How Your Religious Beliefs Can Hurt You For Hundreds Of Years To Come

You have been told that you must "believe"! And that if you don't "believe," bad things will come your way... all from that God who loves you... well, just like Uncle Joe, you can hardly wait to meet that loving God... makes you go all warm'n-fuzzy inside...

Ok... here's what to do.

If you can learn about the facts of the AfterLife, as much as you can, that will help you a lot, that is the ideal. Then you'll know what to expect - no big surprises.

The second best mind-state to have upon entering the Next World would be... a neutral frame of thought. No fear. No apprehension. Just a sense that all will be ok... that everything will work out for the best.

And with this, you should have no big problems when you get there. The religionists will hate what I say next, but it is true. Even if you are an atheist...an honest atheist, with honest doubts, but with an open mind and no malice... you are in very good shape to enter the next world, because mere knowledge is a very easy thing to add to oneself, even in minutes - but ridding oneself of hatred and enmity, if entrenched, might require therapy of hundreds of years!

It is, primarily, "the religious" who suffer the most in their adjustment to that True Home. And I could show you what Our Guides say about these suffering souls... how mixed up and confused they are.

Many of these miserable ones are sent to something like a hospital when they get there. There are loving Spirit-Entities, sort of like doctors, who watch over them, trying to help them, to wake up, from their fears.

• Albert Einstein: “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

Those who are rigid; those who unwarrantedly "believe"; those who fancy themselves having reduced the wonder of life to a formula, to a set of "true doctrines"... these are those who hurt themselves the most.

How big is the hurt? It depends how "religious" they are... how far into fear-based delusion they are. Some might persist in their fears, denying themselves the Joy of Summerland, for years, even hundreds of years, to come!

My gift to you

I understand that these issues frighten most people. But some of you are beginning to understand that unless you begin to be honest, with your own Souls, the concept of "fright" might take on new meaning for you.

I'm going to give you something. I think some of you might feel less fearful regarding the things of which I speak if you were to see these proscriptions against religion coming from the very Bible that Churchianity claims to represent.

I will share with you excerpts from my own master's degree thesis. It represents, in fact, nearly twenty years of research, tens of thousands of research-hours. This information might help some of you, as it once helped me, to go beyond the dark spell, in one's life and thinking, that has been cast by cult religion and The Lying Teacher.

Here's what the head of the philosophy department of California State University once said about my work:

• "I judge that this deserves an A grade. It is very superior work in many ways... It is not your ordinary commentary nor an unscholarly, undisciplined work sometimes seen in our Humanities' candidates but is built on long and careful work... This kind of work is so rare among Master's candidates who do not possess or at least do not choose to do such careful and concentrated study... it is difficult to disagree with most of his presentations and claims because he presents and argues them in such detail and with such reasoning based on learning and experience... One of the highest compliments I think I can give is to ask you for a copy..."

...wow... makes me want to read it, too.

Religion is not wrong... but only meant to be temporary... as soon as you see this, it's time to ask what's next!

I'm going to give you many points made by the apostle Paul, from his writing to the Galatians. This letter is the earliest of all New Testament documents, and was meant to set the tone of what would follow. Paul, as I explained last time, was a man with a heart afire, as he wanted you to realize that it's time to leave the nursery, leave the prison, leave the ABCs, leave the nanny...

In the future, I must explain to you that church politicians, in an effort to dilute and minimize the message and impact of certain authentic documents, disingenuously arranged, ordered, and packaged the New Testament books, some of them counterfeit, to suggest, by such power-positioning, an unwarranted importance...

hey, so many things that people don't wanna know... I'll get to it sometime [smile].  

Paul & the Galatian Controversy: The Battle to Define Christianity: Abstract

"Paul of Tarsus makes one of the most audacious claims of history. This scholarly Pharisee, one who had not been a follower of the itinerant Rabbi from Galilee, would persuade us that he alone – not the Twelve who had lived with Jesus for three years; and not even James, the very blood-brother of Jesus – stood as philosophical heir to the true meaning of the teachings of Christ. We shall not be surprised to find such a claim vehemently attacked by the Jerusalem mother church, the famous expression of which comes to us in the New Testament document, Galatians. Though he is charged by his critics with antinomian heresy, Paul will adamantly insist that his own mystical version of Christianity has become the Mosaic Law’s true fulfillment, an insight and vision that allowed a tiny Jewish sect to blossom into a great world religion that would alter the flow of history."

#1 (Galatians 1: 8, 9) Paul says that anyone who teaches anything contrary to his message is to be "accursed"!

Now is that nice? We definitely need some new House Wilson-rules against this kind of speech.

Well, Paul just had no sense of humor regarding those who would try to buy-and-sell the church members like cattle.

And he didn't care who claimed to be high-and-mighty, and infallible, and who had the biggest chain, or ring, or something else, to kiss.

