Of The Religion Of Jesus).
In further explanation with regard to this crucial
prediction of the Apostle, the Adam Clark Commentary then goes on to provide us
a vivid description of Constantine and the formation of his new church: “[Who
opposeth and exalteth] He stands against and exalts himself above all divine
authority, and above every object of adoration, and every institution, relative
to divine worship, sebasma, himself being the source, whence must originate all
the doctrines of religion, and all its rites and ceremonies; so that sitting in
the temple of God -- having the highest place and authority in the Christian
church, he acts as God -- taking upon himself God's titles and attributes, and
arrogating to himself the authority that belongs to the Most High”
(from the Adam Clarke Commentary).
That these events came to pass is well documented from
a historical perspective -- i.e., the church was ruled by Satanic forces that
dictated every aspect of Christian doctrine.
And while it is true that many faithful believers, clergy, pastors and
religious authorities today have recognized the defilement of the church that
took place beginning in the fourth century, what could not be revealed until now
was the absolute certainty that, because we have never fully recovered from the
darkness and corruption that was imposed upon the teachings of the church by the
ruthless political despots of the past, essential foundational principles, as
well as indispensable elements of New Covenant knowledge of what is constantly
referred to in the Bible as the Mysteries of God, is presently absent from the
thinking of the body of the faithful believers to this very day.
From a biblical perspective, the supernatural being
referred to by Paul as Satan, who the Apostle refers to as the god of this
realm, successfully gains control over the thinking of the religious people of
any given generation by speaking to their imagination.
What does this mean? He
begins the process by inspiring within them a vision of a kingdom that is to
come at some later time. Where
Jesus preached that the Kingdom is here -- at hand, and could be entered through
a change of mind -- the forces of darkness blinds the hearts and minds of the
believer to the Kingdom that is already present and has been set before them.
The result is that the Prince of Darkness continues to rule over the
hearts and minds of the believers because, in their state of spiritual
complacency, they continue to live in accordance with the culture of this world,
and never actually take up their crosses and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Thus, while they believe and have faith, their faith is misdirected.
In failing to recognize the warning of Paul with respect to the total “…dereliction
of the essential principles of religious truth, either a total abandonment of
Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole
system completely inefficient to salvation…”, Satan successfully
alters the believer’s perception of the scriptures, and induces them to wait
-- rather than begin the journey into the Kingdom where the Son of God awaits
them.
The Satanic powers of darkness that are revealed in
the scriptures gains the upper hand by moving the hearts and minds of
unsuspecting men and women to become attached to this world by whatever means
possible. He controls
religious people by seducing them into adopting a life of spiritual complacency
and impotence -- using religion to effect within the believer a false vision of
their own level of spirituality as being exalted and heightened.
He often accomplishes this deception by inducing them to judge and
compare themselves to non-believers, and those who have already surrendered
their soul over to the Prince of Darkness.
It was easy for Lot to perceive himself a righteous
person in comparison to the inhabitants of Sodom.
It is in like manner easy for the average Christian today to view
themselves as being a faithful and believing people in relation to the criminal
element that is portrayed in our newspapers and media.
The flaw in this perception is seen in the fact that the Bible does not
require us to be better than the unholy -- but rather, to be Christ-like -- and
ultimately as perfect as our Heavenly Father (Matt 5:48).
Thus, because we judge ourselves in accordance with the standards of this
world, the result is that the religious person sees himself as being in accord
with the gospel message, because he can easily perceive a difference between
himself and the people he views as being turned out of The Way.
From the perspective of what the Apostle calls the god of this world,
this false vision of righteousness is absolutely necessary in order to implant
within their minds a strong delusion that induces them to believe that they are
fulfilling the Word of God.
A great truth that the Bible continually warns the
religious person about -- a truth that he must come to terms with if he is to
become a disciple of the Light -- is that this supernatural being which the
Apostle calls the god of this world, ordains servants to mislead the flock of
believers -- and more importantly, even those servants are unaware that they
have become the ministers of Satan. More
importantly, the servants of Satan are very often the people who the flock of
believers regard as the most well meaning of individuals -- men and women who
the believing community perceives as religious allies, and perhaps even saintly.
Throughout the course of human history it can be
demonstrated that large numbers of true believers have permitted themselves to
be deceived and led into error and captivity, because they failed to heed the
lesson of the biblical account of Samson and Delilah -- where the betrayer
appears to be good, and yet saps their strength, and then attacks the believers
in order to enslave them. If,
then, we are to break the bonds of slavery, and succeed in safeguarding
ourselves from being deceived, we must become acutely aware of the important
biblical warning that: “There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov
14:12 KJV).
From the perspective of the Prince of Darkness, we are
more easily conquered and led into a life of servitude by those who appear to us
as allies and champions of the faith, than those who would oppose us.
No doubt many Christians will immediately reject this argument -- saying,
God would not permit this to happen to His church.
But this claim is quickly proven counterfeit when it is demonstrated that
God has indeed permitted the church to fall into error.
Can the believer trust the affirmation of the leaders of the church with
respect to their claim of doctrinal purity and Divine protection?
The Bible very clearly states that the opposite is true, and it is the
leaders of the church who will be in error when they make this claim.
In confirmation of what was predicted by Paul, Jesus said that the powers
of darkness which seek to enslave us, and will accomplish this by fooling the
very elect of the church (Mat 24:24; Mk 13:22).
The Apostle warns that Satan will appear as an Angel of light, and he
will transform his ministers and servants of darkness to make them falsely
appear to you as good, in order to deceive you (2 Cor 11:14). In this respect, the Bible warns us that what seems
right to the carnal mind of man, is the very thing that will bring about the
ways of death (Prov 14:12).
What Jesus warned his followers was to: “Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:15-16
KJV). In understanding the
far-reaching reality of these words, we must comprehend exactly what the fruits
are that Jesus makes reference to which we should use to judge the validity of
our religious leaders! Fruits
in the scriptures relate to works and accomplishments -- and the works of the
spirit is seen in the ability of the shepherd of the flock to place within the
hands of the believer the Key that opens the door to what the Bible calls the
house of knowledge -- and then demonstrate how to use that knowledge to guide
the believer into the Kingdom -- a Kingdom that will never come upon the earth
as our present-day church authorities proclaim (Luke 17:20-21), but exists at
this very time in a parallel dimension.
From a biblical perspective, the Messiah/Christ is the
one who opens the door to the Kingdom and permits us to enter therein. Throughout the scriptures the essence of New Covenant
thought is that one must pick up their own cross and follow in the Masters
footsteps. Satan is the power
that draws our consciousness to the outside world.
Satan does not want us to begin the journey into the Kingdom, and can
only maintain control over us so long as our mindset remains attached to this
realm. Where the Apostle
warns us that Satan will raise up ministers and prophets who appear to be
spiritual, but are not, what he is making reference to is clergy and religious
authorities who keep us focused on prayer, ritual, and dead works that are of
this world, and do not move us along the journey into the Kingdom. When Jesus warned us that the pseudo-prophets will
appear to us as sheep, and deceive us, he was confirming that Satan will attempt
to use our own religious authorities to enslave us.
Satan knows that freedom, and the appearance of choice, defeats more foes
than does conflict. It is
therefore important for us to understand that the Prince of Darkness knows more
about us than we do. He
understands human nature -- and he knows that we will stand firm against one who
appears to be an enemy, and in the manner of Sampson be readily seduced by one
who appears to be a friend.
If a stranger approached a child and put on a mean and
evil demeanor, the child would instantly retreat and seek a place of safety.
Thus, the stranger who will successfully abduct and do harm to the child,
lures the child away with candy -- the promise of some reward -- or even fear
not to obey, which is the most effective means to control an individual.
Once seduced, the Prince of Darkness maintains control
over the people by herding those he has successfully deceived into groups,
religious institutions, governments and nations.
He does this to take advantage of another of man's inherent weaknesses,
which is the pack syndrome where man finds safety in numbers.
This mindset manifests itself in the concept that, if a group of people
all agree, then we convince ourselves that it has to be right.
Or, if a whole group is wrong, we reason that God will somehow overlook
the error, because no one else knew the truth.
In the manner of schoolchildren, we believe that God will mark our test
of life on a curve -- and so long as we attain a certain grade that is within
the upper and lower limits of other people, we will have past the requirements
of life.
So long as we can maintain the belief that no one
really knows for sure, or that ultimate truth is beyond man’s ability to
realize, then we feel secure in the belief that we will not be held accountable
for our indolence with respect to seeking the knowledge of the truth for
ourselves. We take this one
step further when our religious institutions ordain ministers, priests and
religious authorities whose job it is to know all there is to know about God and
the requirements of life. We
place other men in the position of priest and clergy, so as to make them
responsible for knowing the Will of God.
We then reason that all we have to do is live in accordance with what
these religious authorities say, and we will have passed the test of life.
What we therefore fail to recognize is the fact that this is the same
exact flaw that Jesus condemned in the Jewish sects of the Sadducees and
Pharisees.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses feel secure in the belief
that God talks to the leaders of their sect who publish their pamphlets in
Brooklyn. So long as they are
Jehovah’s Witnesses in good standing, they will be saved.
Evangelical Christians believe that by virtue of their accepting Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and they worship in a Christ-centered
Church, they will be saved. The
mainline Protestant sects believe that so long as they have faith in Jesus, they
too will be saved. In each
and every case the people feel secure in their association with a particular
church or church doctrine of belief.
In biblical times when Jesus exhibited great
compassion and understanding for the lost sheep, he did not extend this same
compassion to the false religious leaders who he condemned -- religious leaders
who performed rituals and dead works -- religious leaders who praised a God that
they did not understand because they were impostors, and were unable to manifest
the Light before the lost sheep of the Lord.
A genuine religious leader is one who leads the flock into the Kingdom,
and brings them into the presence of the indwelling Word.
While it is true that Jesus condemned the Sadducees
and Pharisees as false religious leaders, from an historical perspective the sin
of the Jews in no way compared to the eventual sin of the later church that
called itself Christian. If
the sin of the Jews was that they killed the Christ at the time of the
crucifixion, then what we fail to understand today is that the sin of the
Gentile Christians was that they killed and annihilated the very presence of
Christ in this world -- thus, plunging both the Jews and the Christians into the
depths of spiritual darkness.
The truth of the matter that is beyond the
comprehension of the greater majority of the people who call themselves
Christian today, is that when the Lord physically departed from us, and returned
to the heavenly realms from which he had emerged, he did not abandon mankind --
i.e., he visited those who were worthy, and he left us a people who continued to
live and dwell in the manner that he prescribed.
For three hundred years there existed a society of people who continued
to live a spiritual life in the Light and The Way that Jesus taught.
During this time this group of observant Hebrew/Christians helped both
Jew and Gentile-Christian alike to understand and embrace man's innate spiritual
nature. Thus, because they
maintained the Lord's teachings in the purity of the Word, people from all walks
of life were able to embrace the Light and open the door of the great divide
that separates this world from the Kingdom of the Father.
In the fourth century a very carnal sect of people who
called themselves Christian, entered into a covenant with the secular political
powers of darkness that ruled this world.
The result was that, whoever did not accept and adhere to the religion of
the supreme ruler -- which at that time was the emperor -- was immediately
deemed heretics, and silenced by the power of the sword. Thus, to the Christians own demise the warning of the
Apostle was ignored where he wrote: “But, as he who
was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to
the Spirit, even so it is now” (Gal 4:29 NKJ).
In a very short amount of time the Christians of the flesh totally
annihilated and exterminated the genuine disciples of the Light -- with the
result being that the Christian world was cast down into the very pit of
darkness from which the Lord had come to lead them out of.
Once the remnant of Light that the Lord had left to
guide the people was extinguished and annihilated by the very power of the
church's alliance with Caesar, Satan was free to not only alter the gospel
message, but to place his own disciples in the position of church authorities.
Then, in the manner of more modern despots such as Adolph Hitler, the
soldiers were sent forth to exterminate all who opposed the religion of the
emperor. It was during this
time that man's perception of God, the nature of Jesus, and matters and concepts
pertaining to spiritual things, became embodied in creeds and dogma, and was
then published by a class of priests who were totally ruled by a carnal mindset.
Genuine Spiritual Christianity ceased to exist, as the
religion of the emperor became an institution of secular law. We fail to understand these words today because we
erroneously view the teachings of the New Covenant as a body of people who
believe in the Son of God. What
we fail to comprehend is that true belief means that we open the “narrow
gate” and enter the Kingdom, and learn directly from the indwelling
Word (see Gate Of Eden).
Because Christianity was thrust into a world of ritual, dead works, the
worship of the gods in the form of saints, the unrestrained hunger for political
and material wealth, the religion of the New Covenant was converted from a
spiritual journey that builds a bridge between this realm and the Kingdom, and a
typical religion of the Nations where the people worshiped the gods, the
emperor, and lived in subjection to the priests who were ordained by the Roman
Government.
With the threat of death, no one was permitted to
disagree with the creeds of the Church of the Roman Empire.
Moreover, the men who were enacting these creeds -- the priests and
bishops who ruled the church, did not become priests and bishops because of
their holiness or manifest spirituality -- but rather, by alliance with the
Emperor's Church, and often by purchasing these positions with money --
positions that had in every way become secular in nature, and very much a part
of the government. In modern
times we call this a political payoff.
As just one example: In the sixth century when Pope
Sylverius had been removed from office by Theodora, the Emperor's wife who had
previously been a prostitute and circus performer, and who disagreed with the
pope on many theological positions -- one of which was the pre-existence of the
soul -- Gibbon writes: “At the emperor's command, the
clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a new bishop; and after a solemn
invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the
papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold” (Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire).
Thus, it was these religious politicians who
controlled and impacted Christian doctrine -- a doctrine established in the
fourth century. More
importantly is the fact that what believers today fail to realize is that it is
these same fourth-century doctrines that continue to remain at the very core of
accepted beliefs of the modern church, right up to our present time.
And what was the objective of these beliefs?
When these religious politicians submitted their decrees with regard to
the nature of God, Jesus, and the Bible, these decrees always supported the
religious priorities of the government -- which objective was always mindful of
the true secular purpose of religion, which was to assist the government in its
rule over and control of the masses of people.
That our whole modern perception of Creation that continues to be a
foundational principle of modern church doctrine, has been authored by a circus
prostitute who had the pope killed, and then had her own doctrines of belief
installed in the creeds of the church, should be sufficient to cause every
sincere believer to re-evaluate their understanding of the Gospel.
To what degree the church had fallen under the control
of blind carnal men can perhaps best be envisioned in the words of Hilary,
Bishop of Poitiers, when he wrote: “It is a thing
equally deplorable and dangerous, that there are as many creeds as opinions
among men, as many doctrines as inclinations, and as many sources of blasphemy
as there are faults among us; because we make creeds arbitrarily, and explain
them as arbitrarily. The Homoousion
is rejected, and received, and explained away by successive synods. The partial
or total resemblance of the Father and of the Son is a subject of dispute for
these unhappy times. Every year,
nay, every moon, we make new creeds to describe invisible mysteries.
We repent of what we have done, we defend those who repent, we
anathematize those who we defended. We
condemn either the doctrine of others in ourselves, or our own in that of
others; and, reciprocally tearing one another to pieces, we have been the cause
of each other's ruin” (Quoted by E.Gibbon; The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire).
Led by religious politicians, the Christian world
became immersed in a sea of manmade doctrines -- doctrines that attempted to
explain spiritual concepts that was beyond their ability to comprehend. The result was that for over a thousand years Satan
ruled the church that is today known as Christian -- and when the church
eventually emerged from the pit of darkness in the Middle-Ages, it had been
reduced to a mere shadow of the genuine church that was annihilated by the very
Pagan Christians of the fourth century.
The result was that these doctrines that formed the foundation of this
very Pagan church were then adopted by the Middle-Age reformers, and have
continued as foundational doctrines right up into our present time.
Thus, we can observe the success of Satan and the fulfillment of the
prediction of the Apostle Paul. From
the perspective of the god of this world, his mission to overcome the Light has
been successful, as he continues to perpetuate the manmade doctrines that cause
the lost sheep to be ruled over by the powers of darkness.
It is true that during the time of the Reformation
there was a break with the mother church that had become seated in Rome, but
because the reformers themselves did not possess the spiritual foundation of the
original church of the first century, and they continued to embrace many of the
doctrines that had been infused upon the teachings of Jesus by the emperors and
religious politicians of the past thousand years, it was beyond their ability to
re-establish what the Apostle himself warns they were incapable of understanding
-- and ultimately beyond even their comprehension.
Because they lacked the spiritual vision and knowledge of the original
followers of Jesus, the many churches that emerged from the Reformation
continued to be established upon the very carnal mindset that was instituted by
the Pagan Christians of the fourth century.
No doubt the majority of Christians today will reject
the idea that the modern church has been turned out of The Way.
As an article of faith they will reason that God would not permit such a
thing to happen -- i.e., He would safeguard His Church from being overcome by
Satan. Yet, as demonstrated above,
this article of faith is in conflict with the very words of the Apostle at 2
Thes 2:3-4, wherein the Adam Clarke Commentary explained that what Paul is
predicting is “…a dereliction of the essential
principles of religious truth, either a total abandonment of Christianity
itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system
completely inefficient to salvation…”. If the Apostle predicts the “total
abandonment of Christianity”, and a further “corruption
of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to
salvation”, then our present-day assertion that God will safeguard
the church is in total conflict to the warning of the Bible itself.
If this is true, then the present-day religious
authorities will counter that God would then communicate with His people and
correct the error of the past! The
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe this! The
Evangelical Christians believe this! So
do the very liberal mainline churches that promote the feel-good doctrines of
faith and belief in an all-inclusive savior!
Yet each one of these major groups view the others as cults that have
been greatly deceived in their interpretation of the Bible.
The great truth we fail to realize is that we dwell in
the very presence of God, and it is our own blindness that causes us not to see
Him. God calls out to us, and
we do not listen. God
continually reaches out to us, and we fail to take His Hand.
Why? Because we have
permitted ourselves to become blinded by the god of this world. Moreover, if a more pure copy of the scriptures were
placed in our hands, we could spit upon them.
Yet, all we have to do is begin to live in accordance with the scriptures
we already have, and seek the Lord with a pure and consecrated heart, and we
will succeed in opening our eyes and senses to perceive our true reality.
Can we call ourselves the people of God when we live
and believe in accordance with the doctrines and customs of carnal men?
Why do we cling to the quasi-religious doctrines of a man who not even
the Pagan priests would offer redemption?
Why do we limit our perception of Creation to the doctrines of a circus
prostitute? Who taught us
what is true? Who taught us
what is error? When more pure
scriptures are placed in our hands that conflict with our traditional doctrines
of belief, do we seek the Lord to enlighten our understanding?
The great truth that modern Christians fail to realize is that God has
attempted to communicate with the faithful flock, but few Christians today
possess sufficient freedom to break loose from the powers of darkness that rule
this world. Jesus proclaimed
that his followers would be alien to the culture of this realm -- in the world
and not of it -- and yet, the modern Christian is under the delusion that they
can ignore the mandates of the Bible and still be of Christ, while
simultaneously a part of today’s culture.
As one who was chosen to fulfill a prescribed mission
in the world, the Apostle Paul had been bestowed with a much more illuminated
vision of life and Creation, and he knew that it would be a useless endeavor to
convert the Gentiles to Jews in order for them to perceive the essence of the
scriptures. Paul wisely knew
that the Old Testament scriptures were written in accordance with the culture
and thinking of the Jews, and its universal truths were declared in order to
assist Jews in first finding themselves, and then finding God.
This statement is of the greatest importance because it is impossible to
find God without first finding the true person who we are from the perspective
of our pre-existent soul.
Once we begin to understand this great truth -- i.e.,
that we cannot even begin to find God, until we first find ourselves -- then our
whole perception of religion must change.
In the first place, we must begin to open our minds to a more universal
reality than that associated with the physical body in which we presently dwell,
and the culture that we have become a part of, and we must begin to see life
from a vision that is beyond the limitations of this world. Then, in order to harness the forces of Creation, we
must begin to understand that all of life is controlled by the Natural Laws that
form it.
What we fail to realize is that if the universe was
not regulated and governed by these Natural Laws, then chaos would result.
If the planet earth did not predictably move around the sun, and instead
just freely travel throughout the solar system, then it could not support life
as we know it today. Thus,
this same order that we observe in the universe, extends to every aspect of
Creation -- with the result being that we must begin to understand that the
paradoxical nature of Creation causes opposing perspectives -- and what is
perceived as good from one perception, and bad from another, is neither.
One of the more perplexing problems this creates for the mind of carnal
man who attempts to see everything in black and white, is the reality that what
was good for the conversion of the carnal Jews, was not necessarily good for the
carnal Gentiles, and vice versa.
If this world did not have its limits, it could not
exist -- and yet, it is these very limits that hinder our search for truth.
There were early Christian (Gnostic) sects that viewed all of physical
Creation as being the work of an evil god -- and their perception was both right
and wrong. Where did this
belief originate? Scholars
have realized that it is indigenous to man himself, and has always existed among
the religions of the world. More importantly, though, is that this indigenous
belief was in fact amplified by the Apostle Paul to new heights among his Greek
Gnostic followers (see The
Gnostic Paul). His many
references to the evil nature of the god of this world, imbued his Gentile
followers with a mindset that perceived everything in this realm as the product
of evil.
Within the holy books of the Hebrews, all of reality
was represented. But because
of the great culture gap that existed between the Jews and Gentile, Paul could
not use the Old Testament. Thus,
Paul had no other choice than to reject the Old Testament, and present a
non-biblical reality that was more appropriate to the people he served, in order
that the Gentile mind would more easily understand the essence of spiritual
thought that he was attempting to convey.
Yet, what Paul was teaching to the Gentiles was never meant for the Jews
-- and from a Jewish perspective, was not only damaging, but was detrimental to
the spiritual development of the Hebrew people.
This, again, is the demonstration of one of those paradoxes that is
difficult for the carnal mind to envision.
If we are to begin to understand the great gulf that
existed, then we must begin to realize that from the Jewish perspective, Paul
truly was the creator of heresy -- and as such, was correctly characterized by
the historical personage of Simon Magus.
Thus, let us review the conclusion of the Encyclopedia Britannica which
states pertaining to the writings attributed to Clement, the disciple of Peter: “…the
common source of these documents may be as early as the 1st century, and must
have consisted in a polemic against Paul, emanating from the Jewish side of
Christianity. Paul being thus
identified with Simon, it was argued that Simon's visit to Rome had no other
basis than Paul's presence there, and, further, that the tradition of Peter's
residence in Rome rests on the assumed necessity of his resisting the arch-enemy
of Judaism there as elsewhere”.
Returning once again to the writings of Clement, we
can now see that Peter's explanation should make perfect sense in the
confrontation that is to take place with Paul, who is portrayed as Simon Magus: “Therefore
Simon, who is going to discuss in public with us tomorrow, is bold against the
monarchy of God, wishing to produce many statements from these Scriptures, to
the effect that there are many gods, and a certain one who is not He who made
this world, but who is superior to Him; and, at the same time, he is going to
offer many scriptural proofs. But we also can easily show many passages from
them that He who made the world alone is God, and that there is none other
besides Him”.
In the first place we must understand that even the
more enlightened Jews did not believe that an accurate portrayal of God could be
perceived in the literal reading of the Old Testament.
Moses Maimonedes, one of the most respected Jewish theologians,
historian, and Talmudist, writes about the nature of scripture: “Every
time that you find in our books a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a
story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the
tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the
greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit”
(see No Jew Has Read
The Torah/Law).
What Moses Maimonedes is stating, then, is that there
exist many parts of the scriptures that are literally and historically not true.
Isn't Paul stating this exact same truth when he writes to the Galatians
who are attempting to embrace Jewish ways, and states: “Tell
me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
And then Paul goes on to explain to those who want to attempt to read the
written word literally, in an historical context as Christians do today: “For
it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
freewoman. But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Which things are an allegory” (Gal 4:21-24 KJV).
That the carnal Jew could not see beyond the symbols
of the allegory, and their eyes and hearts were hardened so they could not
comprehend the true meaning of the scriptures, is readily understood where Paul
states that “their minds were blinded”
by God, “for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament… even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart” (2 Cor 3:14-15 KJV).
When they therefore worship the god of the literal
word -- with rituals, animal sacrifices, incense, in a temple made with the
hands of men -- then it can truly be said that the Jews worshiped a false god.
This truth the Apostle Paul confirmed to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles
then incorporated this understanding into their own sacred writings.
The problem is that from this false perception of the Hebrew scriptures
was born the Christian Gnostic doctrine that the god of the Jews was a demiurge
-- a lower god -- and not the same god that Jesus declared.
Again the problem was that the Christian Gnostics were neither right, or
wrong, and from this limited perception was born an even greater error which
gave birth to the Gentile doctrine that Christians were exempt from living in
accordance with the Law of Moses and the Commandments of God as revealed in the
Old Testament.
What the church of the simple faith who called
themselves orthodox could not comprehend, is that the Spiritual Christians could
write scriptures that had nothing to do with the Jewish heritage of the Gospel,
and these scriptures were still in many instances of a higher order than the
traditional Old Testament writings. The
Spiritual Christians who were labeled Gnostics -- because they claimed to
possess a higher knowledge of the Word handed down directly from Paul -- had no
reason to base their scriptures on the Hebrew traditions. They therefore encoded their truths in stories of
angels and powers that controlled the elemental and heavenly realms of this and
all other worlds. In their
condemnation of these scriptures, it was the people of the simple faith who were
in error when they ignored a very important teaching of Paul -- i.e., “So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Cor 5:16 NIV)
-- and judged the validity of the writings in the same manner as the Sadducees
and Pharisees, by their literal, historical content.
They therefore viewed many of the most spiritual writings of the Gnostic
(Spiritual) Christians as heresy.
The (Gnostic) Christian Valentinus claimed to have
learned Paul's secret traditions directly from his own teacher Theudas, who was
himself a disciple of Paul. In
adapting their scriptures to the concept that Paul taught: (1) that it was the
transcendental Christ of the Spirit that could save them, and not the belief in
an historical man; and (2) the Jews were blind to the true meaning of both the
scriptures and the higher revelation that Jesus taught -- they often began their
gospels where the Spiritual Christ appeared to his disciples in order to
instruct them in the knowledge of the Mysteries of God.
By doing this they were able to convey universal truths to the Gentile
Christians, without dealing with the Jewish heritage that was an integral part
of the Hebrew Gospels.
In view of the fact that the disciples of Paul totally
ignored the historical factor in both their scriptures and their foundational
doctrines of belief, the Christians of the simple faith condemned them as
heretics -- but what they were in fact condemning was their own ignorance.
If it is true what the Apostle taught in Romans that man innately knows
God -- and he can learn all there is to know about God by observing what has
been created -- and if we examine the words of Paul when he taught that “For
when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law,
these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves” (Rom 2:14 NAS)
-- we must ask the question as to how could the Gentiles who did not have the
Law, keep the precepts of the Law? Paul
answers this question when he wrote: “For the truth
about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their
hearts” (Rom 1:19 TLB).
What is clear is that Paul taught a gospel where the
believer was taught the means to transcend this physical realm in their quest to
open their minds to the Spiritual Christ.
The problem is that the people who were carnal and of the simple faith,
simply were unable to relate to the Spiritual Christ, and continued to cling to
what Paul called the testimony of the historical Jesus that the Apostle called
the milk of the gospel.
In what is arguably one of the best works on Christian
Gnosticism by G.R.S. Mead entitled Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, this
explanation is put forth: “…what the Gnostics
projected onto the screen… [in the form of a ] picture of the universe was in
reality a picture of their own minds. Its mythology is a symbolic portrayal,
almost a deliberate one, of the forces which operate in the structuring and
evolution of the human personality”.
It was for this reason that Carl Jung called the Gnostic Christians the
worlds first and foremost psychologists who understood the very fabric of human
consciousness.
If it is true what the Apostle wrote: “For
the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge
in their hearts” (Rom 1:19 TLB) -- then the anti-Jewish religion
that Paul preached must be seen as a means to tap into this deposit of “instinctual…
knowledge [that God deposited] in their hearts”.
Moreover, his doctrine of faith can only be understood as seen in the
ability of the disciple to tap this inner resource and learn the Mysteries of
God directly from their Source. From
the perspective of the disciples of Paul who came to be called Gnostic
Christians, to compose scriptures that were based upon Jewish history, would
simply be inappropriate from a Gentile perspective.
To those who possessed the eyes to see and the mind to
understand, what the Gnostic or Spiritual Gentile Christians wrote about was the
laws that control the workings of our mind.
Unlike the people of the simple faith, they saw the problem very clearly:
We cannot use the greater part of our consciousness because of physical, mental
and spiritual blockages that restrict us.
What Jesus taught his faithful disciples who came to him “in the
house”, was the means to overcome these carnal restrictions by bringing
our mind and being into harmony with God's Laws.
When we begin to understand ourselves as the Prodigal Sons of our Father,
and we perceive that life is a great deal more than what we see here in this
physical realm, it is only then that we begin to spiritually mature and develop.
When we are yet “babes in
Christ”, it must be understood that our faith in the power of our
Teacher and Master Jesus is of the highest importance.
We cannot learn the Sacred Truths of God and the spiritual reality of
Creation from the teachers in this world, because their theories are based only
upon a quasi-Darwinism -- which theories embrace the idea that man originates
from this world. Because
these theories are three-dimensional, they amount to little more than incomplete
carnal perceptions of higher truths not fully understood. In fact, once our spiritual eyes begin to open, we can
easily perceive the fallacy of their mode of instruction. True knowledge cannot come to us through theory and
philosophy -- but rather, through the acquisition of a greater portion of our
own mental resources that cannot be accessed through the carnal powers of
perception.
What G.R.S. Mead wrote with regard to the Gnostic
scriptures was that “…what the Gnostics projected
onto the screen… of the universe was in reality a picture of their own
minds” (Fragments of a Faith Forgotten).
The Greek Christians who had no foundation in Judaism or the Old
Testament, simply did as Paul instructed throughout his epistles, and wrote
about the Spirit of the Word in the manner of their own way of thinking.
As G.R.S. Mead concludes on page 176: “The
claim of the Gnostics was that a man might so perfect himself that he became a
conscious worker with the Logos; all those who did so, became 'Christs,' and as
such were Saviors, but not in the sense of being the Logos Himself”.
Where the people of the simple faith looked upon the
word “Christ”, as Jesus' last name, the
Spiritual Christians understood that what this term meant was the Anointing of
the Logos -- i.e., the Mind of God. In
the revelation of his spiritual Gospel, it was this receiving of the Anointing
that Paul speaks about throughout his epistles.
When the disciple receives the Anointing -- this Anointing of the mind of
the disciple in the Greek, denotes one who is Anointed, or the Christ.
It is for this reason that I previously wrote that
from a definitive perspective, the people of the simple faith are not yet
Christians because they have not yet received the Anointing of the Logos. Moreover, the Anointing is not philosophical or
rhetorical -- as becoming a believer -- but is an actual illumination of higher
consciousness that permits the disciple to use more of their mind that the
natural man.
A person cannot be a genuine Christian -- i.e., an
Anointed one -- without possessing the knowledge of their pre-existent soul.
A person cannot possess the knowledge of the soul, without knowing the
previous lives that the soul has lived.
In Pistis Sophia, one of the sacred books used by the Spiritual (Gnostic)
Christians, which name in English means the Book of Faith-Wisdom, Jesus
states: “But if he shall have sinned once, twice, or
thrice, they shall reject that soul, sending it back again into the world
according to the form of the sins that it may have committed; the form whereof I
will declare unto you hereafter. But
verily, verily I say unto you, that even the righteous man that hath committed
no sin at all cannot be brought into the Kingdom of Light, forasmuch the seal of
the mysteries of that kingdom is not found upon him.
Once for all, I say unto you, a soul cannot be brought into the kingdom,
if it be without the mysteries of the Kingdom of the Light”.
In this quotation we not only see that the Spiritual
Christians understood that Jesus taught the reincarnation of the soul -- “sending
[the soul] back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it
may have committed” -- but what we have here is the genuine
foundation of Paul's doctrine that man can do nothing on his own, and can only
be saved through faith in Christ. The
problem arises when we do not understand the difference between Jesus -- the
historical man -- and Christ -- the Anointing of the Logos, or Mind of God.
It is this reason also that we fail to understand the declaration in the
beginning of the Epistle to the Romans where Paul writes that when the Gentiles
do the things of the Law, without the Law, they become a Law unto themselves,
and can be saved. It is further this reason that we do not understand
when Paul says not to seek the Jesus after the flesh, but rather the Christ of
the Spirit.
In the article on Christian Mysticism, the
Encyclopedia Britannica writes regarding Valentinus, who was considered orthodox
in the beginning of the second century, and states: “He
believed that human beings are alienated from God because of their spiritual
ignorance; Christ brings them into the gnosis (esoteric revelatory knowledge)
that is union with God. Valentinus held that all human beings come from God and
that all will in the end return to God. Other Gnostic groups held that there
were three types of people -- 'spiritual,' 'psychic,' and 'material' -- and that
only the first two can be saved. The Pistis Sophia… is preoccupied with the
question of who finally will be saved. Those who are saved must renounce the
world completely and follow the pure ethic of love and compassion. They will
then be identified with Jesus and become rays of the divine Light”.
Once properly understood, what Valentinus was in fact
stating was no different than what was also clearly stated by the early church
authorities, Paul, Jesus, and the present-day Canon of Scriptures itself: That
there are three types of Christians -- i.e., the spiritual which are in union
with God, and are saved; the psychic, or disciple in search of the Truth, which
are still walking in The Way; and the material or physical, who are the people
of the simple faith.
The mysteries made reference to in Pistis Sohpia that,
according to the Jesus presented in this gospel states a person must the possess
the sacred Knowledge of the Kingdom in order to be saved, is the knowledge of
the laws that both preserve the natural barriers of this realm, as well as
restrict carnal man's access into the spiritual realms and the Kingdom.
When the disciple knows the workings of these natural laws of Creation,
they are then able to safely transcend the barriers between this and the other
worlds, and come into the presence of the Spiritual Christ.
Once we understand this important element in Paul's
Epistles, we then begin to comprehend why Paul considered it one of the greatest
of sins to promote a doctrine of belief -- as seen in the words: “Reject
a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is
perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11
NAS). The essence of what
Paul taught was that believers were to rid themselves of all worldly thoughts
and desires in order to embrace the indwelling Logos -- thereby becoming an
Anointed One, or genuine Christian. From
Paul's perspective, beliefs and doctrines pertaining to mysteries that are
beyond the comprehension of the natural man, were thorns and entanglements that
the god of this world used to imprison the believer.
In this respect, what Paul taught was asceticism --
i.e., a system of Christian Buddhism that brought about the enlightenment of the
believer through the Anointing and opening of the mind. He taught the Gentile converts to reject the Law of
Moses and the biblical traditions of the Jews -- reject all worldly attachments
-- reject all doctrines of belief -- reject all desires of the flesh.
When the Galatians observed their native Greek culture, Paul admonished
them and wrote: “Formerly, when you did not know God,
you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods… Do you wish to be
enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and
seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on
you” (Gal 4:8-11 NIV). What
Paul taught was to observe nothing in this world in the endeavor to embrace only
the Spiritual Christ who was not of this world.
While it is true that Jesus came to save the sinners
-- he did not come to give them a license to continue to wallow in the mire of
sin -- but to repent from the mindset and thinking of this world. In the words of Paul: “But
if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found
sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build
again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor”
(Gal 2:17-18 KJV). From the perspective of Paul, the genuine Christian did
not sin, because sin is founded upon an attachment to this world.
Jesus came to save sinners by leading them out of lives of slavery to the
Prince of Darkness who rules this world.
