Friday, December 15, 2006
Fall From Grace
Q: I believe in God and have been brought up in a christian home but fell from grace. I still sin all the time and ask for forgiveness.
Will I still go to heaven even if I continue to fall?
A: Each religion and even each sect within a religion has its own
teachings about sin so this can be a confusing topic but it is one that The
Urantia Book clears up profoundly by making two things ever so clear. One
is that we mortal beings are fallible, we make mistakes, we sin, and we
learn. That's the way God has created us; therefore God doesn't hold it
against us that we make mistakes or that we sin because that's natural
for us. The second observation is that this life in the flesh is just
the first rung on a long ladder to perfection and that all that's
required to stay on the ladder and to progress rung by rung is even just a
small flicker of faith, a belief in God or in something higher than
ourselves.
That said, when you are tempted to do something you know is wrong or
beneath you don't do it -- doing something you know to be wrong is sinful,
a giant step above mere evil. Asking for forgiveness is always a good thing.
Recall Jesus' words that pertain to just about every situation, "fear
not". God has provided the ascension scheme just so beings like you and
I can become perfected over time; it's part of the plan that we will
participate even though we begin so imperfect.
May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider
subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site
that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this
marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to
start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the
book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click
on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Thank you for your question.
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com
I hope you won't mind one more point of view on your question to Truthbook.
What I read in your question is something that seems to be epidemic in our world - and that something is - fear of God.
I know that in traditional religions, and even in the Bible, we are told that we must have "fear of the Lord," and it seems to me to be a very unfortunate choice of words. I would rather prefer "respect." And dare I say? I think that God would prefer that, also.
The Urantia Book offers modern mankind a new and expanded concept of God - not as a judge, not as someone who is watching for us to slip up - but as a loving, always loving Father.
I heartily invite you to read the first few papers of the Urantia Book regarding the Universal Father. I guarantee that you will feel much better in evaluating your own "fall from grace." I invite you to imagine the perfect earthly father - someone who is always loving, always forgiving, always understanding of your shortcomings and frailties. A father who never condemns, but who is always ready to comfort you in your shame when you feel you have fallen short of his expectations for you.
If you can imagine a human Father being that good, try to imagine the Divine Father, who must be all of that and much, much more.
As Larry has so well pointed out, it is part of the Father's plan that we are "perfecting," but not perfect. God understands, and his love binds up every wound and every hurt we may inflict on ourselves in the way of guilt and shame. It is not his plan that we should harbor these abiding feelings about ourselves. And neither should we be over-scrupulous when evaluating the degrees of our oun sinfulness, imagining that we are worse than we actually are.
A sense of having done something wrong is healthy, and remorse is a good thing, along with resolve to not repeat the offense. If you truly feel you are sinning too much, simply quit whatever you do that seems sinful to you, and ask God to fill that space with his love and with a better idea. Then forgive yourself, for God has already forgiven you.
It also might be of interest to you to read what Jesus has to say about the subjects of "evil, sin, and iniquity," found in Paper 148, section 4. Page 1660.
And again - please read the first few papers of Part I of the Urantia Book to get a boost of happiness about God, and his loving relationship with you, and all of humanity. It is guanteed to ease your fear and give you peace about God!
Take heart!
Sincerely,
MaryJo
Truthbook.comLabels: ascension, Christian, fear of God, forgiveness, grace, Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, religion, The Urantia Book
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