John Stott asserts that Paul’s censure is no “intemperate” invective hurled in a fit of pique but, instead, a sober, clear-eyed warning to anyone – we must notice here that Paul includes himself under interdiction – anyone who would dare to misrepresent the Divine message. Paul includes even an “angel from heaven” on his list of potential offenders, by which the apostle may be saying, “No matter how exalted the purported rank or authority one may claim – if he subverts this message, he is to be rejected outright, and accursed.”

Definitely needs some sensitivity training, wouldn't you say? And they complain about my "inner Kuhn."

#2 (Galatians 1: 15 - 19) Paul wants to make it clear that he didn't need to get Peter's permission to say what he's saying

Paul's enemies were gloating: "You bum... you're nothing but second-rate. We know why you went to Jerusalem. It was to get the apostles' permission. Who do you think you are? Schmuck!"

Paul would make clear that the purpose of that trip was not to pay homage to Peter – only to “see” Peter. John Stott points out that the Greek here “was used of sightseeing” (35) and implies nothing in terms of any deferential pilgrimage – Paul simply wanted to meet Peter, not to serve as his apprentice. Reading between the lines, it seems clear that his enemies were making much political hay out of the fact that this trip had taken place. No doubt they claimed that Paul had learned of the gospel while on this trip.

As we approach the next chapter, it may be profitable to recount the various charges brought against Paul. We find that his detractors were attacking him from many sides: first they said that he was no apostle at all - if anything, a  second-rate one. Next they claimed that he made up his gospel or, at very least, was indebted to Peter and Jerusalem for it. Now, as we enter chapter two, they try to say that his gospel is different from the one preached in Jerusalem. We need a scorecard to keep track of the Judaizers’ assertions. Paul’s enemies, these spin-doctors of legalism, come back faster than a White House press secretary.

• Editor's note: the term "Judaizer" refers to Paul's enemies who wanted the Church to keep the old Jewish laws. But, be careful here. Some say that this whole book is about the past, about keeping Judaism out of the Church. That is entirely wrong, as we will see. If this were the case, Galatians would merely be a period piece, a document of academic and historical interest only. But that's not why I spent 20 years studying this letter.

#3 (Galatians 2: 11 - 14) Paul publically calls Peter on the carpet for hypocrisy

As we read of Paul’s stand-off with Peter, we must keep in mind what is likely Paul’s larger reason for mentioning it in the present context: he is still defending his apostleship to his wayward converts and, whatever else he means to convey, is also making the point, to the discredit of the Judaizers, that he plays no second-fiddle to Peter and is his equal in every respect.

After this public dressing-down, we can easily picture the Jerusalem delegation storming out of the room in protest – no wonder they hated Paul and would attempt to undermine him whenever they could! For Peter and the others, like men dazed after having been under a hypnotic spell, there will be, we presume, almost tangible relief. Peter, the old burly fisherman, at good man at heart, but unthinking at times, will likely marvel at his sharp-tongued, erudite brother Paul, shake his head, and confess, “I wish I could have thought of those things!”

You must understand this point in order to see Paul's message in Galatians

What is the law?

The English word "law" appears 223 times in the Authorized Version New Testament, 32 times in Galatians, and not always in the same sense. The following are some of its principal meanings:

(1) the Pentateuch (Rom. 3. 21);

(2) the entire Old Testament (Rom. 3. 19, suggested by verses 10-18);

(3) a principle, for example, works versus faith (Rom. 3. 27);

(4) a moral code within every person (Rom. 2. 14f.);

(5) generic law: Jewish or Roman (Rom.7. 1f.); human or Divine (Gal.2. 19);

(6) the will of God and source of light for mankind (Rom. 7. 22);

(7) the law of Christ, self-sacrificial love (Gal. 6. 2);

(8) an external restraint placed upon man's carnal heart (Gal. 5. 23) – but, most relevant to our study here...

(9) the entire Old Covenant law-system.

Some read “law” in the passage under review (Gal. 2: 16) to mean “a list of rules and regulations” with the implication that Paul has set himself to the task of sorting out the “good rules” from the “bad,” the essential spiritual/Christian laws from outdated Jewish rituals.

This misses the thrust of Paul’s argument entirely.

• The central issue of Galatians is not that of “good law versus bad law” - the apostle’s contention is that any law, any human effort of any kind - even honorable and good effort - is wholly inadequate to justify one before God.

A law may, in fact, be “holy,” “just” and “good,” as Paul tells us in Romans, but the relevant point for us is that even such law is entirely impotent to make us holy or acceptable to God. When Paul refers to “law” here, and in many other passages in Galatians, he means to say that the entire Old Covenant law-system – not merely particular Jewish rituals – cannot save mankind.

• This is an extremely important point, one that will threaten many; because the full implication of Paul’s statement signifies that the Ten Commandments and all other moral law – what many will consider to be “good law” – cannot offer to anyone salvation.

