The experiences I have had of unconditional love have radically changed my whole belief system concerning who God is and therefore the reach of God’s love towards all of His creation.
God’s love is unconditional for everyone and everything and that love has no boundaries or limitations.
Riaan Swiegelaar, the founder of the South African Satanic Church (SASC), turned to Jesus because a lady showed him unconditional love. Check it out: https://youtu.be/Kt1aYEtyXLE?t=46
Quote: “In an interview, I said I do not believe that Jesus Christ exists. This lady from the radio team came to mike after the interview and hugged me in a way that I had never been hugged before.”
A week later, he saw on WhatsApp that the woman was a Christian.
“I never had a Christian do that. I have never experienced a Christian show so much love after the things I said. And it stayed with me, though.”
A week after the interview, Riaan met with the SASC council about what the next phase would be to gain more power and influence.
He said he did the ritual and during the ritual, Jesus appeared before him. “If you are Jesus, you have to prove it.”
A crying Riaan said Jesus flooded him with the most beautiful love and energy. “And I recognized it right away, like the woman at the radio station pointed it out to me. This is how I recognized the love of Christ.”
“For the last month, I have had personal conversations with the Lord. I am not here to attack people, but I want to get a few things off my chest.
“I have for a long time believed that I am not worthy of God’s grace because I am gay. “The Kingdom of God is not a gated community. The kingdom of God is open to everybody.”
Father says: “I offer you my unconditional love. All I ask for is your heart, not for my sake but yours.
When you give me your heart my unconditional love has a place to land and live. Only then can you begin to fully trust me and walk in the fullness of what I have for you.” – Lindy Strong.
Another pointer to the revelation that is being released about grace was Creflo Dollar’s renouncing of tithing, saying that we are not under law but grace.
I want to explode some more religious myths that I was in bondage to that unconditional love set
me free from.
Previous sessions we looked at the truth about how God views sin and the truth about forgiveness.
The truth about forgiveness and repentance and confession of sin.
God is love BUT?
There are no BUTS, God’s love is totally unconditional.
I now see that Evangelical view of salvation I was brought up with is not grace based but requires our works.
You had to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth to be saved.
I tried to believe and confess but I was never sure it was good enough to please God because these were my dead works.
I now know that believing is the consequence of experiencing God’s love and grace.
I believe evangelical theology makes forgiveness and salvation totally dependent on what man does because you must believe to be forgiven.
We believe we are forgiven, not believe to be forgiven.
All man’s religious works are dead: they can produce no life independently of God’s grace.
Jesus did not wait for those who were crucifying Him to be sorry or confess their sin. Jesus asked the Father to forgive as He had chosen to forgive them.
God was proactive about forgiveness, choosing to forgive without conditions. Jesus taught the importance of forgiving from the heart and the serious consequences of not forgiving. Keep no record of wrongs.
Matt 18 contains some truths about unforgiveness but remember the context was old covenant and about the consequences of karma without new covenant mercy. The universal truth is that unforgiveness is toxic and is torture to the soul and body.
It is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die.
Unforgiveness binds you to the memory of the event and the perpetrator.
Forgiveness is not just words spoken but accounts settled.
Forgiveness adds up the cost of the offense and accounts for the debt owed and then chooses to release the person from any future reckoning. Serious stuff.
The test of true forgiveness is the ability to truly bless and want the best for the person who committed the offense against you, even if they never say sorry.
Forgiveness is the heart and power of the good news.
Matt 18:34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you
does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Old covenant law not new covenant grace. Consequence not punishment
Jesus said you cannot be forgiven unless you forgive – that was under the law. The context is a parable about forgiveness and it is using extremes to make the real point.
When we know we are forgiven we are empowered by grace to forgive.
It was impossible to repay the gross national product of Israel; and the torturers are not literal but
guilt and shame, which are toxic to the soul.
It does not mean that God does not forgive us, as that is unconditional, as we have seen.
Grace and mercy are unconditional and so is forgiveness.
What it does mean is that if we don’t forgive from our heart we will not feel and live in the benefits of forgiveness and will probably be tortured by toxic bitterness and resentment.
‘You cannot be forgiven unless you repent’ is an evangelical mantra derived from a Latin Roman Catholic doctrine that uses a completely wrong translation and interpretation of the Greek word metanoia.
in the Latin translation repentance is a works-based religious fabrication.
