I have never not believed in God so have patience. I always believed in God because I was taught all the right ways. My mom was very Holy Spirit filled. I myself have messed up many times in life and have learnt from those things. I think that lots of people that say they don't believe in God or anything have been taught the wrong way. I was told that having panic attacks meant I didn't have enough faith. I was so discouraged but luckly when I checked my email I was sent a thing for this site. I talked to someone that told me differently! I beleive that so many people if weren't told things to discourage them would believe in the Lord. It makes me mad when people sit there and put down people that are non belivers because they don't know any better sometimes. I think most Christians that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have walked away from him at some point in their lives, and the others have been taught differently and the Lord sent them someone to keep them on track. I know that I have walked away when I was younger because there was to much I couldn't understand that was going on in my life. I didn't feel good enough to go to church or talk to God because I got pregnant and wasn't married and was real young. I let others tell me that I wasn't worth it. I think that it is real sad looking back now but I realize now that others told me what I should and shouldn't be doing. I don't agree with anything that I did now and I know that you should wait intil you get married but I AM FORGIVEN! Thie is the best way that I was told about any of this. I was told that all sins are the same and so my sin was the same as someone speeding. When I looked at it that way and knew that people that walked with the Lord have speeded for some reason then I knew that the Lord still loved me just not what I did. I hope this post makes someone realize that the Lord is a just Lord and all sins are equal and you can be forgiven for whatever you repent for. I know I am forgiven and the Lord now leads me in my walk!I pray that this will help someone to walk with the Lord again and I hope that the Lord will let all see this as a open minded post!
Jennifier
What is Toxic Faith?
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Guest
I decided to bump this thread cause I have read recently on posts about how people say depression is a sin or churches saying true believers can't be depressed. TOXIC
And I think most are confused on what "SIN" is. Sin is self-exaltation. Putting anything or anyone above God and/or questioning/testing God. SIN is the "separater" between you and God.
You won't go to hell for being depressed. Any church that tells you that....RUN!!! Depression is the "state" of a person. Not who they are! There are many things that can cause depression and it can be overcome.
And the Commandments (or rules as some have called them) are guidelines to live by for the protection of your heart/mind/body/thoughts/health/identification (and is pretty much common sense.
)
And I think most are confused on what "SIN" is. Sin is self-exaltation. Putting anything or anyone above God and/or questioning/testing God. SIN is the "separater" between you and God.
You won't go to hell for being depressed. Any church that tells you that....RUN!!! Depression is the "state" of a person. Not who they are! There are many things that can cause depression and it can be overcome.
And the Commandments (or rules as some have called them) are guidelines to live by for the protection of your heart/mind/body/thoughts/health/identification (and is pretty much common sense.
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Guest
How true that all stated has stifled my walk with Christ. Although I feel I have a realtionship with Christ and in HIS word...there is still a recovery process from the destruction of the religion I grew up with...
Fears prevent me from healing...I look forward to seeing this program work for me in healing my wounds from man made religion so I can have a spritual walk with Christ without Satans deception on my shoulder.
I truly believe that what I am experiencing is a trap, a grip from satan to keep me down...because I will be a powerful testimony for Christ's Love and Grace.
I just need help to get out of this pothole...and it is probably only needing me to stand up..the hole is bigger in my mind then it really is...kind of like shallow water...it I learn to stand up I will not drown.
Fears prevent me from healing...I look forward to seeing this program work for me in healing my wounds from man made religion so I can have a spritual walk with Christ without Satans deception on my shoulder.
I truly believe that what I am experiencing is a trap, a grip from satan to keep me down...because I will be a powerful testimony for Christ's Love and Grace.
I just need help to get out of this pothole...and it is probably only needing me to stand up..the hole is bigger in my mind then it really is...kind of like shallow water...it I learn to stand up I will not drown.
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Mello Nello
- Posts: 299
- Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:00 am
You quote:
Although I feel I have a realtionship with Christ and in HIS word...there is still a recovery process from the destruction of the religion I grew up with..
Right Gingerly...recovery and spiritual walk I believe are one and the same. If you get a chance...check out the book Toxic Faith. It will help you put some perspective on things.