Paul, of course, is not advocating immorality, a charge frequently leveled against him, but he cannot explain everything in one breath, and will deal with this attack later; however, he means to say that the entire Old Covenant law-system, including its “good law,” cannot save mankind – law, though “holy,” was made for another purpose.

• Paul will soon expand his attack and emphasize that, not just the Old Covenant System, but all law-systems -meaning, all religion! - cannot save us!

#4 (Galatians 2: 18, 19) Paul shifts his emphasis from Jewish law... to all law-systems... all religion! Paul, himself, had to turn his back on his family religion when he finally saw... what comes next!

2: 18. "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.  

the things which I destroyed. In the context of the present discussion of justification, Paul’s somewhat cryptic phrase here, more than likely, refers to his previous life, the time when he was focused on the law – but this mind-set was abandoned when God’s grace touched him (1. 13-16). Like a man dynamiting his own house, Paul destroyed and trashed his own mental paradigms of God and life carefully constructed since boyhood – he had totally rejected legalism... he had to leave his family religion! Not an easy thing to do!

I through the law am dead to the law. The word law is in the Greek without the article both times; 'the law' would suggest that Paul is giving up only the Mosaic law, whereas he is repudiating all kinds of legalism.

how the absence of a little word "the" destroyed all religion

• Editor's note: for those who have forgotten their grammar lessons, "the" is an article. In the Greek, we read "law" not "the law"! in other words, we're not talking about a specific law-system here, but law-system in general. The translators knew this, of course, but their own religious views would not allow them to convey Paul's damning message toward religion! so they covered it up with an editorial comment, the dishonest "the law"! ... maybe I should just quote from my thesis: "I through the law am dead to the law ... Dying to law meant ceasing to regard obedience to law as the means of securing acceptance with God” (Stamm 488). Paul shifts his view from the Old Covenant law-system to all law-systems – any system of activities designed to earn God's approval. Let’s put this in modern terminology, the exposition of which will madden not a few: Paul is rejecting religion! Paul is saying that he, due to his prior dark experience with religion, came to the point in his life where he become "dead to religion" - it didn't work for him anymore! it never really did, for this past-hater and killer of Christians! and he "destroyed" this past life of his, to clear the way to live authentically, directly, immediately, "unto God."

Let's not forget the background of the person speaking. This Pharisee-of-the-Pharisees wrote the book on strict religion; no one beat them, with their 613 rules, at that game in all of history. So when Paul tells us that he “died to law” - died to religion - we must understand that he plumbed depths of this subject in a way that most of us will never know. When he, Mr. Law-Fanatic, crashed-and-burned to religion, God, at the same time, granted him a unique insight regarding the utter impossibility of any person earning salvation by human effort – this is why Paul speaks of “grace” so often, so much more, than any other New Testament writer! he knew, in a way that others did not.

#5 (Galatians 3: 1) To those who want to "just believe" whatever they are told, Paul chides, "You dear idiots of Galatia"

The apostle Paul begins chapter three with a gentle scolding of his converts (an expanded paraphrase which conveys the contextual message)... “You dear idiots of Galatia, my friends, you really need to have your heads examined. Why do you insist on staying in kindergarten, thinking immaturely, even though you’ve come of age? Don't you know who you really are, or understand the freedom you've been given?”

Not every liberator is lauded as hero; no, some prefer the security of prison or the nursery. The great apostle, often playing the role of comforter of the afflicted, is about to afflict the comfortable – the satisfied ones, those fancying themselves able to negotiate life on their own terms.

Paul does not accuse his flock of desperate wickedness; he does, however, suggest that they have not been “using their heads” (Wuest 84); have failed “to put two and two together" (Stamm 496).

Alan Cole reminds us that while “it is true that spiritual things are spiritually discerned, it is equally true . . . that theology is nothing more than the ordinary rules of grammar and logic applied to the text of Scripture" (Cole 87).

Paul means to say this: “You have been duped, hoodwinked (Mikolaski 1097).”

#6 (Galatians 3: 6) Paul, the lawyer, shifts into high gear: Abraham believed God. You're not supposed to believe the words, but... the Person behind the words!

believed. Paul is here quoting from Genesis 15. 6, “Abraham believed God.” There, the English word translated “believe” is a form of the Hebrew, “amen,” often passing into the English in this transliterated form. Its core meaning denotes “support“ or “firmness” and is often rendered as “truth” in the Old Testament (Scott 51).

Often, when the man-on-the-street employs the term “believe,” he means to express a tentative conclusion, even a hope, for the reality of some future event; for instance, in the statements, “I believe it will rain today,” or “I believe I will go to the movies tonight,” we sense no firm commitment to the ideas expressed. However, when the Scripture advises “belief” or “faith” there is no hint of any such equivocation.

