My father recently shared with me notes from a class he’s teaching about the parable of the Good Samaritan. If you’re not familiar with the story, the short version is that a man who wasn’t Hebrew saw a badly beaten man who was Hebrew and helped him even though other prominent Hebrews walked right past him. One of the morals of the story is that the true neighbor is both the one in need, and the one giving help, not necessarily the ones who are most alike. Because my father is still an Evangelical Christian, he often ties his conclusions back to his belief in salvation as the Christians see it. He adheres to the doctrine which states that “…it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” At the end of his class notes, he came to a similar conclusion which really got me thinking. His conclusion is this: “By convincing ourselves that we can achieve eternal life by obedience to some standard of our own making, we disqualify ourselves from receiving the gift of salvation.” I’ve been studying these ideas a lot lately and I’m coming to some unconventional conclusions. The statement, “disqualify ourselves from receiving the gift of salvation” is deeply profound. This reminds me of a passage from A Course In Miracles. It says, “The Holy Spirit cannot punish sin. Mistakes He recognizes, and would correct them all as God entrusted Him to do. But sin He knows not, nor can He recognize mistakes that cannot be corrected. For a mistake that cannot be corrected is meaningless to Him. Mistakes are for correction, and they call for nothing else...Every mistake must be a call for love.” I’m also coming to understand that if God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, then it takes a tremendous delusion of the ego to suppose that any one of us could ever be separate from Him. And if God has and is these traits, and God is the highest perfection of perfection, then how could sin exist? How could God have created something that wills to destroy him and has the power to do so? Instead, what we call sin is an aspect of that same delusion of the ego.

Hey folks, This is a topic I'm trying to sort out, and I wonder if you can help me. In this video, I present the argument that nowhere in the Gospel stories does Jesus forgive anyone's sins. Instead, he merely lets people know that "your sins are forgiven." Can you guys take a look at this and help me sort this idea out? Is there something in the Course I don't know about? Is there a perspective I'm missing? It seems like this is a rock-solid idea, but I know there are holes in my presentation. Any and all feedback is very welcome. Thanks. Shawn. https://youtu.be/FV4_On0vBkE

Hey all, My video this week is not very challenging for people like you, as you already know the allness of God. But, I thought you still might enjoy my presentation of the idea. Thanks for watching. Thanks for subscribing. And thanks for sharing. :). https://youtu.be/VHL3z67O0ew?si=-mDq130uzJkcR7DZ

https://youtu.be/a5KzMNxns3A?si=BE3LtT7qpLVCtH7H

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