The Religion of Jesus

The Religion of Jesus

194:2.1 (2060.6)Jesus lived on earth and taught a gospel that delivered man from the superstition that he was a child of the devil and elevated him to the dignity of a son of faith of God. The message of Jesus, as he preached and lived it in his time, was an effective means of solving man's spiritual difficulties at the time he expressed it. And now that he has personally left the world, he sends in his place his Spirit of Truth which is intended to dwell in man and, for each new generation, to communicate again this message of Jesus, so that each new group of mortals appearing on earth will have a new, contemporary version of the gospel, just such personal enlightenment and group guidance, which will prove effective in solving man's ever new, and varied spiritual difficulties.

194:2.2 (2060.7)The first mission of this spirit is, of course, to promote and individualize truth, for the understanding of truth is, after all, the highest form of human freedom. Next, it is the purpose of this spirit to nullify the believer's sense of orphanhood. Because Jesus has been among men, all believers would experience a sense of abandonment if the Spirit of Truth had not come to dwell in the hearts of men.

194:2.3 (2061.1)This bestowal of the Spirit of the Son effectively prepared the consciousness of all normal human beings for the subsequent universe-giving of the Spirit of the Father (the Richter) to all humanity. In a sense, this Spirit of Truth is the spirit of the Universal Father and the Creator-Son both.

194:2.4 (2061.2)Do not make the mistake of expecting to become strongly intellectually aware of the outpoured Spirit of Truth. The spirit never creates an awareness of itself, only an awareness of Michael, the Son. From the beginning, Jesus taught that the spirit would not speak of itself. Therefore, proof of your fellowship with the Spirit of Truth cannot be found in your awareness of this spirit, but rather in your experience of a stronger union with Michael.

194:2.5 (2061.3)The spirit also came to help people remember and understand the Master's words, and likewise to shed light on and reinterpret his life on earth.

194:2.6 (2061.4)Then the Spirit of Truth came to assist the believer in bearing witness to the realities of Jesus' teaching and of life as he led it in the flesh, and as he now leads it anew and from the front in the individual believer of each passing generation of the spirit-filled sons of God.

194:2.7 (2061.5)Thus it appears that the Spirit of Truth truly comes to lead all believers into all truth, into the ever-expanding knowledge of the experience of the living, growing spiritual awareness of the reality of eternal, ascending sonship with God.

194:2.8 (2061.6)Jesus led a life that is a revelation of man subject to the will of the Father, not an example that any human being should seek to literally emulate. This life in the flesh, along with his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, soon became a new gospel about the ransom price thus paid to buy man free from the clutches of the evil one - from the condemnation of an offended God. But even though the gospel was seriously distorted, the fact remains that this new message about Jesus also carried with it many fundamental truths and teachings of his earlier gospel of the kingdom. And sooner or later these hidden truths of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man will emerge and effectively transform the civilization of all mankind.

194:2.9 (2061.7)However, these errors of the intellect in no way prevented the believer's great progress in growth in spirit. In less than a month after the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, the apostles made more individual spiritual progress than during the nearly four years of their personal, loving association with the Master. Nor did this substitution of the fact of Jesus' resurrection for the saving gospel truth of sonship with God constitute an obstacle to the rapid spread of their teaching: on the contrary, this overshadowing of Jesus' message by the new teachings about his person and resurrection, seemed to greatly facilitate the preaching of the good news.

194:2.10 (2061.8)The expression “baptism by the Spirit,” which became so widely in use at that time, meant no more than the conscious acceptance of this gift of the Spirit of Truth and the personal recognition of this new spiritual power as an amplification of all the spiritual influences previously experienced by God-denying souls.