The Hebrew “amen” frequently comes to us in Scripture as the proper human response to something God has purposed: God says that he will do something, and man’s proper response should be, “I agree. I am sure. I know this to be true. I may not know how you’re going to do what you say, but if you say so, so be it - amen. It will happen.”

• Editor's note: Do you see? "Belief" isn't about forcing oneself to accept words. There is no "belief" without first having a spiritual experience! an authentic encounter with the Person behind the words! It's about having a sense, a growing sense of consciousness, of the trustworthiness of the Power behind the words! If we have that, accepting words will be easy. No huffing and puffing to believe. But it all begins with spirituality... not with religion. And that's why Abraham's "belief" was counted as righteousness... and why when the "nice young man" commands you to believe, it is not.

It's like entering into a contract with a dishonest person. The words, though subscribed by all parties in the presence of witnesses, will not save you because the person behind the words is not good for it, and has no intention of honoring the words.

#7 (Galatians 3: 23) Paul says that religion was meant to be a temporary holding place... like a prison!

kept under the law, shut up unto the faith. “Before the coming of faith, we were all imprisoned under the power of the Law” (Phillips 394);

The "KJV is hopelessly obscure ... The meaning is 'being kept in restraint while awaiting the faith that was to be revealed’” (Stamm 517).

Paul's enemies, the Wolves (P.S. #31), said that without religion, the people will run wild... that they need the protective custody of lots of church regulations... Unfortunately, many immature ones are led by passions, so they weren't all wrong.

But, Paul's point is that with the coming of the Spirit, the Purified Consciousness, an awareness of one's soul-based internal guidance system, all forms of external guidance systems... religion... will become obsolete and passe.

#8 (Galatians 3: 24) Paul says that religion was meant to be a temporary disciplinarian, like a man threatening with a stick! you know, to keep the kids in line, don't make me come up there!

3. 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

schoolmaster. The “paidagogos” was not a schoolmaster, tutor, or teacher "but an attendant, ‘custodian’ (RSV), usually a slave who had charge of a child from six to sixteen to discipline him and keep him straight” (Stamm 517).

The “paidagogos was not the boy's teacher so much as his disciplinarian ... often harsh to the point of cruelty, and is usually depicted in ancient drawings with a rod or cane in his hand. JBP thinks that the modern equivalent is a strict governess” (Stott 97).

The “paidagogos existed for no other reason than to make his charge independent of his care . . . to make the good pleasant to the boy . . . [By this Paul] affirmed that the law was an inadequate, unsatisfactory [temporary] thing, doomed to come to an end” (Barclay 209).

Didn't the Nice Young Man tell you what Paul said here? Didn't he tell you that "playing church" was meant to come to an end... just as soon as you grow up?!

#9 (Galatians 3: 24) Paul says that religion was meant to be temporary because it's like clinging to your first ABC book filled with pretty pictures, some for you to color... yeah, that's cute... but not when you're 37

4. 2, 3. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

we. Jews and Gentiles (3. 29). Paul includes himself. The "we" here cannot refer to "we Jews" as opposed to "you Gentiles" because the flow of this complex sentence leads us to the purpose of the Savior's coming (verses 4 and 5), hardly a private Jewish affair.

when we were children. That is, when we were in our spiritual minority, the state of needing an external threat and prod to obey our Father; when we were without a willing heart and spirit to serve him and to be about the “family business.”

bondage. Childhood is a kind of bondage or slavery, and it is so according to the nature of the case. Children require being told what to do; they are to obey their parents, their "guardians and trustees," until such time that they grow up.

elements of the world. The Greek word elements historically referred to: “(a) the letters of the alphabet, hence elementary education in any branch of knowledge; (b) the elements (as taught by Aristotle) of which a thing was composed, as the fire, air, earth, and water of which the world was thought to be constituted; (c) the elements of the universe, the larger cosmos, including the sun, moon, planets, and stars; and (d) the spirits, angels, and demons which were believed to ensoul the heavenly bodies, traverse all space, and inhabit every nook and cranny of earth” (Stamm 521).

But, since we are speaking of children here, we can justly assume that the contextual meaning of "elements" relates to the (a) ABCs; which, in the flow of Paul's argument here, is legalistic religion!

#10 (Galatians 4: 4 - 7) Paul says a time will come when you will outgrow religion... how long? when will you decide to wake up? It all depends on you!

4: 4. But when the fulness of the time was come...

the fulness of the time. Paul’s phrase is the complement of verse two’s “time appointed of the father,” that long-awaited for time when the Father determined that all systems of legalism – the Old Covenant brand in particular, but not exclusively – all “trustees” and “governors” of mankind were to be fired. Mankind, with the coming of the Christ, the Light (the Example of "Consciousness") of the World, was now, potentially, given opportunity to grow up and move beyond the nursery of works-oriented religion. Apparently, after several thousand years of human history, the Father determined that mankind had accumulated sufficient collective experience to potentially realize the futility of merit-badge religion.

