Anonymous asked: If we achieve moksha or nirvana based on our karma, what did Christ's sacrifice actually do? I never really understood how the sacrifice allows us into heaven, and the concept of karma added into the mix only complicates the issue in my mind.

It is impossible to attain moksha based on karma. Our actions in this world don’t last forever. They fade away. Our names, our forms, and our deeds are forgotten. What is temporary cannot be rewarded with what is eternal. Thus, when we suffer as a result of karma, it is not an eternal Hell, and when we are blessed as a result of karma, it is not an eternal Heaven (it is paradise). 

Moksha comes only in doing that which transcends karma. This means attaining knowledge, controlling one’s ego self, and perfecting it in realization of the true transcendental Self; karma can no longer bind that which governs it, i.e., God. This path requires jnana yoga (pursuit of divine knowledge) and raja yoga (physical and spiritual self-control)

It also means living in love and devotion without expectation of reward. Love is eternal, as God is love. Thus, to bring God into the world is to bring that which is eternal into the world. It is an eternal deed, rewarded with eternity. This path requires bhakti yoga (loving devotion to God) and/or karma yoga (selfless service, which in itself is bhakti). Karma yoga must accompany bhakti yoga, but bhakti yoga doesn’t necessarily need to accompany karma yoga. 

When Jesus died, his sacrifice became an eternal source of love and grace. From the beginning of time to the end of time, his sacrifice provides love and grace.  It is by love that we love God or others. It is by grace that we attain divine knowledge and eventual Self-realization. As we reach inward, the Self reaches outward - or - as some might understand it, as we reach up, God reaches down. It is only by doing one of these two things that one can attain moksha. 

Karma must be transcended, not sought.

Namaste.

Anonymous asked: When one dies, does one go to heaven/hell, or is reincarnated?

That depends on the person. If a person has realized their Self, or has lived in total compassion for the welfare of the world, or has devoted themselves to selfless service to God through charity and sacrifice, they can attain salvation and merge into perfect oneness with God. 

If a person has done good, but has not overcome karma, living individually and with an individual mind, that person may be rewarded with paradise. If a person has done evil, those evils will be cleansed in hell. Both of these realms are temporary. Whether they are realms separate from this world or means of reward or suffering within this world is unimportant. All actions, good and bad, are repaid.

But that’s not even the trickiest question. If ultimate salvation takes place outside of time, this means that all who will be saved are already saved, in this very moment, living completely unconscious of their liberation. Thus, the real question is this: when one dies, does one truly go anywhere? 

Namaste. 

4chanscreencaps asked: Are we saved from the condemnation due us because of our sin by our works of love, or by Christ's finished atoning work, in living a perfectly obedient life and dying on the cross in our stead? Or a mixture of both?

Salvation comes by living in selfless love and service of others, made possible through the sacrifice of Christ from which grace and love pour out eternally. All acts of compassion and charity are acts of God, rooted in his being as Love. Thus, though we ‘work out our own salvation’, that salvation is made possible only in the love of God, perfected in the sacrifice of Christ. It is a cooperation. 

Be blessed. 

Anonymous asked: I am a skeptic, on-again-off-again young Christian and I have always struggled with the fear of hell...but recently have been reading articles on topics such as universal reconciliation and the idea that hell doesn't exist. What do you believe, and do you see any evidence scripturally or personally either way?

All will be saved. The Bible clearly teaches this, as do more advanced religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Hell does exist, but it is a temporary place wherein we are cleansed or purged of our sins/karma and purified in our soul/jivatman. Whether it is a physical place, a state of being, a cosmic experience, or simply karmic justice exacted in an earthly life, we simply cannot know. What matters is that, eventually, perhaps after countless lives, all souls will be joined to God and partake of the divine nature. 

Be blessed. 

I’ll be doing a podcast later on atheists and their salvation. It’s a common argument within Christianity that one must have a personal belief in Christ to be saved, and that those who do cannot lose salvation, whereas those who don’t can’t be saved at all. Is this true? What does the Bible say? What does reason say? Tune in a bit to find out. :) 

Be blessed. 

(Source: innerchrist)

oblivliz replied to your post: Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of homosexual sex. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah came to Abram’s door asking to lay with the male angels whom God had sent. The Crusades and the Inquisition were in the 1200s. We do not advocate rape, sexism, or slavery. We’re not anti- any religion, but we try to share the love of Christ to non-Christ-believing religions. You’ll probably answer this with more Roman Catholic hate, so I’ll stop now. YOU, sir, are the corrupted one.

I’ll tell you what innerchrist, you have been blessed with the inborn natural ability to debate as well as being able to make your thoughts clear. If God truly has a plan for each of us, his plan for you seems to be taking shape quite nicely.

oblivliz replied to your post: You criticized people who call themselves catholic for being pro-abortion. How can honestly think that it’s ok to tell these people they aren’t catholic because they’re pro choice? The bible says all gay people are going to hell but you don’t seem to believe that. Just because someone wrote the supposed “words of god” down in a little book it doesn’t mean it’s true.

Who ever this anonymous person is clearly has not seen your views on some subjects. I don’t recall you criticizing people siding with pro-abortion. That and you support gay rights down to a very fine point.

oblivliz replied to your post: “All souls will be joined to God in eternal salvation eventually.” — Regardless of their sins? We all know Catholic faith tells us that sins take us to hell.

I would think that everyone and everything would have the capacity to be saved by God. I see no point in eternal damnation. There would be nothing learned and when one finally did learn of their mistakes, where would the salvation be in any of that?

oblivliz replied to your post: Do you think that even people like Adolf Hitler, Richard Ramirez, Albert Fish, Pol Pot, Charles Manson, etc go to Heaven? I can’t imagine Stalin chilling with God and having a beer with Gahndi in the afterlife :|

Did God not make all these people and understand everything about them? They have done horrible things, but on a grand universal scale their actions are small. Again, what is the point of redemption if it is not offered to all entities?

Thank you for your kind words. Indeed, you are right. If redemption is not offered to all, it serves no purpose to begin with. If not all will be saved, no one will be saved, because a God that doesn’t save all isn’t God at all. 

Anonymous asked: What do you believe is taught in Matthew 7:21-23, in regards to salvation. I did read that you had addressed the issue before saying that everyone will be saved, I also agree. I've asked many ministers, priests, and deacons about this and all have failed to see what I see as the main teaching within the Word. I was just wondering what your take on the issue would be bc I love everything I have read so far. It seems similar to what the story of Cain and Abel taught me.

Matthew 7:21-23 teaches that only those who do the will of the Father will enter Heaven. Paradoxically, the Bible teaches that the will of the Father is that all enter Heaven. As far as the means of that entrance, it is established on the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord, a statement taught by Christ to be made when we act in love and service of one another. Whether that confession is through our works of love and service, as both Christ and Paul seems to imply seemingly endless times, or is an auditory pronouncement of Christ’s divinity, the Bible makes it clear that eventually, all people will make it and be saved. 

If I missed the point you were trying to make, I’d love for you to share that with me, anonymously or otherwise. I always like to hear other perspectives on the scriptures. 

Be blessed!

Anonymous asked: What's your opinion on pets / animals and the afterlife? Because whilst I acknowledge that many animals are capable of levels of intelligence and emotion, I don't feel that animals have souls, or have a concept of morality, or are capable of entering into a relationship with Christ. Yet so many people I know believe that animals will go to heaven too ...

Animals most certainly have souls. Souls are what vivify us. The Bible specifically says that they have the same basic type of soul humans have, without regard to sentience/spiritual consciousness. Given that, there is no reason that animals cannot partake of the same spiritual life that humans can. 

Be blessed!

Anonymous asked: What are you views on hell/heaven/the afterlife, and who goes there? I know this issue has been more prevalent lately with Bell's "Love Wins" (though honestly it's always been a highly debated topic). I guess my question is: do you believe everyone goes to heaven, and if not, do you fall more in the free will category or the predestination category? Thanks!

I’m very firmly a universalist. I’ll be so bold as to say: if not everyone goes to Heaven by the grace of God, there is neither a Heaven nor a God.

Be blessed!

Anonymous asked: Will us LGBT people still go to Heaven? And how do you know if god is real? Cause im kind of an agnositc at times...

Yes, we will - even before those who condemn us in the name of their false ‘god’. I know God is real because I have experienced him. But it is okay if you doubt that. You don’t need to be resolute in faith to be a good person and do as God wills. You just need to love selflessly and serve everyone and everything you can for the benefit of the world, and of yourself. Love fulfills the Law, as the Bible says.