A kind of Salvation different than what they expected
Jesus used the expression “everlasting life” more than he used “salvation” since it more accurately portrayed the reality of what he taught. He spoke of a spiritual life, obviously, since the physical life is temporary. Salvation, to the Jews, meant salvation from their enemies. The Jews lived in a time when they were under the oppression of the Romans and they were expecting a long awaited messiah that their scriptures prophesied would come who would “save” them from the hands of their enemies.
Salvation for the Jews, to a large extent, had to do with their current conditions and physical state as much, as if not more, than having to do with the next life. They expected the messiah to be a king, like the messiahs before him, who would unite their kingdom against their enemies, defeat them, and bring back their true religion.
They were expecting a long awaited messiah that their scriptures prophesied would come, who would deliver them out the the hands of their enemies.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation (savior) for us in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
That we should be saved from our enemies (the Romans), and from the hand of all that hate us; (Messiah was to be king of the Jews with a powerful army!)
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
The oath which he swear to our father Abraham, (this is a messianic prophecy)
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, (through physical war)
In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. (Luke 1:68-75)
However, though Jesus appeared to be that king and messiah that they were awaiting for God to send them, he didn’t come to bring them quite the type of “deliverance” that they had expected. He wasn’t exactly the kind of king most expected him to be. Unless of course, Jesus may have actually started a flame that ignited a war that was not recorded in the New Testament, like a lot of original passages that are missing from the Bible. There was the Jewish-Roman War (66-73 CE) that destroyed Jerusalem. But I digress…
Jesus came to bring them the message of life rather than salvation from their enemies. He came to teach them the way to obtain “everlasting life”. This is the kind of salvation that would be “lasting unto the age of the ages” as the expression is literally translated.
But the enemy Jesus came to save them from was not Rome, as we see from the history that was left to us. Jesus said that his kingdom wasn’t from this world. The real enemy Jesus came to deliver them from was the god of this world and their own sinful selves — and I might add the bondage to a law that was not written by God, but traditions of men.
Why people believe the way they do
The reason people today believe the way they do is based on basically what they have been taught about the bible and because of how the bible has been left to us.
Unfortunately, the bible is the way it is because of how it’s been butchered and re-manufactured to say what churchmen wanted it to say hundreds of years ago. But that’s not to say that there is no truth there. The fact is there is still lots of truth there.
It’s just that much of it has been corrupted and even cut out. Nevertheless, reality doesn’t change no matter what people believe. But what people believe has a great impact on the way people live their lives seeing that our future lives are largely shaped according to the way we live our lives today.
Reality doesn’t change no matter what people believe
The great misconception about belief
A great misconception that people have is that all that is required for salvation is that one believes. When Jesus said, “He that believeth in me hath everlasting life…”. People get the idea that all they have to do is believe and that’s it, nothing more to do. If this were the case, then why did Jesus spend his whole ministry teaching people the right way to live?
People get the idea that all they have to do is believe and that’s it, nothing more to do
So why can’t people just live their lives the way they want since they’re “not going to hell”. And “who cares if I don’t have any rewards in heaven, “I’ll be happy anyway no matter what I do — God will forgive me for all the wrong I’ve done. So why worry about it.” “Once saved always saved”. “I can’t lose my salvation anyway. And as soon as I get to heaven I’ll have a new spiritual body and I’ll be perfect just like Jesus forever and ever”.
This is the attitude many Christians have nowadays. And that’s because of the way the Bible has been written and what Christianity teaches them. It was in part the Apostate Paul who taught that false doctrine, which is contrary to Jesus’ teaching.
What Salvation is really all about: the process of perfection
Salvation in reality is kind of like a “work-in-progress”. Salvation is not a one-time thing where you “ask Jesus into your heart” and that’s it — saved forever, nothing more needed. Now, Salvation does begin with belief, and more accurately coming to the light — but salvation doesn’t end there.
Salvation, or eternal life: the goal, is really a process, a process on a path toward perfection.
And that is the reason we were are passing through this journey of life and that is the reason we go through all the suffering and trials we go through. We are taught that all we have to do is believe the right way and after this one and only lifetime is over, it’s ecstasy for eternity.
We are taught that all we have to do is believe the right way and after this one and only lifetime is over, it’s ecstasy for eternity
To believe IN or ON someone, which is actually the same thing, in reality means that you believe what they they say or have faith in their word. If one believes what Jesus actually taught is the truth, then he or she will actually live accordingly. The reality is not so much whether one believes what Jesus taught is truth or not. You can tell what someone believes by the way they live their lives — and are they living according to his teachings? It’s like Jesus said: “Except a man be born again, he can not see the Kingdom of Heaven”. And, no, it’s not a “spiritual” re-birth.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Mat 7:21)
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (Mat 7:22)
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Mat 7:23)
“That was the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Jn 1:9), but some men love the darkness rather than light. Why? Because they prefer to live in their evil ways rather than let the light shine on them and be changed. This is why they must be “born again”. If they failed the grade, they have to come back and repeat it.
This is the whole reason Jesus came into the world: to shine the light on the lives of all men. The shocking truth, for some, is that not all Christians will enter the kingdom of heaven — ONLY the ones that do the will of the Father.
“Do they go to Hell, then?”, you might ask? Answer: there is no such place. We are all “born again” physically into new bodies after death, in order to learn the lessons we need through experiences, in the process of perfection: reincarnation!
