Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross
Paul to the Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament
How good do you need to be in order to be accepted by God? Those in the church are fond of telling us that if we behave badly that we can and will lose our salvation. The other day I had a conversation with a gym rat friend who mentioned to me that he didn't believe in God at all. Before I tossed this man onto the growing pile of non-believers, I asked him why he felt that way. His response surprised even me. It seems that someone close to him had died a few years ago, and that his prayers had gone unanswered for their healing. I can empathize with him, as I felt the same way when my mother passed away. But my friend also didn't believe that God could ever love a man like him who had done so many wrong things. Again, the church has done us zero favors in this arena. We've been raised in a religious system where the good are rewarded and the guilty are judged and punished. I see my friend as a victim of that system even if he has never known God before. All around him are the so-called believers who preach verses of hell and punishment if he doesn't behave in a Godly way. I used to be among that crowd when I was in the church. But who could blame me? This is how I was taught. The church is filled with those whose idea of gathering souls for God is to shame people into submission. But what is it that the Father thinks? The apostle Paul speaks to the salvation of the lowly and downtrodden among us, that He has raised Christ from the dead and gathers us unto Him {Paul to the Colossians 2:14-14}. He has also wiped the slate clean of our offenses and the judgement which those in the church continue to hold over our heads. Many people who continue to congregate the church will bristle at the mere suggestion that they will judge people. That's Gods job! they shout for all to hear. But what should I think of someone who vehemently speaks to my losing my salvation if I don't behave in a Godly fashion? Isn't that placing ourselves in Gods judgement seat? Yet this is a story for another day. What I reminded my friend of when he revealed that he was a bad person unworthy of Gods love was who he was in the eyes of the Father. For in Gods sight, he isn't who unloved, but loved {Paul to the Romans 5:8}.
Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you, and he needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money
~George Carlin~
The sad fact remains that far too many people have been convinced of the false separation theology spoken by the church than those who have known the truth of the evangel of Christ Jesus spoken by the apostle Paul. So it is that I am never surprised when I hear of someone who lives in despair, ashamed of how they think God sees them. There is a reason that I spoke the truth to my friend of how it is that the Father looks at him. This could be the first crack in the wall of deception that those in the church have built around him. The wall which separates him from God. That wall which has been built up by those in the mainstream church. I know of what I speak, for I was a victim of this theology for years. I've been in my friends shoes. It wasn't until Jesus was revealed in my life that I began to see the truth. With the help from a good friend, the evangel of Christ was revealed to me. This is not something you'd hear from a pastor some Sunday morning. No, this is the truth revealed to us of how the Father looks upon His children with love and grace. No matter how far you think you've fallen in your life, the truth we find in the Father reveals to us that we are not sinners, but His loved child {First Epistle of John 3:1}. We also do well to know that there is nothing which will ever take away that which the Father has freely given unto us through His Son Jesus. It is Jesus who has that judgement upon Himself at the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}. Paul speaks to Jesus having died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. It is Jesus Who has taken the shame and punishment upon Himself for our sake. What remains is our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.
~Scott~
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