How does the death and resurrection of Christ save us and what does it save us from? A Spiritual Answer…
The literal story of the physical birth, death, and resurrection of Christ (Jesus) can be seen as a literal event of history or a story to be understood spiritually for the here and now. When understood spiritually (non-carnal), the meaning behind the death and resurrection of Christ shows it as an event that happens within us, because Christ IS in us (Col 1:27). The literal historical interpretation portrays it as an event someone simply believes actually happened as a means for “salvation” [for which the meaning is ambiguous]. Where the spiritual interpretation portrays the death and resurrection of Christ as a happening within each person as a means for salvation from our carnal selves and ideals.
Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
Here it states that a mystery must be made known. A mystery is something that is unknown. And it says that the mystery IS that Christ is actually in you, and that this fact is our hope. It is our hope of glory where glory means judgment or understanding as bright as the sun. “Christ in you” is your hope of bright judgment (sound mind and understanding). The “glory” of God can also be seen as the opposite of sin.
Romans 3:23-26 ”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Faith in the “blood” Christ “saves” us from our sin. And being saved from sin gives us the glory of God. In order to understand what these statements truly mean for us spiritually speaking, we need to understand the spiritual definition of the blood of Christ and of sin. Romans 3 above says that sin is the coming short of the glory of God. Remember glory mean judgment and understanding with brightness that is compared to the sun [bringing light to the world]. The glory of God represents our ability to gain the “judgment” of God which brings true (bright) understanding. Blood represents the life of something (Gen 9:4 and John 6:53), therefore the shedding of the blood represents the death of that something. Remember from previous posts on Nov 5, 2014 and others, the story of Christ is no longer to be understood carnally or physically (flesh) but rather spiritually. And his story is to be understood as a representation of something spiritual or a happening within us. Belief in the blood of Christ represents our understanding of his death and life that resides in us. Where his death represents that dormant seed that is dead in us waiting to come to life, and his life represents our nurturing of that seed of him to life in us. And concurrently when his life is resurrected in us our “own” life (ego) dies (1Cor 15:31, Mat 16:24, etc.), also see previous posts on this concept of the death of our ego. Our ego dies and he is able to live, a concurrent event within us. Our understanding of this process, Christ’s death and resurrection within us, gives us the glory of God (God’s judgment and bright understanding), which in turn “saves” us from sin, where sin in simply coming short of this bright understanding (glory of God). See previous posts on February 14 and March 15, 2015 which discusses the meaning of the judgment of God.
Sin is our misunderstanding and irrational judgment of this world, and sin is brought into this world by the carnal law and knowledge of “good and evil”, which is our conscience mind’s judgment of this world rather than God’s judgment (the glory of God), which is comparable to pure compassion and love. See previous posts on the Law of Works on Aug 16, 2014 and others. Our ability to understand what the blood of Christ represents spiritually gives us judgment of, and faith in, the life of Christ in us. Our understanding of this is the beginning of the death of the carnal law within us and the allowance of the resurrection of Christ within us, which brings our justification through grace and the bright judgment of God.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:16-17 is another statement which leads to a similar understanding as stated above when interpreted spiritually. What does it mean to believe in the “Son of God”? What does it mean to “believe in the name” of the only begotten Son of God? Does it mean to believe in the literal historical Jesus and story that goes along with it? Or is there something more to it? When understood spiritually God gives us his “Son” when the potential of God (offspring of God or offshoot of God) is placed in these flesh bound bodies [in this “world”; where this world is bound by space and time]. The potential or seed of the “Son” of God is within each of us, and God gives us this potential and it becomes our “hope” of salvation in this world (Col 1:27). This potential in each of us is that piece of Christ “given” to us by God. And as a spiritual interpretation of the allegory of Christ’s death; when this piece of Christ or seed of Christ is given to us, it represents God’s sacrifice of his Son into this physical realm (world). And THROUGH us is the way God expresses this sacrifice. And the very process of this “piece of God” moving into this physical realm as a seed or potential IS THE VERY “DEATH” OF HIS SON; because this world is physical and God is spirit. The moving of the spirit to physical IS the “death” of that spirit, until that potential is able to resurrect and therefore “save” that flesh bound body by its very life, which is the life of God and potential of God (son) within us. And the name of the “only begotten Son” represents the totality of this process and this is why it is said, we believe in his “name”.
Luke 9:24 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”
Losing our life represents losing our carnal understanding of this world and this life and gaining the true understanding of the spiritual (allowing Christ to live through us) which is our true life, according to this spiritual interpretation of the Bible.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Again, if Christ is able to arise in us, then he must be also dead in us (a seed).
1 Timothy 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
To be “saved” represents coming to the knowledge of the truth. And coming to the knowledge of the truth gives us a glimpse of the meaning of this physical realm and our life in this world.
2Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
Hebrews 6:6 “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Gaining knowledge and understanding does not guarantee Christ living through us. We can “crucify” the Son of God in ourselves over again (afresh)…
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
From Strong’s Concordance, the “Word” (From John 1) which is the Greek word “Logos” means the mental faculty of thinking and reasoning and the projection of that thought into speech and word. Logos has a complex meaning and also signifies something that embodies a concept or idea. Logos represents the mental reasoning or deciphering of words and thoughts in logical ways. The Word or Logos can represent a consciousness which dwells in our fleshly carnal bodies and law bound mind (John 1:14).
Isaiah 41:23 “Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.”
The word “gods” here is the same word for God used in Genesis 1, which is the Hebrew word “elohiym”.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
From John 1:1, the “Word” represents and is “God”.
John 10:34-35 “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;”
John 10 says that the Word of God or Logos of God comes to those who are called “god”; which is the same Greek word “theos” used for “God” in John 1:1, where the Word is God, or theos.
From Isaiah 41:23 and John 10:34, God as named in these scriptures, is not a separate supreme being, but is the Word. And from the description above, the Word is a consciousness. Therefore the Word of God would be defined as the consciousness of God where God may not be necessarily a supreme separate being. Our consciousness is called “God” and that God can do good or evil (Isaiah 41:23).
Genesis 3:22 “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”
To know good and evil gives us the label of “god” according to Genesis 3:22 and Isaiah 42:23. But simply having the authority of a god or being a god does not automatically give us actual truth or give us true life.
Isaiah 41:23-24 ”Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.”
Knowing and eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil gives us “god” status, but does not save us from this world, but rather places us in this world of good and evil (duality). But the consciousness that we have here in this world can change depending on our understanding.
Titus 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Pure means innocence, sinless, free from guilt. The pure conscious sees all as pure, no evil is seen, no duality or critical judgment of good or evil is seen. Those that are of pure consciousness are freed from sin, and are free from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and are therefore free to eat of the tree of life. Being a “god” does not make one’s consciousness pure.
Hebrews 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
Again the blood of Christ represents the life of Christ. Our conscious is purged of dead works and of dead thoughts (tree of knowledge of good and evil which is the law of works in this world), when every thought is brought into the captivity and agreement of Christ. In other words, the life of Christ which is offered to us “gods” to show us how to serve (obedience, agreement) the living God.
Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
Christ is in our mind and consciousness as a spiritual seed that is still yet dead, because he, who is in us, is hung on the tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is the curse of the law. When he hung on that tree, the tree that brings us into this world, his pure spiritual consciousness came into being in this world (his death), which in turn is our carnal consciousness coming to “life” in this world of good and evil. He came into this world in us, which is his “death”, the “cross”ing over of the spirit into this physical world. Therefore, our carnal consciousness in this world has a spiritual seed of Christ in us, yet still dead. That spirit “dies” or becomes dormant when it comes into flesh and becomes a part of this world waiting to be sprouted (resurrected) within us, to save us from the laws of this world, which is our hope. The Word (seed) became flesh (John 1). His is “dead” in our mind because of our carnal mind that lives through the flesh, which IS “death” [of the spirit]. Christ is hereby crucified when he comes into this world as just a seed in us (i.e Christ in you the hope of glory). Christ gave himself for us, by allowing himself to be in us in the flesh. He comes into us as a seed, and by being in each of us; he really can and does feel all of our infirmities, because he is in us. Christ “saves” us via his death because that “death” of the spirit means his spirit is broken into many pieces and dwell in our flesh, as a seed, a potential for true life. If it was not for his “death” we would not have that potential for true life in us for our access.
Romans 6:5-8 “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”
Christ is THEN able to “save” us via his resurrection IN US. He is able to be resurrected in us, when our old man (carnal mind) is crucified (Romans 6:5), and he is then resurrected in us to give a new consciousness and renewed mind and new life (pure).
2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
This is how he saves us and this is how his death and his resurrection truly has the power to save us [from our carnal mind which is death, and is the death of Christ]. His resurrection saves us because it is a part of us, in us, and not something outside of us. It gives us a new way of understanding this world which saves us from our ego mind, carnal mind, and fear in this world.
Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
Our conscious is washed and renewed and fear is cast out when we come to understand the true makings of this world through the knowledge of the Spirit of Christ which dissolves our carnal understandings of this world.
2 Corinthians 5:15-16 ” And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”.
John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
2 Corinthians 5 says that we are to know or understand NO man after the flesh or through this physical world, and that includes Christ. We first understood his story after the flesh, but that is then transformed into the spiritual understanding and spiritual representation of the physcial allegory.
The Comforter is the “Spirit of Truth” which comes once we understand Christ no longer as the physical man or by the literal story. It is “expedient” that that physical man Christ “go way” from our understanding and we understand or know him after the flesh “no more”. This allows us to understand the story on a deeper spiritual level, which intern gives us the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit of Truth is what saves us [from our ignorance].