Episode 22 completes the three-part summary of Jesus’ gospel teachings that the new teachers need to bring to the world to effect the return to the actual teachings of Jesus.

 

—

Transcript

—

 

The Future of the Teachings of Jesus
11. The Message of the New Revelation–Part 3 (Ep. 22)
Duty, Morality, Love based Morality, Character, Courage, Freedom, Sonship

Duty and morality. We are the sons and daughters of God, our loving heavenly Father. Our God is a personal God, not a mere force or thing, and he has created us, not as mere animals, but as personal beings like himself. This priceless gift of personality brings with it self-consciousness and personal free will. And the bestowal of free will brings with it moral choice, the ability to recognize and choose between good and evil, right and wrong. This ability to recognize the moral arena and make moral choices forever distinguishes us from the higher animals who have no such powers. Mind-reason recognizes the moral level of the universe and intuitively knows its moral duty. This moral intuition, this realization of duty, is an innate endowment of the human mind supplied by God. The moral level is super-animal but sub-spiritual. It provides the essential groundwork, the soil, out of which the spiritual nature grows. Living a moral life is the necessary pre-requisite to spiritual advancement. Whenever we make a reflective moral choice we experience a new divine invasion of our soul, we grow spiritually. Our level of self-mastery is the true measure of our moral nature.

Moral conduct based on love. A morality based on spiritual realities is essential to a lasting social system. Jesus taught morality, not from the nature of man, but from the relation of man to God. We are all God’s children, and we must learn to love our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in the flesh, as we love ourself. When we attain this brotherly love our moral conduct becomes the natural result of such love. Jesus taught the “Golden Rule,” to treat others as we would have them treat us. (Lk. 6:31) This new order of society, this new dispensation of true social righteousness based on loving and serving our brothers and sisters, the world has little seen because it has refused to practice the principles of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. However, it must and will come. This kingdom of spiritual pre-eminence is approaching, and when it does come we will witness a new age of improved human relations and advancing spiritual attainments.

Character growth. Jesus in his gospel taught that we are all sons and daughters of God, our loving spiritual Father. Like any good earth father our heavenly Father wants us to grow and develop a strong and righteous character. The Father has sent his spirit to indwell us and act as a pattern for our growth of character. He also sent his divine son to live among us and demonstrate the kind of character we may attain when we follow in the way of the Father. Jesus never taught character building; he always taught character growth, declaring that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. When we decide and then act upon our decision we gain experience, and the meanings and values of such experience become a part of our character. Thus, our character is determined by our decisions. When we decide to follow in the way of Jesus, to do the Father’s will, such a decision assures our growth and development of a strong and righteous character.

Courage and strength of character. Jesus’ watchword was “Fear not” and courage was at the very heart of his teachings. Our exercise of courage is the basis of our character acquirement. Our level of courage is also a measure of our strength of character. Strong characters are not derived from not doing wrong but from actually doing right. We must decide and resolve to “Do what is right” in all circumstances, especially when we feel a strong temptation to take another course. We grow in strength of character by grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments. Tribulation supplies the tempering fire that can transmute the soft iron of immature character into the tempered steel of real character.

Developing a righteousness character. Jesus taught in the beatitudes “Happy are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Mt. 5: 6). A righteous character is the prerequisite for admission to heaven and the spiritual life that follows. Our work here on earth is to attain a level of righteousness, of progressive character development, that is sufficient to pass judgment and gain eternal life in heaven. We develop our character by the unselfish service of others. We also develop our spiritual character by the habitual practice of meditation, prayer, and worship. As in other phases of our human experience we may look to Jesus for inspiration and guidance in developing a true survival character. When we bring forth the fruits of the spirit we are simply manifesting the character traits that Jesus demonstrated in his perfected earth life.

Individual freedom. An important element of Jesus’ gospel teachings that is often overlooked is his emphasis on the pre-eminence of the individual. God, our personal Father has created us as unique personalities, as individual beings who have the power of individual choice. He taught the freedom of the individual and emphasized the will as the determining factor in man’s experience. As created personalities with self-consciousness and free will we have many powers that utterly transcend the inorganic and animal world. Some of these powers include the ability to make moral and spiritual decisions, to unselfishly love and serve others, to discern meanings and truth, to worship God, and to devote ourselves to the doing of our Father’s will.

Jesus’ most important teaching. In summary, we who choose to teach the way of Jesus should seek to teach his whole gospel, not just one element or one side of his balanced and complete teachings. However, there is one particular teaching that is of great import and should be emphasized. This is his central gospel teaching that God is our Father and we are all his children; we are all sons and daughters of God. Sonship with God, by faith, is the saving truth of the gospel of the kingdom. That which the world most needs to know is that we are all children of God and through faith (and choosing to do our Father’s will) we may actually realize and experience this saving truth.

Teaching Jesus’ gospel. In the last three episodes I have outlined some of the elements of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom which should be a part of the new revelation of Jesus. I have provided a fuller treatment of most of these elements in episodes one through 9 and 11 of this series. Jesus’ teachings are many sided and complete, and there are many other teachings which have not been discussed, such as eternal life, the exaltation of marriage, home, and family, and God’s unique will for each individual. This outline of Jesus’ gospel teachings represents one person’s perspective and interpretation of Jesus’ teachings. Other teachers of Jesus will provide their own unique perspective on the teachings of the Master. Our work is not simply to repeat Jesus’ words but also to give our best understanding, interpretation, and up to date expression of his incomparable and perfect teachings. The new teachers of Jesus religion will be characterized by unity, not by uniformity. Uniformity is a characteristic of the material world. The new teachers will be characterized by a spiritual unity, which is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download