Saturday, April 4, 2015

What is Salvation?

“The sufferings of Jesus were not confined to the crucifixion. In reality, Jesus of Nazareth spent upward of twenty-five years on the cross of a real and intense mortal existence. The real value of the cross consists in the fact that it was the supreme and final expression of his love, the completed revelation of his mercy.” - The Urantia Book 188:5.4
There is power in the cross to bring salvation to an individual. Why is it so? The answer is simple: In UB 188:5.4, we read, "The real value of the cross consists in the fact that it was the supreme and final expression of his love, the completed revelation of his mercy." The expression of Jesus' love and mercy, seen at the cross, is so powerful, that it pulls people to acknowledge the love of God towards them. This makes them to "surrender all" to God; to see God as a Father that loves them and would keep them in His Kingdom forever - in love, joy, peace, service, etc. This is why someone can experience salvation through the cross. The mistake some people make is this: they believe that salvation cannot happen outside the cross. 
The spiritual technique of SALVATION takes place when an individual understands and accepts the expression of God's love and mercy. Salvation is yours when you get a revelation of God's love and mercy: a revelation or understanding experience that causes you to open your heart to God, to trust Him, to welcome Him into your life; to surrender all to Him as your Father. These acts bring you to a place where you begin to see others as your brothers and sisters and you develop FAITH in your eternal salvation - that you will exist in and with God forever. Your heart becomes totally committed to doing His will. This is possible because of the GRACE of God. Herein is your salvation. And all these can occur at the cross. They can also occur without the cross or outside the cross - because the revelation of the divine love and mercy is not restricted to the cross and cross alone. 
When you understand what we are saying, you will agree that there are people, here on Earth who do not carry the tag-name, “Christian”, who are saved. Also, there are people in other planets - billions upon billions of them, who have no cross to relate to - who are also saved as well. Some of them may not even be aware that the Creator, Christ came to Earth, as Jesus. They may not know of his death on a cross. But they have the love and mercy of God to relate to. Therein is their salvation. Regardless of planet of origin, we are saved by grace, through faith, not of works - the work of sacrificing an animal, a human being or even Jesus or any other "works".
But someone may ask: Is there power in the blood of Jesus? Yes, there is power in the blood of anyone. The blood speaks. There's life in the blood. Our blood speaks everyday. It even speaks more powerfully when we die or leave our mortal bodies behind - be it a natural death or murder. When Martin Luther King Jr was killed, his blood continued to speak, even at a higher level. This led to more breakthroughs for blacks and other minorities in America. So, how much more powerful would Jesus' blood speak! So much more and more and more powerful!! Glory to God! We can understand these things if we allow Jesus' Spirit, The Spirit of Truth to teach us. Amen.

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