SALVATION, ETERNAL LIFE, HEAVEN AND FORGIVENESS
Attaining forgiveness for sin, salvation, and eternal life are the most important issues in the world of religion. Everything that religious people do is done with the hope that their religious practices will somehow guarantee or enhance their spiritual life after they physically die. Thinking about this issue is typically couched in the context of going to heaven or hell. If you have done the right things, you go to heaven, or if you have not done the right things you go to hell.

Salvation from sin is the shorthand term that people often used to represent attainment of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Christian doctrines say, or imply, that salvation and eternal life in heaven is assured for Christians who do some or all of the following things:

✔️	They are baptized as a child or adult.
✔️	They are confirmed into church membership.
✔️	They attend church regularly.
✔️	They pray and read the Bible with some regularity.
✔️	They support their church financially and with volunteer labor.
✔️	Live a moral, sinless life according to the basic standards of the Ten Commandments.
✔️	Follow the religious rules codified by their church.
✔️	Make a verbal confession that they trust Jesus as their lord and savior.

There is some leeway in this list — depending on the religious denomination to which a Christian adheres. But generally speaking, these are the standards by which Christians evaluate the certainty of their salvation and the certainty of Going to heaven after they die. Judaism, being generally ambiguous about the afterlife, and the issues of heaven and hell, tends to focus on obedience to the laws of Moses while alive.

Religious practices and beliefs about salvation, heaven and hell, are based loosely on literal interpretations of the Bible. Because these interpretations vary from one religion to another, the standards, expectations and hopes about achieving salvation vary from one religion to another. Nevertheless, eternal life, also called salvation, is always perceived as the positive, desireable life that righteous will people enjoy after they die physically. This eternal life is thought to exist somewhere in the physical, celestial heaven above the physical earth. It is the life they will enjoy with Jesus and their departed friends and family. This life is a fabrication of religious teaching passed down for nearly two thousand years of religion.

In religion, eternal life in heaven is perceived as the positive opposite of a negative eternity spent in hell by people who have not been suitably religious. Thus religious people desire eternal life in heaven with God so they can avoid going to hell. In effect, they live a religious life for fear that they will go to hell if they don’t live a religious life. In other words, their devotion to religion is based on fear of going to hell.

Religions past and present have created graphic images of what hell is like, and the literal Bible reinforces the power of these images into a reality that motivates religious people to say and do almost anything to avoid it. These are the images invoked in “hell fire and brimstone” sermons that preachers use to inspire fear of hell into non-reliigous people as a means of scaring them into saying a sinners’ prayer and accepting Jesus as their savior. Given the accepted, universal understandings of what hell is like, it is not surprising that people fear spending eternity there.

This would all make sense if hell existed as it is represented in literature, art and the Bible. It does not exist. God symbolically employs the images of hell to graphically demonstrate what life is like for people who do not listen to his voice. He contrasts these scary images of hell with lovely, attractive images of heaven to contrast two kinds of lives: Lives for people who listen to God’s voice,  and lives for people who do not listen to his voice. He does not use these images to scare people to avoid a physical place called hell in favor of an attractive place called heaven. Rather, he uses the images to inform religious people about the consequences of their choice to listen, or not listen, to his voice.

But the choice is not about physical places in which people will spend eternity. Rather, the choice is about the here and now condition of their hearts. They can choose to have clean, pure hearts enjoyed by people who listen to God’s voice, or, they can choose to suffer the tribulation of evil, impure hearts that are the consequence of not listening to God’s voice. This is the life and death choice God presents in the Old Testament.

Spiritual life or spiritual death is the clear, simple choice that God presents in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. From which tree do they eat fruit: The tree of knowledge of good and evil, or the tree of life? They are free to choose. Choosing one tree leads to a clean, pure heart and spiritual life, and choosing the other tree leads to an evil, impure heart, spiritual death  and tribulation. The choice is very simple: Keep practicing religion and listening to false prophets, or listen to God’s voice as spoken through true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, warriors and apostles/messengers whom he sends to speak for him.

The big problem Christians have is that they do not know that God’s spoken word and his written word are not the same. That means that they do not know how to discern between good and evil. That means they do not know that heaven and hell are symbolic representations of two heart conditions. They do not understand that hell is a Biblical term that symbolically represents an evil, impure heart — not a physical place reserved for bad people after they die physically.

