Are You Saved?

Copyright 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.

"...during Exodus, what would be the one possible thing the ancient Israelites could follow out of Egypt by day due to it's pillar of smoke, and follow by night due to it's pillar of fire? A volcano."

From what do I need to be saved? Who or what is threatening my existence in the first place?

It's apparent that you believe it is necessary for me to be saved since you follow the teachings of YHWH, the ancient God of War, whom, by default, starts out your life by setting you on a course of eternal damnation unless you are fortunate enough to discover his terms and then agree to them. I don't follow that god. I follow the God that is the source of all things loving and all things peaceful. There is no reason he would be compelled to save me since he is not threatening me in the first place.

I am reminded of a story...

Some time ago, a mafia warlord that moved into a new area, expressed to a store owner that if he would choose to serve him and pay tribute to him, that he would be protected. When the store owner said he has never had a need for protection in the past, the mafia warlord made it clear to him that he has a need for protection now... and that if he didn't agree to accept this protection, he would be severely beaten and his business would be destroyed.

Basically, the warlord was offering the store owner protection from the warlord himself. Since you would not accept this form of behavior from a mafia warlord, why do you accept this same kind of behavior from your god?

Bottom line, when you ask me if I am saved, you are asking me if I have appeased the God of war so that he will not punish me. You are asking me if I am saved from God's vengeance, by God's favor. Wow. By asking me if I am saved, you are implying that your god is like a person who jeopardizes you and then requires your gratitude and submissiveness in order to rescue you from the situation he created. There are a few modern day terms for this, such as 'extortion' and 'entrapment'...and they are highly frowned upon and can in no way be confused with acts of love and kindness.

What's that? The god of war thing has you upset and confused? To make sure you heard me correctly, I'll say it again, 'YHWH is the ancient god of war' but now I'll also add 'He was greatly feared and worshipped since he was also a volcano.' Do a search online and you'll be amazed at what you will find out about this subject. None of this information is hidden, but you need to be open to look for it and find it.

Didn't it ever seem odd to you that the Jewish God was always destroying things and helping one group of people destroy another group of people? The god of war endorsed killing without mercy of any kind. Does this sound like any form of being that has love at it's core?

Now consider this...during Exodus (Exodus 13:21), what would be the one possible thing the ancient Israelites could follow out of Egypt by day due to it's pillar of smoke, and follow by night due to it's pillar of fire? A volcano. Then, upon arriving there, why were they told they could not climb or touch the mountain or they would surely die (Exodus 19:12), and why did it belch smoke and shake the ground they stood on and why did a large crevice open up and swallow dozens or hundreds of people? Because it was a volcano. In addition, if God were to destroy a city, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, why would his preferred method be to send balls of fire from the sky? Because he was a volcano. Finally, where do you think the entire concept of hell and the lake of fire came from? A volcano. Therefore, those who would not accept this god and were not "Saved", would be thrown into the lake of fire within the volcano.

My point is that your whole concept of God is based upon primitive beliefs of things they simply could not understand and has little or no thread of truth. For example, we once thought night happened when a pin holed sheet was draped over the earth. We once thought that the earth was flat and if we ventured too far, we would fall off, and yes, we once thought that a volcano was God. These concepts were a natural and necessary start of reaching out to something greater, but to continue worshipping the volcanic god of war today is totally unnecessary, and rather surprising that it is embraced by so many people.

So, am I saved? No, there is nothing from which I need to be saved. However, I am free. I am free from the requirements and beliefs and duties and sacrifices and obligations and behavioral requirements that must be maintained in order to appease the once renown volcanic god of war. I am free to pursue God, the source of all love and peace in my own way, without fear of retribution. I am free to explore and be open to hear what God would have me hear since his messages are not limited by what an earthly religion or philosophy might hinder.

If your beliefs require specific things be said and specific things be performed, then, no matter what you might like to think, you are not saved...you are trapped, just like the store owner in the story above. This is not salvation...it is bondage. So, my question to you is "Are you free?" God creates freedom...truth will set you free. Light is freedom from darkness. God is everything to do about freedom and nothing at all to do about bondage.

God, the source of all that is loving, peaceful and light offers only freedom because he has nothing else. He has no jealousy...he has no anger...he has no wrath...and therefore, he cannot utilize or offer any of those things. To receive his love, peace and light, you need only be open to see him differently and he will present himself to you and change how you see him. He has no desire to change the world...and neither can you, however, the Holy Spirit can help you change how you see the world and then the world will change on its own.