Matthew 7:13-14; Ephesians 2:1-2; Psalm 1-1-2; 1 Thessalonians 3:4

Question:

I have a Bible school book that we study weekly; it has questions that we need to answer. Since I myself started reading a lot of Unity's literature, I would like to be able to understand more of the Bible.

Comment:

Here are the four passages you requested.   MATTHEW 7:13-14—"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." COMMENT: Jesus makes it clear often that the path he calls each of us to embrace—the path of realizing and expressing our own Christ nature—is not an easy one. It takes strength and courage to stand firm against the general flow of belief in a punishing God and a deliberately painful life experience, and to hold fast to Jesus' message of Oneness with a loving God, and the personal empowerment that makes us co-creators of the new consciousness he describes as “the kingdom of heaven.” It's easier to “go with the flow” through the wide gate; it is harder to resist that flow and find instead the narrow gate of personal empowerment.   EPHESIANS 2:1-2—"You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient." COMMENT: Paul is addressing the controversy of the time between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, and is pointing out that old differences are not important in the new Christ awareness. When we lived lives of blind obedience—or willful disobedience—we were 'dead' to the spiritual Power, Love and Truth of God that live within us. Once we have awakened to that Christ Presence, superficial differences no longer matter. We are 'reborn' as the Christ.   PSALM 1:1-2:—"Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night." COMMENT: Psalm 1 is shaped as an introduction, a statement of the overall themes to be developed in the psalms to follow. It distinguishes those who live according to limited human input—from the false advice of “the wicked” to the sensory demands that lead to sin—from those who trust in their inner guidance—“the law of the Lord,” which is to say the knowable ways in which the Power of God expresses in and through us. Once we recognize, and choose to surrender to, that inner Christ Presence, everything else falls easily into place. Life is “happy” and “delightful” if we choose to trust the divine guidance always available to us.   1 THESSALONIANS 3:4—"In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know." COMMENT: I wonder if this is really the verse you intended to ask about; it would seem to have little to do with the theme of obedience to the Lord expressed in the three verses cited above. Paul—in the first of his letters, in fact the earliest Christian writing we have—is greeting the church he founded in Thessalonika. He has since gone on to Athens and Corinth, and his reception has not always been welcoming. He expected to suffer persecution, and it has turned out to be so. He will go on in this letter to call upon the congregation to maintain vigilance, and to continue to treat each other with loving respect.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed