What is the Law of Christ?

Galatians 6:2 states, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (emphasis added). What exactly is the law of Christ, and how is it fulfilled by carrying each other’s burdens? While the law of Christ is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:21, the Bible nowhere specifically defines what precisely is the law of Christ. However, most Bible teachers understand the law of Christ to be what Christ stated were the greatest commandments in Mark 12:28–31, “‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’”

The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32–33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with, “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law. All of the Old Testament Law can be placed in the category of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”

Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15). In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the law of Christ. Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.

Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. First John 4:7–8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” First John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”

Some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans. “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15). For the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love, gratitude, and obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.

What is the origin of Christianity?

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead . . . the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:18, 26-28).

Discussing the origin of Christianity requires the review of an intricate story spanning time and eternity. Instead of a simple beginning, we consider Christianity's origin from several points of view. Acts 2 records the birth of the church at Pentecost. This was indeed a Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16), because a harvest of about 3,000 souls took place on that day when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and disciples (Acts 2:1-41). Biblically, Christianity is not a building or religion but the church, or household of God. It is embodied in Christ and His people, individually and collectively. Before time began, the church was conceived in the mind of God. Then, “when the time had fully come" (Galatians 4:4), God sent His only son, "born of a woman, born under law" to be the church's true founder, foundation, and head (1 Corinthians 3:11). As the first of the chosen ones (1 Peter 2:6), Jesus, the anointed one (that is, the Christ) died as the perfect Passover lamb fifty days before the events of Acts 2. Before that, He prepared the apostles for three years, giving them the Father's Word and keeping them in His name (John 17:12, 14). After His resurrection He breathed into the apostles the breath of eternal life in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell them (John 20:22; cf. John 14:25-26). They became the seeds of the new church, which sprouted into thousands when the Holy Spirit came upon them, empowering them to witness, preach, and carry out the mission Jesus gave them. Rising from the dead, Jesus was the first fruits of God's Kingdom; ''then, when he comes, those who belong to him will also rise, never to die again (John 11:25-26). Thus, Jesus is the one foundation and source of the church.

The Old Testament had prophesied that a “shoot” would come from the “stump” of Jesse (King David's father) and that this “branch” would bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1, 10). Jesus is that Messiah or Christ. He is the hope of Jews and Gentiles. "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him" (Romans 15:12; cf. Revelation 5:5; 22: 16). Peter learned that Jesus is not merely a human being, the Son of David, when God showed him that Jesus is "the Son of the living God." To this, Jesus added that He Himself is the Rock or foundation upon which He would build His church (Matthew 16:16-18; see also Isaiah 26:4). The building of the church upon Jesus, the Rock of Israel (Isaiah 30:29), is taught in 2 Corinthians 6:16 (see also Ephesians 2:21-22).

Some writers mention that the word for “church” in the original Greek is ecclesia, meaning “a called-out assembly” (εκκλησιαν – Matthew 16:18) and that the church is formed by the “elect” or chosen (Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33). Yes, the elect have been called out from the kingdom of darkness, but we have also been called into God’s family as adopted children. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16; cf. Ephesians 5:1, 8). We are chosen, but Jesus is the first of the chosen (1 Peter 2:6), and He lives in us as we live or abide in Him (John 8:31; 15:4-9).

Christians are individually in Christ even as the church as a whole is in Christ (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30). The mystery of Christ and the church is brought out in Paul’s discussion of the mystery by which two become “one flesh” in marriage, in Ephesians 5. There the apostle writes that “this mystery is profound,” referring to Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32). The tense of the Greek word translated “mystery” (μυστηριον) is singular. This grammatical detail shows that in their unity Christ and the church are one mystery. They are not a mixture or compound; rather, their union is like that of a man and woman in holy matrimony who become “one flesh” or a new family unit without giving up their individuality (Genesis 2:24). In marriage a couple becomes legal “kin,” even though they are not blood relatives as Adam and Eve were. Similarly, through Christ God legally adopts the chosen as children (Ephesians 1:5). Because of this, and because Christ lives in each member of the church, His spiritual body, He is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:18, 26-28). Christ’s presence in Christians answers Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21; see also John 17:11).

The connection between the words “church” and “Christianity” is old and complicated, but we can simply say that Christians do not go to church; rather, they are the church. Most disciples who first joined the growing church were Jews. Like Paul (Philippians 3:5; Romans 11:1), they considered themselves Israelites, descendants of Abraham, to whom belonged the covenants, the giving of the law, etc. (Romans 9:4-5). They acknowledged the Lord Jesus as Messiah and God but did not (at first) call themselves “Christians.” At Antioch in the first century, outsiders first called the followers of the Christ “Christians” (Acts 11:26). They thought “Christ” was the proper name of the God whom they worshipped, not aware that “Christ” means “anointed” and that Jesus is the Christ. As for “church,” some early Christian writers used this word to refer to the place where people worshipped (i.e., the church building). But in the New Testament, the word translated “church” refers to the “household of God.” In Ephesians 2:19, the Greek word translated “household” is οἰκεῖοι. This plural form refers to the all those who belong to the immediate family of God, i.e., those who are spiritually family in the faith (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19). As members of this universal household, Christians have taken root and blossomed among the various peoples and in almost every language group in the world.

Now, let’s look beyond history to reflect on the eternal origins of the church (i.e., “Christianity”) in the mind of God. Even as God chose Israel (Deuteronomy 7:6; 26:18), He also elected the church in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). In eternity past, God willed that the elect would be saved and made part of His household by adoption. “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). However, the church born on Pentecost has not yet realized its ultimate purpose in its development. The church is not yet the spotless bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-8), in accord with God’s purpose for it, as we read in Ephesians 1:4: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” The fulfillment of this prophetic purpose which God set forth in Christ (Romans 8:28; 9:11) “to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment” (Ephesians 1:10) does not depend on “… anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9).

One reason the “visible” church is not perfect is because within its ranks there are false Christians. Jesus told the apostles that within the church there would be a mixture of “wheat and chaff,” genuine saints and secret, unrepentant, self-deceived sinners (hypocrites). Considering that Christ has not yet returned in power and glory (Matthew 26:64; Mark 13:26), and that the elect have not yet been revealed as God’s children (Romans 8:19; 1 John 3:2), the mystery of Christ and the church, kept secret for long ages (Romans 16:25), remains partially concealed. The unveiling of the church will not take place until the moment we are changed, as 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 says. The real hope for Christians is not that we will be immortal (the damned in hell will also be immortal, but they will be without Christ), but that Christ lives in us now (Colossians 1:28).

This brings us to a final thought about the church’s present hidden-ness and ultimate unveiling. We have been redeemed, we are no longer slaves to sin, and death no longer has dominion over us (Romans 6:5-9). Nevertheless, our “body of sin” or “body of death” (Romans 6:6; 7:24) has yet to be “brought to nothing.” We still await the resurrection and redemption of our sin-stained flesh. This will take place when the Lord returns for us. Then “we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is” (1 John 3:2). Then, our glorious, imperishable spiritual bodies will be revealed (Philippians 3:20-21), and we will no longer be burdened by what remains of the carnal or sinful mind. Thus, in a real sense, the church or Christianity in its perfection, as the undefiled and glorified bride of Christ, continues to wear a discrete veil, until she is called to heaven in glory at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This event is prophesied in Revelation 19:6-8, where we read, “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)”

What is the biblical doctrine of illumination?

Simply put, illumination in the spiritual sense is “turning on the light” of understanding in some area. Throughout the ages, people in every culture and religion have claimed some kind of revelation or enlightenment from God (whether true or not). When that enlightenment deals with new knowledge or future things, we call it prophecy. When that enlightenment deals with understanding and applying knowledge already given, we call it illumination. Regarding illumination of the latter type, the question arises, “How does God do it?”

The most basic level of enlightenment is the knowledge of sin, and without that knowledge, everything else is pointless. Psalm 18:28 says, “You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Psalm 119, which is the longest chapter in the Bible, is a song about God's Word. In verse 130, it says “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” This verse establishes the basic method of God's illumination. When God's Word enters the heart of a person, it gives light and understanding to them. For this reason, we are repeatedly told to study the Word of God. Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Verses 98 and 99 say “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.”

Regular study of the Word of God will give direction and understanding in the issues of life. This is the first method of God's illumination and the starting point for us all. In Psalm 119 we also find another type of God's illumination. Verse 18 says, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” These are not new revelations, but things which have been written and revealed long before, and just now understood by the reader (one of those “aha!” moments). Similarly, verse 73 says, “Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.” The plea is for personal understanding and application of God's laws as they are studied by the individual. Fifteen times in this psalm, God is asked to teach or give understanding regarding His laws.

One passage that sometimes stirs controversy regarding illumination is John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the upper room, giving them last instructions before His death. This special group of men was to be responsible for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world. They had spent three and a half years with Him, watching His miracles and hearing His teachings. They would relay those things to the rest of the world, and would need God's special help remembering those things accurately. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach them and remind them of what had been said, so they could give it to others (including the writing of the Gospels). This verse does not teach that the Spirit will do so with all believers (though there are other verses that speak of the Spirit's illuminating work).

What is the Holy Spirit's illuminating work in believers? Ephesians 1:17-18 tells us that the Spirit gives wisdom and revelation concerning Jesus Christ, and opens the eyes of understanding so we can know God's purposes in our lives. In 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, God has revealed His plans for us by His Spirit, who teaches us spiritual things. The context here points to the Word of God as that which has been revealed. The Spirit of God will always point us to the Word of God for our instruction. As Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-15, the Spirit simply repeats what the Father and the Son have already said. This repetition helps us remember and fully hear what God has already told us. Sometimes we have to hear things several times before we actually hear them. That's where the Spirit comes in.

One thing that is sometimes overlooked in the discussion of illumination is the purpose of it. To hear some arguments, it would seem that the whole purpose of illumination is an accurate and academic understanding of God's Word. There is no question that God desires us to accurately understand what He has given us. Words have meaning, and we must pay attention to the details in those words. If, however, we stop there, we simply have an academic understanding of facts or philosophies, which do no one any good.

Going back to Psalm 119, we find purpose statements connected with the illumination verses. “I will meditate on your wonders” (v. 27), “I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart” (v. 34), “that I may understand your statutes” (v. 125), “that I may live” (v. 144). The illumination always points to action. Why does God help us understand His Word? So we are able to live in its light. First John 1:6 challenges us, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” We could paraphrase it to say, “If we say we've been enlightened, but still walk in the dark, we lie about understanding God's Word.” The Spirit of God, who enlightens us to hear and understand God's Word, then takes that knowledge and guides us in living it. Romans 8:14 says “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The illuminating and leading work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is a confirmation that we are indeed children of God.

What is the origin of religion? A Christian perspective.

From the earliest times, humans have looked around and above them and wondered about the world, the universe, and the meaning of life. Unlike animals, humans have a built-in desire to understand how we got here, why we are here, and what happens after we die. Adam and Eve knew God personally (Genesis 3) and spoke of Him (4:1). Their children brought sacrifices to the Lord (4:3–4). And during the time of their grandchildren, “men began to call on the name of the Lord” in corporate worship (4:26).

In all of history and in every culture, people have felt a need to worship what they perceive to be the source of life. The Bible explains why: we are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and God has set eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We were created to be in relationship with our Creator. The rituals and practices of religion began as an expression of the created’s desire to worship the Creator.

Biologist Julian Huxley dismissed the existence of religion as a vestige of past ignorance and superstition: “Gods are peripheral phenomena produced by evolution.” In other words, primitive man invented the idea of God in an ancient, superstitious time, and theism has no relevance in today’s society. Theories based on an evolutionary premise imagine that man’s belief in God was first expressed in animism, ghost-worship, totemism, and magic. Not all scholars have reached this conclusion, however.

The Bible says that after the flood God initiated the unconditional covenant between Himself and Noah and his descendants (Genesis 9:8–17). Men disobeyed God’s command to spread out and fill the earth, and they built a city and began making a monumental tower instead. God confused their language and forced them to disperse (Genesis 11:1–9). After that time, many polytheistic religions sprang up around the world. Later, God made Himself known to Abraham and introduced the Abrahamic Covenant (circa 2000 B.C.).

After God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage, He gave them the Mosaic Covenant and later the Davidic Covenant. In all of these events, it is God who reached down to His people, drawing them into relationship with Him. This is unique in the history of world religions.

With regard to Christianity, God Himself was responsible for introducing the New Covenant - an unconditional promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins on the basis of pure, undeserved grace through the sacrifice of the Messiah. This New Covenant also opened up the way for Gentiles to be saved. In all of this, it is God who initiates the relationship. Biblical religion is based on the fact that God reached down to us, not man’s attempt to reach up to God. Biblical religion is a response to what God has done for us, not a code of conduct that we must perform for God.

One reason we have so many different religions is the deception imposed on the human race by the enemy of our souls, who seeks glory and worship for himself (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Timothy 4:1). Another reason is man’s inherent desire to explain the unexplained and to make order out of chaos. Many of the early pagan religions taught that to prevent disasters from befalling them, they needed to appease their fickle, petulant gods. Through the centuries, religion has often been hijacked by kings and rulers in order to subjugate their people in a state-run “church” system.

The true religion that God initiated thousands of years ago with Israel pointed forward to a coming Messiah who would provide the way for all people to be reconciled to their Creator. After Christ came, Christianity spread by word of mouth as the disciples of Jesus took the gospel to the world and the Holy Spirit changed lives. God’s Word was also preserved in writing and is available today throughout the world.

Religious or Spiritual

Religious or Spiritual what does it really mean?

A fundamental quest of life is the search after happiness and how to overcome suffering. Not just our life, but anyone’s life. In fact, any living creature searching for satisfaction, happiness, or pleasure, is trying to overcome suffering.

What is the goal of spirituality?

The goal of spirituality is the complete cessation of suffering and the attainment of inner joy. In essence the, goal of spirituality and of our lives are identical. The difference lies in the way they can be attained.

In general, our approach to solving issues of life has two parts, the conventional and the spiritual way.

We hear it often said: “We are spiritual, but not religious”. Let us start with examining conventional religion as an inquiry into happiness.  First we need to ask ourselves, what is the greatest amount of happiness we can imagine for ourselves? To do this we need to establish a norm of measurement. We need to ask, what are the conditions in which we can experience this happiness, joy, bliss, love?

One would assume, that the joy of life is easier expressed when we are young. We have our whole life in front of us; we are optimistic, vigorous, and full of dreams and ideas. However, the latest research on the elderly shows, that this is not necessarily the case.

Common sense suggests that happiness and well being should decline with age. After all, with creaking joints, memory lapses, and the sense of edging ever closer to the end of life, the stereotype is that older people mourn their lost youth and vitality, their active social lives, and the anticipation of a long and happy life. But research shows that this is not so. Older adults report higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative emotions than do young adults. Moreover, older adults have a higher feeling of well being than do younger adults. How can this be?

While there is no definitive answer, some of the reasons suggest that older adults do not experience emotions, particularly negative emotions, as intensely as the young. Another explanation is that negative events don't have the same devastating impact that they have on younger people. Older people have learned how to "roll with the punches”.

Now we may ask, is there anything more to life; is there another kind of happiness? The answer is yes, but not necessarily of this world. The belief is, that after death one can go to higher realms, a better environment, where we get a finer form of enjoyment

What are the requirements to obtain happiness in the world?

To attain happiness in the world, we need three things, a body, an object of enjoyment, like music, art, food, vacation etc. – things to do in the world and an environment in which to do them..

We may have all that we need in an earthly body, but none of these experiences are very spiritual, it may just be a fun place to be.

Then there are the ideas people have of the afterlife, where one can go to and be happy. This is what religion tells us. Yet how do we know that such a place even exists? We simply have to believe.

What does Christianity tell us about heaven?

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).

No tears or pain in eternity

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

Perfect peace

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust [shall be] the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," says the LORD (Isaiah 65:25).

Houses and vineyards

"They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit" (Isaiah 65:21).

Fruitful gardens

"The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1).

Popular myths picture heaven as a fanciful place where spirits sit on clouds playing harps or float around in nebulous space. However, in John 14:2-3 the Bible says that Jesus is building mansions in heaven for those who accept salvation. He is preparing real buildings with real tangible materials for real people who will inhabit them.

Additionally, when Jesus went to heaven he told his disciples: "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). This means that in heaven real vineyards will produce real grapes.

The Bible even refers to heaven as a country (Hebrews 11:16). Before sin came into this world, the world was a physical paradise — a beautiful garden full of fruits, trees, and animals. Similarly, when sin is finally eradicated from this universe, we will get to live life as God originally intended for mankind when He first created the Garden of Eden — not as spirits on clouds, but in a tangible, material Heaven.

The Bible speaks about hosts or inhabitants of both heaven and earth. "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished" (Genesis 2:1). The Bible mentions that angelic beings  rejoiced at the creation of the earth. "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38: 7). The biblical prophet Micaiah said: "I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left (2 Chronicles 18:18).

Perfect unselfish love governs all relationships in heaven

The Bible says: "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8). Those who love God keep His commandments (John 14:15). The inhabitants of heaven obey God’s commandments of love (Psalm 103:19-21).

We will have physical bodies in heaven

Our bodies will be free from disease, pain and death in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:40-49). We will still have physical bodies. The Bible says: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Philippians 3:20,21). The body of Jesus after His resurrection was physical. Jesus said: "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). We will be able to recognize our loved ones. The Bible says: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The New Earth as heaven

Real earth, real houses, gardens, hobbies, loved ones, are all part of the perfect future life in store for those who are faithful to God’s Word. This becomes more believable when we realize that the Bible says that the greater part of the future existence of human beings will take place right here on our planet earth, which will be recreated and restored to its original perfection. This life will be free from sickness, war, crime and anything harmful. The future life will have the best of this life plus additional joys beyond our imagination. (see Revelation 21:1-4; Isaiah 65:17-25; John 14:2-3)

Bible prophecy points to the fact that Jesus will return the second time. He will  come in secret , in the clouds, first at the rapture, and then seven years later, every eye shall see him when He descends to the Mount of Olives (Revelation 1:7) at the literal second coming of Christ to the Earth.. At the rapture, those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior will be taken to heaven for a period of seven years, during the tribulation on Earth. . They will live with Christ   in the mansions Jesus is building. After His second coming and the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, when He has put all His enemies down, then He will bring the New Jerusalem down to earth. God will recreate a new earth and a new Heaven, and our heavenly life will take place right here.

What is the spiritual perspective?

From a spiritual perspective, we realize, that our true nature is Happiness, Joy, Love and Bliss itself, However, this state can only be realized, when the mind is still, but most of our minds are agitated. What agitates the mind is unfulfilled desire for things, relationships, heaven, all of which are a concept of the mind. Some things we can obtain, which satisfy the mind for a while, but this satisfaction won’t last. We always want more. What we think is that the attainment of our desires, or that place, that job, that person, makes us happy. But this is not the case; it is our inner happiness when it shines forth that makes us happy.

When we realize, that happiness is within, we know that it is there at all times. It can only be obscured by our restless mind. Here we may ask, would it not be wise to just calm our mind and let all those desires go?

Our entire consumer economics is driven by the psychological forces of tension and release of tension. We build up desires through advertising, we get the object, it releases tension and that release of tension we call happiness.

People on the spiritual path who are convinced, that they are not this body nor this mind, but have a body and mind and that there is a spiritual reality within them, which transcends the limitations they seem to have, can experience  happiness of this and the next world right now.

If one’s goal is to realize his true identity, if this becomes the pursuit in life, and if one is convinced that God exists, that God is real and can be realized or experienced, he can go beyond the sorrows of this world. Experiencing God or God realization is the purpose of life, but we must step away from the mad pursuit of the world outside. To do this, we don’t have to become a monk. We can perfectly live in the world, take care of family, do our job, but internally we need to resemble something like a monk, searching for spiritual realization.

The key to this is, I want to know who I am, I want to experience God and I need to integrate life’s activities into my spiritual life. We can convert all life activities into spiritual life. Child rearing, shopping all the normal activities can be lifted to a service to God.

Spiritual practice is almost the opposite of what a person is doing in the world. We generally think, that if I work for my career and for my family, I will be happy, whereas the person on the spiritual path reverses this. He works for the happiness of others. It could be for the small circle of the family, for the community, or for the world at large.

Once we come to this place in our lives, what do we do? We perform spiritual practices. An ideal leading to God union is the practice of Yoga.

Yoga, the Pathway of Spiritual Dimension

There are essentially four paths, each one suited for a certain temperament.

There is the path of action, karma yoga. The path of selfless work, where every action is offered to God

Then there is the path of the intellect, jnana yoga the path of discrimination between that which is real and eternal and that which is temporal, non – eternal

There is the path of love, devotion, bhakti yoga, where the worshiper merges his ego with the chosen ideal. For Christians this would be God, Jesus.

The enemy of the heart is of the form I want, I desire, passion. Spiritualized love means streams of rays of love are channeled into the world and then directed to, I love God.

The last path is the path of prayer and meditation, rajas yoga. This path is predominately for people who lead  a contemplative life, but also can be incorporated into our normal life.

Among the teachings of Jesus there are many examples which could be classified according to one or another of the yogas. For example, “Inasmuch as you have done unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”. He was teaching in the spirit of Karma yoga; worship God through service of man.

Jesus taught discrimination and renunciation. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else, he will hold to the one, and despise the other, ye cannot serve God and mammon (the world).

We have essentially been discussing two paths. One is to be happy in the world and try to get to heaven. The other way is the path of spirituality through God realization.

At this point we need to be aware, that we no longer seek happiness only from the world, but we combine spiritual life and our worldly life.

For people new on the spiritual path, even a little practice is a step in the right direction and is never lost.

God is the source of happiness in us. There is an ocean of joy within us. Once we realize this, we go even beyond this, to God realization.

We go from the worldly happiness, to the happiness of spiritual beingness, the attainment of God.

2 Corinthians 5:5 (NLT)

God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

What does it mean that God is spirit?

The teaching that “God is spirit” is found in John 4:24: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Jesus said this to a woman who thought that physical locale has a bearing on proper worship of God.

The fact that God is spirit means that God the Father does not have a human body. God the Son came to earth in human form (John 1:1), but God the Father did not. Jesus is unique as Emmanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Numbers 23:19 emphasizes God’s truthfulness by contrasting Him with mortal men: “

Numbers 23:19 (KJV) 19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Some question in which the Bible sometimes speaks of God as if He has a body. For example, Isaiah 59:1 mentions God’s “hand” and “ear.” Second Chronicles 16:9 speaks of God’s “eyes.” Matthew 4:4 puts words in God’s “mouth.” In Deuteronomy 33:27 God has “arms.” All of these verses are examples of anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is a form of figurative language. It does not imply that God has an actual body.

To say that God is spirit is to say that God the Father is invisible. Colossians 1:15 calls God the “invisible God.” First Timothy 1:17 praises God, saying, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.”

Even though God is spirit, He is also a living, personal being. As such, we can know Him personally. Joshua 3:10 speaks of God in this way, saying, “You will know that the living God is among you.” Psalm 84:2 declares, “My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (ESV).

Philosophically, God must be a spirit in order to be infinite. Also, if God was limited to a physical body, He could not be omnipresent (in all places at once). God the Father is not limited to the dimensional restrictions of created things but can exist in all places at one time. God is the uncreated First Cause that is the power behind all other beings.

Interestingly, in John 4:24 Jesus makes the connection between God being spirit and worshiping Him in spirit and in truth. The idea is that, since God is spirit, people must worship Him accurately (in truth) and in spirit (with their soul or heart), as opposed to relying on traditions, rituals, and physical places.

Ethics and development of consciousness

Ethics typically focuses on defining right and wrong behavior. But despite centuries of work by major schools of thought disagreement about the nature and content of such criteria has proven to be the rule rather than the exception.

Two major approaches of ethics can be distinguished, duty based and happiness based. The duty based is supported by Kant which emphasizes performance and the following of rules; the happiness based depicted by John Steward Mill, emphasizes the promotion of general happiness and well being. Each of these approaches has its strengths and reflects and reflects deep aspects of intuition about ethics.

But there are problems with both. Advocates of the happiness based approach often point out that following rules and duty without consideration of other people’s happiness and suffering is too complex to be defined and used as a base for ethics and the life based on the pursuit of happiness makes one a slave to circumstances and violates human dignity.

Mill expresses his view on freedom by illustrating how an individual's drive to better their station, and for self-improvement, is the sole source of true freedom. Only when an individual is able to attain such improvements, without impeding others in their own efforts to do the same, can true freedom prevail. Mill's linking of freedom and self-improvement has inspired many. By establishing that individual efforts to excel have worth, Mill was able to show how they should achieve self-improvement without harming others, or society at large.

The theory, developed as a result of Enlightenment rationalism, is based on the view that the only intrinsically good thing is a good will; an action can only be good if its maxim – the principle behind it on which to act – is duty to the moral law. Central to 

Kant's construction of the moral law is the categorical imperative, which acts on all people, regardless of their interests or desires.

Kant an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.

German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel criticized Kant for not providing specific enough detail in his moral theory to affect decision-making and for denying human nature. German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued that ethics should attempt to describe how people behave and criticized Kant for being prescriptive. Michael Stocker has argued that acting out of duty can diminish other moral motivations such as friendship, The Catholic Church has criticized Kant's ethics as contradictory and regards Christian ethics as more compatible with virtue ethics.