TOPICS: Most churches teach the broad way to salvation – Get thee behind me, Satan! – God will not conform to man-made interpretations – nothing is predestined – outer path and inner path – Sermon on the Mount outlines differences – acknowledge your Christ potential –
Question: I have a question about achieving Christ Consciousness. Doesn’t Jesus in a certain way teach in the Gospel of Matthew that most of humanity past, present, and future is already permanently condemned?
I’m asking this question because Jesus not only mentions that few be they that find the path to Christ Consciousness but he also says in Matthew that the broad path is found by many many people.
PS Most people in the area where I live believe in religious traditionalism and furthermore most likely many of them would not believe in reincarnation even if God were to come to them in person and tell them about it.
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels: (August 6, 2010)
I recommend people take note of the expression: “Doesn’t Jesus in a certain way teach…” It is the attitude behind the “in a certain way” expression that is the reason why Christianity has deviated so far from my true teachings as to be basically teaching the opposite of what I taught. In reality, most Christian churches – and specifically the ones described diplomatically as “religious traditionalism” – teach the broad way to salvation. Yet they are so convinced that they teach the narrow way that even if I appeared to them in the flesh, they would reject me.
The reality is that when they come at me with their literal interpretations – that spring from the very same consciousness that the Serpent used to deceive Eve with the expression “thou shallt not surely die” – my reaction would be the same as I gave to Peter: “Get thee behind me Satan, for thou art an offense to me. Thou savourest not the things that be of God but the things that be of men.”
Obviously, most members of such churches would be so offended by my reaction that they would reject me and even say that I am the one who is of the devil. For surely, the real Jesus would agree with their “interpretation” of the scriptures. (By the way, that mindset hasn’t worked very well for the scribes and Pharisees who opposed me 2,000 years ago. Which is why most of them have reincarnated as leaders of Christian churches today. And they still reject the Living Christ.)
The mindset behind religious fundamentalism and literalism is precisely the fallen mindset that seeks to impose a man-made “interpretation” upon Spirit, while being firmly convinced that the interpretation is true and thus Spirit must conform. I recently commented on this in the answer to another question. The true way to “interpret” the scriptures is to free one’s mind from all preconceived conditions and then ask the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to give you a higher vision and understanding.
Take note that I am not trying to single out the person asking this question. My point is that anyone who has grown up in an environment of “religious traditionalism” or most other Christian churches would do well to realize that you cannot grow up in such an environment without being affected – in subtle ways – by black-and-white thinking and by the epic mindset. Thus, it is wise to make a determined effort to rise above this mindset and then take a new look at my teachings.
Certainly, there are teachings in the gospels that can be interpreted “in a certain way,” but I caution against imposing any absolutist interpretation upon a spiritual teaching. Here are a couple of quotes from Matthew, Chapter 7:
13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
I know this can sound ominous, but I recommend that you never impose a deterministic interpretation upon my words. Because everything is subject to free will, nothing is predetermined or predestined. Predestination is a product of the epic mindset. If I was truly convinced that most people were already permanently condemned, then why would I have come to earth?
What I was saying was that most people were trapped in the “consciousness of death” in which they cannot enter the kingdom. And as long as they stay in that frame of mind, they will not be saved. Yet I also said that I had come to help people transcend this mindset and enter into the “consciousness of life,” that indeed is salvation:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10: 10)
The deeper reality is that I repeatedly attempted to show people the difference between the outer path and the inner path. The outer path is defined by the fallen mindset, and it is based on the illusion that you can use the duality consciousness to define conditions, and if you live up to those conditions then God simply has to let you into the kingdom. The inner path is the process whereby you free your mind from all dualistic interpretations, so that you enter the childlike mind in which you know the reality of God that is beyond all man-made mental images.
The Sermon on the Mount can be seen as a discourse that outlines the difference between the inner and the outer path, yet you will find the same theme throughout the scriptures, most fruitfully in the Gospel of John, and, of course, in the Gospel of Thomas. So study our teachings on the inner path and then take a new look at the scriptures. You will discover that I said many things back then that can be interpreted more clearly today.
Also, take note that I made certain statements 2,000 years ago that were referring to the state of consciousness people had back then. When I walked the earth, the number of people – on the entire planet – who had a realistic potential for attaining Christ consciousness in the current lifetime could be counted in the dozens. Today, there are 10,000 people with the potential to manifest Christhood and millions with the potential to reach some degree of Christhood.
This change has come about partly because of my mission and people actually heeding and internalizing my words—even though many of those who can manifest Christhood are trapped in “religious traditionalism” or another “closed system” version of Christianity that prevents them from acknowledging and thus expressing their potential. It would be my greatest joy to see this change in the near future.
Copyright © 2010 by Kim Michaels