You quote:
I truly believe that what I am experiencing is a trap, a grip from satan to keep me down...because I will be a powerful testimony for Christ's Love and Grace.
That is a powerful statement that can only be said with Christ in your heart. God Bless
Although I feel I have a realtionship with Christ and in HIS word...there is still a recovery process from the destruction of the religion I grew up with..
Right Gingerly...recovery and spiritual walk I believe are one and the same. If you get a chance...check out the book Toxic Faith. It will help you put some perspective on things.
You quote:
I truly believe that what I am experiencing is a trap, a grip from satan to keep me down...because I will be a powerful testimony for Christ's Love and Grace.
That is a powerful statement that can only be said with Christ in your heart. God Bless
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Guest
Thanks, Conner, and everyone else on this thread for your input. I still struggle with some of this due to well meaning, but misguided people (my opinion) and still don't feel good enough for "the Church". I hope at some point I can reconcile my relationship with Christ. Thanks again.
I wrote in my Bible years ago:
"It is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring individuals to an intimate and satisfying fellowship with God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."
My experience has been that this happens mostly in my alone times with God rather than at Church functions. I now see myself as an "outsider" from the Church and honestly not wanting much to do with organized religion as a result of abuse and abusive language, but having known Christ intimately a few times in my life, I know that He is and that somehow I need to reconcile.
I wrote in my Bible years ago:
"It is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring individuals to an intimate and satisfying fellowship with God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."
My experience has been that this happens mostly in my alone times with God rather than at Church functions. I now see myself as an "outsider" from the Church and honestly not wanting much to do with organized religion as a result of abuse and abusive language, but having known Christ intimately a few times in my life, I know that He is and that somehow I need to reconcile.
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Guest
------------------------------------------------
— Proverbs 17:3 —
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests the heart.
------------------------------------------------
It takes intense heat to purify gold and silver. Similarly, it often takes the heat of trials for the Christian to be purified. Through trials, God shows us what is in us and clears out anything that gets in the way of complete trust in him. Peter says, "These have come so your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:7). So when tough times come your way, realize that God wants to use them to refine your faith and purify your heart.
This seemed relevant. Taken from <A HREF="http://www.lehrmangroup.com/verse/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.lehrmangroup.com/verse/</A>
— Proverbs 17:3 —
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests the heart.
------------------------------------------------
It takes intense heat to purify gold and silver. Similarly, it often takes the heat of trials for the Christian to be purified. Through trials, God shows us what is in us and clears out anything that gets in the way of complete trust in him. Peter says, "These have come so your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:7). So when tough times come your way, realize that God wants to use them to refine your faith and purify your heart.
This seemed relevant. Taken from <A HREF="http://www.lehrmangroup.com/verse/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.lehrmangroup.com/verse/</A>
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Guest
Hey Conner, great post!
I too went through this experience, but in the reverse order. I studied everything BUT Christianity and developed anxiety and panic because of it.
Many people who were harmed by Toxic Faith, turn to the more 'peaceful' and 'enlightened' teachings which can be just as destructive. You rarely hear of it, though, so I just wanted folks to be aware that these paths CAN be a CAUSE of anxiety.
I think the major fallacy that is out there right now is that all paths lead to the same place. This is a pretty 'new' idea. In the 'olden days' people were very aware that they were NOT on the same path toward the same destination. Nowadays, people start on a spiritual path with absolutely no idea what the end result is supposed to be; although there is a clear end to each path, and it is not the same place. If you know where you want to go, make sure the path you're on is going there. I, for one, was not looking to end up dissolved into nothingness; but I almost was.
I too went through this experience, but in the reverse order. I studied everything BUT Christianity and developed anxiety and panic because of it.
Many people who were harmed by Toxic Faith, turn to the more 'peaceful' and 'enlightened' teachings which can be just as destructive. You rarely hear of it, though, so I just wanted folks to be aware that these paths CAN be a CAUSE of anxiety.
I think the major fallacy that is out there right now is that all paths lead to the same place. This is a pretty 'new' idea. In the 'olden days' people were very aware that they were NOT on the same path toward the same destination. Nowadays, people start on a spiritual path with absolutely no idea what the end result is supposed to be; although there is a clear end to each path, and it is not the same place. If you know where you want to go, make sure the path you're on is going there. I, for one, was not looking to end up dissolved into nothingness; but I almost was.