From a scriptural perspective, those who are slaves to
the god of this world are heathens, because they are possessed by the elemental
powers of this world. With
respect to the people who are thus classified heathens, Clement of Alexandria
provides us a clear picture of the path of transformation when he writes: “Faith
is then, so to speak, a comprehensive knowledge of the essentials; and knowledge
is the strong and sure demonstration of what is received by faith, built upon
faith by the Lord's teaching, conveying [the soul] on to infallibility, science,
and comprehension. And, in my view, the first saving change is that from
heathenism to faith, as I said before; and the second, that from faith to
knowledge. And the latter terminating in love, thereafter gives the loving to
the loved, that which knows to that which is known. And, perchance, such an one
has already attained the condition of 'being equal to the angels.' Accordingly,
after the highest excellence in the flesh, changing always duly to the better,
he urges his flight to the ancestral hall, through the holy septenniad [of
heavenly abodes] to the Lord's own mansion; to be a light, steady, and
continuing eternally, entirely and in every part immutable”.
This is the essence of genuine Christian thought that
was taught by the Apostle Paul and imparted to the Gentile converts!
What Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Gregory and the Gnostic-Spiritual
Christians all profess is the absolute need to follow in the footsteps of the
Lord, and accomplish in one’s own life the same things that he did.
Does the Apostle say anything different when he advises Christians to: “Therefore
be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph 5:1 NAS).
If mankind has the ability to not only imitate God, but to come in
perfect unity with God, then we must come to the realization that what we
believe today has very little in common with the Christianity of the first four
centuries. When Clement
writes that “outward observances cease to have any
value for one whose being is brought into abiding harmony with that which is
eternal”, he is making reference to a person who has totally opened
the inner door to the Kingdom, and has moved in abiding harmony with the Light.
The solid food of the Mysteries of the kingdom are
then written only for the Gnostic Christian -- or, he who has cleansed himself
from the defilements of the world, and has opened the spiritual door deep within
the essence of their mind and being.
What Clement states with regard to the Word, remains true to this very
day. The foundation -- or
milk -- is Christ and him crucified -- upon which the Gnostic Christian builds a
“superstructure on the foundation of faith in Christ
Jesus” which is made reference to with the addition of “gold
and silver, precious stones”.
The Christians who remain natural and carnal, are
those who build upon the foundation “stubble, and the
wood, and the hay”. When
Constantine institutionalized the church, and added the doctrines of the Pagans,
these are “the additions of heresies”
which Clement writes about. When
Christians such as Calvin and Luther -- men with good intentions who meant well
-- defined the limits of belief of post-Reformation Christianity, and then
narrowed the message of the scriptures to conform to those beliefs, these
limitations were again the addition of heresies.
Perhaps a very clear picture that represents
Christianity over the first three centuries can be seen under the heading of Alexandria
in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics - under Alexandrian Theology, where
it states of Origen's teachings: “Origen believes
that the Logos enlightens all men according to their capacities.
Current Christianity is the best that the average man can assimilate.
It includes mythical stories which exist both in Old Testament and New
Testament; it offers rewards and punishment as inducements to virtue, and
communicates truths in veiled forms and images.
But it is not a matter of indifference what symbols are presented to the
'common man'; it is the religion of Christ alone which must be accepted by all,
though under different aspects. The
Gnostic learns that the objects of religious knowledge have only a supramundane
history: The 'eternal' or 'spiritual' Gospel places clearly before men's minds
all things concerning the Son of God, both the mysteries shown by His words, and
the things of which His acts were the riddles” (In John 1:9).
With the discovery of
the Dead Sea Scrolls we know today that Jesus was an Essene -- and the Essenes
were Hebrew Gnostics! Unbeknown to the vast majority of Christians
today, what the New Testament actually portrays is the war between the Essene
sons of Light and the sons of darkness -- i.e., the Jews of the Spirit and the
Jews of the flesh. In our reading of the Gospel of John, our greatest
stumbling block is in not understanding the deeper level of Gnosticism that is
indigenous to the writing. We
are thus warned of this by Prof. John Allegro in The Dead Sea Scrolls and the
Origins of Christianity when he wrote: “It is a fact
that the Qumran Library has profoundly affected the study of the Johannine
writings and many longheld conceptions have had to be radically revised.
No longer can John be regarded as the most Hellenistic of the
Evangelists; his gnosticism, and the whole framework of his thought is seen now
to spring directly from a Jewish sectarianism rooted in palestinian soil, and
his material recognized as founded in the earliest layers of Gospel
traditions.”
Unless we possess a spiritual death wish, and we truly
desire to be deceived, we have no other choice than to recognize that John’s
gnosticism means that we have to take great care when we attempt to develop
beliefs based upon what is literally written.
When Prof. Allegro writes about John’s “gnosticism”,
what he is stating is that he recognizes that the common framework of John’s
thought has been represented in the writings of the Mystical and Gnostic
Essenes. What this means to
us is embodied in the words of Paul when he warned the carnal believers at
Corinith: “If any one imagines that he knows
something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2
RSV).
It is well documented in the preceding that both the
Gnostic Messianic believers, as well as the Gnostic Christians, did not write
about historical events -- but rather, they worded what appeared to be
historical writings into a mystical revelation of the inner Kingdom.
Therefore, when John writes about the Word -- or Logos -- as being “...the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world”
(John 1:9 KJV), he was speaking of that Light that exists within every one of us
-- and which had evolved into an all consuming Light in the person of Jesus --
the pattern of the Divine Perfected Soul and destiny of all mankind.
And while the carnally minded believer will attempt to portray what the
Gnostics believed based upon a literal perception of the scriptures, they do
this to their own demise. In the words of G.R.S. Mead regarding the
nature of Gnostic scriptures: “...what the Gnostics
projected onto the screen... of the universe was in reality a picture of their
own minds” (Fragments of a Faith Forgotten).
If the words of Jesus are correct wherein he states that the Kingdom of
God is within us (Luke 17:20-21), then the “picture
of their own minds” would need to be mapped in order to find the
Kingdom that Jesus declared.
The whole thrust of Gnostic thought which is clearly
represented in the scriptures is Knowledge of God via the only true path, which
is self-knowledge. This is readily
seen in the words of Clement of Alexandria when he wrote: “...the
greatest of all lessons is to know one’s self.
For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be
made like God... and that man becomes God, since God so wills”.
When John writes that we must be “born
again”, the re-birth of the Gnostic is not philosophical in the
manner of a prayer -- but rather, it is Spiritual, as seen in St Gregory’s
treaties on The Soul and the Resurrection where he writes that “the
Resurrection is no other thing than ‘the re-constitution of our nature in its
original form’”, and states that there will come a time “...when
the complete whole of our race shall have been perfected from the first man to
the last”.
When God, in the words of St. Nazianzen, no longer is
an “object of wonder”, but rather an “object
of desire” -- and we, desiring to be purified from the defilements
of this world, make ourselves fit vessels for the Lord, the Spirit reveals to us
our true nature and makes “us like God; so that when
we have thus become like Himself, God may, to use a bold expression, hold
converse with us as Gods, being united to us, and that perhaps to the same
extent as He already knows those who are known to Him”.
St. Nazianzen then writes: “the Divine Nature
then is boundless and hard to understand” by those who are yet
carnal and think as beings of this world.
The church and temple of the Gnostic is of the
body/spirit, rather than a temple made with hands out of the things of this
world. Judge for yourselves: What is it that the historical
Gnostic said? ”Cease to seek after God as
without thee, and the universe, and things similar to these; seek Him from out
of thyself, and learn who is once and for all appropriates all in thee himself,
and say, My God, my mind, my soul, my body... And if thou closely investigate
these things thou wilt find him in thyself..." (Quoted from 2nd
century gnostic sources by G.R.S. Mead; Fragments of a Faith Forgotten).
What St. Nazianzen is saying confirms what was written by
the Apostle when he wrote: “But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor 2:9
KJV). Because carnal man
neither knows his own soul, or his spiritual nature, he simply cannot envision
man’s true relationship to God -- the Son of God -- and neither is he capable
of understanding Jesus, who himself said he was our brother.
When Celsus, the second century Epicurean philosopher
accused the Christians of copying the doctrine of the Greeks with regard to the
Son of God, Origen admitted that the concept as expressed in Plato was one and
the same. We must of course
remember that Origen wrote that the resurrection is a symbol of a Divine Truth
-- and the common perception and understanding in the physical resurrection is “preached
in the Churches... for the simpleminded and for the ears of the common crowd who
are led on to live better lives by their belief”.
If this is offensive to us today, then we should remember that the
Apostle Paul fundamentally conveyed the same exact thing where it is written: “Therefore
let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of
faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the
resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb 6:1-2 NIV).
When, as St. Gregory states, a man participates in the
mystery of the resurrection, what is being expressed in this mystery that cannot
be comprehended by the carnal mind is that, in Gregory’s words, “the
Resurrection is no other thing than ‘the re-constitution of our nature in its
original form’”. Thus,
we cannot even begin to understand this symbol and mystery, until we begin to
reject our quasi-Darwinist perceptions of life, and open our minds to the
reality of our pre-existent soul, and perceive its “nature
in its original form’”.
The prodigal son that returns to his Father is not only restored to his
pre-existing heavenly nature, but by virtue of his overcoming the powers of
darkness -- i.e., the citizen of the far country -- he has been transformed, and
has been elevated to a state of spiritual perfection -- and as such, possesses
the higher wisdom, virtues, and qualities of the Father.
The carnal mind that is born out of the three
dimensional limitations of this world cannot conceive of mankind’s true divine
generation, or his eventual destiny.
Being born of the flesh, and very much of this world, his perception of
things divine is in every manner of the word, from the perspective of a lower
life-form. Therefore, when he
is confronted by a matured and perfected soul such as Jesus, it is natural for
him to worship this being that, himself being of a higher level of Creation, is
as a god to him. In this
respect, carnal man is not wrong -- he being a creature who is born of this
world, is simply incapable of a genuine perception of reality -- and especially
his own innate spiritual nature and reality that lies dormant within the essence
of his soul.
Because carnal man’s perception is three dimensional
-- limited by physical senses that are born out of earthly matter -- he is
incapable of comprehending the spiritual connectedness of Creation.
When Paul said to the people of Athens about God that “‘For
in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have
said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28 NIV), what he did was
open the door to one of the most monumental paradoxes that has continually
plagued the Christian world. In
the first place, like Origen, Clement, and a whole host of other early Christian
writers, Paul here affirms that certain philosophers among the Greeks possessed
a valid perception of God. Moreover,
when carnal man uses rhetoric, and states that all things are of God, the
essence of the spiritual reality that is being revealed here, and is well
documented in the writings of the poets that Paul quotes, is that we literally
dwell in the body-mind of God.
Error and opinion prevails today because it is a truly
difficult thing for carnal man to envision the multiple realities and paradoxes
of Creation. Some believers
envision what is called a personal God -- a being whom they can speak to, in the
manner they speak to another person.
These people tend to ignore and reject the rather pantheistic viewpoint
of God expressed in the above quotation of Paul.
Yet, what believers fail to understand is this great biblical truth: In a
world where you are warned that reality is above and beyond your understanding,
and the Bible itself affirms both positions, perhaps we should open our minds to
the possibility that both of these paradoxical points of view many each possess
their own element of truth.
Carnal man envisions God as a Being that is separate
from himself, perceptible to the senses, that can be communicated with in the
manner that people communicate with each other.
Yet, the vision of the poets that Paul quotes is that known as pantheism
-- the idea that we not only dwell in the body-mind of God, but that all things
are actually made up of part of God’s body.
This connection is documented in the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Commentary for this verse where it is written:
“This
is the first half of the fifth line, word for word, of an astronomical poem of
Aratus, a Greek countryman of the apostle’s and his predecessor by about three
centuries. It is found also (nearly as here) in a religious hymn of Cleanthes of
Troas, a contemporary of Aratus. But, as our speaker hints, the same sentiment
is to be found in other Greek poets. They meant it, doubtless, in a pantheistic
sense”.
We cannot understand what Paul is conveying because,
with our singular carnal perception, we cannot embrace the reality of the very
paradoxical and multidimensional nature of Creation. It is beyond our comprehension how the Supreme God --
referred to in the Book of Daniel and Jewish Mysticism as the Ancient of Days --
indicating, He who is unbegotten, and has no beginning -- can both exist in a
perceptible singular form, and yet we are dwelling within His very Mind and
Being. The problem is that
the Bible is correct when it states that it is impossible for carnal man to
contemplate God -- which is something that can only be done by highly evolved
spiritual beings who have themselves become Complete.
In the same way that God is not limited by our
understanding of life, as seen in the words: “and do
not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you
that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matt
3:9 NKJ); what we fail to understand is that all of Creation was brought into
manifestation by virtue of God thinking it -- and as such, remains a projection
of God’s thoughts. What
this means is that all Life not only remains dependent upon God for
continuation, but it is God’s own vital life-force that continues to move
throughout every level and aspect of Creation.
Literally, if God -- or the Source of all life who is
referred to as the Ancient of Days -- ceased to provide vital life-force to what
has come into existence through the manifestation of His thoughts, all of
creation would simply cease to exist.
It is from this perception of reality that the scriptures can proclaim
that: “‘For in him we live and move and have our
being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’”
(Acts 17:28 NIV). In the same
way that the electricity that we use to power our appliances is generated from a
remote place, we are the person we are because we take the very energy and vital
force that we stamp with our own individual impressions, and make the expression
of Divine Creation unique to our own experiences.
In the same way that when a child is conceived, it
initially comes into being from one cell, which then multiplies in accordance
with a series of predefined genetic laws that bring about the manifestation of
the offspring of it’s parents, each and every one of us is as a cell in the
body-mind of God -- a cell that has multiplied and developed all the unique
complexities that make us the being that we are.
This is demonstrated in the proclamation of the scriptures where it is
written: “The God who made the world and everything
in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by
hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he
himself gives all men life and breath and everything else... God did this so
that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is
not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:24,27 NIV).
God is not far from each of us, and can be found by each of us, because
at our essence, we are in fact a projection of His thoughts -- and the substance
of our own being is as ripples upon the vital force of God.
It is because of our continued intimate connection with our True Essence
of Being, that we only have to seek out our own Source of Life to find God --
our true Creator and Parent.
But what is Gnosticism? Under the heading of Gnosticism, the Encyclopedia Britannica states: “Among the majority of the followers of the movement, 'Gnosis' was understood not as meaning 'knowledge' or 'understanding', in our sense of the word, but 'revelation'. These little Gnostic sects and groups all lived in the conviction that they possessed a secret and mysterious knowledge, in no way accessible to those outside, which was not to be proved or propagated, but believed in by the initiated, and anxiously guarded as a secret. This knowledge of theirs was not based on reflection, on scientific inquiry and proof, but on revelation. It was derived directly from the times of primitive Christianity, from the Savior himself and from his disciples and friends, with whom they claimed to be connected by a secret tradition, or else from later prophets, of whom many sects boasted. It was laid down in wonderful mystic writings, which were in the possession of the various circles”.
When we speak, then, of Gnostic gnosis or knowledge,
it is important to understand that we are not speaking of knowledge in our sense
of the word -- but rather, knowledge in the sense that Paul and Jesus spoke
about. With regard to this
gnosis Paul writes: “But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit” (1 Cor 2:10 KJV).
Thus the words: “This knowledge of theirs was
not based on reflection, on scientific inquiry and proof, but on revelation”.
Of the difference between carnal knowledge and
spiritual knowledge, Paul writes: “Where is the wise
man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God
made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor 1:20 NIV).
Why? Because, like the
Sadducees and Pharisees, the wise man, scholar, and philosopher of this world
fail to look beyond what is grasped through the physical senses in the creation
of their theories pertaining to life and this world. In the same way that within the scriptures there are
numerous inconsistencies and symbols that point the disciple beyond the letter
of what is written, all of creation is fabricated in the same mold that the
Bible is written. Thus, what
the Apostle writes is that the foolishness of the philosopher of this age, is no
different than the foolishness of the believer who sees only the body of the
scriptures -- or what the Apostle calls, the testimony of Christ.
Regarding the claim of the Gnostic Christians reported
in the Britannica that their secret doctrine: “was
derived directly from the times of primitive Christianity, from the Savior
himself and from his disciples and friends, with whom they claimed to be
connected by a secret tradition, or else from later prophets, of whom many sects
boasted”, I have already demonstrated this to be true.
In the words of Clement of Alexandria: “The
Lord… allowed us to communicate to those Divine Mysteries, and of that holy
light, to those who are able to receive them.
He did not certainly disclose to the many what did not belong to the
many; but to the few to whom He knew that they belonged, who were capable of
receiving and being molded according to them”.
What the believers of the simple faith have continually
failed to realize down through the ages is that, in order to learn of God, and
enter the Kingdom, one must have a total and complete change of mind and heart (“Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”) -- i.e., “open
and unloose the mind, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” -- and
this total change of mind and heart can only be brought about in the life of the
believer when there is a reversal of direction, as in the biblical phrase to “turn
about”. What the
Bible states is that it is impossible for us to be taught the sacred truths that
we need to know in the manner of the worldly wise man, scholar and philosopher.
It is for this reason that the wise man of the spirit has always
incorporated certain rituals that the carnal believer follows -- but in reality,
these rituals exist as forms, figures and patterns of what must be accomplished
in spirit. When we begin to
understand these facts, we are then able to perceive the reason why Jesus
condemned the Pharisees when he said: “Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the
cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind
Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean” (Matt 23:25-26 NIV).
All these rituals that are given to carnal believers:
i.e., circumcision, baptisms, laying on of hands, communion, speaking in
tongues, etc., must be realized and practiced in the spirit, rather than the
flesh. This is especially
seen in the words of Paul when he wrote: “Therefore
let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of
faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the
resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb 6:1-2 NIV).
What is written here is no different than when Origen
and the early Church Fathers wrote that the reading of scripture as history, and
the observance of rituals in the flesh, do very little for the believer.