Metanoia in Greek means with, beyond or after (God’s) mind and in context means agreeing with God’s mind or thoughts. The Father has a vast number of thoughts about each of us – all of them are good thoughts.
Metanoia is sometimes expressed as a 180 degree turning around or change of direction – which has merits if the implication is not that our change in behavior can earn forgiveness but rather that a change of behavior follows an agreement with God’s mind.
The Latin ‘repentance’ has connotations that suggest sorrow for sin and proof that you really are sorry enough to deserve forgiveness by some action or other – extremes.
The Latin is linking forgiveness of sin with sorrow and penance, or re-penance, as you must really prove it by repeated actions.
The Latin concept of repentance and confession was part of the Catholic religious deception of having to confess and repent to a priest who was the only one who could absolve you of your sin.
You would need to do some sort of penance to be absolved.
Absolution is to declare someone free from guilt, obligation, or punishment.
Absolution is not the same as forgiveness, as absolution requires a priest and acts of re-penance.
Forgiveness was freely given to all creation once and for all time.
The religious demand to ‘repent’ has a very heavy guilt and
shame connotation for most people.
Repentance is defined as ‘regret’ or ‘being remorseful’ or sorry
enough to change. Religion uses fear of punishment to force repentance.
The Hebrew word translated as ‘repentance’ is teshuvah. It
derives from the verb ‘to return’ – but the question is, return to
what?
Hebrew religious concept of return: “A change in man’s conduct
brings about a change in God’s judgment.” This is wrong.
Religion says teshuvah is the return to a right standard of behavior, but in fact it really means to return home, back to identity and relationship.
Like the Prodigal Son who was welcomed back freely and his return home was celebrated. The truth is that repentance is returning to our true identity found only in relationship with Father
God: anything that requires our penance or a change in our behavior to be accepted is a deception because it is works-rather than grace-based.
A realization of the truth of who God is as unconditional love produces the motivation to return. We do not need to change our behavior to be accepted or acceptable.
Agreeing with God’s mind releases the power for transformation.
Doesn’t the Bible say we have to confess our sin to be forgiven?
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Our religious conditioning usually determines our understanding.
1 John 1:9 When we 1 communicate what God says about our sins, we discover what he believes concerning our redeemed oneness and innocence! We are cleansed from every distortion we believed about ourselves! Likeness is redeemed!
(The word traditionally translated “confession” is the word 1homologeo from homo, the same, and
logeo to speak. In the context of verse 7, this suggests that we say what God says about us!)
We say and agree we are forgiven and righteous.
Confession of sin is another Catholic concept linked to the doctrine of the confessional and a priest
who will hear and absolve.
This makes people sin conscious, thinking they are sinners.
It is a deception that enslaves people to religious duty.
To confess is to declare or speak out, to speak the same, to agree.
What does God say about us that we can agree with?
We confess that we are not guilty, innocent, justified, righteous and that we are new creation sons
and not guilty sinners or slaves.
Religion says that unlimited grace is a dangerous licence to keep on sinning because there would be
no consequence of punishment.
Grace is not the permission to live from our old identity but the power to live from our new
identity.
Sin is a noun, the condition of lost identity; it is not a verb which defines actions.
Paul addresses this so-called ‘licence to sin’ and grace in Romans 6.
He says “May it never be”
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it
never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Rom 6:1 It is not possible to interpret grace as a cheap excuse to continue in sin. It sounds to some that we are saying, “Let’s carry on sinning then so that grace may abound.” 2 How ridiculous is that!
How can we be dead and alive to sin at the same time?
(In the previous chapter Paul expounds the heart of the gospel by giving us a glimpse of the far-reaching faith of God; even at the risk of being misunderstood by the legalistic mind he does not
compromise the message.)
The word sin is a mistranslation of the Greek word hamartia.
“To miss the mark” or “to err” is Aristotle’s poetic meaning that religion points uses to point to behavior.
The root meaning of hamartia is actually ha – negative and meros – form or image; therefore sin, the noun, is the state of lost form or identity.
Another religious meaning of sin is failing to reach a standard of behavior. Religion has turned the noun ‘sin’ into a verb that has been linked to bad behavior to make people fear and feel guilty and condemned enough to repent and confess.
Religion keeps you identifying yourself as a sinner so you feel guilty and keep struggling with behaviors.