Well meaning, godly people can be misguided. I was one of only two people I know that experienced problems in the group I was involved in. I still hold this group and the individuals involved in it in high regard because of their long standing loyalty and commitment to their faith. But, the other fellow who apparently experienced problems along the way ended his life 10 years ago. I personally believe this event was connected with what he was taught, but I don't know that for a fact. He was a CPA and someone I viewed as a very good, well intentioned person. What a tragic event.
I have met some Christians in the last 10 years or so who seem to be more accepting and less controlling. Even so, I still don't feel good enough, not worthy of forgiveness, always afraid of being judged based upon performance based upon my past experiences. A well meaning "friend" in 1987 quoted James to me about my faith being dead. At a time when in my personal times with God [1 and 2 hours a day on average] I could sense His love and acceptance and this was helping to heal me of the negative thoughts I had towards myself. I was beginning to gain control over a long standing persoanl problem from childhood, the first time in my life I had experienced such control. I think God was meeting unmet needs for intimacy and love I didn't get growing up. I was telling my 3 year old son about God, trying to do that in my work life as well. I could sense God's presence from morning to early afternoon much of the time as a result of being recharged with the quiettimes each day. Thinking about Him and living with Him was as natural to me as breathing. I had never experienced this before in my life. But most of my "friends" didn't see it.
Some signs, according to the book, of toxic faith are:
1. Do you often feel exhausted from lengthy group activities, meetings and projects?
Yes, I did.
2. Are doubts viewed as a lack of faith, dedication, commitment or disloyalty?
Yes, they were.
3. Do you often find yourself doing more and more things in the group or because of group peer pressure that you would not have done on your own?
Yes, without question
4. Does your group publicly humiliate or criticize members?
Sometimes. IT happened to me more than once.
5. Does the prospect of leaving your group seem scary, difficult?
It was very difficult
6. Have you been told something bad might happen if you leave?
Yes. Remember Jonah? Look out Don.
7. Do you follow a particular individual or belief system that requires unquestioning obedience and loyalty?
For the most part, yes, I did.
8. Do members of your group feel specially chosen, superior, exclusive, elite?
Yes, chosen before the foundation of the world. It doesn't get anymore exclusive than that.
9. Do you feel the need to save or convert others to your belief system or ideology?
Not to my belief system, but to God, yes, I did. Matthew 28: 18-20
10. Do you place your group’s mission or agenda above your own goals and ideals? Do group interests come before your own interest
Ofcourse, this was brow beat into me. Committment to the group came before my college goals. Wrong, misguided, but I bought it.
11. Do members seek approval or get permission from group leader(s) for personal life choices?
Ofcourse
12. Do you feel pressured to attend meetings, events, lectures, seminars? And do you feel guilty if you don’t attend?
Yes, I did and it wasn't just a feeling, it was verbal abuse.
13. Does your group have a totalitarian structure: a strict, top-down centralized control?
I view it that way
Do you wonder if you have been in a destructive group?
Do you...
...have difficulty forming new friendships and intimate relationships?
Yes. I don't have any close friends.
...have low self-esteem, poor self-image or loss of identity?
Still struggling, yes.
feel isolated, lonely, guilty, cynical?
sometimes
...feel you have nothing to believe in?
Well, I've known Christ intimately through experience not just faith, but no longer consider myself "worthy". So, yes
often feel anger and rage towards the group?
This was a biggy for me years ago. Its been forgiven. But the net result of all of it is I'm not good enough.
I have met some Christians in the last 10 years or so who seem to be more accepting and less controlling. Even so, I still don't feel good enough, not worthy of forgiveness, always afraid of being judged based upon performance based upon my past experiences. A well meaning "friend" in 1987 quoted James to me about my faith being dead. At a time when in my personal times with God [1 and 2 hours a day on average] I could sense His love and acceptance and this was helping to heal me of the negative thoughts I had towards myself. I was beginning to gain control over a long standing persoanl problem from childhood, the first time in my life I had experienced such control. I think God was meeting unmet needs for intimacy and love I didn't get growing up. I was telling my 3 year old son about God, trying to do that in my work life as well. I could sense God's presence from morning to early afternoon much of the time as a result of being recharged with the quiettimes each day. Thinking about Him and living with Him was as natural to me as breathing. I had never experienced this before in my life. But most of my "friends" didn't see it.