What is it that the Apostle is expressing when he writes: “Therefore
let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ”?
The elementary teachings of the Christ is what was taught to the
believers at Corinith: “For in him you have been
enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge --
because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be
revealed” (1 Cor 1:5-7 NIV).
The elementary teachings are the doctrine of “Jesus
Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2 NIV).
The Apostle says that carnal believers must “go
on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that
lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of
hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb
6:1-2 NIV). The believer
cannot enter the Kingdom if they exist in a perpetual state of repentance from
sin. Faith in God is
descriptive of a carnal believer's condition prior to their gaining entrance
into the Kingdom where their faith in the unknown becomes confirmed with
knowledge (gnosis) gained through direct experience and contact with the Lord. Ritual baptisms and the laying on of hands must be
understood in the spirit, rather in the flesh.
The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment must
be understood as man's return to his true innate spiritual nature.
In the words of Clement of Alexandria in his description of the Lord's
mission: “For He was clothed with all virtue; and it
was His aim to lead man, the foster-child of the world, up to the objects of
intellect, and to the most essential truths by knowledge, from one world to
another”.
In order to envision the essence of what the Lord
taught, and enter into the Kingdom, the carnal believer must begin to embrace
the Gospel in its spiritual sense. This
is especially seen in the words of the Apostle when he said: “For
though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to
teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to
need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not
accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for
the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good
and evil” (Heb 5:12-14 NAS).
It was the carnal believers who could not embrace the “elementary
principles of the oracles of God” -- who continued in a state of
perpetual redemption -- using the rituals of the Lord in the manner of the
Sadducees and Pharisees for the endless forgiveness of sins, rather than the
means of moving on to maturity. Thus,
the carnal believers who failed to “open and unloose
the mind”, remained stagnant -- and their involvement in the gospel
was little more than a philosophical and superficial outward change.
It was these carnal believers who perpetually remained babes in Christ --
ever sipping on the milk of the gospel, and never partaking of the solid food of
the spirit. When the
spiritual Christians attempted to explain to them the deeper meaning of life,
themselves, and the Word, the carnal Christians condemned the spiritual
Christians, and called them heretics.
Again, as seen throughout the Bible, the necessary
requirement in order to gain entrance into the Kingdom is purity -- as seen in
the words: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor
will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful” (Rev 21:27 NIV).
That we must put on what is referred to as the robe of purity is a
continual theme of the scriptures, as seen where the man attempted to come to
the marriage feast without the necessary garment: “how
did you get in here without a wedding garment?” (Matt 22:12 RSV).
The flawed idea that was professed among the carnal Christians that they
could believe, and use Jesus as a dispensation that enabled them to continue to
live in accordance with the culture of this world, while only embracing a
philosophical change, was further condemned in one of the most popular early
Christian writing, the Shepherd
of Hermas, where the pastor Hermas asks about the symbol of the virgins: “And
these virgins, who are they? They are Holy Spirits, and men cannot otherwise be
found in the kingdom of God unless these have put their clothing upon them: for
if you receive the name only, and do not receive from them the clothing, they
are of no advantage to you. For these virgins are the powers of the Son of God.
If you bear His name but possess not His power, it will be in vain that you bear
His name”.
This great spiritual truth -- i.e., that we must be
clothed with the robe of purity -- that is conveyed throughout the Epistles of
the Apostle Paul, is commented on by Origen when he wrote pertaining to who can
be a recipient of the mysteries, or the secret doctrine of Christ: “Whoever
has clean hands, and therefore lifts up holy hands to God… let him come to
us… Whoever is pure, not only from all defilement, but from what are regarded
as lesser transgressions, let him be boldly initiated into the mysteries of
Jesus, which properly are made known only to the holy and the pure… To those
who have been purified in heart, he whose soul has for a long time, been
conscious of no evil, especially since he yielded himself to the healing of the
Word, let such a one hear the doctrines which were spoken in private by Jesus to
his genuine disciples”.
If we are to overcome the many doctrinal obstacles
that have been placed in our path -- obstacles which obstruct our present-day
entrance into the Kingdom -- then it is absolutely necessary for us to
understand who the genuine disciples of Paul was?
Was it those who were the carnal believers -- a carnal and sense bound
people who never went beyond the milk of the Gospel?
Or was it those who did as the Apostle commanded, and went on to maturity
and perfection? Those
Christians who truly believe Jesus, and are able to comprehend the Epistles of
Paul, are those who strive to fulfill the commandment of the Lord when he said: “You,
therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt
5:48 RSV).
Carnal believers, like the Sadducees and Pharisees who
hold fast to the letter of the scriptures, invent great mounds of dogma and
doctrine explaining away the requirement that we must be perfect.
In opposition to the words of Paul, they say that man cannot be perfect.
Thus, they fail to heed the words of the Apostle when he commanded: “And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2 NAS).
Carnal believers can never “prove what… is
good and acceptable and perfect”, because they permit themselves to
remain “conformed to this world”.
Instead of truly believing the testimony of the
Apostle, and searching out the answer to the dilemma of how to become perfect,
carnal believers manufacture an uncountable number of excuses why they can't.
In so doing, they never move beyond “the elementary principles of
the Christ” -- they continue to embrace the milk of the gospel -- all the
while they argue one with the other over it's proper interpretation.
Like the believers at Corinith, they fail to embrace the words of the
Apostle when he warned: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world,
that come to naught” (1 Cor 2:6 KJV).
Throughout all of Christian history, the body of
carnal believers have been unable to understand the Apostle's words when he
wrote: “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away” (1 Cor 13:10 KJV).
The dilemma is that if a Christian fails to go beyond the milk of the
gospel, “that which is perfect” can never come.
The carnal believer never embraces the words: “That the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:17 KJV).
In order for us to get a right perception of how we
come to believe in the manner that we do today, it is important that we
understand these things from an historical perspective.
Over the period of the first three centuries those who called themselves
Orthodox, and knew only the milk of the gospel -- i.e., “Jesus and him
crucified” -- became extremely hostile when they were told by the
Spiritual (Gnostic) Christians that there was a great deal more than the
elementary principles of the Christ.
Why? In order to
comprehend the problem as it continues to exist in our present time among
modern-day believers -- and even in our own life -- we must understand that the
problem is congenital in the world of natural man.
Once man is attached and comfortable in this life, he
will invoke all his power of mind and being in the endeavor to resist change.
This reality is a continual theme in the Old Testament scriptures where
the carnal Jews continually killed the prophets that were sent to them.
With the preaching of the gospel to the people of the nations, the carnal
believers violently opposed the Gnostics, or spiritual Christians, when they
taught the absolute need for purification from the defilements of this world.
It is only when we begin to perceive the congenital nature of the problem
-- whereby the physical body-mind of the body-vessel in which our soul is
presently inhabiting, will use all its carnal power and resources to remain
attached to the elemental and sensual things of this world.
In the same way that Hitler and his cohorts were able
to force all of the German people into his system of philosophy, and then
endeavored to literally wipe out all opposing thought, it is important for us to
recognize that this same method of forced mass conversion was employed by the
Emperor Constantine with regard to his ordination of the carnal Christians over
the Gnostic Christians. Where
during that period prior to the fourth century the two groups were very much
expressions of the one Gentile Church -- i.e., one carnal and the other
spiritual, with every evolutionary level also existing between the two
polarities -- the balance of power was brought to an end through the use of
political power that came to rule over every aspect of the church.
Regarding these two groups of Christians, Smith and
Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography states: “We have no reason
to think that the earliest Gnostics intended to found sects separated from the
Church and called after their own names.
Their disciples were to be Christians, elevated above the rest as
acquainted with deeper mysteries, and called Gnostikoi because possessed of a
Gnosis superior to the simple faith of the multitude… They also boasted to be in possession of genuine apostolical
traditions, deriving their doctrines, some from St. Paul, others from St. Peter,
and others again from Judas, Thomas, Philip, and Matthew.
In addition moreover, to [this] secret doctrine which they professed to
have received by oral tradition, they appealed also to alleged writings of the
apostles themselves or their disciples”.
The reality expressed in this article by Smith and
Wace's Dictionary is very important for modern Christians to recognize in their
endeavor to better understand their own beliefs in our present time.
It was not the intention of Paul, the founder of Gentile Christianity, to
create two different religions -- one for the carnal believers, and another for
those who had evolved beyond the milk of the gospel.
Neither was it the intention of the Christians who were elevated above
the carnal believers for them to be separated from the masses.
Further, the Spiritual (Gnostic) Christians were correct when they stated
that they had received their (secret) doctrines directly from St. Paul, St.
Peter, and many of the other disciples of Jesus. In fact, from the perspective of what Jesus taught, the
Christians who possessed the higher knowledge were the true Christians, while
those who were of the “simple faith”, were the common believers who
were in training to become Christians.
The problem has always been a political one.
During the first and beginning of the second centuries, there existed
authentic spiritual leaders in the church -- i.e., the direct disciples, and the
disciples of the disciples of Jesus.
These men knew the truth as it was taught in its pure form.
They also set the standard and example to the others.
As a greater number of Gentiles converted, and the balance of power was
upset, the spiritual essence of the church began to erode.
In the religion that Jesus revealed to man, truth and
sanctification was not found in what one believes in a philosophical manner, but
one’s condition of mind and being in relation to the Kingdom.
Over the first one hundred years after the crucifixion of Christ, the
carnal believers had bona fid spiritual men as examples in which to pattern
their lives. As the babes in
Christ developed, in the manner of our own modern educational systems, they
advanced to the next level within the church.
From a spiritual perspective, the Church was functioning in accordance
with the highest levels of the very concept of religion manifested in this
world. Like our own schools
and present-day educational systems, early Christianity possessed what could be
termed K-12 -- i.e., a spiritual kindergarten right on through to the
highest levels of instruction which led the disciples to spiritual illumination.
With regard to the levels of instruction necessary for
each person as they develop, Origen writes: “As respects the nature of the
Word, in the same way as the quality of the food changes in the nurse into milk
with reference to the nature of the child, or is arranged by the physician with
a view to the good of his health in the case of a sick man or (is specially)
prepared for a stronger man, because he possesses greater vigor, so does God
appropriately change, in the case of each individual, the power of the Word to
which belongs the natural property of nourishing the human soul. And to one is
given, as the Scripture terms it, 'the sincere milk of the word;' and to
another, who is weaker, as it were, 'herbs;' and to another who is full-grown,
'strong meat.' And the Word does not, I imagine, prove false to His own nature,
in contributing nourishment to each one, according as he is capable of receiving
Him. Nor does He mislead or prove false” (Origen Contra Celsum).
These words of Origen are basically a commentary of
the teachings of Paul as expressed throughout his epistles.
Because we are spiritual beings who are aliens residing in this world,
and our very God-given vital-force that gives us life is brought into our being
in the manner of seven spiritual rivers flowing through our minds and bodies,
the quality of the life-force is in direct relationship to the condition of our
body and mind. A person who
is carnal in their thinking, only uses that spectrum of the God-given energy
flow that relates to their very sensual manner of thinking. Because the higher energies are suppressed, natural man
does not possess even the capacity to perceive and understand his own true
spiritual essence.
It is not until we begin to comprehend that the
greatest obstacle to spiritual enlightenment is brought about by actual
obstructions to the flow of the higher spectrum of vital-energy flowing into our
mind and body, that we can begin to truly change our condition.
In the recognition that the initial restriction is more of a physical
problem -- i.e., where the body-mind simply cannot reflect the vibratory
frequency of that spectrum of vital-force necessary to perceive and comprehend
the things of higher mind -- can we even begin to appreciate the true genius
expressed in the Bible. Further,
it is not until we begin to understand the nature of the beast, that we are able
to comprehend why the disciples of Jesus and the first Gentile Christians placed
such great emphasis upon the need for cleansing of the body-mind from the
defilements of this world.
A person who has walked in The Way -- has successfully
cleansed himself from the limited thinking and defilements of this world -- and
has drawn closer to God -- has overcome the natural obstacles of the physical
body-mind and is able to use frequencies of that same vital life-force that is
beyond the ability of carnal man to even envision. Thus, this higher vibratory level of life-force flowing
through his mind and body permits him to see what is not perceived by the person
who is under carnal limitations.
As the disciple is transformed into a spiritual being,
and becomes the Anointed Child of God, he possesses a vision of reality that is
beyond the comprehension of the natural man.
Because he is no longer of this world, he has what is called an
enlightened and illumined mind. He
has achieved a level of completion -- which Paul consistently refers to as the
perfection of the individual.
When Paul speaks of the natural man, he indicates
those people who have never developed themselves to utilize the higher spectrum
of life-force that flows through his body-mind.
Because of his state of incompletion and limited potential of mind, the
whole perspective of God from the perception of carnal man is in grave error.
God does not sit back on a lofty throne -- determining the fate of each
individual -- regulating the food in the form of life-force that each of us
receives. What we fail to realize is that all of life is
controlled by the natural laws of Creation in conjunction with our own
accomplishments and failures. Neither
Jesus or his true followers ever hid anything from the eyes of the common man!
It is the thoughts of our heart that is the bridle that steers us through
the experiences of life. If
we are sense bound, and attach ourselves to the elemental things of this world,
then we cannot even begin to embrace man's higher reality.
It is not until we begin to grasp the reality that our
physical body is very much as the earth itself, that we are able to embrace the
necessary measures to bring about genuine change in our lives. When the scriptures convey to us that “…we must
go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 NIV),
it is speaking of the work that is needed to redirect our consciousness and
life-force out of this world through our lower centers, and into the higher
centers of our being that are dormant in natural man.
The problem is this: Once the vital-force of God-given
energy that flows through us creates what can be portrayed as ravines through
our body-mind, we can no more alter the direction of the manner of our
perception and thought, than we could divert the direction of a great river that
has carved out a deep crevice in the earth.
It is for this reason that one of the most important teachings of Jesus
was that regarding little children. The
more we understand the foundation of this concept that Jesus placed such great
emphasis on, the more we are able to perceive life from the vision of God, and
thereby start to understand the reasons for life, death and rebirth.
If people were permitted to continue living their life
without death, they would remain spiritually stagnant. A child's thinking can be molded because the vital
life-force that flows through the child's body-mind, has not become fixed in the
manner of a great river flowing through the ravines of the earth.
Once the child matures, and their pattern of thought becomes molded, the
task of redirecting the manner in which the life-force flows through the
body-mind becomes a difficult task -- and in many instances, impossible.
Chinese medicine known as acupuncture is based upon
this knowledge of the energy flow through the body.
Disease is caused from a blockage that they resolve by placing needles at
strategic locations in the body. If
we better understood this science, we could use such healing techniques to open
the mind of the individual to higher spiritual concepts.
To a great extent this is also the foundation of Chiropractic philosophy
where the spine is maintained in alignment in order to insure the proper flow of
vital-energy throughout the body. In
the same way, the eastern philosophy of yoga is designed to manipulate the flow
of energy through the body, thereby enabling the person to open the mind.
In the beginning of natural life, the body is much
more easily controlled by the mind. As
the child matures, and the flow of life-force becomes fixed, the body itself
begins to control the thinking of the individual.
What most uninformed people would view as religious extremism, is merely
the plight of the individual working on himself in order to change the direction
of the life-force that is flowing through his body-mind.
A soul who is able to truly accomplish change in his life, and again
bring about that condition where the mind rules over the physical body, has
transformed himself into a soul that can overcome the obstacles of this world,
and is able to pursue his destiny into the Light.
What the followers of Jesus and the early Gentile
Christians recognized was the fact that change is accomplished much more easily
when one possesses the knowledge of the laws that control this realm, and the
manner in which these laws control the lives of natural man. Once we begin to perceive the true horror of this world
-- i.e., that mankind is literally a slave to the forces and elements of this
realm, and does not possess the power to see and understand mankind's higher
reality, only then are we able to embrace the true compassion that was exhibited
by Jesus towards the sinners who dwelled in their world of suffering, darkness
and despair.
From a biblical perspective, the restraint this world
places upon natural man is likened to one who dwells in a jail -- unaware of the
world that lies beyond the high walls of the prison.
We fail to perceive the great limitations that have been placed upon us,
because we possess the illusion of freedom -- which is a freedom inhibited by a
series of all encompassing restrictions that have been placed upon both our
thinking and state of being. This
can be likened to the idea that, so long as the door to the individual jail
cells are open, and the prisoner is able to roam about in a very limited
fashion, they remain sedated and content under the illusion of freedom.
The desire to embrace true freedom is the result of that condition when a
person is in touch with their pre-existent soul, which causes them to no longer
be content to roam within the very limited environment of the prison.
The warden of the prison -- i.e., the supernatural power
the Apostle refers to as the prince of darkness -- can easily control the
greater majority of the inmates of this world through an addiction to
sensualism, materialism, cultural affiliation, or political power.
In the case of the more intelligent, he maintains control through
conventional science, religion and philosophy -- which has the form and
appearance of genuine (spiritual) knowledge.
These souls become duped into imagining they are successful, merely
because they appear to know or see more than does the greater majority of
inmates who are sense-bound, and totally integrated into the culture of the
prison. The result is that,
so long as carnal man can be controlled through addiction, or seduced into
believing he has the answers to life -- whether through the power of science,
philosophy or religion -- the prince of darkness is able to continue to exert
absolute control over his life.
The person that we have referred to as the mystic -- who
is the genuine Jew, Christian, Muslim or any other name you choose to describe a
person who possesses a more tangible inner connection with his pre-existent soul
-- knows instinctively that there is a world of true freedom that exists beyond
the confines of the prison of this world. When a great soul such as Jesus appears among the
inmates, and tells the people: You are not of this realm, and if you follow me,
I will protect you from the power of the warden, and guide you through the very
narrow and tight path that leads to life beyond the walls of this prison, the
majority of the prisoners simply refuse to follow.
When President Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation, many of the freed slaves refused to leave the plantations. In like manner, the greater number of inmates of this
world have never known any other life than the culture and environment of the
prison in which they presently dwell.
Their friends and family are with them in their little world.