Lacking understanding of these truths, Christians think of hell as a real place that they don’t want to go to after they die. Christians do not emphasize fear of hell in their theology, but fear is always present. In fact fear of hell, for themselves and others, is a big driver of religion — especially evangelism and missions. Fear of an eternity in hell is especially present in altar calls in evangelistic churches and missions to non-christian cultures. Fear that non-christians will go to hell unless Christians evangelize them motivates them to engage in face-to-face evangelism. And if they don’t engage in personal evangelism, and if they don’t help finance evangelism efforts accomplished by others, fear is accompanied by guilt that they are somehow responsible if others end up going to hell. Fear is a useful motivator in religion. It is such a critical factor in religion that Christians are incapable of obeying God’s commands to “fear not.”

There are at least eight problems with Christian theology regarding salvation, eternal life, heaven and hell:

It ignores what eternal life means: Life with out beginning and without end. Thus, for religious people who desire to go to heaven after they physically die, the eternal life to which they aspire begins only after they die. Thus, for religious people, the concept of eternal life has a beginning (i.e. when they die physically) but has no end. It is not, therefore, eternal. See Eternal Life for details. It ignores the positive benefits of spiritual life that is available to people who hear and obey God’s spoken voice while physically alive on earth. It ignores that salvation is a “today” event, not a future event. It ignores the fact that the kingdom of heaven as God sees it is in the heart of man — not somewhere in the physical heaven/sky. It ignores the fact that people do not go to be with God in a physical place called heaven, but God comes to man to make his home in man’s heart. It allows people to continue sinning by practicing religion while they are physically alive. It deflects people from obeying God’s commands to tear down idols and high places. It deflects people from engaging with the enemy as warriors and messiahs who desire to set people free from religion.

Man’s religious concept of salvation as some kind of future status in heaven contrasts remarkably with God’s idea of salvation which is: Freedom from the consequences of the sin of religion.

For God, religion is the problem. For God, religion is the problem because religion depends of listening to the words of religious leaders — not God’s spoken voice. For God, living a religious life is evil and hell. It is a problem for man for the following reasons:

Religion is Disease Religion is Sin Religion is Deception Religion is Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction Religion is Idolatry Religion is the Enemy Religion is a Stronghold of Wrong Thinking Religion is Commerce Religion is not Faith Religion is the product of an evil, impure heart. Religion depends on the teaching and leadership of false prophets.

For God, the purpose and goal of salvation is to deliver religious people from these problems today while people are still physically alive — not after they physically die. The only way to be delivered from these problems is to quit listening to the words of religious leaders and start listening to God’s spoken word. The words of religious leaders have deceived people into religious beliefs and practices, and God’s spoken word is the antidote, or cure, for this deception.

The following truths help explain salvation:

• • • Hell is the here and now condition of evil impure hearts.
    • Hearts are evil and impure because religious people listen to the teachings of false prophets.
    • Salvation is necessary because religious people have been deceived by religious leaders.
    • Religious people who listen to false prophets are enslaved, afflicted and oppressed by their teachings.
    • Truth is the only way to offset lies.
    • Religious leaders speak words that are lies, but, God and his chosen messengers speak truth.
    • People who have ears to hear God’s spoken word attain salvation when they hear the truth about religion and God.
    • People who have hard hearts do not hear God’s voice remain religious and do not attain salvation from religion.
    • Religious people are intoxicated with religious pride that prevents them from humbling themselves.
    • God exalts (i.e. lifts up, raptures) the hearts of people who humble themselves when they admit that religion is sin.
    • Exaltation (i.e. rapture) is the experience of hearing God’s spoken voice.
    • The hearts of people who hear God’s spoken voice are lifted up (i.e. raptured.)
    • People who hear God’s voice have hearts that are clean and pure.
    • People who hear God’s voice receive salvation from death.
    • Clean, pure hearts are symbolically represented as heaven.

Religious people do not know that they are sick, deceived, oppressed, and at war with their religious communities. But God knows, and because he is merciful, gracious and compassionate, he wants to rescue his people from all of these problems. Moreover, he wants to make his home in their hearts (i.e. heaven).

But, as much as God wants to rescue his people from religion, God has several obstacles that impede his desire to rescue people from religion:

Religious people do not know that they need to be rescued because they are deceived into believing that they are righteous in their beliefs and practices. Believing that they have already checked all, or most, of the boxes that earn salvation, they resist attempts by anyone to tell them that they do not really have salvation and that they need to quit being religious. Because religious people habitually listen to and follow the teachings of their religious leaders (i.e. false prophets), they do not know how to hear God’s spoken voice. Religious people do not understand the difference between faith and religion. Religious people do not understand that God’s written word and his spoken word are not the same.

The main problem for God is that people do not know how to hear his spoken voice. It is like another language that they do not understand. Another big problem is people who rebelliously harden their hearts to hearing God’s voice.

God’s remedy for this situation has always been to send prophets who, because they know how to hear his voice, know how to interpret the literal law (i.e. Bible). God sends these messiahs (i.e. true prophets, angels, high priests, and warriors) to speak his words in human languages that religious people can understand. Those who listen to God’s word receive salvation. Those who refuse to listen and remain religious continue to suffer in the hell that they have chosen for themselves.

It is clear that not all people want, or think they need, the kind of salvation that God provides through words spoken by his prophets/messengers. Those who reject the words of the true prophets are happy and content with their understanding of  salvation as going to heaven after they die. They strongly resent being told that their understanding of salvation is wrong. They feel safe and secure behind their strongholds of wrong thinking.

Those who deny and reject salvation through God’s spoken word are capable of reacting violently to anyone who suggests that religious people need salvation. Religious people believe they already have salvation because they follow religious laws. Their pride in the purity of their religion arouses them to total resistance of the possibility that their religion is not true. They are therefore very offended and angry with anyone who dares to tell them differently. Such is the strength of their arrogance and their ability to resist humility.

False prophets are in no danger of offending religious people because they always report what religious people want to hear. For that reason, they always enjoy the favor and esteem of religious people.

True prophets, on the other hand, will surely be rejected and despised because they speak of conviction of sin and other unwelcome truths about how God sees religion to religious people. What happened to Jesus is an example of how religious people will treat his followers who are also true prophets.

We see this kind of response in Old Testament stories about the violent ways that religious people reacted to God’s words spoken through God’s prophets. We see a detailed report of what happens when God’s prophets speak his words to religious people (i.e. pharisees and scribes) in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Jesus promised that this pattern of persecution and abuse would continue in his prophecies that his followers will receive the same kind of treatment that he received from their religious friends and neighbors. And we see that Jesus’ prophecies about persecution and trouble his followers would experience was fulfilled in many New Testament stories.

Jesus is the perfect model of all true prophets. His disciples learn about his character and his ministry from the Bible and then go and do the kinds of things that Jesus did. They, in effect, are messiahs just like Jesus. They are qualified as messiahs with power and authority to speak for God because God’s laws are written on their hearts. Then, those who hear (i.e. believe) the word of God spoken through messengers/angels/prophets, and who repent for the fact that for a season of their life they listened to false prophets and were themselves false prophets who led people into slavery, will receive forgiveness and achieve salvation in the form of the ability to hear God’s voice.

Thus it must be said that God’s voice is the only salvation (i.e. cure) for religion. Failure to listen to God’s voice was the sin that created the need for salvation. Therefore, listening to God’s voice is the source of salvation.

STUDY TIPS: It is impossible to understand forgiveness and salvation without first understanding the symbolism of blood as God’s spoken word, and without understanding God’s definition of sin.

Regarding forgiveness, these scriptures are instructive:

Leviticus 8:14-15:  Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 

COMMENTARY: To understand this scripture, it is first necessary to understand the symbolism of the heart as the altar where spiritual sacrifices and offerings are made. See Place Where God Will Place His Name.

With the understanding of the altar as the heart, we can then see that blood (i.e. God’s voice) purifies the heart. Heart purification is the one and only miracle that God does. It is a miracle that only God can do. Hearing his voice is what makes this miracle happen. Hearing God’s voice changes people from Old/First Covenant religionists to New Covenant disciples. Hearing God’s voice has a consecrating effect (i.e. makes it holy) on the heart.

God’s voice atones for (i.e. covers up, forgives) the sin of religion. After religious people are covered with God’s blood (i.e. his spoken word), God no longer sees their sin. They are effectively washed clean by his word (i.e. his blood).

Leviticus 17:11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.

COMMENTARY: See Blood.

Hebrews 9:22: And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

COMMENTARY: When we understand the symbolism of blood as God’s spoken word, we see that it is God’s word that cleanses us from sin. In other words, if we do not hear God’s voice we are neither cleansed nor forgiven.

New Covenant disciples are the only ones who receive forgiveness of sins. They are qualified for forgiveness for the following reasons:

They stop listening to false prophets. They stop following religious laws created by men. They choose to allow God to give them a new heart. They listen to God’s voice (i.e. God’s voice has been sprinkled on them) and follow his spiritual laws. God’s spiritual laws are written on their hearts. They function as messiahs and warriors who tear down idols and high places. The do justice that delivers religious people from oppression from the sin of religion.