A Christian is loving and forgiving who practices turning the
other cheek, for this is the way of Christ. Jesus came to set an example
for us to follow that would enable us, if we followed his example, to
find a peace that surpasses all understanding.
A Christian uses prayer to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit on situations that may not be covered in the Bible, or to seek greater clarification on Bible Scriptures. A Christian uses Bible Study to examines his own interpretation of Bible Scripture. A Christian is not perfect, but is using the correct interpretation of Christianity and its true purpose to become perfected. Most Christians will have witnessed other Christians falling short of the mark and this is because Christians are in the process of becoming perfected, are in the process of learning how to remove the beam from their own eye, of mis-perceiving their fellow brother and sisters worth, instead of seeing the beam, the fault in their fellow brethren and judging them harshly through the eyes of the ego, the separated self.
The Christian Bible Scriptures reflect Christian beliefs, yet there are many scriptures in the Bible that some Christians struggle with their meaning, and even particular phrases or words. Phrases such as 'the key of knowledge', 'let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus', 'ye are all Gods', 'let the dead bury their dead'. Clearly if these phrases were taken in a literal sense, then we would say there is a key that has knowledge, and what is this key? We would say we must take Jesus' own mind and put it in our head, but how? We would say I am a God and so is everyone else. And we would say a man who has died can pick up a shovel, dig a hole in the ground, and bury another corpse that has died. These four phrases are only a small sample of a much larger number of Bible scriptures that, if taken in a literal sense, would cause confusion.
In the Bible it says "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth". If we take the four phrases above, we would say: "Are these meant to be interpreted in a literal sense, or are we meant to be searching for the Spirit of Truth in the scripture?" If a Christian chooses to interpret the Bible purely in a literal sense then he or she will hit a brick wall when searching for the Spirit of Truth - namely they will not be able to explain in a logical way how a dead man can bury another dead man, for example. If a Christian searches for the Spirit of Truth by connecting to the Holy Spirit within to seek clarification of the Scripture, then this will pose a new set of potential problems.
The first problem is that the person's own mind may be filled with impurities and fears and any message they receive from the Holy Spirit may be filtered through their own fears, causing them to receive the message from the Holy Spirit in a fearful light, causing them to place a fearful meaning or interpretation on the Bible Scripture. The second problem is that every Christian has a very uniquely different mind and set of biases, and when connecting to the Holy Spirit and applying their own set of biases to the message received, will offer a very different interpretation of the Scripture.
Many Christians are afraid to have an interpretation of a Bible Scripture that differs from their other church members. If an individual Church is dominated by this fear or lack of tolerance of individual interpretation of the Scripture through connecting to the Holy Spirit, then this will cause the Church to say that the Bible Scripture should either a) be taken literally at all times, which encourages its members to not look for the Spirit of Truth via the Holy Spirit or b) to only ever seek interpretation of the Bible Scriptures from the elders of the Church, which encourages its members to not seek the Kingdom of God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, from within.
Some Christian Churches actively encourage their members to connect to the Holy Spirit for individual interpretation of the Bible Scriptures to look for the Spirit of Truth. Other Christian Churches fear this process, because they fear opposing interpretation of the Scriptures, they fear losing control of what their church members think and believe. They fear losing control of their church members.
Jesus message was simple. He wished to set us free from fear and bondage. His promise was we can do what he can do and more, however we cannot do this if we do not follow His example. Jesus was not a follower of other men, he was not a respecter of persons, he was not a respecter of man-made churches (the Jewish church at the time) that put fear of God in the hearts of men, that sought to control its church members through fear and control. Jesus did not belong to any man-made church in order to connect to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Kingdom of God within.
A Christian Church can be used for fellowship, for spiritual guidance, for help with interpretation of Bible Scripture, for Bible study, however it should never serve as a replacement for a Christian becoming its own spiritual master, as Jesus did, and finding its own Truth, its own Kingdom of God within.
A Christian uses prayer to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit on situations that may not be covered in the Bible, or to seek greater clarification on Bible Scriptures. A Christian uses Bible Study to examines his own interpretation of Bible Scripture. A Christian is not perfect, but is using the correct interpretation of Christianity and its true purpose to become perfected. Most Christians will have witnessed other Christians falling short of the mark and this is because Christians are in the process of becoming perfected, are in the process of learning how to remove the beam from their own eye, of mis-perceiving their fellow brother and sisters worth, instead of seeing the beam, the fault in their fellow brethren and judging them harshly through the eyes of the ego, the separated self.
The Christian Bible Scriptures reflect Christian beliefs, yet there are many scriptures in the Bible that some Christians struggle with their meaning, and even particular phrases or words. Phrases such as 'the key of knowledge', 'let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus', 'ye are all Gods', 'let the dead bury their dead'. Clearly if these phrases were taken in a literal sense, then we would say there is a key that has knowledge, and what is this key? We would say we must take Jesus' own mind and put it in our head, but how? We would say I am a God and so is everyone else. And we would say a man who has died can pick up a shovel, dig a hole in the ground, and bury another corpse that has died. These four phrases are only a small sample of a much larger number of Bible scriptures that, if taken in a literal sense, would cause confusion.
In the Bible it says "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth". If we take the four phrases above, we would say: "Are these meant to be interpreted in a literal sense, or are we meant to be searching for the Spirit of Truth in the scripture?" If a Christian chooses to interpret the Bible purely in a literal sense then he or she will hit a brick wall when searching for the Spirit of Truth - namely they will not be able to explain in a logical way how a dead man can bury another dead man, for example. If a Christian searches for the Spirit of Truth by connecting to the Holy Spirit within to seek clarification of the Scripture, then this will pose a new set of potential problems.
The first problem is that the person's own mind may be filled with impurities and fears and any message they receive from the Holy Spirit may be filtered through their own fears, causing them to receive the message from the Holy Spirit in a fearful light, causing them to place a fearful meaning or interpretation on the Bible Scripture. The second problem is that every Christian has a very uniquely different mind and set of biases, and when connecting to the Holy Spirit and applying their own set of biases to the message received, will offer a very different interpretation of the Scripture.
Many Christians are afraid to have an interpretation of a Bible Scripture that differs from their other church members. If an individual Church is dominated by this fear or lack of tolerance of individual interpretation of the Scripture through connecting to the Holy Spirit, then this will cause the Church to say that the Bible Scripture should either a) be taken literally at all times, which encourages its members to not look for the Spirit of Truth via the Holy Spirit or b) to only ever seek interpretation of the Bible Scriptures from the elders of the Church, which encourages its members to not seek the Kingdom of God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, from within.
Some Christian Churches actively encourage their members to connect to the Holy Spirit for individual interpretation of the Bible Scriptures to look for the Spirit of Truth. Other Christian Churches fear this process, because they fear opposing interpretation of the Scriptures, they fear losing control of what their church members think and believe. They fear losing control of their church members.
Jesus message was simple. He wished to set us free from fear and bondage. His promise was we can do what he can do and more, however we cannot do this if we do not follow His example. Jesus was not a follower of other men, he was not a respecter of persons, he was not a respecter of man-made churches (the Jewish church at the time) that put fear of God in the hearts of men, that sought to control its church members through fear and control. Jesus did not belong to any man-made church in order to connect to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Kingdom of God within.
A Christian Church can be used for fellowship, for spiritual guidance, for help with interpretation of Bible Scripture, for Bible study, however it should never serve as a replacement for a Christian becoming its own spiritual master, as Jesus did, and finding its own Truth, its own Kingdom of God within.
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