194:2.11 (2061.9)Since the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, man has been exposed to the teaching and guidance of a threefold spirit-gift: the spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Thought; the spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Truth; the spirit of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

194:2.12 (2062.1)To some extent humanity is exposed to the dual influence of the sevenfold appeal of the spirit-influences of the universe. The early evolutionary races of mortals are exposed to the growing contact with the seven assistant consciousness spirits of the Mother-Spirit of the local universe. As man reaches the higher steps of intelligence and spiritual vision, eventually the seven higher spirit influences come to hover above him and dwell within him. And these seven spirits of the advancing worlds are:

194:2.13 (2062.2)1. the bestowed mind of the Universal Father - the Mind Guides;

194:2.14 (2062.3)2. the spirit-presence of the Eternal Son - the spiritual gravity of the universe of universes and the sure channel for all spirit-community;

194:2.15 (2062.4)3. the spirit-representation of the Infinite Spirit - the universal spirit-consciousness of all creation, the spiritual source of the intellectual kinship of all progressive intellectual beings;

194:2.16 (2062.5)4. the spirit of the Universal Father and Creator-Son - the Spirit of Truth, commonly regarded as the spirit of the Universal-Son;

194:2.17 (2062.6)5. the spirit of the Infinite Spirit and the Mother-Spirit of the Universe - the Holy Spirit, commonly regarded as the spirit of the Universe-Spirit;

194:2.18 (2062.7)6. the consciousness spirit of the Mother Spirit of the Universe - the seven assistant consciousness spirits of the local universe;

194:2.19 (2062.8)7. the spirit of the Father, the Sons, and the Spirits - the new-name spirit of the ascending mortals of the realms, after the fusion of the spirit-born soul of the mortal with the Thought Giver from Paradise, and after subsequent divinity and glorification of the status of the Paradise Corps of Perfection has been achieved.

194:2.20 (2062.9)And so the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth to the world and its peoples has brought the final spirit-gift intended to aid in the ascending search for God.

3. What Happened at Pentecost 

194:3.1 (2062.10)Many eccentric and strange teachings have become associated with the early accounts of Pentecost. In later times the events of this day, when the Spirit of Truth, the new teacher, came to dwell with mankind, have been confused with the foolish outbursts of unbridled emotionality. The main task of this outpoured Spirit of the Father and the Son is to teach men the truths of the Father's love and the Son's mercy. These are the truths of divinity that men can understand more fully than all other divine characteristics. The Spirit of Truth is mainly concerned with the revelation of the spirit-nature of the Father and the moral character of the Son. The Creator-Son, in the flesh, revealed God to men; the Spirit of Truth, in the heart, reveals the Creator-Son to men. When man produces the “fruits of the spirit” in his life, he simply exhibits the traits that the Master manifested in his own life on earth. When Jesus was on earth, he lived as one personality - Jesus of Nazareth. As the indwelling spirit of the “new teacher,” since Pentecost the Master has been able to re-live his life in the experience of every believer taught by truth.

194:3.2 (2062.11)Many things that happen in the course of a human life are difficult to understand, not easily reconciled with the idea that this is a universe in which truth prevails and in which justice triumphs. So often it seems that slander, lies, dishonesty and iniquity - sin - prevail. After all, does faith triumph over evil, sin and unrighteousness? Yes, indeed it does. Jesus' life and death are eternal proof that the truth of goodness and the faith of the spirit-led man will always be justified. Jesus on the cross was hailed with the words, “Let us see if God will come to deliver him. It looked dark on that day of crucifixion, but a glorious light shone on the morning of resurrection; it shone even brighter and more joyful on the day of Pentecost. The religions of pessimistic despair seek liberation from the burdens of life; they yearn for an end of existence in endless slumber and rest. These are the religions of primitive fear and dismay. The religion of Jesus is a new gospel of faith trust to be proclaimed to struggling humanity. This new religion is grounded in faith, hope and love.

194:3.3 (2063.1)To Jesus, mortal life had dealt its hardest, cruelest and bitterest blows, and this man answered those imputations of despair with faith, courage and the unshakable determination to do the will of his Father. Jesus underwent life in all its terrible reality and became its master - even in death. He did not use religion as a release from life. The religion of Jesus does not seek to escape this life in order to enjoy the bliss that awaits in another existence. The religion of Jesus provides the joy and peace of another, spiritual existence, with which to enrich and vein the life that people now lead in the flesh.

194:3.4 (2063.2)If any religion is a narcotic for the people, it is not the religion of Jesus. On the cross he refused to drink the narcotic; his spirit, poured out on all flesh, is a powerful influence in the world that leads and propels man upward. The spiritual impulse to progress is the most powerful driving force in this world; the believer who learns the truth is the true progressive, combative soul on earth.

194:3.5 (2063.3)On the day of Pentecost, the religion of Jesus broke all national restrictions and racial chains. It is forever true: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. On this day, the Spirit of Truth became the Master's personal gift to every mortal. This spirit was given for the purpose of equipping believers to preach the gospel of the kingdom more effectively, but they misunderstood the experience of receiving the outpoured spirit, namely, as part of the new gospel they were unconsciously formulating.

194:3.6 (2063.4)Do not overlook the fact that the Spirit of Truth was poured out on all sincere believers; this gift of the Spirit did not fall only to the apostles. The hundred and twenty men and women gathered in the upper room all received the new teacher, as well as all who were honest in heart throughout the world. This new teacher was given to humanity, and every soul received him according to its love of truth and its ability to grasp and understand spiritual realities. At last true religion is freed from the tutelage of priests and all holy classes and finds its true manifestation in the individual souls of men.

194:3.7 (2063.5)The religion of Jesus cultivates the highest type of human civilization, in the sense that it creates the highest type of spiritual personality and proclaims the holiness of that person.

194:3.8 (2063.6)The coming of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost has made possible a religion that is neither radical nor conservative; it is neither the old nor the new; it will be dominated neither by the old nor by the young. The fact of Jesus' life on earth provides a fixed point for the anchor of time, while the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth ensures the eternal expansion and endless growth of the religion he lived and the gospel he proclaimed. The Spirit leads into all truth; he is the teacher of an expanding, ever-growing religion of endless progress and divine unfoldment. This new teacher will always unfold to every truth-seeking believer what was so divinely contained in the person and nature of the Son of Man.

194:3.9 (2064.1)The manifestations that accompanied the bestowal of the “new teacher,” and the acceptance of the apostles' preaching by people of different races and nations, who had gathered in Jerusalem, point to the universality of the religion of Jesus. The gospel of the kingdom would not be identified with any particular race, culture or language. This Pentecost testified to the powerful effort of the spirit to free the religion of Jesus from the Jewish shackles it had inherited. Even after thus demonstrating that the spirit was poured out on all flesh, the apostles at first still tried to impose the requirements of Judaism on their converts. Even Paul got into trouble with his brethren in Jerusalem for refusing to subject Gentile believers to these Jewish practices. No revealed religion can spread throughout the entire world if it commits the grave error of being imbued with a national culture or uniting with established racial, social or economic customs.

194:3.10 (2064.2)The bestowal of the Spirit of Truth was independent of any form, ceremony, sacred place or special behavior of those who received its full manifestation. When the spirit descended upon those gathered in the upper room, they simply sat there, having just been in silent prayer. The spirit was poured out both in and out of the city. It was not necessary for the apostles to seclude themselves in remote places for years of solitary meditation in order to receive the spirit. Pentecost forever decouples the idea of spiritual experience from the notion of a special favorable environment for it.

194:3.11 (2064.3)Pentecost, with its spiritual endowment, was intended to make the Master's religion forever independent of all physical power; the teachers of this new religion are now equipped with spiritual weapons. They must go out and conquer the world with inexhaustible forgiveness, unparalleled good will, and an abundance of love. They are equipped to overcome evil with good, subdue hatred with love, and slay fear by courageous and living faith in the truth. Jesus had already taught his followers that his religion was never passive; his disciples were always to be active and positive in their service of mercy and the love they demonstrated. These believers no longer saw Yahweh as “the Lord of hosts. They now regarded the eternal Godhead as the “God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. At least they were making that progress, even if to some extent they fell short of understanding the truth that God is also the spiritual Father of each individual human being.