I would venture to say that the “kingdom of Heaven” Jesus spoke about was the blissful state that we all will one future day enter, when this whole process is finished. It is longer for some than others, but we all get there — eventually — some just get to the Kingdom of God faster: “the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” (Mat 21:31)
- That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:20)
Entering the Kingdom of Heaven
Entering the kingdom of Heaven is the main goal of all this re-birth. The whole point of reincarnation is doing it over and over until a certain perfection is obtained. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:48)
I know they don’t teach you this in church, but you have to be righteous to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. There are many unrighteous Christians who because of their hypocrisy will not get into the Kingdom — but even they do get a second chance to try to make it again. That’s why Jesus said, “they go in before you.”
Like Jesus said, “Many will come to me in that day… And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23) There is no instant change — men change very slowly. This is what salvation is all about, and we know that change comes very slowly for most.
The churches teach that when we die we are changed and we will automatically be changed and be like him (Jesus), POOF! perfect,”…for we shall see him as he is”, they quote (1Jn 3:2). However, they only quote this verse and ignore the rest of it about righteousness, purifying one’s self, loving your brother, etc. The very next verse says:
- “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1Jn 3:3)
- “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Mat 5:48)
The truth is that this process of purification is NOT something that God alone does but something that WE do with God’s help — through the process of Reincarnation. The process of perfection is not something that happens automatically after the end of one life, but as slow as the process is it takes many lifetimes
Jesus said: “Blessed are they who suffer many experiences, for they shall be made perfect through suffering.”(Gospel of the Nazirenes 37)
Death and Rebirth
Sorry to have to tell you this but for all you that think that you “only die once”, you may be disappointed. A verse that they commonly use in the bible to “prove” that you only are born once is this — falsely interpreted:
- And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Heb 9:27)
The truth is that we must have been born before, lived before and died before to be re-born.
It’s a funny thing that people don’t see that Jesus actually taught that you had to be not only be “born of the spirit”, but also of “water”. Water in this case actually represents being born of in the flesh — literally as a baby. Technically, when we use the word “AND” the two things that it joins are NOT mutually exclusive, they BOTH must be true.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (Jn 3:3)
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? (Jn 3:4)
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water AND of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Jn 3:5)
Nicodemus understood that he was speaking of physical re-birth, since he posed the question: “How can a man be born when he is old?” Jesus then qualified his “born again” statement by saying a man has to be born of the flesh AND the spirit — BOTH.
Here it becomes evident that being born again means more that a spiritual rebirth, but ALSO a physical one — literally. Now, to be born again a man must have been born before and lived before: the process of Reincarnation, obviously!
To “be born again”, a man must have been born before and lived before: the process of Reincarnation
Anti-reincarnation verse taken out of context
The verse in Heb 9:27, which is the verse they traditionally used by those who don’t believe in Reincarnation to “prove” that it is not biblical, is actually a misinterpretation, contrary to popular opinion — it is taken out of context.
Death is appointed to every man. And just as every man must die, in the same way Christ only died one for all men — he didn’t have to die billions of deaths — “once to die” was sufficient for all time. It doesn’t mean that you only die once, and that’s it. It means that just as men die once, so also Christ in the same way, only one death was a necessary payment for the all the sins of all the world for all time.
Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again (but only “once to die”), the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. (Heb 9:25)
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once (was necessary) in the end of the world… (Heb 9:26)
So Christ (In the same way Christ), having been offered once and once for all (time). (Heb 9:28) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (time) (Heb 9:10; Heb 9:28).
Pre-existence
In Christianity, it is believed that the spirit is created at the same time as the baby’s body in its mother’s womb. The reason this is taught and believed, despite nothing being taught in the Bible to this end, is because otherwise the spirit would have had to come from God and that means that the spirit was in existence even before conception..
That would spell the pre-existence of the soul, and if the soul preexisted before this current life, then there is nothing to say that the soul didn’t inhabit another body before the current one, but had in fact been “born again” — like Jesus said. And horror of horrors, that would mean Jesus taught reincarnation!
It is a known fact that some of the Jews believed in pre-existence of the soul and so also did the Greeks. Origen, considered to be one of the greatest men since the apostles, a Christian Greek philosopher, taught the doctrine of pre-existence as he found it taught in the scriptures.
Purification and perfection is a slow process and takes many lifetimes
In conclusion:
The type of “deliverance” that Jesus brought was different than what was expected and even much different than what is taught in Christianity today. He was sent by God to teach people about how to obtain “everlasting life” and “enter into the kingdom of Heaven”, unfortunately poorly understood by Christians nowadays because of how the Bible is worded and how it is interpreted by the Church.
People have been lead to believe that all they have to do is believe and that’s all there is to it — nothing more, no more lives to live. One can live the way he wants and it’s all “covered by the blood”. What people don’t understand is that what they call “salvation” is not a one time thing, but a process on the road to perfection — it’s all a work in progress that takes many lives.
But even though it were just a one time thing, how does one know, of all the ways there are in the world, how does one know which is the right one? If you only have one chance at salvation to get it right — and you get it wrong, because you were born in the wrong place, to a family that brought you up wrong — what then? Do you think God is that unfair?
However, like Jesus said not everyone who confesses his name will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only those that DO God’s will. That means there will be some Christians that will hear, “depart from me, ye that work iniquity“.
Purification and perfection is a slow process and takes many lifetimes. The truth is that we are born many times and to be re-born you have to die. What Jesus was talking about when he said, “you must be born again“, is more than just a “spiritual” rebirth, but also a physical one.
That’s what this lifetime is all about — it’s all a part of that process — Reincarnation!
Next: Reincarnation | If Jesus is Only a Man Then