This time of awakening, of coming of age, is to dawn upon humankind in a collective sense... but why wait... you can wake up when you want to... do you want to? why not avoid the rush...

the law. Stamm again asserts that in neither verse 4 nor 5 does “law” carry with it the definite article. Paul, once more, speaks of legalism in a generic sense. In verse 4 the context mandates the sense, “Jewish law,” but in verse 5, one that addresses Gentiles, too (“we”), all religion, all law-systems, of all stripes are in view.

#11 (Galatians 4: 6) Paul says that you - a dearly-loved Soul made in the image of God - are already a Divine son or daughter, and no one can take from you this blessing! you, as a glorious Soul, already have all that you need - you just need to wake up to see this - so don't let religion dupe you with the ancient con-game that you need them for something!

because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit. This phrase, at another time in my life, when I viewed the world through a legalist’s eyes, caused some concern for me. “Shouldn’t these words read,” I worried, “‘after we are sons, God sends his Spirit’?” This phrase, left unedited, suggests the annoying concept that God loves all people, not just those who have been dunked in water. “Exactly!” says Paul. “Now you’re starting to get it. The Father – he’s not called that for nothing! – sees all peoples as his sons and daughters. Yes, many of them, for the moment, are wayward, just like the prodigal. But this waywardness does nothing to dampen either God’s love or each child's divine status! And, at the slightest willingness from us, he “sends forth his Spirit” – a "consciousness" of who we really are - precisely because we already are his children!”

Allow me to further clarify what "Spirit" means. We already are God's children. And the "Spirit" - which is nothing other that our own Purified Consciousness - is an acknowledging, the growing sense, within ourselves, concerning who we really are! We discover our own true identities... and in the process... we cast off the training wheels of religion... be it corrupt or even that of the Nice Young Man. You know, you really need to tell the Nice Young Man (P.S. #31) to get a real job and grow up. Did you ever realize that you actually hurt him, and keep him trapped in his own dysfunction, by enabling his blindness? This is all quite true.

#12 (Galatians 4: 8 - 11) We definitely need a new House Wilson-rule now... Paul will not relent, and goes all the way in his love, and says that Religion is the devil's greatest achievement (the Becker Living Translation) [smile]

4. 8-11. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.    

Howbeit then. Paul is linking the foregoing to what he is about to say: "In view of the fact that you have enjoyed a close relationship with God to the point of calling Him 'dear Father,' how can you return to the sterile relationship of what amounts to demon worship?"

when ye knew not God. Paul wants them to remember the lonely days when they felt no inner prompting to cry, “Father, dear Father.”

rather are known of God. Paul interjects this to remind them that they came to know the true God through his efforts alone, not through any works on their part: "Grace, not law, made you a Christian!" Paul will not miss an opportunity to strike on this note.

how turn ye again. "Since you know what kind of God he is, how can you exchange that for the tired, old legalism?"

weak and beggarly elements. "weak because [legalism] has no strength to redeem us (verse 5), and beggarly because it has no wealth with which to bless us" (Stott 104).

observe. “The word denotes careful, scrupulous observance, an intent watching lest any of the prescribed seasons should be overlooked,” the kind of “scrupulousness” found in “merely legal or ritual religion” (Vincent 140).

Ye observe days. Addressing the Gentiles (“Ye”), Paul clearly is referring to various Gentile pagan holy days; however, such days are not exclusively in view. These “days” are subsumed under the term “elements” (verse 9), a clear allusion to verse 3 where the same word, without a doubt, includes Jewish feast days.

Paul’s point is this: “Whether your holy days find origin in Jewish or Gentile religious practice, for you, they become an avenue back to legalism. You’ve returned to believing that mere observance of a day, by itself, will earn you points with God. And that's nuts!”

It is sometimes asked why Paul refuses to give up any ground here about “days” when in Romans 14, in a spirit that to some seems overly tolerant, he allows great latitude to those who “esteem one day above another.” The answer to this seeming conundrum is the same answer to the question, “Why did Paul require Timothy to be circumcised but not Titus?” Paul was not a slave to his own freedom! When the “truth of the gospel” required defending, Paul was stalwart and immovable; but in all matters peripheral, those of mere personal taste, Paul – the former jackal-eyed Pharisee – had learned to take his place among the meek, ready to become “all things to all men” (1 Cor. 9. 22).

We must address one more question before we leave this section. In verse 8 Paul links legalism to the worship of  “gods,” probably, demon spirits as “elements.” How can slavery to a works-oriented law-system reasonably be associated with dark forces? Is Paul suggesting that “the law” is an orchestration of Satan? Rom. 7. 8, 10 may supply a clue to Paul’s thinking: "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence . . . [and that] which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death."

The apostle seems to be saying that the prince of evil took that which God designed as a “stepping-stone to liberty” (Stott 105); that which is good – the law – and crafted it to his own purposes. Playing upon mankind’s fears, Dark Forces cast the "holy law" as a tool to forge a man-made righteousness, in opposition to the Divine economy!