Throughout their life they have collected many material things that the
warden has supplied them in order to control them through the power of physical,
mental, emotional and sexual attachments.
They feel that they already have everything they need, and do not wish to
leave these things behind to follow some stranger.
Moreover, their leaders who are themselves addicted to this world, have
condemned the stranger -- called him a heretic -- an extremist -- and warned
them that this stranger is a trouble maker whose objective is to deceive the
people.
Their prison prophets and wise men have themselves
learned the power of speaking to the imagination of the inmates -- telling them
that there is a supernatural savior who will come and change the prison into a
land of milk and honey -- and all they have to do is wait for his arrival.
They make predictions -- and control the inmates by telling them that
they are the friends of the supernatural savior.
In order to inherit the vision of milk and honey that is prophesied by
these prison wise men, the inmates bestow gifts and wealth upon them, so they
will be intercessors on their behalf with their friend -- the supernatural
savior who will arrive at any moment.
When the Son of God physically walked among us, he did
not say that if we have faith and believe that the heavenly kingdom exists, that
we will go there after we die. What
he said was, if you truly believe in me, and have total faith, that you will
follow in my footsteps, and I will lead you out of this prison-world and into
the Kingdom. What the Master
said to us is this: “I know the way out of this
world; and I must go before you to mark out a clear path for you to follow”.
In order to help us, he left us a book of directions that would help us
prepare for the journey. This
book -- the Bible -- has been placed in our hands in order to assist us in our
endeavor to walk the path. In
order to make the journey between the prison and the outside world, we must
possess a knowledge of the barriers and obstacles that the god of this world has
placed in our path in order to inhibit our escape from his control.
In order to insure both our success and the continuation
of the sacred teachings for future generations to follow, the Master of The Way
embed certain detailed instructions concealed within the body of the book that
he left us. He promised that
these instructions will become more apparent to us as we prepare ourselves in
accordance with the written text of the book, and begin to grow in wisdom gained
through our experiences of walking in The Way. He then explained that, if he was to attempt to write
these more detailed instructions more clearly, that the god of this world would
destroy them. So to preserve
them for those who had journeyed far enough along the path where they needed a
set of more detailed instructions, the Holy Spirit placed these teachings and
directions beyond the perception of natural man.
From an historical perspective, we can see the
manifestation of this great truth in the editing of the scriptures by the
generations of carnal Christians over the first three centuries (see The
Orthodox Corruption Of The Scriptures).
Because these Christians created philosophical doctrines which altered
the original teachings of the Master -- doctrines which taught that man did not
have to live in accordance with the text of the book that the Master left us --
but rather, all that was required was to believe that the Master lived and
escaped this world -- these carnal Christians were easily controlled and
manipulated by the god of this world.
They therefore rewrote many of the concepts of the text of the book in
order to make it clearer and more applicable to their manner of thinking --
which thinking was ultimately controlled by the ruler of this realm.
They then condemned the true disciples of The Way as heretics, burned the
genuine copies of the book the Master left to instruct the people, killed the
Master's disciples, and created laws which supported the teachings and the
worship of the god of this world.
In order to strengthen their political rule of the
people, they then made laws and created churches that would prohibit the use of
any other sacred writing than the revised book which they ordained as genuine.
Through the use of fear and the eternal suffering of hell, they convinced
the common people that it was a sin to read the writings of the heretics, or
listen to anyone who disagreed with the church that was built upon the precepts
and doctrines of the god of this world.
As a recourse to the rise of the anti-church, the true
disciples of the Light buried and hid the more pure copies of the scriptures in
order to preserve the written word for future generations. In the past, when copies of these more pure scriptures
were found, they were destroyed. Thus,
in our own time when the anti-church is no longer in control of government,
these more pure copies of the scriptures have once again been found, and this
was brought about by the Hand of God in order to help the disciples of the Light
find their way back to the Kingdom.
The anti-church and the heathen rulers of this world
cannot succeed in their endeavor to destroy the presence of the Genuine Word of
God in this realm. One of the
realities of Creation that the rulers and priests of this pseudo-church failed
to understand, was that because the Natural Laws of Creation hold all things in
a state of perpetual balance, man must always exist at various levels of
spiritual maturity. What this
ensures is that even though the vast majority of people are ruled over by what
the Apostle refers to as the god of this world, there always exist those
individuals whose thinking is able to pierce beyond the barrier of carnal
reality. When these
individuals begin to focus their attention on the scriptures, they are to
varying degrees able to perceive the inner message of the instruction book that
the Master gave to mankind -- even when the text has been corrupted. In many instances these individuals have been able to
see enough of the inner directions that is beyond the perception of carnal man,
that they are able to embrace the Spiritual Gospel of God in their endeavor to
journey into the Kingdom. As
they begin their walk in The Way, these individuals receive the grace and the
guidance of the Lord, and with each step they take, a greater perception of
spiritual knowledge is given to them -- a knowledge of the scriptures, life and
Creation, that is totally beyond the vision of those whose thinking and manner
of life remains under the control of the god of this world.
When it says in the scriptures that the ark came to rest
upon a mountain -- or that Moses went up on the mountain to speak with God -- or
that Jesus was taken up to “…a very high mountain
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”
(Matt 4:8 NIV) -- what these things are symbolic of is the raising of
consciousness within oneself above that of the natural man.
When one learns to raise their mind above the carnal, the path to life
not only becomes clearer, but such a person is better able to hear the voice of
the Lord calling and teaching the truths that the disciple needs to know in
order to be able to climb still higher in their search for the Kingdom.
With regard to Origen's words, the quality of the
spiritual food that each of us receives is in direct relationship to how far we
have traveled in The Way. In
most instances, the knowledge we receive is controlled by Natural Laws that are
manifest in accordance with our own needs and ability to use the life-force that
God -- the True Source of our being -- provides us.
Thus, we can begin to see the all-encompassing reality of the Apostles
words when he said that each man reaps what he has sown (Gal 6:7 NIV).
This can be expressed in the words: “For as he
thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov 23:7 KJV).
From the perspective of the people within the body of the
original church over the course of the first three centuries, the very presence
of a Spiritual Church manifest in this world has the power to greatly accelerate
the journey of the disciple in search of the Truth. It is not that man needs to be taught -- but rather,
when experienced servants of the Lord are present, they are able to make the
transformation from carnal to spiritual a much smoother road for the people of
the simple faith. This is in
fact the essence of Jesus’ condemnation of the Sadducees and Pharisees with
respect to them being counterfeit leaders of the flock of believers.
Instead of guiding the people of the simple faith into the Kingdom, they
positioned themselves before the people as priests and religious authorities who
would intercede between God and man.
The only valid objective of genuine religious leaders is
to assist the people in learning about the True God, teaching the flock to
embrace the Royal Law of God, and working to fulfill the Vision of the Lord when
he commanded: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey
My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above
all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the
children of Israel” (Exod 19:5-6 NKJ).
In respect of this fact, I have endeavored to compose
this book from the same perspective -- not to teach or proclaim the Mysteries of
God to the reader -- but rather, to dispel the darkness of the god of this
world, and to guide the seeker to the point where they will see the beginning of
The Way more clearly. This
preparation is designed to enable the person who truly desires the Truth and the
Light, to be guided by the Lord and Master who will lead them into Life.
The fact that I have spoken openly about the pre-existence and
reincarnation of the soul, is merely the revelation of what Origen and others
called the minor mysteries that one must understand in order to behold the
process by which man is evolved into a perfected state of being.
Without an understanding that our soul has existed since the very dawn of
time itself, and has travailed in this world throughout many lives in its
endeavor to inherit the robe of perfection, both life and the scriptures will
remain confusing, and we will squander away our opportunity of life itself.
The early church was thus organized in accordance with
the Natural Laws and the Divine directive: “Who then
is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the
servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?” (Matt
24:45 NIV). The wise servant is he that knows what type and level
of food belongs to each believer who has been put in that servant's care.
In the same way that a baby will choke on solid food, and has no means to
consume it, neither can the solid food of the spirit be given to carnal
believers. Therefore, in
giving to each in accordance with their spiritual needs, the Spiritual (Gnostic)
Christians were fulfilling the word of the Lord: “Take
heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28 KJV).
Therefore, we can observe these higher concepts at work
in Origen’s defense on the attack by Celsus on the Christian religion, and we
are able to get a glimpse of the foundation of the True Church of God manifest
in this world. This vision is
important for modern Christians who must undue the corruption of the anti-church
which was ordained by Constantine and the Roman Empire, and endeavor to restore
the greatness of the True Church of Christ.
Because the genuine focus of Christianity should be to embrace the
process of leading men toward spiritual perfection and the entrance into the
Kingdom, in a Spiritual Church each believer is provided with the level of truth
they need to grow and mature.
With respect to our present-day focus, the doors of
Christianity have always been open to the sinner and the multitudes as a means
of redemption -- but redemption is through change, and eventual spiritual
transformation. In Origen's
words: “For there are in the divinity of the Word
some helps towards the cure of those who are sick”, meaning the
sinners. In the early
religious movement of the first three centuries, the idea of Christianity as a
means for continual redemption from sin was fostered only among
the bottom echelon of the church, or those carnal Christians who were
spiritually sick.
“Every one”,
writes Origen, “who is a sinner, who is devoid of
understanding, who is a child, and, to speak generally, whoever is unfortunate,
him will the kingdom of God receive. Do you not call him a sinner, then, who is
unjust, and a thief, and a housebreaker, and a prisoner, and a committer of
sacrilege, and a robber of the dead? What others would a man invite if he were
issuing a proclamation for an assembly of robbers? Now, in answer to such
statements, we say that it is not the same thing to invite those who are sick in
soul to be cured, and those who are in health to the knowledge and study of
divine things. We, however, keeping both these things in view, at first invite
all men to be healed, and exhort those who are sinners to come to the
consideration of the doctrines which teach men not to sin, and those who are
devoid of understanding to those which beget wisdom, and those who are children
to rise in their thoughts to manhood, and those who are simply unfortunate to
good fortune, or -- which is the more appropriate term to use -- to blessedness.
And when those who have been turned towards virtue have made progress, and have
shown that they have been purified by the word, and have led as far as they can
a better life, then and not before do we invite them to participation in our
mysteries. 'For we speak wisdom among them that are perfect’”
(Origen Contra Celsum).
It is true that Jesus came to save the sinner -- but he
did not come to save the sinner who did not desire to change -- refused to
follow him -- or who attempted to embrace him only with his lips.
In the words of Jesus: “No servant can serve
two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will
be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”
(Luke 16:13 NKJ). This great
truth was further clarified by the Apostle John when he wrote: “Do
not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world -- the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does --
comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 Jn 2:15-16 NIV).
Often, these people who are stirred by their indwelling spiritual nature,
continue their love and attachment to this world, and they are not yet ready to
leave it. These people who claim to believe may call themselves
Christians -- even born again Christians -- and yet, so long as they continue to
cling to the customs, material things, and mindset of this world, they can never
be anything more than babes in Christ.
The Christianity of Jesus was a living religion, and its
main focus was to bring about a “change of mind”
in the believer. It is the
milk of the Word, or the gospel of Jesus and him crucified, that is given to the
spiritually sick in order to assist them in their initial healing from a life of
sin. The milk is designed to begin
the process of growth and development.
In the case of the Jews, temple sacrifice and the rituals of the Old
Testament were designed as milk for a heathen people.
It was therefore a transition to sacrifice in one place, to one God, and
only certain animals that represented a more perfected animal nature.
The Essenes did not sacrifice in the temple, because they
were spiritual, and they perceived the symbolism of the Old Testament scriptures
from the perception of a higher mind.
We can of course reason that if God does not desire sacrifice, then the
Old Testament scriptures should never have been written in this misleading
manner. Yet, when we take
this position, we fail to recognize the greater need of the people.
The Old Testament scriptures were written in order to transition a
heathen idol worshiping Pagan people to the worship of the One True Spiritual
God. Sacrifice and idol
worship was an integral part of their thinking and mindset.
Change could only be brought about incrementally, one step at a time.
The leaders of the Sadducees and Pharisees being carnal,
interpreted these spiritual symbols of the scriptures literally, and obstructed
the path to the Kingdom because they continued to embrace the milk of the
written word. That Jesus was
physically crucified by false religious leaders and the rulers of the Nations
does not negate the fact that the Son of God permitted these events to
transpire, in order to create a much more pure set of symbols that each and
every disciple of the Light must embrace in their own life.
Thus, in the case of the New Covenant scriptures, what is written in the
Bible is true both historically, as well as in mind and spirit.
In a Genuine Spiritual Church, the faithful servant ordained by Christ is
he who seeks the wisdom of the spirit, possesses an understanding of the symbols
because he has embraced them in his own life, and feeds the flock in accordance
with their individual spiritual needs.
Yes, man is saved by the blood of Christ -- but this blood must be
embraced physically, mentally and spiritually in order to mature to become a
genuine Christian.
The Gospel message must be multidimensional, in order to
transition the believer from carnal to spiritual. What believers today, as well as the opponents of a
Gnostic system of revelation failed to realize, is that the spiritual wisdom and
Mysteries of God simply cannot dwell within the mind of a sinner, or one who is
spiritually sick. In the
words of Origen: “And as we teach, moreover, that
'wisdom will not enter into the soul of a base man, nor dwell in a body that is
involved in sin’”. Why?
Because their very body and mind will not resonate at the higher
frequencies of the life-force entering into their being.
The result is that because their body-mind cannot resonate at these
frequencies that are above that of the earth, they cannot receive the complete
revelation of the Word in their life.
Symbols, then, are employed in order to manifest truth uniformly on a
physical, mental and spiritual level of being.
In this respect, everything we think, do and say has an
all-encompassing effect on our being.
Nothing is concealed from us -- but rather, when we are of this world, we
simply cannot utilize the spiritual potential of the whole gamut of life-force
that is available to us. God
and the Kingdom literally stand before our eyes, and we are blind to the reality
of Creation.
With regard to sinners, Origen writes that they were NOT
invited “to participation in mysteries, and to
fellowship in the wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God ordained before the
world to the glory of His saints, do we invite the wicked man, and the thief,
and the housebreaker, and the prisoner, and the committer of sacrilege, and the
plunderer of the dead”, these people cannot receive the Divine
Mysteries and the Gospel of God. We
can add to this list the unfaithful believer -- or what would be called in the
scriptures the adulterer -- who are those who attempt to bring the doctrines of
men to the alter of the Lord. As
Origen stated, Jesus “was sent, indeed, as a
physician to sinners, but as a teacher of divine mysteries to those who are
already pure and who sin no more”.
Because we fail to perceive that our natural mind that is
related to our physical consciousness is in fact an image of our pre-existent
soul, we are simply unable to comprehend the words of Origen where explains the
words of Jesus and portrays him as a “…teacher of
divine mysteries to those who are already pure and who sin no more”.
The flaw in our thinking is seen in our failure to perceive that some
people enter this world as evolved spiritual souls -- and not being sick, are
not in need of a physician. Because
they have lived as seekers of Truth in the past, and even disciples of the
Light, they do not enter this life to be healed, but to embrace the next level
of instruction.
The teachings of the early church affirmed the biblical
position that the Sacred Secrets of the Gospel could only be received by those
who had been previously healed by the Word -- of whom Origen wrote: “…others
again, which to the pure in soul and body exhibit the revelation of the Mystery,
which was kept in secret since the world began, but now is made manifest by the
scriptures of the prophets, and by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Who is the instructor and revealer of the Mysteries?
The Lord commanded his disciples and followers: “But
you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all
brethren” (Matt 23:8 RSV). Why? Because
when man attempts to instruct another person about the Mysteries of God in the
manner of a teacher, they make themselves a false Christ. In a Spiritual or Gnostic Church, the objective is to
lead the believer to the feet of the One and True Teacher who awaits each of us
in the Kingdom. Jesus, being
very much our brother, accomplished this when he manifested the Logos or Word in
his life, and then taught others the means to accomplish this same thing in
their own lives. The faithful
servant of the Lord is he who reveals to the disciples and believers The Way to
find the True Prophet which is the indwelling Word that exists within each of
us.
If a great teacher has come to instruct mankind, and a
person wanting to hear this great teacher asks for directions, then the job of
those who are sent to call the people is to stand in The Way and direct those
seeking to hear the teacher to go by the shortest route. If, on the other hand, instead of giving directions to
the teacher, the servant attempts to convey their own perception of the words of
the teacher -- second hand -- then such a person is a false servant.
If this servant then attempts to teach his own doctrine, instead of
guiding the seeker to the Master himself, then such a man is a teacher of
apostasy and error.
In a truly spiritual religion, the One Teacher is always
accessible and ever present to meet with and instruct the genuine disciple.
The job of the servant who is sent forth among the people to gather the
flock is not to teach -- but rather, to give direction and demonstrate to the
seeker The Way in which to go, in order to arrive at the place where the Teacher
can be found. This concept of
a Living Revelation is the defining embodiment of what we refer to as mysticism,
Gnosticism, and is the true essence of a spiritual religion.
Moreover, it is this defining factor that is continually demonstrated in
the writings of all the early Christians, and is summarized by Origen when he
explains that Christ will appear to, and teach, each individual who will be his
disciple and follow in His footsteps: “…which
appearing [of the Christ] is manifested to each one of those who are perfect,
and which enlightens the reason in the true knowledge of things”.
The Christ cannot appear to the sense bound person whose
thinking is of this world. For
the help of such a person, the milk of the gospel has been given until which
time they are ready to have a change in mind and heart, and be healed from the
defilements of this realm. Neither
can the Christ appear to those who are unfaithful in doctrine -- i.e., those who
are referred to in scripture as spiritual adulterers.
It is these people who, though they call upon the name of the Lord,
attempt to come to the alter of God carrying the baggage of the doctrines of
men. The Christ can only
instruct those who are of his fold. And
who are they? Those who have been healed from the defilements of the world, and
look only to the Lord as their teacher.
As modern Christians it is important that we understand
the doctrine of faith that Paul said was the focal point of his teachings.