Some signs, according to the book, of toxic faith are:
1. Do you often feel exhausted from lengthy group activities, meetings and projects?
Yes, I did.
2. Are doubts viewed as a lack of faith, dedication, commitment or disloyalty?
Yes, they were.
3. Do you often find yourself doing more and more things in the group or because of group peer pressure that you would not have done on your own?
Yes, without question
4. Does your group publicly humiliate or criticize members?
Sometimes. IT happened to me more than once.
5. Does the prospect of leaving your group seem scary, difficult?
It was very difficult
6. Have you been told something bad might happen if you leave?
Yes. Remember Jonah? Look out Don.
7. Do you follow a particular individual or belief system that requires unquestioning obedience and loyalty?
For the most part, yes, I did.
8. Do members of your group feel specially chosen, superior, exclusive, elite?
Yes, chosen before the foundation of the world. It doesn't get anymore exclusive than that.
9. Do you feel the need to save or convert others to your belief system or ideology?
Not to my belief system, but to God, yes, I did. Matthew 28: 18-20
10. Do you place your group’s mission or agenda above your own goals and ideals? Do group interests come before your own interest
Ofcourse, this was brow beat into me. Committment to the group came before my college goals. Wrong, misguided, but I bought it.
11. Do members seek approval or get permission from group leader(s) for personal life choices?
Ofcourse
12. Do you feel pressured to attend meetings, events, lectures, seminars? And do you feel guilty if you don’t attend?
Yes, I did and it wasn't just a feeling, it was verbal abuse.
13. Does your group have a totalitarian structure: a strict, top-down centralized control?
I view it that way
Do you wonder if you have been in a destructive group?
Do you...
...have difficulty forming new friendships and intimate relationships?
Yes. I don't have any close friends.
...have low self-esteem, poor self-image or loss of identity?
Still struggling, yes.
feel isolated, lonely, guilty, cynical?
sometimes
...feel you have nothing to believe in?
Well, I've known Christ intimately through experience not just faith, but no longer consider myself "worthy". So, yes
often feel anger and rage towards the group?
This was a biggy for me years ago. Its been forgiven. But the net result of all of it is I'm not good enough.
ANGELS CAN FLY BECAUSE THEY TAKE THEMSELVES LIGHTLY
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rose_thorn98
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:26 pm
Oh Don,
I'm so sorry to hear that you feel unworthy. You ARE worthy..
I love God truly [with affectionate reverence, prompt obedience, and grateful recognition of His blessing], I am known by God [recognized as worthy of His intimacy and love, and I am owned by Him].
-1 Corinthians 8:3
I also was involved in a 'group' that harmed me. Joyce Meyer offers a CD set called "Restoring Fellowship with the Father", I haven't listened to that particular one, but I do have many other of her resources. I consider myself 'home churched' because I can't find any Church that I feel comfortable with, either.
I'm so sorry to hear that you feel unworthy. You ARE worthy..
I love God truly [with affectionate reverence, prompt obedience, and grateful recognition of His blessing], I am known by God [recognized as worthy of His intimacy and love, and I am owned by Him].
-1 Corinthians 8:3
I also was involved in a 'group' that harmed me. Joyce Meyer offers a CD set called "Restoring Fellowship with the Father", I haven't listened to that particular one, but I do have many other of her resources. I consider myself 'home churched' because I can't find any Church that I feel comfortable with, either.
~The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King, Jr~
Martin Luther King, Jr~
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Guest
Defining Characteristics of our Christian Faith
Words from Dr. Jim Poit, Executive Pastor, Crystal Cathedral Ministries
A quick visit to your local bookstore will prove to you that New Age Spirituality just might be the fastest growing and most prominent spiritual belief system in America today. Millions of well-educated, professional, articulate, sincere Americans (many of them well-intentioned Christians) have become patrons of what can be described as self-help or self-awareness spirituality.