... as Don Mclean poetically offered and sang, "Satan laughing with delight"

#13 (Galatians 4: 17 - 20) Paul warns you... be careful when you observe Wolves in their natural habitat... they are dangerous... how they would love to have you as conquered prey!

4. 17-20. They zealously affect you, but not well; they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

They zealously affect you, but not well. “These people are zealous to win you over, but for no good” (New International Version).

they would exclude you. “shut you out” (Vine 132) from spirituality.

that ye might affect them. “that you may make much of them” (The New Testament, A New Translation 855). With this phrase, Paul gives us his sense of what motivates the Judaizers – they seek the approbation of men, the very vice of which they accused Paul (1. 10).

• Stott explains that “when Christianity is turned into a bondage of rules and regulations, its victims are inevitably held in subjection, tied to the apron-strings of their teachers” (116). So often, works-oriented religion leads to a cultish worship of hierarchical leadership structure – all in the name of loyalty to God.

until Christ be formed in you. John Stott quotes Calvin: “If ministers wish to do any good, let them labour to form Christ, not to form themselves, in their hearers” (118). We find here the crux of the issue. The Judaizers-as-Wolves, neurotically seeking affirmation of their own religious authority, viewed the Galatians as a trophy on a mantlepiece, a notch on a scorecard... a new tithe-payer captured. The difference between Paul and his enemies becomes clearer.

#14 (Galatians 4: 22 - 31) Paul will not yet stand down... hardly... he nows plays hardball by saying that "the religious" will be thrown out of the Christian community!

Didn't you learn this in Sunday school? [smile] I'm sure it was somewhere in that first prayer book your grandmother got for you.

A favorite line of the Pharisee-Jews was "Abraham is our father"; they made much of their physical lineage from Abraham. Paul, in chapter 3, has already attacked this idea explaining that the true descendants of Abraham are those who choose the “faith way” to salvation. But the apostle now takes things a step further: not only is it important for Abraham to be one’s spiritual “father,” it’s also important to have the right “mother”!

mother of us all. "she [Sarah] is our mother" (The New English Bible). Paul is saying this: “Allegorically speaking, If you are a Christian, Sarah is your mother. You are like Isaac, a child born of God’s promise. You were born into freedom, unlike your brother Ishmael, representing illegitimacy, those who insist on living in legalistic religion... the baby that was never meant to come along!”

we . . . as Isaac. The birth of Ishmael becomes a kind of parable representing the way of human effort, human strategy and devising; the birth of Isaac is a picture of promised, miraculous birth representing God's mercy, God's grace, God's efforts.

persecuted . . . even so it is now. Paul explains that if the Judaizers are blood brothers to anyone, it is to Ishmael, ever the symbol of those who persecute those of faith. “The . . . greatest enemies of the ... faith today are not unbelievers, who when they hear the gospel often embrace it, but the church, the establishment, the hierarchy. Isaac is always mocked and persecuted by Ishmael” (Stott 127)

... amazing! listen to what Paul is really saying!

what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son. Paul, the lawyer, using laser-guided bombing, devastates the Judaizers’ position with a tiny verse from the Old Testament law; the “scripture,” he asserts, proclaims religion's own undoing! Hagar and Ishmael, representing Judaism and all forms of legalistic religion, are to be “cast out”!

The Jews had used this same verse as support for their racist, exclusivist activities in their rejection and condemnation of the Gentiles... as they called them dogs and swine. Well-apprised of rabbinical arguments, Paul, the Chief-Rabbi who “wrote the Judaizers’ manual,” uses their own words to foil them.

The allegorical form of argument is likely used here because his enemies had been doing so, pontificating something like this:

"Allegorically speaking, God commands us to condemn the Gentiles when he says Cast out the bondwoman.”

Responding to this racist sophistry, Paul, with steel-eyed coolness, declares to his wolf-critics:

“You wanna talk allegory? Ok, I’ll give you allegory. Try this one on for size. You are like Hagar, consigned to be cast out of the Christian community!”

Didn't the Nice Young Man tell you about Paul's warning here?

#15 (Galatians 5: 7 - 9) Paul says even a little bit of legalistic thought will keep you from waking up, as you need to wake up... because that little has a way of growing into a lot!

5. 7-19. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Paul enlists a common proverb of the day to make a point; he believes, just as a small amount of yeast will permeate an entire batter of dough, that a little legalism, left unchecked, will eventually contaminate the entire spiritual life of the Church... and, of course, that is the history of the Church during the last 2000 years!

Maybe some are thinking that they can simply do religion-lite. Paul says it won't work. The poisonous fearful spirit of rule-based religion will affect you in unseen ways, and will keep you from growing up... from waking up... because a part of you will be defending the old paradigms!