It must first be remembered that in all his Epistles, Paul was writing to
very carnal believers -- not Christians who had grown in maturity and
perfection. To the carnal
believer, faith is the most important element of his religious experience.
The Apostle Paul himself defines faith in the biblical
sense: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1 NAS).
From a New Covenant perspective, if one's religious experience is founded
upon faith alone, then such a state must be understood as indicative of a
pre-Christian condition. The
word Christian when properly translated into the English language, can only be
defined as a person who strives after the Anointing of God.
Again, the word Christ is not the last name of Jesus -- but rather, it is
descriptive of the immersion of the mind with the active principle of Creation.
This condition which is referred to as Anointed (Christ), is synonymous
with the term illumination. In
reference to this Anointed state of mind, the Apostle writes: “But
call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye
endured a great fight of afflictions” (Heb 10:32 KJV).
A person whose mind has been illuminated by the Anointing
of the Logos, cannot be a believer whose faith is the foundation of their
religious experience. Yes,
they have faith, but once the mind is illumined, and is able to gaze beyond the
barrier of this world, and they can observe God and the essence of Creation,
that condition that Paul defines as “the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1
NAS), is no longer the moving force in the life of the disciple.
When this term is fully understood, then it can also be applied to the
body of believers. Prior to
being Anointed -- i.e., a pre-Christian state -- the believer is in a state
where they are seeking to become Anointed -- which means that they cannot be
called the Anointed (Christian), until they have achieved that condition of
illumination of mind and being.
From this more correct perspective we can then understand
that the Gentiles who the Apostle was writing to were a body of believers who
were striving to become Christian. Those
who possess only what the Apostle calls the milk of the gospel, have not yet
overcome their carnal nature, and cannot therefore be the Anointed (Christian).
The Apostle says of them that one of the main obstacles to their becoming
a genuine Christian, is that the genuine spiritual concepts of the teachings of
the New Covenant would appear to be foolishness to their natural mindset. Why? Because
so long as their thinking is of this world, they have not yet become Christian
-- i.e., Anointed and Illumined -- and whether they will in fact attain the goal
of becoming a Christian will be dependent upon whether they can overcome their
natural, carnal nature, and become spiritual.
The doctrine of faith which is expressed by Paul in his
Epistles must be understood as being written to the wannabe Christian.
What is expressed by Paul is the assurance that if they follow in The
Way, the Son of God will come to them -- that he will teach them the Truth and
the Mysteries of the Father -- and that the Son of God will sanctify and Anoint
them. This is the article of
faith that the true believer in the Lord expresses -- i.e., that the Son of God
will fulfill the promises of the Gospel, and not leave them orphans in this
world.
From a biblical perspective, faith itself is transformed
as the disciple matures in Christ. This
can be compared to a woman who has faith that she can conceive and bear a child.
Prior to conception, she has faith that she can become pregnant.
After conception, and during that time when she feels life being formed
with her womb, she has faith that she will give birth.
It is not until after she endures labor, and holds her infant in her
arms, that she can be called a mother.
The same is true with respect to a Christian.
When one hears the Good News which is the Gospel of the simple faith, one
has faith that if they believe, and embrace the Word, that the spiritual
conception will take place within them.
In the same way that a woman is only an expectant mother until after the
birth of the infant, neither is a person of the simple faith a Christian, until
after their minds have been Anointed by the Light.
As the believer begins to take on a greater measure of
Godliness, they experience a series of spiritual cleansings -- or baptisms --
that opens the inner door of the soul-mind.
From a spiritual perspective, it is the disciple who has travailed the “narrow
path”, and is moving through the “straight
gate”, that is in fact immerging out of the womb of Mother God, and
into the Kingdom of Paradise.
What is referred to by the Apostle Paul as the Mysteries
of God, is as the sustenance that nourishes the disciple as he develops in the
womb of this world. Writing
about this process of spiritual transformation, Origen explains who can be a
recipient of the Mysteries of God: “Whoever has clean
hands, and therefore lifts up holy hands to God… let him come to us… Whoever
is pure, not only from all defilement, but from what are regarded as lesser
transgressions, let him be boldly initiated into the mysteries of Jesus, which
properly are made known only to the holy and the pure… To those who have been
purified in heart, he whose soul has for a long time, been conscious of no evil,
especially since he yielded himself to the healing of the Word, let such a one
hear the doctrines which were spoken in private by Jesus to his genuine
disciples”. Thus,
the true Gospel of God can only be taught to those who have become pure, “not
only from all defilement, but from what are regarded as lesser transgressions”. The Gospel of God can only be revealed to those who are
“holy and pure… and have been purified in heart”. Disciples whose “soul has for a long time been
conscious of no evil”. Only
such a disciple can “hear the doctrines which were
spoken in private by Jesus to his genuine disciples”.
With regard to the doctrine of faith in relation to sure
spiritual knowledge, quoting Clement of Alexandria in Smith & Wace's Bible
dictionary: “Faith
is the foundation; knowledge the superstructure, by knowledge faith is
perfected, for to know is more than to believe.
Faith is a summary knowledge of urgent truths; knowledge a sure
demonstration of what has been received through faith, being itself reared upon
faith through the teachings of the Lord. Thus
the Gnostic grasps the complete truth of all revelation from the beginning of
the world to the end, piercing to the depths of scripture, of which the believer
tastes the surface only. As a
consequence of this intelligent sympathy with the Divine Will, the Gnostic
becomes in perfect unity in himself, and as far as possible like God.
Definite outward observances cease to have any value for one whose being
is brought into abiding harmony with that which is eternal; he has no wants, no
passions; he rests in the contemplation of God, which is and will be his
unfailing blessedness.”
When Clement portrays the Gnostic Christian as being in “…unity
in himself”, and developing to where they have become “…like
God” and “…brought into abiding
harmony with that which is eternal”, it is at that time when the
disciple becomes the True Christian by entering the final stage of spiritual
development, and fulfills the biblical requirement as set forth by Jesus in the
words: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48 RSV)
With respect to the Gospel, what Clement is stating in
the above quotation is that faith is the foundation, or the beginning of one’s
walk with the Lord. From the
perspective of the Gentile converts, faith was the essence of their religious
experience. In Romans 11:24,
Paul speaks of the Gentiles as branches of a wild olive that was in the process
of being “grafted into a cultivated olive tree”
(NIV). It is important that
we take note that in his words, there is no suggestion that there was a flaw in
the cultivated olive tree -- which he defines as Israel.
Only that God wanted to bring this spiritual cultivation to the Gentiles
in order that they would be given the opportunity to turn from their Pagan and
Heathen ways, and enter into the Kingdom.
In not being a part of the cultivated spiritual foundation of Israel,
they had to be a people of faith -- faith that God would look kindly upon them,
and graft them into the cultivated olive tree of Israel.
As one progresses in the journey along The Way, faith is
superseded by Knowledge -- and if it is not, then one's faith is not only
misdirected and in vain, but is spiritually sterile. In the same way that it is an expression of faith that
people invest in the stock market in the hope that they will receive a return on
their investment, faith in the Lord means that you believe in him, and are
willing to invest your life in him, in the hope that you will be found worthy to
enter the Kingdom. Like the
stock market, you would not have invested your money if you were told that some
time after death you will receive a return on you money.
There is nothing in the Gospels that suggest that you will enter into the
Kingdom after you die. Which
means that, if you have not yet gained access -- or at the least opened a direct
line of communication with the Lord -- then something is wrong with the manner
in which you are putting your faith.
In the words of Clement which are quoted above, the
Gnostic -- or the Christian who has developed that spiritual root within himself
that connects his outer person to the Divine Tabernacle within his being -- is
being nourished by the Word in the manner of a fetus through the umbilical cord
of it’s mother. It is these
disciples who have begun to move beyond the simple faith, who are those who
develop spiritually, and as a faithful infant in Christ, begin to “grasp
the complete truth of all revelation from the beginning of the world to the
end”. The
Gnostic, or spiritual Christian, has the ability to pierce “to
the depths of scripture” because he has himself pierced to the
depths of his own being while walking in The Way.
As a warning to those who read God's Word, and see only
the body, Clement writes of the scriptures that “the
believer tastes the surface only”.
Thus, the “genuine disciple” of the Christ understands that,
in the same way he must go beyond the body of the written narrative to uncover
the essence of truth, so must he go beyond his own physical and carnal nature.
Clement then says of the Gnostic, or spiritual Christian that, “as
a consequence of this intelligent sympathy with the Divine Will, the Gnostic
becomes in perfect unity in himself, and as far as possible like God”.
If we truly have faith in Jesus and the early church, then we must
believe that Clement is speaking from his own personal experiences -- and if we
follow in The Way, that we will experience these same Mysteries of God within
ourselves.
In our modern day understanding of the word, the term
Gnostic is used to denote a group of heretics in the early church -- and in view
of this fact, we should question why Clement would refer to the most Spiritual
of Christians as Gnostics? In
the true sense of the word, one cannot be a Christian -- or Anointed -- without
being a Gnostic. The name
Gnostic denotes one who has become spiritual, and is able to receive the gnosis
-- or knowledge of the Mysteries spoken of by Paul -- directly from God.
In order to receive the knowledge of the Kingdom, the disciple must
become Anointed, and his mind must be Illumined by the Light.
The term gnosis, or Gnostic, denotes that condition where one becomes the
Anointed -- which in Greek, means the Christ -- and is taught directly from the
Lord.
Clement himself ties this great spiritual truth to the
scriptures when he quotes various passages in the Bible and writes: “It
therefore follows that it is the opinion of the wise among the Jews which the
apostle inveighs against it. Wherefore he adds, 'But we preach, as it is
written, what eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and hath not entered
into the heart of man, what God hath prepared for them that love Him. For God
hath revealed it to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, even
the deep things of God.' For he recognizes the spiritual man and the Gnostic as
the disciple of the Holy Spirit dispensed by God, which is the mind of Christ”.
Clement then goes on to quote the Apostle directly, and
explain: “‘But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him.' Now the apostle, in
contradistinction to Gnostic perfection, calls the common faith the foundation,
and sometimes milk, writing on this wise: 'Brethren, I could not speak to you as
to spiritual, but as to carnal, to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk,
not with meat: for ye were not able. Neither yet are ye now able. For ye are yet
carnal: for whereas there is among you envy and strife, are ye not carnal, and
walk as men?' Which things are the choice of those men who are sinners. But
those who abstain from these things give their thoughts to divine things, and
partake of Gnostic food. 'According to the grace,' it is said, 'given to me as a
wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. And another buildeth on it gold
and silver, precious stones.' Such is the Gnostic superstructure on the
foundation of faith in Christ Jesus. But 'the stubble, and the wood, and the
hay,' are the additions of heresies. 'But the fire shall try every man's work,
of what sort it is.' In allusion to the Gnostic edifice also in the Epistle to
the Romans, he says, 'For I desire to see you, that I may impart unto you a
spiritual gift, that ye may be established.' It was impossible that gifts of
this sort could be written without disguise”.
It is important to recognize that Clement does not say
that grace is given to the people who remain of the simple faith, because grace
cannot be given to those who continue to live a sinful life. Grace is the gift that is given to those who embrace
the Word, and change their life, so as to cease to live a life of sin.
Clement then goes on to demonstrate that there is only
one Church -- and it is the same Christ that is the foundation of the carnal
Christians who possess only the simple faith, as well as the mature Gnostic
Christians, who have received knowledge directly from God: “But
it is not doubting in reference to God, but believing, that is the foundation of
knowledge. But Christ is both the foundation and the superstructure, by whom are
both the beginning and the ends. And the extreme points, the beginning and the
end -- I mean faith and love -- are not taught. But knowledge, conveyed from
communication through the grace of God as a deposit, is entrusted to those who
show themselves worthy of it; and from it the worth of love beams forth from
light to light. For it is said, 'To him that hath shall be given:' to faith,
knowledge; and to knowledge, love; and to love, the inheritance”.
In his wisdom Clement conveys the importance of the
acquisition of knowledge when he writes: “Knowledge
is therefore quick in purifying, and fit for that acceptable transformation to
the better. Whence also with ease it removes [the soul] to what is akin to the
soul, divine and holy, and by its own light conveys man through the mystic
stages of advancement; till it restores the pure in heart to the crowning place
of rest; teaching to gaze on God, face to face, with knowledge and
comprehension. For in this consists the perfection of the Gnostic soul, in its
being with the Lord, where it is in immediate subjection to Him, after rising
above all purification and service”.
True spiritual knowledge, conveyed from the Source of
Light within our soul, has a profound purifying effect upon every aspect of our
being. What is generally not
understood by the carnal believer who is unable to even relate to man's
spiritual reality, is we do not gain knowledge by instruction -- as is taught in
the manner of the pseudo-teachers in this world -- but rather, we gain spiritual
knowledge by a process that enables us to use a greater part of our own minds
and being which is brought about by the Anointing of the Lord.
Regardless of how many times this fundamental concept of
the essence of New Covenant teachings is presented to them, carnal believers
have never been able to understand this great spiritual truth.
When someone attempts to explain to them the spiritual reality of these
truths, they say: If there is a higher Christian knowledge, then tell us, or
teach me! What they fail to
understand is that if Jesus and his Apostles could not do what they request,
then how could anyone else do what Jesus could not, and attempt to convey a
higher understanding of man's spiritual reality?
Thus, the Spiritual Christian cannot do as they request -- not so much
because of some commandment to keep the mysteries of God a secret -- but rather,
because natural man is unable to comprehend his own spiritual reality using only
his physical-mental attributes of mind.
True faith in Jesus means that you believe that you do
not need a teacher in this world -- only a guide who can assist you in finding
the Teacher. When you embrace
the gospel, you already possess the potential to know all things through the
process of walking in The Way. As
your spiritual awareness expands, you will begin to understand that your mind
and being is imbued with life as a result of the vital organic energy that
originates with God, our true Source of Being -- and it is this life-force
received from God upon which your mind and body moves, thinks, and has its being
(Acts 17:28). As you become aware
of this higher reality, you will begin to comprehend that your body and mind is
like an antenna -- if we do not perceive and comprehend the Mysteries of God, it
is because our antenna cannot receive that spectrum of the frequency that is
being transmitted.
In the same way that a radio that can only be tuned to
the standard broadcast frequencies only receives a fraction of what is being
transmitted, our physical body in which we dwell only bestows upon natural man
the ability to receive a very limited and narrow band-width of the spectrum of
life-force that powers every aspect of Creation. In the same way that if we desire to receive short-wave
and other extra-broadcast frequencies on our radio, it is necessary to modify
the tuner, the same is true of the mind of man who desires to gaze beyond the
limitations of this physical realm.
No one is concealing anything from us. Comprehending the Divine Word is not a matter of belief
or philosophy -- but rather, using the proper antenna, and making ourselves able
to receive and display the heavenly frequencies in our daily lives.
If we only have an A.M. Broadcast radio, the resolution to the problem is
not to listen to someone else explain what is being transmitted on the higher
frequencies. The teachings of
the New Covenant is the guide book for those who desire to know the Truth, and
are willing to modify their receiver in order to enable it to function on the
higher frequencies of Creation. Only when we begin to understand that our failure to
perceive and understand is due to the organic limitation of our physical mind
and body, are we then able to comprehend why the Spiritual Christian cannot
teach a man the Mysteries that are beyond the scope of the believers
comprehension. To understand,
carnal man must expand his consciousness to utilize the other aspects of his
being that are capable of receiving the heavenly frequencies of Creation.
In the same way that we cannot use an automobile to fly,
and ultimately travel in outer space, we cannot use the parts of our mind that
correspond to the physical, to explore man's spiritual reality.
In understanding this analogy, let us also remember that a vehicle
intended to travel in outer space would make a very bad choice in vehicles to
travel our system of roads and highways.
If a believer is to truly become a Christian -- one who is Anointed --
then they must begin to embrace a multidimensional perception and understanding
of Creation and Life.
This concept should not be too difficult for modern
believers to comprehend, whereas it was a great stumbling block for carnal
believers in the past. There
is no question regarding the validity of the findings of modern science that we
only utilize a fraction of our mental resources.
No informed person today could doubt this fact.
Yet, what our modern scientist fails to understand is that holy men and
women were never dependent upon science in their quest to comprehend the meaning
of Life, and the essence of spiritual religion bestows upon man the Secrets of
Creation in the form of practical knowledge known only by the Gnostic Israel.
Man has the innate power to comprehend the wonders of
Creation -- and man was not given these great mental resources by his Creator
without also being given the ability to use them.
All spiritual knowledge and gifts are the direct result of man's capacity
to gain use of these other areas of mind -- and this can only be accomplished by
man bringing himself into harmony with the Laws of man's Creator and Source of
Being.
If we can at this point grasp the difference between the
entry level teachings that the Apostle Paul referred to as the milk of the
gospel, and the Gospel of God that was embraced by spiritually mature
Christians, we must then understand not only the differences between Gentile and
Messianic Jewish Christianity, but also the reasons why it appeared on the
surface that Paul preached a different doctrine than what was taught by the
disciples of Jesus. We need
to know this because both traditions have been placed in our Bibles -- and it is
difficult to harmonize the two, without understanding the reasons why on the
surface they appeared different. In
this respect, we must not fall into the error of men such as Martin Luther who
embraced Paul and rejected the gospels because he could not perceive the
uniformity between the two.
In the same way that Paul spoke of the Gentile converts
as a wild olive that was in the process of being “grafted
into a cultivated olive tree” (Rom 11:24 NIV), a great many of the
misconceptions and conflicts that arose over the first three centuries between
the Messianic Jewish believers known as the Ebionites and Nazarenes, was the
result of the fact that the Gentiles were not of the same heritage.
Because the Gentiles lacked the Hebrew biblical
foundation that was prevalent in the scriptures, Paul correctly understood that
it would be futile if he was to attempt to convert them to the religion of the
Jews. The immediate problem
that confronted Paul was that neither Jewish mysticism, nor Jewish culture was
applicable in the life of the Gentile convert.