194:3.12 (2064.4)Pentecost endowed mortals with the power to forgive personal offenses, to remain amiable under the worst injustices, to remain unmoved in terrifying danger, and to confront the evils of hatred and wrath with the fearless acts of love and forbearance. Urantia has lived through the ravages of great, destructive wars in its history. All the combatants in these terrible struggles were defeated. There was only one victor; there was only one who emerged from these bitter struggles with an elevated reputation - that was Jesus of Nazareth and his gospel of overcoming evil with good. The secret of a better civilization is intimately connected with the Master's teaching of the brotherhood of men, the good will of love and mutual trust.

194:3.13 (2065.1)Until Pentecost religion had revealed only God-seeking man; since Pentecost man still seeks God, but over the world now shines the spectacle of God who also seeks man and sends his spirit to dwell in him when he has found man.

194:3.14 (2065.2)Before Jesus' teaching, which culminated in Pentecost, women had little or no spiritual status in the teachings of the older religions. After Pentecost, women stood on equal footing with men in the brotherhood of the kingdom before God. Among the hundred and twenty who received this special visitation of the Spirit were many female disciples, and they shared these blessings equally with the male believers. Men could no longer claim the sole right to preside and serve in the worship services. The Pharisee may have continued to thank God that he was “not born a woman, a leper, or a heathen,” but among the followers of Jesus, the woman is forever freed from all religious discrimination based on her sex. Pentecost removed all religious discrimination based on difference in race, in culture, in social class, or prejudice against the sexes. No wonder these believers in the new religion used to exclaim, “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

194:3.15 (2065.3)Jesus' mother and brother were both among the aforementioned one hundred and twenty believers, and as members of this ordinary group of disciples, they also received the outpoured spirit. They did not receive more of the good gift than the others. No special gift was given to the members of Jesus' earthly family. Pentecost marked the end of special priesthoods and of all faith in holy families.

194:3.16 (2065.4)Before Pentecost, the apostles had given up much for Jesus. They had sacrificed their home, family, friends, earthly possessions, and positions. At Pentecost they gave themselves to God, and the Father and the Son reciprocated by giving themselves to man - by sending their spirits to dwell in man. This experience, losing self and finding spirit, was not an experience of emotion; it was an act of intelligent self-surrender and unconditional devotion.

194:3.17 (2065.5)Pentecost was the call for spiritual unity among believers in the gospel. When the spirit descended upon the disciples at Jerusalem, the same thing happened in Philadelphia, Alexandria, and wherever sincere believers resided. It was literally true that the crowd of believers was “one in heart and one in soul. The religion of Jesus is the most powerful unifying influence the world has ever known.

194:3.18 (2065.6)Pentecost was also meant to reduce the presumptuous self-assertion of individuals, groups, peoples and races. This spirit of self-assertion increases so much in tension that it periodically breaks loose in destructive wars. Humanity can come to unity only through the spiritual approach, and the Spirit of Truth is a world influence that is universal.

194:3.19 (2065.7)The coming of the Spirit of Truth purifies man's heart and leads the recipient to set himself a life purpose honestly directed toward the will of God and the welfare of mankind. The material spirit of selfishness is swallowed up in this new spiritual gift of selflessness. Pentecost means then and now that the Jesus of history has become the divine Son of living experience. When the joy of this outpoured spirit is consciously experienced in human life, it is a tonic for health, a stimulant for thought, and an inexhaustible energy for the soul.

194:3.20 (2065.8)Prayer on the day of Pentecost did not bring about the coming of the spirit, but it had much to do with the capacity for receptivity that characterized believers individually. Prayer does not move the divine heart to generous gifts, but it does often dig wider and deeper channels through which the divine gifts can flow into the hearts and souls of those who remember to so maintain, through sincere prayer and true worship, uninterrupted communion with their Maker.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book