#16 (Galatians 6: 7, 8) Paul coins one of the most famous verses in the Bible... but it doesn't mean what they told you it means!

6. 7, 8. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

As I study Paul’s argument, I ask myself, “If I were one of his critics from Jerusalem, or one of the fence-sitters of the Galatian congregation, would I have been convinced by all of this talk about the inner workings of the Spirit? [chapter 5]” I suggest that the answer is, probably not. It is the kind of argument that will be convincing only to any who has personally experienced the whispering promptings of the Spirit, the subtle infusion of “heavenly desires” where once only animal passions reigned. But, to Paul, this is all very real; he is convinced that the Spirit of Christ lives within him, a power changing him from the inside out. And because of this Presence, Paul finds himself compelled – inwardly motivated and desiring - to perform charitable works toward God and man, a purposeful directedness that the old religion could only beg, plead, and threaten to enforce.

soweth . . . reap. “Sowing and reaping,” a phrase, then and now, of proverbial status, could presage instruction of simple moralism, general teaching about doing good and avoiding evil. While such a view is not out the question here, I sense that Paul is not about to lay down his firearms but continues to hunt for bigger game; he is not ready, I think, to sue for peace against legalism.

Paul’s instruction, in chapter 5, on the “works of the flesh,” nicely juxtaposed with discussion about the Judaizers’ heresy, suggests that Paul views the error of the Galatians to be rooted not in ordinary mistake but in a certain measure of wrong-headedness; he tells us that sins such as idolatry, pride and strife, normally thought of as sins of the mind, are in reality engendered by "the flesh," just as any passion-driven misdeed.

Now, in these final summing-up verses, Paul speaks of "sowing to the flesh" and, as such, we should not easily assume this to be mere didactic moralism. The Judaizers’ legalism appealed to base desires of comfort, security, and pain-avoidance... you know, fire insurance... in rules to be kept. 

Nothing wrong with security in its proper context, but, Paul implies here, all of this can become an agent of the “flesh,” an agent of fear-based mentality, taking one far afield of one’s true home, a close spirit-union with Christ and God.

“This could only lead, Paul says, to corruption in their lives” (Wuest 173). “Sowing and reaping” speaks of a process, the end of which is not clearly in sight; it takes time to grow a crop – we should not look for the harvest the next day after planting. Nevertheless, we can hear Paul counsel, though the harvest delays, it most definitely will come.

• Paul is saying that the fear that keeps one in legalistic religion is a work of the flesh just as any other passion-driven vice; and if you "plant" that crop of fear, you will reap a harvest of all manner of neurotic dysfunction! Some of it will grow ripe, and affect you later, primarily, in the AfterLife... you really don't wanna do that... my Uncle Joe, and millions of other suffering victims of religion, The Lying Teacher (P.S. #21), will tell you all about it!

#17 (Galatians 6: 13, 15) Paul's closing arguments... after all is said, there's only one thing that matters...

6. 13. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

“All their talk about the law is gas. They themselves don’t keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws they do observe. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible” (Peterson 400)!

• Then and now, not all, but so many, religionists, in their private lives, are among the most corrupt people of society. There is a church, somewhat well known, that has spent a billion dollars or more defending its "clergy" from charges of pedophilia... your tithes and offerings at work...

circumcised. The Mosaic ritual of circumcision attained such extreme importance in the Jewish religion that it came not only to symbolize their entire ritualistic system but the single most important thing a man could do to gain salvation. How similar, in principle, to many religions today that would have you believe - a fantastic notion! - that certain rituals, observances, and even 24-hour periods, are important to a Cosmic God!

The following passage provides to us an insight regarding just how important circumcision was to the Jews and why it came to be a symbol of their entire law-system:

• "It is obvious that the Jews regarded circumcision as in some way securing salvation... For example, the Rabbi Menachem, in his Commentary on the Books of Moses, fol. 43, col. 3, says, 'Our Rabbins have said, that no circumcised man will see hell.' In the Jalkut Rubeni, num. 1, it is taught, 'Circumcision saves from hell.' In the Medrasch Tillim, fol. 7, col. 2, it is said, 'God swore to Abraham, that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell.' In the book, Akedath Jizehak, fol. 54, col. 2, it is taught that 'Abraham sits before the gates of hell, and does not allow that any uncircumcised Israelite should enter there." (Hodge 63)

6. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Having expressed his antipathy toward the ways of the world, its emphasis on things human, fleshy, and ritualistic, all at the expense of the spiritual, Paul restates the essence of his argument – indeed, summarizes the message of his entire letter.

neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision. Paul is saying, whether you are religious, or smugly above the crowd without religion, it doesn't matter ... you get no points either way... there's only one thing that will mean anything...