Thus, to be successful, Paul was forced to remove traditional Jewish
culture, and present the essence of the Gospel in a more universal understanding
-- and it was for this reason that the Hand of God used Paul, a Pharisee
convert, instead of an Essene-Ebionite as the Apostle to the Gentiles. The misconception that prevails among today's believers
that Paul was the only one who understood the true doctrine of Christ is not
only false, be detrimental to the spiritual development of modern-day Christians
-- especially in view of the fact that our Bible contains Jewish-Christian
Gospels, rather than the Gentile-Christian Gospels that were authored for the
non-Jewish believers.
In the life of the disciple, time is very important.
Because every aspect of man's existence in this world is itself
established firmly upon the Universal Laws of God, Paul rightly taught the
Gentiles not to embrace an alien (Jewish) culture -- but rather, understand the
deeper meaning of their own. The pathway to God is not walked with rituals and
words, but more truly with the desires of the heart and the faith that one has
in the Lord. Once the
disciple in search of truth begins to realize that every one of us is equally
the offspring of the One God and Supreme Power of Creation, and each one of us
is literally swimming in God's ocean of Universal Law, what Paul wrote must be
seen in a new light as it is realized that God's Truth is generic to all
cultures and people.
In the same way that life as we know it cannot exist
without the air we breathe, neither can we sever our intimate connection with
the Law's of God. In his
writings, Paul attempted to convey this great truth, but the full reality of
what Paul wrote was beyond the comprehension of the carnal minds of the Gentile
believers who claimed to be his followers, as well as the carnal minds of the
(spiritually immature) Jews who condemned him.
One of the major faults in carnal man's reasoning lies in
the idea that mankind is separate and even independent of his Creator.
No greater profound truth was ever spoken than where it is written that “…we
live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28 KJV) within the
very body-mind of God “in whose hand is the soul of
every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10 KJV).
Because each of us has a soul -- which soul is not only from God, but
remains as a spark of the Great Light in the body-mind of the One God --
nourished and cared for by the very currents of life of the Divine Body in which
we dwell -- the path to Life that Jesus cleared for us was not external to our
being -- but rather, the path to Life that we must travel was cleared within our
own body-mind and being. This
truth is difficult for natural man to even envision, because this world appears
to him as an external reality -- rather than a projected reality that is a
reflection of his inner state of being.
What he fails to understand is that there are countless other realities
that are within his ability of observe and interact with in a similar manner
that he does in the present life he is living in this world.
One of these realms leads to what Jesus called the Kingdom of God -- and
it was here that Jesus cleared the path for all those who believed and would
follow in his footsteps.
If man “lives and moves and
has his being” within God, and the soul -- the spark of life --
within man remains part of God, then our initial spiritual objective is for each
of us to become the person we are at the depth of our soul.
Jesus, then, representing the highest expression of Creation, is the
pattern which each of us must adhere to in order to return home to our Heavenly
Father.
Thus, in understanding this great universal truth, Paul
attempted to convey to carnal minds that they should not seek God outside of
themselves, nor permit themselves to be burdened by embracing alien rituals and
customs of a foreign people -- but rather, seek the essence of the Gospel of
Christ, and purify the desires of the heart with regard to the true and accurate
knowledge of the spirit. No
greater truth was ever written -- and in like manner, no greater truth has ever
been misunderstood by the carnal minds of men.
Regardless of where the footsteps of mankind walks in
this world, the intimate connection between man and God remains. People are not converted with words or with rhetoric
they are taught to recite -- but rather, with an intimate connection with the
Light of Life that dwells universally in the heart of all men. It is because all mankind is of one fundamental
body-mind at our essence of ultimate being, when we are able to manifest the One
Light in our own lives, we actually connect the people we come into contact with
the same One Light that exists within their own mind and being.
It is from this perspective -- that Jesus had the capacity to manifest
God in the world -- that he was said to be himself God.
Only because Paul was of an elevated mindset -- a mindset
that enabled him to grasp the higher universal presence of Christ in the life of
all of Creation -- was he able to write the words: “So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Cor 5:16 NIV).
Again, no finer commentary on these words of Paul exist that surpasses
those of biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann when he concluded that the “…Christian
faith is, and should be, comparatively uninterested in the historical Jesus and
centered instead on the transcendent Christ” (Encyclopedia
Britannica, 1998 electronic edition).
The problem is that it is almost congenital that carnal man fears the
very concept of what the word transcendent conveys.
Why? Because it places him in an inferior position to the higher powers
of Creation, and it is beyond his ability control and understand. He therefore continues to cling to carnal perceptions
of realities that he is incapable of comprehending.
Even today we fail to understand this most important
aspect of Paul's teachings. One
of the obstacles that confront us is seen in the fact that we do not perceive
the essence of New Covent thought -- which is the pre-existence of the soul of
man, and the revelation of the Inner Light and Kingdom -- universally -- within
the mind of mankind. In fact,
it is this great flaw that prompts many modern translations of the Bible to
render Luke 17:21 “in your midst”,
rather than “within you”. Because of their adherence to manmade doctrines, they
simply cannot come to terms with an inner Kingdom that can be accessed in a
similar fashion that we move about and dwell in this present world.
What Paul preached to the Gentile converts was that it
was not the Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee that can save you, but rather
the Christ who shares an intimate connection with you through God -- the Father
of us all -- within your very own heart and mind.
When you read your scriptures, then, do not read them to learn about the
past -- but rather, read them to learn about yourself in relation to the Kingdom
-- for it is the genuine Christian who is cognizant of the reality that we are
truly dwelling in biblical times.
This great eminent truth that Paul was conveying to his
Gentile converts was that even if you lived on an island in a far-away land, and
never heard either the formal Law of God given to mankind by Moses, or the name
Christ, you could still walk the path of Life that Jesus cleared for our return
to our Father. “For it is not
those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight”, writes Paul, “but
it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous” (Rom 2:13 NIV).
Paul then goes on to explain this great universal truth when he writes: “Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law,
they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they
show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them” (Rom 2:13-15 NIV).
When the people of the Nations begin to do -- “by nature things required by the law” -- the universal door to the Lord that each of us has within our own mind and being begins to open. Thus, the disciples of Christ are not recognized by the words and rhetoric that they speak, or the church they attend, but rather the intensity and the volume of the Light that they manifest in their daily lives. It is for this reason that Paul wrote to the believers at Corinith that they are no longer to know the historical Christ in accordance with the flesh, but more truthfully the spiritual Christ that dwells within the hearts and minds of all men (2 Cor 5:16).
Natural man has great difficulty coming to terms with the
essence of the Gospel message, because he attempts to interpret these concepts
of religion as a fault. Moreover,
since only the most sincere of the flock of believers are even prepared to begin
to embrace the higher concepts of the Mysteries of God, they tend to view
themselves as an authority, and are unable to see themselves as a mature
believer who is still very much of the simple faith. It is important, then, for us to comprehend that our
blindness is not a personal fault -- i.e., it is natural for us to fail to
understand the fundamental truths of the scriptures, because we view ourselves
from a carnal -- three-dimensional perspective -- and do not perceive that all
of Creation -- and especially mankind who was created in the image and likeness
of God -- maintains a continual and intimate connection with our Creator.
In the same way that it is not a defect that an elementary school child
does not comprehend calculus and trigonometry, neither is it a flaw that carnal
beings who are born from human parents, are not spiritually mature enough to
perceive the Mysteries of God and Creation.
In order to open our minds to the higher understanding of
Life, we must realize that we are the offspring and expression of the One
Universal Source, and genuine religion has little to do with belief -- but
rather, is the means by which our True Reality is realized through our own
personal transcendent experiences. The
scriptures tell us that there are two fundamental powers in this world -- the
light and the darkness. What
this means is that, regardless of where we live, the cultural customs we adopt,
our language or our beliefs pertaining to the things known and unknown, or the
images of things seen or not seen, everything we think, do, and say, is just
ripples and vibrational movements within the structural pattern of these two
fundamental powers of Creation. The
result of this fact is twofold: Our freedom that many liberal thinking people
believe they possess is nothing more than an illusion -- in that, like fish, we
cannot get out of the water. On
the other side of the coin, though, is the fact that because every aspect of our
being maintains an all encompassing intimate connection with the Divine Powers
of Creation, regardless of what we do, any time that we desire to embrace the
ultimate truth of reality, we only have to open our eyes to it -- as it is
written: “God did this so that men would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of
us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts
17:27-28 NIV).
This often ignored truth that Paul is stating has a
profound meaning when properly understood: Because each of us is literally
swimming in the sea of God's Universal Law, when the man who dwells on a far
away island begins to instinctively choose the Light over the darkness, the
streams of Light that enter his mind begin to widen as more Light is given from
the Universal Source. Moreover,
Paul is correct when he writes that it is not the Christ “after the
flesh” (2 Cor 5:16 KJV) that will save him -- but rather, of the spirit,
as it is written: “Whoever has my commands and obeys
them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21 NIV).
The command of the Lord is not a spoken word of the
flesh, but more truly the Universal Love of the Spirit.
Jesus promises that whoever manifests this love in their life, Jesus will
love, and “show myself to him”.
In view of the fact that Jesus does not say that he will show himself to
the world -- but rather, only those who love him and keep God's Commandments --
we must understand the manner in which Christ will appear to the faithful
servant.
The Lord has witnessed to the fact that “…you
are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20 NIV).
Thus, the Lord has promised: “Behold, I stand
at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev 3:20 NKJ).
Jesus is making reference to the spiritual door that is the gateway to
the Kingdom that exists in another dimension within the minds and being of each
and every one of us.
What is important for us to understand is the manner in
which this inner door is opened. From
a biblical perspective, the beginning of the process is when we embrace the
natural Laws of God in our quest to immerse our live in the Truth and Light.
In the words of Paul: “Indeed, when Gentiles… do by nature things
required by the law… even though they do not have the law, since they show
that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts…” (Rom
2:13-15 NIV). With the
elevation of their being to a higher level, and the desire in their hearts for
the higher good, they become the “good ground” in the parable of the
sower and the seed (Mat 13:3-23; Mk 4:2-20; Lk 8:5-15), and the True Teacher is
then able to enter into their lives and show them The Way Home.
In the text of the Revelation (Rev 3:20), the question
should be asked what the reference to food is in the statement that “I
will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me”.
In view of the fact that this door is accessed through the mind and
spirit of man, the food that Jesus speaks of is Knowledge that nourishes and
strengthens the mind -- which gives birth to the Anointing of the Holy Spirit
that purifies and elevates him to a higher spiritual level.
In view of the fact that Jesus does not promote cannibalism, it is to
these two things -- Knowledge and Spirit -- that Jesus makes reference to when
he states: “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living
Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will
live because of me” (John 6:53-57 NIV).
We cannot “open the door”
(Rev 3:20) that the scriptures speak about, without the Knowledge and the Spirit
that only the True Teacher can give us when we eat his body and drink his blood. Therefore, when we cling to manmade doctrines and
perceptions of the Word, we place an obstacle between us and the Truth.
The result is that we inhibit the process of spiritual development, and
the Lord is unable to teach and mold us.
When we fail to purify the physical vessel (body) that we inhabit --
i.e., “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies
himself, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3 NIV) -- we cannot drink the
blood of the Lord that is absolutely necessary in order to enter into Life.
To those who make themselves genuine followers of the
Christ, and permit the Light to enter their lives in word, thought, and deed,
with the opening of the mind to the greater reality of the Kingdom, the disciple
not only quickly learns the truth to the words that we are the “offspring
of God” (Acts 17:28-29), but that we are in fact the prodigal sons
(Luke 15:11-32) who have previously emerged from the Kingdom of our Father.
In light of this revelation, the disciple begins to understand that,
within his own mind and being there is an innate knowledge of the road he must
travel in his return home. Suddenly,
everything in his life begins to take on new meaning -- a meaning that he had
previously been blind to.
When Paul preached to the Gentiles that the Kingdom was
at Hand, he did not place the burden of having them learn the Old Testament
scriptures and embrace Jewish culture.
Paul correctly taught that God is universal to all mankind -- and it is
the Light within the heart and mind of man that the genuine Christian must move
in harmony with. That Jesus
was the “forerunner”
(Heb 6:20) in whose footsteps we must follow -- because he became “the
first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29), was true -- but from a
spiritual perspective, it would have been a great burden placed upon the
Gentiles if Paul required them to first become Jews, in order to walk in The
Way.
This great misconception with regard to what Paul taught,
and why, is again the result of our failure to understand the existence of our
pre-existent soul, as well as the inner Kingdom. In order to overcome the division that both Jesus and
Paul warned was the thing most detrimental to man's salvation, each of us must
endeavor to discover the true being that we are. In previous chapters I made the statement that the
majority of people do not reincarnate -- this does not mean that we do not
survive death -- but rather, the statement is made from the perspective that we
are not genuine and real. One
of the interpretations of the great revelation that Jesus taught with regard to
children -- i.e., “And he said: I tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3 NIV) -- and this word “change”
is again founded upon one of those Greek words that we are unable to
properly translate into the English language because of the manner in which we
believe.
The idea conveyed is to change from the perspective of
reversing the direction we have been traveling.
The essence of the problem is born from the fact that when the soul
manifests itself in life, it only develops to about the age of three to five
years, before the child becomes culturized -- imbued with the political
correctness of the society in which it dwells, and takes on the falseness of its
civilization that the person become a part of in that life.
If the pre-existent soul of man who is the Being
of Light is neither male nor female -- is not race specific -- and is not a
part of any given culture -- then we must conclude that the more the child
embraces and adopts these parochial and provincial elements of life, the more he
becomes alienated from his soul and true self.
What am I? If I answer
the question from a soul perspective, I would have to conclude that I am the sum
total of all the things I have been throughout the uncountable lives I have
lived -- i.e., I have lived as a Jew, Essene, Nazarene, Ebionite, Gentile
Christian, Muslim, Deist, Atheist, Druid, and an uncountable number of other
religious persuasions. I have
been both a man and woman. I
have been every race. I have
lived on continents and been a part of cultures that no longer exist.
If my soul is the sum of all my experiences, and perceives all of life
from an elevated vision of reality, then it would be very difficult to find my
true self by embracing any of the very limited cultures or perceptions of life
that exist in our present-day world.
In fact, it would be impossible.
The result is that the schools and institutions of
learning which we send our children to in order to educate them, actually dumb
them down in relation to the true knowledge of the child's own pre-existent
soul. The religions and
philosophies we embrace are so limited in scope, that they alienate us from God.
The more we perceive ourselves as a man, woman, black, white, yellow, red
or brown, the more we polarize ourselves with religious and philosophical
doctrines, the more we move out of harmony with our true nature.
It is for this reason that Jesus said: Unless we turn around, and become
as we were when we were a child -- prior to being indoctrinated into the
thinking of our false culture -- and open our minds to the instruction from our
One Genuine Teacher, the more it is impossible for us to discover who we truly
are, and enter the Kingdom of God.
As on who was chosen to fulfill a prescribed mission in
the world, the Apostle Paul had been bestowed with a much more illuminated
vision of life and Creation, and he knew that it would be a useless endeavor to
convert the Gentiles to Jews in order for them to perceive the essence of the
scriptures. Paul wisely knew
that the Old Testament scriptures were written in accordance with the culture
and thinking of the Jews, and its universal truths were declared in order to
assist Jews in first finding themselves, and then finding God.
This statement is of the greatest importance because it is impossible to
find God without first finding the true person who we are from the perspective
of our pre-existent soul.
Once we begin to understand this great truth -- i.e.,
that we cannot even begin to find God, until we first find ourselves -- then our
whole perception of religion must change.
In the first place, we must begin to open our minds to a more universal
reality than that associated with the physical body in which we presently dwell,
and the culture that we have become a part of, and we must begin to see life
from a vision that is beyond the limitations of this world. Then, in order to harness the forces of Creation, we
must begin to understand that all of life is controlled by the natural laws that
form it.
What we fail to realize is that if the universe was not
regulated and governed by these natural laws, then chaos would result.
If the planet earth did not predictably move around the sun, and instead
just freely travel throughout the solar system, then it could not support life
as we know it today. Thus,
this same order that we observe in the universe, extends to every aspect of
Creation -- with the result being that we must begin to understand that the
paradoxical nature of Creation causes opposing perspectives -- and what is
perceived as good from one perception, and bad from another, is neither.
One of the more perplexing problems this creates for the mind of carnal
man who attempts to see everything in black and white, is the reality that what
was good for the conversion of the carnal Jews, was not necessarily good for the
carnal Gentiles, and vice versa.
Why did Paul teach the Gentiles to reject the Torah and Law of Moses? It is the position of many Biblical researchers that most of the Old Testament comes from other, more ancient writings. Even Jewish writers admit that most of the Hebrew writings were merely taken freely from Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and even Greek sources. Horace Meyer Kallen, at one time a professor at the Jewish New School of Social Research, said that the Book of Job was lifted bodily from an early and obscure Greek play. Scientist and author Immanuel Velikovsky admitted that there are "many parallels" between the Vedic Hymns and the Books of Joel and Isaiah. Hebrew scholar Zecharia Sitchin claimed that the Book of Genesis is based on the Sumerian creation myth. The story of Noah comes from the Sumerian legend of Gilgamesh. The Psalms were taken word for word from Akhenaton's Hymns to the Sun, written 600 years earlier in Egypt. The Ten Commandments were taken wholly from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. And so on through the books of the Old Testament.
If this is true, then many informed researchers have asked: How can we call the Torah and other books of the Old Testament the Word of God? The problem is that, while what these biblical researches have found is true, there is another whole dimension to the equation that they are totally unaware of -- a spiritual dimension that is simply beyond their ability to perceive.
With respect to the literal meaning of the Torah and other scriptures the Apostle Paul wrote: "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Gal 4:22-26 KJV). To which I might pose the question: If the two sons of Abraham are an allegory depicting the reality of the flesh vs the reality of the spirit, then we must pose the question as to which part of the allegory is historically true? It is not! Moreover, if Paul writes that the Jerusalem of this world is the shadow City of God, and the one that is in spirit is the Genuine City of God, then which Jerusalem should we seek to journey to?
