A
Course in Miracles
Chapter
30 - The New Beginning
Justification
For Forgiveness
This
(unjustifed forgiveness) is the false forgiveness which
the world employs to keep the sense of sin alive. And
recognizing God is just, it seems impossible His pardon
could be real.
Thus
is the fear of God the sure result of seeing pardon
as unmerited.
No
one who sees himself as guilty can avoid the fear of
God. But he is saved from this dilemma if he can forgive.
The
mind must think of its Creator as it
looks upon itself. If
you can see your brother merits pardon, you have learned
forgiveness is your right as much as his. Nor will you
think that God intends for you a fearful judgement that
your brother does not merit. For it is the truth that
you can merit neither more nor less than he.
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The
crucifixion
did not establish the Atonement; the
resurrection
did. This
is a point that many very sincere
Christians have misunderstood.
If the crucifixion is seen from
an upside-down point of view, it
does appear as if God permitted,
and even encouraged, one of His
sons to suffer because he was good
(resulting in ) the terrible
misperception that God
Himself persecuted His Own Son on
behalf of salvation. The very words
are meaningless.
Many
ministers preach this every day.
This particularly unfortunate
interpretation, which arose out
of the combined misprojections
of a large number of "would-be"
followers, has led many people
to be bitterly afraid of God.
Yet the real Christian would have
to pause and ask,
"How
could this be?"
Is
it likely that God Himself would
be capable of the kind of thinking
which His Own Words have clearly
stated is unworthy of man? (Bible
says "Be merciful, just as
your Father is merciful."
Luke
6:36)
Can
you believe the Father really
thinks this way? It is so essential
that all such thinking be dispelled,
that we must be very sure that
nothing of this kind remains in
your mind.
I
was not punished because you were
bad. The wholly benign lesson the
Atonement teaches is lost if it
is tainted with this kind of distortion
in any form. I have been correctly
referred to as "the lamb of
God who taketh away the sins of
the world." John
1:29 Those who represent
the lamb as blood-stained, an all-too-widespread
error, do not understand the meaning
of the (lamb) symbol.
Correctly
understood, it is a very simple
parable which merely speaks of my
innocence. "The
lamb taketh away the sins of the
world" John
1:29 only in the sense that
the state of innocence, or grace,
is one in which the meaning of the
Atonement is perfectly apparent.
The
Resurrection demonstrated that nothing
can destroy truth. Good
can withstand any form of evil,
as light abolishes forms of darkness.
The Atonement is therefore the perfect
lesson. It is the final demonstration
that all of the other lessons which
I taught are true.
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