We believe this form of spirituality is very different than the biblical, positive Christian message that we teach at the Crystal Cathedral. New Age Spirituality combines beliefs from many religious systems including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Gnosticism, and it also borrows many concepts from Christianity. From Hinduism, New Age Spirituality teaches the concept of monism, that “all is one” and all reality is a unified whole. It also borrows from Hinduism the concept of pantheism, that “all is God” and all reality is divine. This leads to understanding in the New Age movement that God is an impersonal force or energy. Everything that exists is part of God, and God is present in everything. Therefore, we are all part of a larger collective consciousness that “makes up” what we call God.
The New Age god is created in our image; their god is whoever or whatever they want their god to be. New Agers will borrow Genesis 1:27 from the Judeo-Christian tradition and explain that to be created in God’s image means that we must be part of a greater consciousness, a “god consciousness.” In fact, all of reality together makes up this god consciousness. Therefore New Agers conclude that all of us are divine and that we are all “god”. God is no longer to be sought beyond the world, but deep within our own being.
This leads many New Agers to the idea that there is not just one Christ, whose name is Jesus, but many christs. The Jesus of history, who lived, died on a cross, and was resurrected, becomes one among many wise men. Jesus is distinct from an eternal, impersonal, universal christ which can be incarnated into all our beings or souls through enlightenment and the clearing of our conscious minds of the clutter that blocks our intuition, a concept adopted from Buddhism. In this way, every person can become “the christ” by obtaining a christ consciousness. Jesus is understood by New Agers to be a “way-shower” to a greater consciousness which can be awakened within each individual person because each person is divine.
In the New Age system of beliefs, God becomes, therefore, a spiritual force or divine energy to be harnessed and manipulated by each individual. Their god can be used to obtain greater enlightenment or insight into the mysteries of the universe, which will bring about a new era of self-discovery, spiritual awareness, personal enlightenment, and global unity. For New Agers, salvation is self-fulfillment, self-realization, and self-redemption; it is a process of becoming aware of one’s own divinity. Sin in the New Age system is defined as overcoming one’s misconceptions and awakening to a new understanding of one’s personal divinity.
Biblical Christianity on the other hand, which we support at the Crystal Cathedral, teaches that God exists apart from creation. God is what Karl Barth called “the Wholly Other.” Barth wrote,
God is the new, incomparable, unattainable, not only heavenly but more than heavenly interest, who has drawn the regard of the men of the Bible to himself. He desires their complete attention, their entire obedience. For he must be true to himself; he must be and remain holy. He cannot be grasped, brought under management, and put to use; he cannot serve. He must rule. He must himself grasp, seize, manage, use. He can satisfy no other needs than his own. He is not in another world over against this one; he submerges all of this in the other. He is not a thing among other things, but the Wholly Other, the infinite aggregate of all merely relative others. He is not the form of religious history but is the Lord of our life, the eternal Lord of the world.
Karl Barth, The Word of God and the Word of Man
The Bible teaches that God is personal - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and is active in this world but exists apart from creation, meaning the Creator cannot be confused with creation. Creation, including human beings, is not divine or eternal. We cannot save ourselves. We obtain salvation and can live eternally with God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. In Christianity, salvation is not an experience of self, a meditative and intuitive dwelling within oneself, but much more the forgiveness of sin, which ultimately is a lack of faith and trust in God. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, he obtained for us the forgiveness of our sin and the right to be children of God, ultimately restoring our relationship with the Creator.
While at the Cathedral we believe in the infinite worth and immeasurable potential of every human being, this does not mean that we believe salvation can be obtained through our own goodness or self-worth. It does not mean that we subscribe to the New Age belief that salvation can be obtained outside a relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead, we believe that a person can only reach their fullest potential through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is the central act in the life of a Christian by which he or she is brought into a right relationship with God through the redemptive grace of Jesus Christ, forgiven of sins, adopted as a child of God, and given eternal life. It is a gift of God and is entirely wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ.