What Christians fail to realize today -- and the greater majority of Jews do not understand -- is the fact that the essence and purpose of both Judaism and the teachings of TheWay -- which in their corrupted form have come to be known as Christianity -- is not about what happened in the past, but what is happening in the life of the disciple in search of the inner Kingdom of God (Luke 17:20-21 -- see Entering the Kingdom). That the most authentic visionaries of both the Hebrew and Gentile elements of the church have long warned us that the scriptures are not a history book -- but rather, spiritual events that come to pass in the life of the disciple in search of Truth, well confirms Yeshua’s warning that those of a carnal mind are incapable of understanding the true meaning of the Bible. Thus, the early Church Father Origen writes: “It is sufficient however, to represent in the style of a historic narrative what is intended to convey a secret meaning in the garb of history, that those who have the capacity may work out for themselves all that relates to the subject.” And with regard to what would otherwise be historical symbols and events that would appear to us as the knowledge of superficial episodes of the past, Origen writes: “I believe that every man must hold these things for images, under which the hidden sense lies concealed” (Origen - Huet., Prigeniana, 167 Franck, p. 142).
Students of Hebrew Mysticism will perceive that what the third-century Christian Church Father Origen wrote was no different than what is contained in the Zohar, where it states: “The narratives of the doctrine are its cloak. The simple look only on the garment, that is upon the narrative of the doctrine; more they know not. The instructed, however, see not merely the cloak, but what the cloak covers”.
These
great truths are again demonstrated in the words of Moses Maimonedes,
one of the most respected of Jewish theologians, historian, and
Talmudist, where he writes about the nature of scripture:
“Every time that you find in our books a
tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant
to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a
profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater
the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the
spirit”. These same truths are again conveyed to us in the words of the Church Historian Eusebius:
“Many were led astray by reading the allegorical contents of the scriptures literally in the method of the Pharisees and
Sadducees”.
What these symbols truly mean is perhaps best expressed by G.R.S. Mead
in his celebrated work, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, where he
explained that, once properly understood, the true meaning of what is
“…projected onto the screen…” of the scriptures, “…was in reality a picture of their [man’s] own
minds”.
In view of the fact that Yeshua himself taught that the Kingdom of God
is within us (Luke 17:20-21), that the scriptures were in fact a
blueprint of man’s own mind begins to make a great deal of sense.
The inner knowledge of the scriptures are as a bridge between this
world and the Heavenly Kingdom: So if it is true -- i.e., that the
Torah and other scriptures are an allegory -- then how are we to
believe the written word of God? What should we believe? And why
wouldn't God just speak clearly with us and tell us what He wants? The
answer is very simple -- so simple, that it is overlooked by most of
the biblical scholars and archeologists who claim that the Hebrews
borrowed the folklore of the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Sumerians in
the composition of the Torah and other scriptures. And what is that
simple answer? The Bible was written by holy men who were able to
commune with the Most High God. Because they were under the vow of the
Nazirite (see
Nazirite Vow)
and were able to enter the Genuine Temple that exists within the inner
Kingdom, they became cognizant of the Laws that inhibit natural man
from being able to move beyond the natural barrier that separates this
world from the inner parallel realm which Yeshua/Jesus called the
Kingdom of God -- and like Noah who created a boat to transcend the old
world with the new, they knew how to build a bridge from this world to
the Kingdom -- and as Anointed (Messiah/Christ) Visionaries, they set
about to create a series of Sacred Writings that would assist the
people in finding God. But this was not an easy task! The problem was
that they had to put the body of these writings in a form that the
people would accept, and then observe and manifest in their daily
lives. In view of the fact that the people were of a heathen mindset --
so heathen, that they created and worshiped the golden calf in the
absence of Moses when he was receiving the Commandments of God. So how
could these Anointed holy men and women convey the higher concepts of
TheWay and the Kingdom to such a people?
The resolution of the dilemma was the creation of a series of Sacred
Writings where the Visionaries of the Most High took the common beliefs
and traditions of the people, and presented them in such a way, that
the knowledge of the Laws and the Higher Spiritual Reality of Creation
was manifest within the text of the written word -- in such a way, that
the holy men who kept, practiced, and sought the inner meaning of the
written word, would perceive the workings of the Laws, and understand
that if they applied this knowledge in their own lives, that they too
would be able to enter the Inner Kingdom of God. Moreover, there was
the oral tradition -- i.e., the doctrines of Jewish Mysticism -- that
conveyed to the disciple in search of Truth and the Inner Kingdom the
knowledge of the Laws that obstructed their path into the Genuine
Temple within the hearts and minds of mankind.
No doubt the average Jew and Christian will immediately become offended
by such a concept and say: How can this be? Why didn't God simply tell
the people the Truth? The answer is quite simple: Because the people
were very much like the people are today -- i.e., they only wanted to
hear what supported their own system of beliefs -- they would embrace
truth so long as that truth was in accordance with their accepted
doctrines and carnal mindset. They were therefore unable to accept and
embrace the Higher Truths of Creation, and thus concession was made to
those who worshipped the Golden Calf in the absence of Moses. The Torah
and other scriptures were written in an outer form that they would
accept -- one that appeared to be in harmony with what they already
believed about life -- while within the body of the text was imbedded
the knowledge of the Kingdom and TheWay. Where it was a common practice
for these heathen people to sacrifice in the manner of the people of
the Nations, a concession was made whereby they would sacrifice in only
one place -- to the glory of the One God -- and they were only
permitted to sacrifice what was called clean beasts. Notice, though,
that the clean beasts were all vegetarian -- i.e., they did no harm and
did not kill others! And because the Torah and other scriptures had to
be written in a manner that the people who were heathen in nature would
accept -- a series of concessions that were enacted for a people in
transition -- the greater Truths were concealed within the inner body
of the text so that all those who embraced these Sacred Writings with
their whole heart and mind, would be able to receive the inner soul and
spirit of the scriptures that would enlighten the disciple of the Light
into TheWay.
Thus, because the Sadducees and Pharisees who slaughtered innocent
animals in the temple were dead in their ritual observance of the
Torah, of them Yeshua stated in the Gospel of the Nazirenes:
"For they, making a god of their belly,
sacrificed to their God the innocent creatures of the earth, in place
of the carnal nature within themselves. And eating of their flesh and
drinking of their blood to their own destruction, corrupted their
bodies and shortened their days, even as the Gentiles who did not know
the truth, or who knowing it, have changed it into a lie."
What this means is that to be genuinely Torah Observant in the true
spiritual revelation of the Word, one must first transmute the beast of
their lower nature within them into a domesticated animal that serves
the higher purpose of man -- and it is this lower nature that must be
sacrificed upon the Alter of the Inner Temple of God. Thus, unbeknown
to the people of the simple faith, what the visionary predictions of
the supposed End Times and the coming of the Kingdom where the Lion
lies down with the Lamb and eats straw, is in fact the reality within
us when the beast of the untamed lower nature that is of this world, is
transformed into the unspotted lamb that is the approved sacrifice of
the Lord.
Once this is higher reality of the scriptures is understood, then we must no longer see either Jesus or the Apostle Paul as having done away with the the Torah. And in like manner, neither can we interpret being Torah Observant as those rituals which are performed by the carnally minded Jews who Yeshua condemned for their failure to turn the Key of Knowledge within themselves. This sacrificing of the lower nature upon the Alter of the inner Temple is simply put by Paul when he commanded: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." (Col 3:5 NIV) -- "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24 NIV).
What we are referring to in these biblical quotations cannot be achieved in a ritual observance of the Torah in the manner of the Sadducees and Pharisees. And it was for this reason that Paul called the Law the schoolmaster that brought the believer to Messiah/Christ. While it is true that by placing one's self under the discipline and training of the Law, the believer was able to begin the process of gaining control over their lower nature that was driven by the elemental and sensual passions of the body, it is also true that this process in and of itself presented still another problem. In most instances the inner soul and spiritual meaning of the scriptures could only be revealed to the student by a rabbi or teacher who themselves knew the oral traditions, and knew the secrets of the Law. At the time of the historical Yeshua, this knowledge was possessed by the Essene and Therapute elders. The Sadducees and Pharisees, on the other hand, were led by rabbis and teachers of greatly varying levels of awareness -- some were mere quasi-religious politicians, while others were of a lesser level of enlightenment who embraced a very Fundamental perception of the Torah and traditions. With the problem being that these men of religious authority in many instances used their positions to rule and live off the labors and wealth of the people. They not only charged for their services, and misled the people into believing that God approved of their many rituals and traditions, but the allegation against them that they devoured the wealth and houses of widows was a reality of life.
What
the New Testament does not tell us is that the movement known as TheWay
was begun by a group of men and women who used the historical Yeshua as
their model. These sincere disciples of the Light did not approve of
the secretiveness of the Essenes and Therapute, and were thoroughly
against the appalling ignorance and deception of many of the Sadducees
and Pharisees. With Yeshua and James (Jacob) as their leaders, they
created a movement within Judaism that was intended to do away with the
ancient manner in which the Torah and other scriptures were written,
and provide the people with a more factual and literal perception of
what they must do to draw nearer to God. Thus, in the scriptures which
they composed, there was no such thing as temple sacrifice, the eating
of flesh, or the following of manmade teachings and traditions. The
people were instead taught how they must live in order to begin to open
the inner umbilical-connection to God, and learn directly from the True
Source of all Knowledge. While it is true that the secret knowledge of
the Laws which revealed the Mysteries of God remained imbedded within
the body of the text, the scripture was no longer composed in
accordance with the folklore commonly held with the traditions of
Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek sources.
The New Testament scriptures and the teachings of TheWay were the
product of pure Hebrew thought that was embraced by their most
enlightened of Jewish Visionaries, Mystics and Sages. Genuine Jewish
holy men and women did not embrace the ancient concepts of a vengeful
and punishing God who indiscriminately ruled over the lives of men --
choosing one for no apparent reason, while for no reason rejecting
another. Genuine Jewish holy men and women did not believe in a God who
gave man a set of laws -- one of which was do not kill -- and then in
practice, demonstrating that he would be the first to break these laws.
The God of the Genuine Jewish Holy men and women was a God who was
beyond the faults and flaws which were common to carnal man.
And it was for this reason that the holy men and women of TheWay
composed a new set of scriptures of pure Hebrew thought, declaring the
Glory of the God whose Ways were above even the contemplation of carnal
men. Thus, in the New Testament scriptures, men and women were taught
how to live in order to make themselves the Living Temple of the Most
High -- and they were given the Key of knowledge that enabled them to
open the inner door to the Kingdom, and dwell in the Sanctuary of the
Lord.
What this means is that most of those Jews who generally believe they
are Torah Observant because they are ritually clean, have yet to learn
the secrets of the Law, and the manner in which they must apply the
Divine Knowledge that has been given to them in the scriptures in the
endeavor to open the Inner Door to the Kingdom within. And in like
manner, because modern Christians have been anchored to this world by
the Pagan doctrines of Rome which they continue to cling to, and
falsely believe that the are exempt from works based upon Paul's
doctrine of faith, they too have only alienated themselves from the
Kingdom of God.
What does it mean to be truly Torah Observant? It means that one must have taken the Nazirene oath of separation (see
Nazirene Oath) -- one must be totally consecrated and set aside as a servant of HaShem (see
Disciple) -- one must become the "good ground" within which the seed of the Word is planted (see
Sower and the
Seed)
-- one must seek the knowledge that only the One Teacher can reveal
(see Teacher) -- and one must seek the Inner Kingdom by following in
TheWay (see Kingdom).
From the perspective of the Torah, the disciple must release themselves
from the House of Bondage as portrayed in the slavery to Egypt -- they
must become the one who is born of the cleansing of the water as was
Moses -- they must receive the Spiritual Torah on Mt. Sinai that could
not be kept by the carnal men who worshiped in the way of the Nations
-- they must purge their old self by travailing through the wilderness
-- and meet Joshua (Yeshua/Jesus) who will take them across the Jordan
into the Promised Land. From the perspective of the New Testament, they
must do all of the above as they take up their cross and follow in the
footsteps of the Master of TheWay.
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Then Join our Nazirene Disciple of TheWay Discussion Group
The below web sites are written in the name of Allan Cronshaw, which is my birth name in this present life. The manner in which these other web sites are composed is very different than on this one -- wherein, on these other web sites there is an attempt to document and demonstrate every proof and concept of TheWay using a multitude of resources and biblical verses -- while on this web site there is no other authority than Jacob writing to you as the Brother Of Yeshua who was the leader of the Hebrew/Christian Ebionite/Nazirene movement of TheWay. In the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas it is written: (12) The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being." So to once again restore the teachings of TheWay which is today known as Christianity, the Lord has sent Jacob/James, the Brother of Yeshua/Jesus, back into the world in order to guide the faithful flock into the Truth, the Light, and the Kingdom within (Luke 17:20-21). It is there that my brother Yeshua/Jesus awaits you.
The above warning with respect to the predicted corruption of Yeshua's teachings is further stated in the first century writings known today as the Clementine Recognitions where it is written: "Our Lord and Prophet, who hath sent us, declared to us that the wicked one, having disputed with Him forty days, and having prevailed nothing against Him, promised that he would send apostles from amongst his subjects, to deceive. Wherefore, above all, remember to shun apostle or teacher or prophet who does not first accurately compare his preaching with that of James, who was called the brother of my Lord, and to whom was entrusted to administer the church of the Hebrews in Jerusalem, — and that even though he come to you with witnesses: lest the wickedness which disputed forty days with the Lord, and prevailed nothing, should afterwards, like lightning falling from heaven upon the earth, send a preacher to your injury, as now he has sent Simon upon us, preaching, under pretense of the truth, in the name of the Lord, and sowing error. Wherefore He who hath sent us, said, ‘Many shall come to me in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them.’"
Again it is warned by Clement: "Wherefore observe the greatest caution, that you believe no teacher, unless he bring from Jerusalem the testimonial of James the Lord’s brother, or of whosoever may come after him. For no one, unless he has gone up thither, and there has been approved as a fit and faithful teacher for preaching the word of Christ, — unless, I say, he brings a testimonial thence, is by any means to be received. But let neither prophet nor apostle be looked for by you at this time, besides us. For there is one true Prophet, whose words we twelve apostles preach"
As predicted, the ministers of Satan have succeeded in altering the teachings of my brother Yeshua, and continue to lead many into the abyss of darkness. But have no fear my brothers and sisters, for the teachings of TheWay has been restored so that you might be able to overcome the darkness, and enter the Kingdom of Light within you (Luke 17:20-21).
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The Brother Of Yeshua/Jesus: 2000 years ago I lived as Jacob who many all James, and I was known as the Brother of Yeshua and the first leader of the New Covenant movement of TheWay which is today known as Christianity. I was sent back into the world to restore the teachings of my brother Yeshua to their original spiritual essence, and to guide you in TheWay that is "narrow" so you will be able to open the "strait gate" within you and enter the Kingdom that Yeshua declared must be attained through the second birth. |
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The Ebionite HomePage: If you call yourself a Christian, Jew, Messianic believer, Evyonim, Nazarene or Muslim, then it is imperative that you learn of the Ebionites who are True Spiritual Israel -- They are the Poor Ones to the ways and thinking of this world -- The Ebionites were the Israelites of the Nazirene Vow They are/were the Genuine Disciples of Yeshua/Jesus who are in the world and not of it! |
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The Gate Of Eden: Why were the Disciples and followers of Yeshua vegetarian? Why did they live in accordance with the precepts of the Torah/Law? Why did they live separate and apart from both Jews and Christians? The answer is very simple: The Gate of Eden is within us, and if we fail to enter therein while we are still physically alive in the body, we will have failed in our opportunity to enter into Life. And while it can be countered that we are saved by our belief in Messiah/Christ, faith, or the blood of the lamb, the truth is that if we were truly faithful disciples of TheWay, that we would experience the opening of the inner door and the Kingdom coming within us. The GateOfEden article explores all aspects of the need to pick up one's own cross and follow the narrow path that leads to the inner gate to the Edenic Kingdom of Origination. |
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The Nazirene HomePage: The original spiritual teachings of Yeshua/Jesus as practiced by the people of The Way who where known historically as the Essenes, Ebionites, and Nazirenes. The teachings of The Way are Spiritual -- and provide a means to open the "strait gate" into the Kingdom while still physically alive in the body/vessel. |
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The Light Of Yeshua -- The Messianic Nazirene Disciple of TheWay: While many teach that believers are saved by faith, the journey of the disciple of Yeshua is one of absolute dedication to The Way. The disciple who becomes a brother to Yeshua must live as he lived, and become a Nazirene who is consecrated and wholly set apart as they walk the Narrow Way, enter into the Kingdom through the Strait Gate, and learn directly from the L-rd -- the One Rabbi and Teacher of the Mysteries of G-d. |
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TheWay of the Nazirene Rings HomePage: This is the Ring Home page of TheWay of the Nazirene. It will provide you with a listing of all the Nazirene Rings, and a brief description of the importance of walking in The Way and entering the Kingdom of God before physical death occurs. Come visit and learn the essence of the teachings of Jesus/Yeshua that were lost by the institutionalized church. |
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The Long Island Mystic and Nazirene Disciple of TheWay: The Organizational HomePage of The Nazirene -- the Long Island Mystic, Evangelical Minister, and Prophet of TheWay -- who God bestowed upon him the gift of the recall of his previous life as a Disciple and Brother of Messiah/Christ -- and thus has re-entered this world at the present time in order to restore the Spiritual Essence and Teachings of his Master, Yeshua/Jesus. The Kingdom is within! And we must sojourn the narrow path of TheWay, enter the "strait gate" to the Inner Spiritual Temple, while still alive in the physical body. Thus, modern Christians have misunderstood the words of Yeshua -- he never said that we must physically die to enter the Edenic Kingdom of Origination -- but rather, we must die to the culture, mindset and ways of this world in order to enter the Kingdom! |
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