Acts 15:11 "On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord..."

Question:

Hello Rev Ed.
I understand what you have previously written about Jesus and the Christ. That Jesus is the Shower of the Christ within. But all through the New Testament Jesus is referred to as LORD JESUS CHRIST. Jesus Christ as Lord. What does grieving the Holy Spirit mean? I can't remember where but the Bible says all will be forgiven you except if you grieve the Holy Spirit.

Comment:

You have asked about two different passages here, so let's take them one at a time.   Acts 15:11: "On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will" (NRSV).   This sentence is from a debate over the first controversy of the fledgling church: Did Gentiles wishing to become Christian first have to become Jews, obeying Jewish law and undergoing circumcision? The elders in Jerusalem, led by James the brother of Jesus, said that they did. Paul, visiting Jerusalem from his ministry establishing churches among Gentiles, was passionately convinced that they did not. The line you are questioning is actually spoken by Peter, who, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, sides with Paul and sways the decision.   Regarding your question, it is certainly not accurate to say that "all through the New Testament" Jesus is referred to as Lord Jesus Christ. He is never so named in the four Gospels. And there was quite a ferment of opinion after Jesus' mortal ministry ended as to who he had been and how he should be addressed. Nonetheless, I have no problem with using the term Lord Jesus, or Lord Jesus Christ – although the latter is a bit redundant, since "Lord" and "Christ" define essentially the same energy: the Presence of God that is the very essence of life in each of us. As I have repeated frequently in answering these Bible questions, the difference between Unity's understanding of the message of Jesus and that of more traditional Christianity has nothing to do with who Jesus Christ was and is. It has to do with whether he was unique in his identity, and in his relationship to God. We believe – using the Bible as our text – that Jesus was fully demonstrating in his human experience the spiritual identity and dimension that we all share with him. As such – as Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus Christ if you prefer – he is entitled to all the love, gratitude, respect and honor we can express. Believing in Lord Jesus Christ is an essential step to understanding our own Christ nature, and learning from his ministry is the most direct way I know to begin expressing that nature in all our choices and relationships. Thus Peter makes the point here – as Paul does in many of his letters – that accepting and embracing what Jesus taught and demonstrated about the Christ in all of us is the way in which we will all, Gentile and Jew alike, be "saved" from the ignorance through which we have struggled – ignorance of our intimate and eternal Oneness with God.   I believe your question about “grieving the Holy Spirit” is a reference to Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4, verse 30: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption" (NRSV). This is part of a passage on how to live a human life once awakened to the Christ Presence within. There's no statement that it is an "unforgivable" sin; just an admonition against it.   What does it mean to "grieve" the Holy Spirit? It's an interesting question. One response would be not to act in such a way as to make God unhappy. But God is not a super being with changeable moods; God is infinite love, eternal and unchanging. God does not feel grief; but we do. We live in a state of grief when we believe ourselves to be separate from God, and thus live our lives in constant fear, guilt and anguish, believing that we are here in human form as a kind of divine punishment. When we make choices from that consciousness, we are in fact creating in ourselves that sense of separation we most fear, and grieving for ourselves out of ignorance of the spiritual truth that Jesus taught and demonstrated: that we are, now and always, one with the infinite love that is God. So we "grieve" God when we act as if God isn't present, and make choices based on a false sense of separation, lack and suffering.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed