No Sin, No Punishment: Re-shaping Your Relationship with God by Mark Reed, RScP One of the many reasons more and more people are attracted to New Thought faiths and Eastern philosophies is the absence of personal judgment. The idea of a judging God, sitting upon a throne sending down plagues and punishment is completely contrary to the intuitive knowledge we have of a loving God. It just doesn’t feel right, and many of us sensed this even as children. In fact, whenever a child says, “This just doesn’t seem right,” we should all sit up and take notice. The Law of Cause and Effect is completely neutral and all-encompassing, just like the Law of Gravity. Gravity doesn’t say, “I think I’ll keep this person grounded, but not that person.” It doesn’t play favorites and always “enforces” itself. The Law of Cause and Effect is self-policing, God isn’t looking over its shoulder. Imagine, if you will, a world in which anyone who breaks the speed limit, is automatically issued a speeding ticket. No cop pulls you over, no one writes a ticket, and no one is judging you. The speeding ticket magically appears on your passenger seat. This is how the Law of Cause and Effect works. In The Science of Mind Ernest Holmes wrote, “There is no sin but a mistake, and no punishment but an inevitable consequence. Wrong doing must be punished, for the Law of Cause and Effect must be eternally operative. Right acts are rewarded in the same manner. We do not say that man cannot sin; what we say is, that he does sin—or make mistakes—and he is thereby automatically punished AS LONG AS HE CONTINUES TO MAKE MISTAKES; but bondage is not real to the Universe and sin is not real to God. This does not mean that we can do whatever we wish, with disregard for the consequences; nor does the fact that we are punished for our mistakes mean that there is an evil power in the Universe; it does mean that there is an immutable Law of Cause and Effect running through everything. We are not punished for our sins but by them. Sin is its own punishment and righteousness is its own reward.” There is a consequence for every mistake, an effect for every cause, plain and simple. If the Law of Cause and Effect could speak it might say, “Don’t take it personally, it’s only business.” The business of the universe is to continually “right itself.” When you make a mistake, you know you’ve made a mistake—if not right away, later. The consequence is always within your own consciousness. When you make a correction and no longer make the same mistake, you no longer experience the consequence. The judgment you inflict on yourself is just as damning as any perceived judgment you think is happening outside yourself. Stop judging yourself. God is not judging. God only loves and wants you to love yourself, which is why your True-Self was strategically placed within your being. The common Greek word for sin in the New Testament is “Hamartia.” This word comes from a term used in archery, which means to “miss the mark.” When you’re experiencing fear or worry, you’re missing the mark; when you resent someone, you’re not quite hitting the target; when your mind is full of judgment of self and others, you’re not mentally shooting straight. That Greek word “Hamartia” also means “rebellion against God.” At any given moment, when you choose to experience fear instead of love, you are rebelling against God, that inner presence, that knows only love. Re-shaping your relationship with God means knowing, beyond all doubt, that God is never judging you. Your ego might, but God never does. How can something (God) that is pure love judge you? The misinterpretation of the word “sin” is an ego-based human error and has served religion well to control human behavior, but it is not based in Reality—that which is real is Love/God. Your moment-to-moment task is to be aware of the ego judging yourself and others! Disregard that judgment, correct your mistakes, and press on. Your True-Self will show you the way.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:51:38 +0000
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