When you identify with the truth that you have been made righteous and are not a sinner you are
not guilty.
The religious meaning of sin is associated with laws.
Grace is anti-law!! It’s the antithesis of law. The mixture of law and grace is lethal.
Religion calls limitless grace derogatory names like hyper or greasy grace.
Grace is the divine enabling power of God, and it is limitless, not just hyper.
Wrong actions do carry consequences, but they are not God’s punishment, and His mercy always triumphs and His grace is always sufficient.
Religion conditions people do some type of dead work so that we can be forgiven, so that the separation we have been made to feel can be removed. Guilt makes us hide from God.
Relationship will draw us to run to God to receive grace and mercy from our own guilty feelings.
The wages of sin is death, not punishment.
There is within sin (our lost identity) the seed of death.
Sin has a wage or payback but grace does not and mercy always triumphs.
Jesus has defeated death and its consequences.
Brad Jersak – The Gospel in Chairs: https://youtu.be/N7FKhHScgUQ
We are new creations: we have died and have been resurrected with Jesus.
It is only religion that keeps us locked into being sin-focused sinners rather than righteous new creations in Jesus. As new creations we are not sinners but saints.
We need to know our true identity. What then is my confession?
I am a sinner saved by grace – NO. I must repent in order to be forgiven – NOI am in complete agreement that I am forgiven.
I celebrate my forgiveness not sin. I am forgiveness conscious not sin conscious.
If I make a mistake I confess my forgiveness and righteousness.
Agreement with forgiveness brings transformation, not the reverse.
In religion, sorrow and change is needed for forgiveness.
Religion uses the law to make people dependent on religious dead works. People become slaves to religion trapped by guilt, fear, shame and condemnation.
We are included in the new covenant that the Father made with Jesus, His Son; and He will never break it. We are not under old covenant law but new covenant grace and therefore any works we try to do are dead, producing no life in us.
God’s love is so unconditional that He made it that we could never be separated from it. He destined us to face to face innocence in love so He designed us so that we could not die. Immortality is an expression of unconditional love.
Evangelical theology will tell you that you will only be forgiven if you fulfil certain conditions: Repent, Confess your sin. Believe and be baptized. Be born again. Have faith Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth… This type of theology makes forgiveness and salvation totally dependent on what you do and is therefore about your works.
Confirmation biased programming conditions our understanding.
If we read 1 John 1:5-10 using the truth that God is love, God is light and Jesus is the truth, I believe we will come to a completely different conclusion and become free from religious bondage.
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. We are, in Him, illuminated and enlightened to know our true identity as sons of light.
Darkness in context is therefore our lost identity, not knowing (by experience) unconditional love. 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do
not practice the truth;
Our lost identity is a lie, from the father’s perspective.
How the father sees us is the real truth.
1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. True fellowship is walking with others in the light of our true identity. Honoring each other.
We are cleansed from lost identity not by re-penance but acceptance of and agreement with the truth. We are already cleansed, from the father’s perspective; our agreement brings that truth to our
experience and our mind is renewed from the lies of lost identity.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. We do not need to be afraid of being real and admitting that we are a work in progress, having our mind renewed.
There is no need to hide away from God in denial because we fear being real, because God loves us unconditionally. We can only confess our forgiveness if we are prepared to admit there is something to be forgiven for – no need for denial.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and
His word is not in us. Fear keeps us in unreality.
God is light and light is love and therefore darkness is not love.
God is nothing other than love. To walk in darkness is not to walk in love.
Sin is the lost identity of not walking in love and not having a relationship with love. If we say we are sinners, we lie, because we are not living loved (which is practicing or experiencing
the truth).
Living loved is accepting the truth of being unconditionally forgiven and celebrating it in joy and rejoicing in love. If we walk or live in the truth that we are loved and forgiven unconditionally we remain guilt free and not condemned.
We do not have to fear admitting we sometimes mess up or act from an unrenewed mindset as we are still having our minds renewed.
We do not need to live in denial, afraid to be real with Father about our lives and that we sometimes struggle.
We do not have to keep the truth from our loving Father and hide away in fear as Adam did. We do not have to run and hide from our Father; we can run to Him. We can come boldly to the throne of grace and receive limitless grace and triumphant mercy.
We are only alienated in our own minds – that is why we need deep religious deprogramming.