Words from Dr. Jim Poit, Executive Pastor, Crystal Cathedral Ministries
A quick visit to your local bookstore will prove to you that New Age Spirituality just might be the fastest growing and most prominent spiritual belief system in America today. Millions of well-educated, professional, articulate, sincere Americans (many of them well-intentioned Christians) have become patrons of what can be described as self-help or self-awareness spirituality.
We believe this form of spirituality is very different than the biblical, positive Christian message that we teach at the Crystal Cathedral. New Age Spirituality combines beliefs from many religious systems including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Gnosticism, and it also borrows many concepts from Christianity. From Hinduism, New Age Spirituality teaches the concept of monism, that “all is one” and all reality is a unified whole. It also borrows from Hinduism the concept of pantheism, that “all is God” and all reality is divine. This leads to understanding in the New Age movement that God is an impersonal force or energy. Everything that exists is part of God, and God is present in everything. Therefore, we are all part of a larger collective consciousness that “makes up” what we call God.
The New Age god is created in our image; their god is whoever or whatever they want their god to be. New Agers will borrow Genesis 1:27 from the Judeo-Christian tradition and explain that to be created in God’s image means that we must be part of a greater consciousness, a “god consciousness.” In fact, all of reality together makes up this god consciousness. Therefore New Agers conclude that all of us are divine and that we are all “god”. God is no longer to be sought beyond the world, but deep within our own being.
This leads many New Agers to the idea that there is not just one Christ, whose name is Jesus, but many christs. The Jesus of history, who lived, died on a cross, and was resurrected, becomes one among many wise men. Jesus is distinct from an eternal, impersonal, universal christ which can be incarnated into all our beings or souls through enlightenment and the clearing of our conscious minds of the clutter that blocks our intuition, a concept adopted from Buddhism. In this way, every person can become “the christ” by obtaining a christ consciousness. Jesus is understood by New Agers to be a “way-shower” to a greater consciousness which can be awakened within each individual person because each person is divine.
In the New Age system of beliefs, God becomes, therefore, a spiritual force or divine energy to be harnessed and manipulated by each individual. Their god can be used to obtain greater enlightenment or insight into the mysteries of the universe, which will bring about a new era of self-discovery, spiritual awareness, personal enlightenment, and global unity. For New Agers, salvation is self-fulfillment, self-realization, and self-redemption; it is a process of becoming aware of one’s own divinity. Sin in the New Age system is defined as overcoming one’s misconceptions and awakening to a new understanding of one’s personal divinity.
Biblical Christianity on the other hand, which we support at the Crystal Cathedral, teaches that God exists apart from creation. God is what Karl Barth called “the Wholly Other.” Barth wrote,
God is the new, incomparable, unattainable, not only heavenly but more than heavenly interest, who has drawn the regard of the men of the Bible to himself. He desires their complete attention, their entire obedience. For he must be true to himself; he must be and remain holy. He cannot be grasped, brought under management, and put to use; he cannot serve. He must rule. He must himself grasp, seize, manage, use. He can satisfy no other needs than his own. He is not in another world over against this one; he submerges all of this in the other. He is not a thing among other things, but the Wholly Other, the infinite aggregate of all merely relative others. He is not the form of religious history but is the Lord of our life, the eternal Lord of the world.
Karl Barth, The Word of God and the Word of Man
The Bible teaches that God is personal - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and is active in this world but exists apart from creation, meaning the Creator cannot be confused with creation. Creation, including human beings, is not divine or eternal. We cannot save ourselves. We obtain salvation and can live eternally with God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. In Christianity, salvation is not an experience of self, a meditative and intuitive dwelling within oneself, but much more the forgiveness of sin, which ultimately is a lack of faith and trust in God. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, he obtained for us the forgiveness of our sin and the right to be children of God, ultimately restoring our relationship with the Creator.
While at the Cathedral we believe in the infinite worth and immeasurable potential of every human being, this does not mean that we believe salvation can be obtained through our own goodness or self-worth. It does not mean that we subscribe to the New Age belief that salvation can be obtained outside a relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead, we believe that a person can only reach their fullest potential through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is the central act in the life of a Christian by which he or she is brought into a right relationship with God through the redemptive grace of Jesus Christ, forgiven of sins, adopted as a child of God, and given eternal life. It is a gift of God and is entirely wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ.