Overhaul Dogma, Overhaul Sin

Ugh. Why am I told to believe Christ Jesus died for my sins? As if that will help me get to heaven? This dogma doesn’t compute; it needs a major overhaul. A serious piece of information is missing. People who lived centuries before Christ Jesus, walked with God and did just fine, some even ascended (Enoch, Gen. 5:24; Elijah, II Kings 2:11). I have no problem with believing in Christ Jesus. In fact, I study his words and works all the time. However, I learn Christ Jesus lived and died to show me how to live; how to experience heaven within consciousness now. From February 18, 2009 newspaper, The Daily Star, in a column titled Food For Thought: Substitutions, I read, “This brings us back to the ultimate substitution made by Jesus Christ. He offers us clean, white robes in place of our filthy rags of self-righteousness; he offers forgiveness in place of condemnation; he’s willing to exchange his holiness for our sins; we get to substitute a ticket punched for hell for a chariot flying to heaven.” What? First; not to live my own life of a spiritually progressive consciousness, thinking I can ask Jesus to forgive my mistakes, and then—it gets better—believe I can experience heaven, is impossible. Dead weight is dead weight. No person, no matter how nice, can do our work for us. They can show us how, but if a person attempts to fill our shoes, the result is a spoiled life or a disillusioned martyr. I refuse to mock Christ Jesus’ sacrifice. Second, the first reason is enough. I don’t have time to come up with more reasons because as far as I can tell, I have a ton of work to do. Jesus did not offer me a clean, white robe. He showed me how to get my act together and wash my own filth. Me, I, have to replace self-righteousness with humility, spiritual courage, and health. A heavenly life is a science to demonstrate, not some sketchy speculation of a free ride. Christ Jesus illustrated the benefits of forgiving others, while people around him illustrated the bane of condemnation. Obviously, we can give forward (fore-give) our time, energy, and goodness in order to further advance spiritual mindedness. Forgiveness is very potent. It isn’t so much forgiving and forgetting sin (the human mind is too attached to sin to do that very effectively), but it is allowing our Godlike identity to recall and act on motives and behavior grounded in an un-condemning Principle. Come to think of it, what happens if I don’t believe Christ Jesus died for my sins? Am I stuck in hell? Ya, right. Sounds like condemnation to me. As for the detail of exchanging holiness for sins, How can immeasurable, undividable, God-like holiness be traded or exchanged? Holiness exists; Jesus couldn’t get away from it. His expression of holiness expanded, penetrated, and uplifted humanity to the point I can wake up, become aware of holiness, and practice it myself. I confess, a lot of the time I don’t even know I am unholy until I review Jesus’ example. But, at the end of the day, after imaging forth my new found truth, I am not a huge whopping sinner. Now, I ponder, Jesus took my ticket to hell so I then could get on some chariot supposedly going, where? Heaven isn’t a physical location, but a state of mind. Having the Mind of Christ is the avenue to harmony, a revealed consciousness of heaven on earth—this computes. Today’s teachings must keep up with the increased spiritual understanding and demonstrations of humanity. Christ Jesus did prove the necessity of sinlessness and forgiveness in a big way, however, he did not get us out of the job of understanding and living a more God-like life every moment. This isn’t a gimmick of confession and following some code or ritual. Working out our salvation with God is a vital personal responsibility, is a right. My, Cheryl’s, right and responsibility. Manifesting God, Love, gives me purpose, is my purpose in life.