When Christ says only though him one can reach Heaven, what does that mean precisely?

[Villager]

To me Jesus is referring to the inner I AM that resides in everyone.

Then why did he bother?

 

[no-body]

Then why did he bother?

Why did he use such cryptic language? Like the parables, to guide the subconscious mind toward awakening.

Also a lot of Christ message has been corrupted over the years by evangelicals that want to worship a man and not God. The beauty of Christs message steel bleeds through to those that want it.

 

[pwfaith]

To me Jesus is referring to the inner I AM that resides in everyone. It does not mean to literally worship him to reach the Father.

And here I was thinking "I am" was a correlation to the OT when God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM"

Jesus said ‘I am’ several times.

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger.” John 6:35

“I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” John 10:11

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.” John 11:25

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” John 14:6

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” John 15:1
​

“Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”, John 8:58

Interesting how many of them tend to be saying the same thing - that it is through Christ's sinless life, death and resurrection which we are saved and allowed into heaven. Therefore, we are only able to come to the Father through Christ, meaning the relationship God originally wanted to have with us, that was broken by sin can only be restored through believing in Jesus and his work on the cross.

 

[pwfaith]

Why did he use such cryptic language? Like the parables, to guide the subconscious mind toward awakening.

Also a lot of Christ message has been corrupted over the years by evangelicals that want to worship a man and not God. The beauty of Christs message steel bleeds through to those that want it.

That's not why he used parables. He used them to help us with our finite minds understand things of the spirit/spiritual.

Evangelicals want to worship man and not God? That's a new one. LOL

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I understand the general concept associated with this quote is that only people who believe in Christ can reach Heaven. But what I don't understand is why the literal interpretation? Does one need to believe Christ is literally the son of God in order to reach Heaven, or does one simply need to believe in His teachings?

There's another way to take the quote, too: rather than looking at it as "none of those non-Christian paths can lead to Heaven because they don't have Christ in them", you can look at it as "any path that leads to Heaven has Christ in it, even if it's not officially 'Christian'."

"Nobody gets to the Father except through Me" implies "If you have come to the Father, you have come through Me."

 

[Gjallarhorn]

The verse doesn't mention Heaven...

 

[Villager]

Why did he use such cryptic language?

Why did he bother at all? If it is true that "I am" means "You are," the whole subject becomes absurd, and one might as well discuss Buddhism or football.

 

[Villager]

There's another way to take the quote, too: rather than looking at it as "none of those non-Christian paths can lead to Heaven because they don't have Christ in them", you can look at it as "any path that leads to Heaven has Christ in it, even if it's not officially 'Christian'."

"Nobody gets to the Father except through Me" implies "If you have come to the Father, you have come through Me."

To be saved, a person surrenders control of his or her life, in every aspect, to Christ, and to no-one else, because no-one else is nearly good enough. This is in gratitude for the substitutionary death of Christ that saves from guilt and eternal punishment. So the old person must 'die' to allow the 'new creature' to live. There is no way round that, though there are thousands of attempts at escape routes to get round it.

 

[no-body]

And here I was thinking "I am" was a correlation to the OT when God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM"

They are one and the same. Moses met "God" the inner I am.

Jesus said ‘I am’ several times.

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger.” John 6:35

“I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” John 10:11

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.” John 11:25

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” John 14:6

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” John 15:1 [/I]
​

“Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”, John 8:58

All pointing towards the same thing "the kingdom of heaven is amidst you" which is why it is all preceded by "I AM" all those things are available if you tap into Christ consciousness.

Interesting how many of them tend to be saying the same thing - that it is through Christ's sinless life, death and resurrection which we are saved and allowed into heaven. Therefore, we are only able to come to the Father through Christ, meaning the relationship God originally wanted to have with us, that was broken by sin can only be restored through believing in Jesus and his work on the cross.

Your opinion.

 

[no-body]

Why did he bother at all? If it is true that "I am" means "You are," the whole subject becomes absurd, and one might as well discuss Buddhism or football.

To share the message. My guess is he wouldn't have bothered at all if he foresaw how corrupted the message would become, but people saw the inner light of peace inside him and kept hounding him to teach.

 

[Villager]

To share the message.

That's preposterous to any who have read a gospel.

 

[Awoon]

The rule of God in the personal life of each one grateful for salvation.

So called by pagans. This prayer is outdated. It was for people living before the crucifixion, not after it.

Someone read my post!

With wailing and gnashing of teeth, anyway.

Your comments about my post makes no sense.

 

[Villager]

Your comments about my post makes no sense.

They make no sense to those who see no reason to find their lives unsatisfactory. But Jesus did not come for those people. The love of Jesus is only for those who find their lives unsatisfactory, and wish to gain a clear conscience.

 

[Awoon]

They make no sense to those who see no reason to find their lives unsatisfactory. But Jesus did not come for those people. The love of Jesus is only for those who find their lives unsatisfactory, and wish to gain a clear conscience.

Jesus isnt for anyone.

 

[Villager]

Jesus isnt for anyone.

So what is to be done with those who see fit to differ?

 

[Awoon]

So what is to be done with those who see fit to differ?

Well you can write a post that doesnt make sense.

 

[Villager]

Well you can write a post that doesnt make sense.

Or is factually incorrect, and find that it gets corrected.

 

[Awoon]

Or is factually incorrect, and find that it gets corrected.

Or whatever you want. Makes no diff to me. You havent made sense yet.

 

[Villager]

Or whatever you want. Makes no diff to me. You havent made sense yet.

 

[no-body]

That's preposterous to any who have read a gospel.

The gospels where written by men long after Jesus was dead. I'll interpret them with my own opinion, you can interpret them with your own.

You can tell yourself that your opinion is fact all you want if you like too I guess, but others will always know better.