Why Allegory?

Was everything done for us by Jesus on the Cross? If so, how do we accept the gift? How do Faith and Works relate?

As stated in other documents on this website, the only way to accept Christ is by following the Seven Steps of Spiritual Growth over and over again. Each time we complete the Seven Steps our life will have grown in Eternal Life--the life Christ is. The Seventh Step is Love (agape). The person we are always results from what we love--whether it appears that way or not. If we truly consider the many evils in Man and how the individual committing those evils grew to be that person, we will recognize the truth of this fact. The opposite is equally true.

It is troubling for me to see how the religious community teaches salvation in a way that tends to produce a view of Christ separate from the new Christian--according to the flesh. Emphasis is put on Jesus' death on the cross rather than his life's resurrection in our heart. Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection 3 days later was a confirmation of GOD's symbolic message revealed in Genesis 1--revealing the tremendous importance of that message among many other important factors. We do not accept Christ by believing Jesus is our Savior because we desire Eternal Life-a self-serving view (a similar view as expressed in James 2:19). In the end there will be only one Life--not billions or more separate individuals worshipping another separate individual with their mouth. Instead we must Love the qualities Eternal Life are, so that those qualities become whom we are as we follow the Seven Steps--becoming a small part of that one Life (a "cell" in the body of Christ). Life always takes on the characteristics of what it loves, as previously stated.

Biblical faith comes from the Truth expressed by our heart (see the Word Picture of Reality). It cannot be based on a lie. It is a direct result of following the Seven Steps over and over again. Such faith does not result in good works because we feel they are necessary to receive Eternal Life. Instead the good works are a natural response of the Love in our heart to a life situation that needs to be resolved for the good of all concerned. In the process of resolving the need from the Love in our heart, our faith is expressed. The level of faith we have will determine the kind of needs we can resolve (that GOD resolves through us). The Pharisees did many good works for the wrong reason; and they also had little, if any, faith. Jesus was continually revealing the nature of their misapplication of the Law and the resulting works. Unfortunately, our self-serving nature tends to make us modern day Pharisees. Recognizing this and working to follow the Seven Steps will starve that nature in us--not immediately, but over time. As we resolve smaller needs, our faith will grow allowing GOD to resolve greater needs through us.

Works of Faith are good works that come from the desires of our heart when our spiritual food is doing GOD's Will. Good works done for other reasons do not change the evil in our heart. Instead such works are only the self-serving nature (Satan) masquerading as an angel of light.

Jesus never stated that salvation was easy (Matt 5:48, 7:14, 19:24, and similar verses). Just striving to follow the Seven Steps of Spiritual Growth will reveal to us just how difficult it is because of the interference by our self-serving nature, but that is how GOD works to produce HIS Life in us. After true repentance, the burning desire to accomplish HIS Purpose in our heart is only the beginning. The goal is Love, which requires free will; so the changes occurring in our heart through GOD's work is always with our conscious and willing participation.

The Nuts & Bolts of the Bible Message