1 John 1:5 (Mirror) My conversation with you flows from the same source which illuminates this fellowship of union with the father and the son. This, then, is the essence of the message: God is radiant light and in him there exists not even a trace of obscurity or darkness at all.
1 John 1:6 (Mirror) This is the real deal! To live a life of pretence is a such a waste of time! The truth has no competition. Truth inspires the poetry of friendship in total contrast to a fake, performance-based fellowship! Light is not threatened by darkness! Why say something with darkness as your reference?
1 John 1:7 (Mirror) We are invited to explore the dimensions of the same light that engulfs God; when we see the light in his light, fellowship ignites! In his light we understand how the blood of
Jesus Christ is the removal of every stain of sin! The success of the cross celebrates our redeemed innocence!
1 John 1:8 (Mirror) To claim innocence by our own efforts under the law of personal performance is to deceive ourselves and to deliberately ignore the truth. The truth about you does not mean that you now have to go into denial if you have done something wrong!
1 John 1:9 (Mirror) When we communicate what God says about our sins, we discover what he believes concerning our redeemed oneness and innocence! We are cleansed from every distortion.
we believed about ourselves! Likeness is redeemed!
1 John 1:10 (NASB) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:10 (Mirror) If we judge ourselves innocent by the law of our own works, then we make Jesus Christ, and what his word and blood communicate within us, irrelevant.
Heb 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
The old covenant context is about obedience and belief.
Heb 4:1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.
Perfect or unconditional love casts out fear. Hebrews was written to those still operating under old covenant thinking in an attempt to get them to distinguish between the covenants.
Let’s make sure we are not mixing covenants and therefore not living in rest of our identity.
Heb 3:18 (Mirror) God’s invitation does not exclude anyone from possessing the promise of his rest; their unbelief does. Persuasion cannot be compromised by unbelief. (Our believing a lie about
ourselves cannot compromise what God knows to be true about us.
Futile striving to become cannot match the bliss of discovering and celebrating who you already are by his design and
redemption. His rest declares his perfect likeness revealed and redeemed in human form.
Heb 4:1 (Mirror) What a foolish thing it would be if we should now fail in a similar fashion to enter into his rest where we get to celebrate the full consequences of our redemption. (Why waste
another lap in the same wilderness of unbelief!) 2 What God has now spoken to us in Jesus confirms that we were equally included in the prophetic message which was proclaimed to our ancestors; their unbelief disqualified them from possessing the promise; they could not make the vital connection with the promise while they remained enslaved to their dwarfed opinions of themselves!
So many people are kept in fear that they never rest in what Jesus has already accomplished for them but continue to work for it. They live their lives weary and burdened, in bondage to trying
earn by works what is a free gift of grace.
Are we at rest in what Jesus has already done for us?
Are we at rest in our relationship with the Father?
Are we at rest in our true identity as sons of God?
Are we living loved?
Rest is the realization of what has already been accomplished for us and therefore with what God says about us.
Agreeing with the vast sum of His thoughts about us and all those thoughts are good. Ps 139.
Unconditional love requires no conditions of my faith in God for my salvation, forgiveness, reconciliation, inclusion in Christ, being born from above or acceptance as a child of God. All these things He has done for me freely and unconditionally.
Rest is the key to living loved. Start to focus on your breathing, slowing it down, and focus your thinking on God as love.
Breathe in deeply the unconditional love of the Father.
Feel unconditional love flow through your being. Be still and let God love on you.
Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am unconditional love. Be still and know that I am joy, I am peace, I am truth, I am light, I am limitless grace, I am triumphant mercy.
Invite love, joy and peace to come on you, to flow in you and through you to create an atmosphere of rest around you. Feel unconditional love flow through your whole being. Be still and let God love on you. You are in a safe place. Start to think of an open heaven and set your desire upon engaging the Father’s heart.
Engage the realm of light to experience the light of love and truth at deeper levels of being. Live loved, free from guilt, shame and condemnation- Old clothes.
Love living and enjoy the joy of life. Live loving and be merciful, choosing to forgive and release all things. Rest in love, joy and peace. The realm of light in perfection is our resting place, our home where we can dwell. The light is the light of love and truth.
Enter into the light and look into the Father’s face and see His loving smile. Look into His eyes, which are deep pools of unconditional love.