Wisdom is a light. Light is good. It makes one aware to ease navigation and plot a course. What makes it a curse is that not everyone wants to know what lurks in the dark. Predators, pitfalls and pointlessness abound and once you KNOW they are there it causes fear for self and loved ones because lovers of ignorance run into the dark laughing, taking others with them.

Humans don’t follow their designed program. If they did we would live in paradise. If you don’t believe that Christ is Divine and that He will return at the end of this age to claim His throne, why would you care what He said. It’s the fact that you believe He is Lord, so you obey Him as Lord. When you belong to Him you see clearly.

Do you understand the metaphysical. Everything is energy and frequency. If you do not believe that the Holy Spirit can link with you, even to use you as a catalyst during faith healings and miracles, then the link is not possible. It’s like you are a computer just plugged into the wall. Although there is a lot you can do that’s not all you were created for. When you connect to the internet, all of a sudden you are linked to nearly endless possibilities. Faith is like the wifi/modem password that grants you access. When this happens the Spirit updates your operating system and you become a new creation.

I'm familiar with all of that, but I'm asking why belief is the predicate of salvation. — Noble Dust

Use a word other than predicate.

But why would salvation be predicated on belief? — Noble Dust

Blood always atoned for sin. Belief that Christ was Divine makes Him such a sacred offering that it is enough to cover every sin of every person. If you believe He was just a teacher and His blood was no holier than anyone else then the blood atones nothing, we have no offering and are still with our sins.

Once you are reconciled, you have restored communication with Almighty God. From there you accept Christ as Lord and live as He commanded; put others ahead of yourself, love and share the Good News with others. Once you are reconciled and truly want to follow Christ then you notice a connection to the Holy Spirit. In silence and prayer and fasting the connection increases.

The other reasons I know guilt plays a big part in connectivity is because we are told to forgive others freely, to appease their guilt. Also when questioned about following guidelines, Paul said do what your conscience allows. If someone feels guilty doing something then to them it’s sin. There is no law for them in Christ. It’s not about rules and the ability to follow them. Christianity is about connecting spiritually to Almighty God. We become part of His Body.

Is it real forgiveness, or merely the belief of forgiveness which removes the guilt? I think the former makes more sense than the latter. — Samuel Lacrampe

When most people read the Bible, they suffer from cognitive dissonance. Because they can’t wrap their heads around what it actually says, they blend it with accepted theories and that becomes their beliefs. It is an incomplete collection of writings pieced together, ignoring gaps and events.

Here is the message that most people overlook. Creation in its original form was balanced. There was natural selection and population control. It’s just like a healthy body. The hormones keep everything in check, sometimes causing change and other times suppressing it. All of this is accomplished by a “master gland”, the hypothalamus. It controls the endocrine system and the brain controls the nervous system. They work different systems effecting eachother in the same body. Yet, something, our soul/spirit, is lord over both of those. Let’s say the universe is like the body of the Holy Spirit and everything is created by its will. Like a baby in the womb, expanding and following design, stem cells obedient to our spirit creates this vessel, intricate, systems within systems. Organs are masters of certain functions all obeying their superiors. So too within the universe are superiors all trying to maintain cosmic homeostasis.

In nature you can clearly see how there are unwritten rules that are obeyed. Wolves don’t kill for sport. There isn’t gluttony. You don’t have to teach a dog how to be a dog. Everything comes preprogrammed to do a function. They all obey natural law by being tuned into the Holy Spirit. A dog can poop where he wants and eat what seems right. When we take a dog and teach him right from wrong (poop outside) we reprogram him. The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is GUILT. Guilt is what causes a dog to hide if he does “bad”. When we reprogram him we pluck him out of nature like something did with us. We are no longer attuned to the Holy Spirit. When you are forgiven and become attuned it’s like you are connected to a cosmic consciousness. Everything is explained. This is what maybe called enlightenment or spiritual birth.

In short, we are forgiven, however it is more important that we believe we are forgiven. This is what eliminates guilt.

It’s not as straightforward as one might expect. There are things that are presumed when you read the Bible that are not correct. Often they are poorly explained away. First of all, Elohim isn’t synonymous with Yahweh. It actually means gods, plural. This is why is says let us make man in our image. Secondly, the knowledge of good and evil causes guilt. Guilt is what separates us from Almighty God. That’s why sacrifices were started. It was the belief that making the offering washed their sins away. This dismissed guilt and restored connection with the Heavenly Father. Belief that Christ is Devine and His sacrifice is enough to wash every sin away means you never have to feel guilty. The connection is never interrupted. From there He can teach you and guide you. You have to follow and belong to Him. He has the power to create and recreate, when the New Age comes we will receive a piece of the land, in His Kingdom. If you are not His your soul will have no vessel and will not be able to experience life just eternal nothingness.

Christianity like many things is best understood in hindsight. When you have the answers and know the truth, the Bible makes complete sense. Because much of scripture has been misunderstood you won’t make the right conclusions based on what you learn at Sunday School.

To answer your question, you have to know what to believe and what you are being saved from.

The nature of man is a dichotomy. He is both flesh and spirit. He is an infinite soul, trapped inside a finite vessel. The former is spiritual and the latter, carnal. The spirit has the capabilities to link with the divine. The flesh is carnal and is preprogrammed for survival and reproduction.

Here is the missing piece in the puzzle: we were designed to play a part in the scheme of creation, like dogs. Also like dogs, humans are intellegent and programmable. Something (we call them gods) plucked us from our habitat and taught us “right from wrong”. This is the knowledge of good and evil that brings....guilt. Guilt is what severs our connectivity with the divine. This is why sacrifices were implemented. It doesn’t undo sin, it absolves guilt. This is why FAITH in Christ absolves all sin. When you believe that you are forgiven you have no guilt so you can connect with the divine and renew your role in creation.

When you connect to the divine or cosmic consciousness it is enlightenment or being “born again”, spiritual birth.

Those who do not reach this state think religion is what saves you. Most religion is corrupt and is run by individuals who know that people are programmable and use this to their advantage. The fact is that Yeshua/Jesus/Christ is Divine and has intellectual property rights to everything here on Earth. It’s not going to be like some Renaissance painting when He returns. It will be more like Star Wars. Seek and you will find truth. This is the truth that sets you free.

At the end of this age, the planet will reset, like it has before. Christ will pluck His followers out and implant them in new vessels. Everyone else will be spirits without vessels. It is the vessels that allow us to sense the physical world and experience pleasure. Without it we will be just stuck in a void. This is hell.