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Salvation in the New Testament is to achieve beatitude, that is, the true spiritual goods of man, the spiritual gifts promised by hope. This is why Jesus begins the preaching of the gospel with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 3-10 and Luke 6: 20-26): there are two mentalities (one edifying and the other destructive), two paths (righteousness and sin ) and two retributions (eternal life on the one hand, and spiritual death on the other). The apostle Peter tells us about salvation: "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" 1 Peter 4:18.
According to the teachings of Jesus, faith is necessary for life in grace, conversion is the passage of a life full of sins ("If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them", James 4:17) to a life of righteousness ("do to others what you would have them do to you," Matthew 7:12.)
Salvation is for those who accept the path of righteousness, righteousness is imitating Christ ("Therefore be imitators of God as dear children", Ephesians 5: 1). It is important to clarify that those who comply with the Law of Moses (Exodus 20:2-17) are not under grace. Let us remember: "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse" Galatians 3:10, the law of Moses is made for murderers, idolaters but not for those who live according to the freedom of the spirit: "Love your neighbour as yourself", Mark 12:31 Salvation is directly related to the Law of Return, or more, is a consequence of it: "Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked: for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life. " Galatians 6:7-8.
Finally, Jesus tells us: "Who endures to the end will be saved", Matthew 24:13. Perseverance is the daily determination to do good avoiding evil, its distinctive characteristic is the resistance. Resistance is what differentiates perseverance from the gift of fortitude.
The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:2, refers to the Word of God as "pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk": Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation".
Milk is a food par excellence for children, and spiritual milk is food par excellence for the spirit of man, and this is the Word of God. The Word of God is the knowledge of the correct means to live, the Word is eternal and uncreated, the Word is, as Thomas Aquinas explains, "engendered wisdom", that is to say, it is all that wisdom that arises from the spiritual gift of Advice: perceive with Attention, meditate with intuition and inspiration, decide with discernment.
But also this spiritual milk must be "unadulterated"; What does Peter mean? It refers to the fact that it should not be adulterated by heresies (error teaching) and sophisms (knowledge with the appearance of philosophy, but it is not). Examples of heresy in the gospels are the Law of Talion: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Matthew 5:38), "love your neighbor and hate your enemy" (Matthew 5:43). This Word is addressed to spiritual children who must drink the "pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk", when Peter speaks to us of newborn children he speaks to us of those who have received a new spiritual childhood, in philosophy this birth is called "Gnosis" (knowledge), there is a birth of the flesh and a birth of the spirit (progressive mentality), as explained or described by Jesus to Nicodemus:
"Now there was a Pharisee,a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said:´Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.´
Jesus replied: ´Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.´
´How can someone be born when they are old?´ Nicodemus asked.´Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!´
Jesus answered: ´Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying: ´You must be born again´. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit´". John 3:1-8
In this birth of the spirit as Jesus describes it, we receive the same essence of God, the wisdom, to achieve a full likeness to God; the rational or soulish man, in whom the soul prevails (philia), becomes a spiritual man, that is to say, the man in whom the spirit prevails (Agape), in order to carry out the plan of salvation.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells us about the fullness of God and this fullness that the Bible tells us about consists in a love: "and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:19. This love surpasses our knowledge, that is, it is a grace, a charism: "I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power", Ephesians 3:7; and this love comes from the wisdom of God: "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known" Ephesians 3:10. This love is also a mystery, that is, it is something that is not evident, that must be revealed: "Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.", Ephesians 3:2-3.
The mystery of the fullness of God is to be wise as God is wise: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect", Matthew 5:48; is to be full of the holy spirit: "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.", James 3:13.
And this fullness is fundamentally a mystery that comes from the love and wisdom of God because it is in us as a potential: the potential of the seed is the tree that bears fruit, the potential of the worm is the butterfly. Jesus compares the Kingdom of God with a hidden treasure, with something that is in us and must be discovered:"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.", Matthew 13:44.
The fullness of God is adulthood, but this adulthood is reached through progressivity, spiritual gifts are progressive, that is, they are way because we grow, the Kingdom of God is like leaven that ferments: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.", Matthew 13:33.
The fullness of God is manifested in us, in the fruits of the spirit, which are the ultimate ends of human life and the traits of God's character: "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.", Galatians 5:22-23.
Events
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Friday, 11 July 2014 17:08
New book retired from Editorial
The latest version of the tractate in spanish retired from Editorial Dunken on July 11, 2014
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Friday, 11 July 2014 17:29
The new book in Editorial Dunken
You can buy the lastest version of the tractate more complete than the free version in the web in Editorial Dunken, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Tuesday, 15 July 2014 11:05
Interview in Radio Fm Signs 92.5
My interview in the program of Estela, the Pandora`s Box, on Fm Signs. Tuesday 10 to 11 a.m. in 92.5 Fm. Link to the radio: http://www.fmsignos.com.ar/index.html
