"But you are throwing God's gift back at Him when you do not accept that Jesus died to clean your soul of sin by that very act!" - claim those who cannot see any other way that God could possibly redeem humanity (referring to a 'blood sacrifice' or 'penal substitution' which is their limited concept of salvation). This is of the same type of objection as: "If Jesus did not die to save us then why did God bother sending His Son to die? It's a disgrace not to accept it!"
However, the stated assertion by the believer in a limited salvation is very narrow-minded - he or she has enclosed the mind in a set of limited beliefs and the bigger picture totally eludes his or her vision. That act - the Cross - was the most spiritually potent event that this world has ever known, and it has had and it is yet to have far-reaching effects.
Probing the unseen mysteries of the Spirit World around us, enables us to gain a little understanding concerning the spiritual effects which are not recognised by those who do not believe that the Spiritual World is around us, particularly those who do not believe in the continuity of life such as literalist Christians who believe in a final resurrection and a heaven-and-hell-forever existence at the "end of time". And in regard to the Cross, its surge of power and its irresistible force has turned to tide of the devolution of the occupants of earth for all time - and its effect is certainly not limited to the earth plane.
The influence of the Cross remains forever and works its power constantly. Today we would be living as beasts in the field were it not for the Cross - no, we do not throw God's Gift back at Him; no, we do not negate the death of Jesus as meaningless.
But, please note, that not accepting that one is given "salvation" through a one-time acceptance of a doctrinal principle (even with all ones heart) and thereby becoming fit to reside in the awful purity of the highest Heaven solely because of that conscious acceptance (that belief), does not in any way mean one is throwing anything back at God, because the notion of instant "salvation" is just that - a notion.
Or to slightly rephrase this last point: Because the children of God wandered hither and thither violating the laws of God, it was necessary that God Himself should come and die: In truth, Jesus Christ of Nazareth most certainly died for the sins of the children of God - yes. But this is where the Fundamentalist makes his or her literalistic mistake; this is where a spiritual truth is erroneously given a literalistic connotation thus leading to a theology where belief in a concept alone provides spiritual salvation.
Indeed, when the deep decision is made in the mind to follow Christ and to try to live a Christ life, a powerful spiritual change is made, spiritual laws begin to work for the benefit of that soul in a more powerful way. But that does not mean that the good-hearted soul who naturally tries to be as selfless to their neighbour as possible, cannot achieve spiritual purification without being "born again" (or some other name given to a Fundamentalist belief).
Along similar lines as the: "You-are-throwing-God's-gift-of-Jesus-back-in-His-face" objection, people calling themselves Christians who have been thoroughly conditioned by Fundamentalist teachers, often raise the objection: "How do you think God feels when you reject His gift of Jesus?". Well, it needs to be stated in plain language - we are certainly not rejecting God's sweetest Gift of Jesus, merely questioning the manmade doctrine which has been created about the life and death of Jesus.
But there is another aspect to this. We know, because we believe through both experience and teaching, that there is continuity of life after 'death'. This means that the inner person leaves the body of earthly flesh at the phase commonly known as 'death'. That person does not change at all in characteristics with the change of so-called death. It is still the same person, only now living in a different world. If the person has lived a good life and has run the course of their life along the lines which were exemplified by the life of Jesus on earth, then that person will find themselves very much freer in a congenial environment far surpassing anything this earth world can contain, as far as happiness and spiritual beauty go. That person is so overwhelmed with the love of God that he or she wishes with all their heart to work for God.
And one of the many things such people choose to do is return in spirit to the earth and seek to influence, by love, those still in the flesh. They seek to help them to learn lessons and they seek to bring healing to those on earth too. They bring with them spiritual blessings, real tangible spiritual flowers and many beautiful spiritual gifts from the World of Spirit in which they find themselves, and they offer them freely to those on earth. The question needs to be asked of the Fundamentalist: "How do you think these beneficent spirits feel when you reject them as interfering evil spirits?"
Similarly again, quite often when a person dies who is not particularly prepared for an Afterlife, they can be seen clairvoyantly standing by their own grave. Around the grave are the mourning 'survivors' in deep distress at having 'lost' one so dear. But that one so dear is doubly distressed. He or she can actually feel the distress of those relatives and friends who are mourning at the grave. He or she calls out with all their might to those left behind, trying to make them aware that he or she is alive and indeed there in the same place as them. But to no avail. If only the connection could be made, there would be instant healing, as has been seen so many times in Christian Spiritualist churches.
Now, a question also needs to be asked of the Fundamentalist who says that not only do we throw God's gift back in His face, but we also break His laws by using the sacred gift of Spirit Communion, and it is this: "Why do you throw God's gift of Spirit Communion back in His Face, when He allows his children the freedom to return in spirit to the earth plane for their own relief and the relief of those left behind in the flesh?". God never intended that the Spiritual World and the earth plane should be separated - the barrier of murky cloud is solely man's own creation through his constant violation of spiritual laws. Also, another question can be asked of the Fundamentalist: "Why do you insist on telling everybody that it is wrong to acknowledge, by communication, the dearly departed loved one, when it causes them an immense grief to deny that they are here?"
Indeed, a sad state of affairs such misguided teaching has got us all into. There is something clearly wrong with the limitations of the Fundamentalist teaching and it clearly flies in the face of God's wondrous and all-considerate love. His gift of Spirit Communion should be seen as the sacred gift it is, born of Divine Love and understanding for His own children. A loving parent would not deny such a reviving and healing gift of such reunion, then why think that the Great Heart of all would deny such a thing? Quite the contrary.
The Greater World teaches us the Divinity of Christ, that Christ is God both when in the flesh 2,000 years ago, and also before and after Incarnating (The Spiritual Christ). He is in everything and is the cause of all Life. He is the Redeemer and Saviour of everything in every Sphere of existence. He is at the core of everything and is the Source of everything. Christ and God the Father are as One in our spiritual philosophy, which has quite detailed explanations of why and how this is so. Everything revolves around Christ according to us.
So, to put it as simply and briefly as possible, nobody is denying God's Gift of Jesus. The notion that He died as a 'blood sacrifice' to make us perfect on acceptance of a metaphysical belief is the point which is contested. The primary and overall reason for Christ’s appearance, life, death and resurrection was to demonstrate Divine Love, the love which God has for His children. Christ’s death on the Cross exemplifies the extent to which Divine Love will go to prove Unconditional Love to God’s children.
There are many more considerations to be taken into account. One such aspect of Christ’s death on the Cross is the effect such a Sacrifice would have for all time as far as human memory and understanding are concerned. Jesus died on the Cross so that the effect would be so very deep that the world would never be the same again. He would be remembered for all time because of the way He died. Had He not gone that awful way, the way of the Cross, then the effect He desired would never have been. He had to die like that to achieve His goal.
Jesus died that most terrible agonising way so that mankind would remember Him. He knew what would happen if He didn't go that way - mankind, with all the material thoughts, would forget Him. He even had to ask us to remember Him in a act of eating bread. No, nobody is denying God's sweetest Gift.
Moreover, the Cross is only understood in part by us humans in the flesh; it will be better understood as we progress as developing souls in God's Greater World of Spirit. Then we shall see that humanity crucifies our God a million times every day, and the coming of Our Lord and His death upon the Cross, was but an attempt to show man in physical detail, how he makes the Heart of his God suffer, simply out of ignorance of the fact that God is inseparable from His children - to show man that he must relent in his attacks on the Great Mother and Father God - the loving Parent.
No, this does not apply to merely to 'sinning' against the laws of Love, but it means turning from the God who loves His children and who is so deeply hurt because they do not recognise Him. This fact goes, for the most part, unthought of by His children, they do not understand the extreme loving sensitivity of their God; this is a fact for all to bear in mind who have chosen to adopt His name and call themselves Christians. And so came the Cross, a plea to man to clear the dogma from his eyes, and see, with a clarity beyond words, His love for His own children. He wants to be taken as not only God but as a loving Companion, as the Christ of God who thought it a treasure to wash the feet of his own creations.
When God's children turn from Him as if He did not have the highest regard for them nor made due provision for their best welfare in His Heart and Mind, when His children turn their back on Him and throw His Love back at Him in ignorance - then He suffers greatly, and once more does He bear the Cross. And this has been going on since man walked away from safety and guidance, since time immemorial.
Gregory of Nazianzus, born A.D. 330 (Bishop of Constantinople) was a preserver of the original native Greek teaching of Universal Salvation, before the corruption of a 'limited salvation' entered Christian teaching via Africo-Latin, Pagan and heathen influences. Universal Salvation is the ultimate restoration of all souls "to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:6), to their original pristine spiritual condition, and is not dependent upon a superstitious affirmation of a one-time acceptance of a blood sacrifice for spiritual salvation. Gregory sums up the true Nature of the wonderful Sacrifice given to humanity by our Lord, in two sentences:
"A few drops of blood renew the whole world, and become for all men that which rennet is for milk, uniting and drawing us into one". "Christ is like leaven for the entire mass, and having made that which was damned one with himself, frees the whole from damnation".
Gregory of Nazianzus
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