• Nothing external, nothing physical, nothing merely symbolic, nothing ritualistic, accounts for very much... if these count at all, it is for a temporary period of time... that time during which we, in our spiritual minority, require the services of nannies and nurseries... but the Father waits for that "fullness of time"; that time, for all of us, to wake up, and grow up, to stop playing church, and to assume our duties - in the Family Business, in the Real Spiritual World, where there are lots of hurting people who need our help - they need us as His fully autonomous, mature, inwardly-motivated, loving, and free, Grown-Children.

Are you ready?

to be continued...

Editor's postscript:

There are churches that actually have a rule prohibiting their members from reading Paul's letter to the Galatians... now you know why.

This short letter from Paul is utterly devastating to their entire reason for existing! to their dark and autocratic teachings.

Galatians isn't called The Magna Carta of Christianity for nothing.

The information presented here, regarding (1) the AfterLife and, especially, (2) the True Spiritual Freedom, as expressed in Galatians - when I was finally able to receive it - totally changed my life.

It really didn't need to take 20 years to study this book. But it took that long for me to accept what I was reading! and to stop being dishonest with myself.

• Mark Twain: "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."

What is spiritual freedom like?

It is not the freedom of immorality as the totalitarians accuse... it is not the freedom of the people running wild. It is the absolute freedom to be myself, without any fear, at all... without fear of judgment, of death, of the future, of what people think, of worrying that I am not enough... this freedom displaces the fear of passing on. I probably want that True Home too much.

It is the freedom from all external guidance systems; of being told by nannies when to eat my cookie and wipe my nose. It is the freedom to grow up, and to listen to the muted stirrings of my own Soul... that Soul which knows all, because it is directly linked to God. It is the freedom to confidently trust this Internal Guidance... that Soul which, as Sting so beautifully sings, is our Pilot.

I could say that spiritual freedom is like taking off the training wheels. But even this metaphor doesn't really do it. It's more like seeing that you don't even need the bike... like discovering that you can fly! so high! And, sometimes, the sense of freedom is even more than that... a pervasive Consciousness that expands and fills the very Universe... reaching out to include, in its sweep, all, and everyone... and with Life, itself.

• Frederick Myers: "I just haven't the words to tell you how marvelous it is; the sense of beauty, the sense of freedom, the sense of love"
  

It is the freedom... simply to live! simply to enjoy! Unhampered. Unrestricted. Like being on a Harley, like a greased bullet, ripping across that straight-ribbon ND I-94 at 120 mph. With a Big Green Light from the Universe! It is the freedom to exult, and without feelings of guilt. It is the freedom to explore all things, all things that I like to do.

• the Apostle Paul: "I'm allowed to do anything, but I won't allow anything to gain control over my life." (I Corinthians 6: 12)

It is the freedom to love myself. It is the freedom, at times, to do nothing... because, my worth has nothing to do with what I do... and whether I choose to do, or not do, I am worth the same.

• Buddha: "You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere; you yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

It is the freedom to think, to plan, to do, things that seek the highest and best, for oneself, and for all, in all situations... ambitions for the sake of all, especially, for those who cannot now help themselves... and it is the freedom to employ one's creative and utmost best to this task.

It is the Grand and Wonderful Life - even in the midst of present troubles of this Ephemeral World - it is that Exquisite Life which every Awakening Soul shall live for the next million years, for starters, and then, beyond.

And I would never, ever, go back to the old ways, no matter the dire threat, no matter the sweet enticement... because to do so would help no one, including myself; for if I harm myself, then I am useless to all; therefore, I insist that... It is the freedom to pursue a mystical alchemy, that which makes one's music pure.

Getting from here to there is not painless. But if you catch the vision, even a glimpse, of what Paul is talking about, you will walk through hell, and, if necessary, pitch a tent there for awhile, just to be on that Path of Life. Once the sleepy eyes begin to open, you will have no choice; nor will you want one, other than the one-way option that leads to the Light.

In this awakening, your world will be rocked. It needs to be rocked. And many will be threatened by your escape from the plantation. But this feeling of threat is also what they need; it is their wake-up call, a call issuing from one voice in the wilderness, as you become, for them, the Light.. the Consciousness... of the World.

Many things will change for you when you accept the True Freedom. I see in Galatians 2: 18 that this New Awareness, for Paul, turned my friend's world upside down: "the things which I destroyed," as he put it - this famous Pharisee Rabbi turned his back on all of his carefully laid career plans; disappointed his parents; became the off-scouring of the earth to friends and colleagues, as he, in Truest Freedom, followed the Message of his own Inner Life, the Christ Consciousness within.

I am beginning to understand, to awaken to, some of these things of which the Great Apostle wrote.

Wishing you well on your Path... it is one without Final Destination... you shall never arrive... it is all Journey... none who walk that Road would have it any other way... for, as your eyes open, more and more, you will thrill to the Magic of Simply Being and the Perpetual Unfoldment of the Wonder of Your Own Soul.

Home | What's New | Other Sites | Email | About CharisCorp