The path that saves is hard to find and follow (Mat 7:14). A large number of persons in all types of religion are looking for something, but they are almost never following the path that saves. They often don't know that they should get saved. Those who assume they are already saved are even more lost.

Getting saved means that corruption causes people to destroy their own minds and souls through sin. Sin is anything that destroys life. It destroys a person's relationship to other persons and forces him to perpetrate more sin to rationalize, conceal or justify the sin. Gradually, the sin becomes habitual and causes destructive behavior on a stimulus-response basis in conflict with rationality.

It is common for persons in all types of religion to say truth is the answer, but they are clueless about its meaning. What truth? Produced how? The path that saves tells what truth and how to produce it. So the path must come first.

The path is simply constructivity. But how self-deceiving simple things can be. Doing the wrong things, for the wrong persons and wrong purposes only results in more sin.

Therefore, a person must learn the path by starting in the most simple and unmistakable manner. This starting point is to do good deeds for the needy. It doesn't hurt to do good deeds for the non-needy, but it's too easy to get lost in the woods when going beyond the simple basics.

The reason for this requirement is that it is impossible to overcome sin through personal morality; it can only be done through social morality. Focusing on oneself only results in selfishness. Focusing on other persons allows one's relationship to other persons to be corrected.

Life requires a constructive relationship to other persons. Correcting relationships to other persons requires a constructive interaction with other persons. The constructivity is defined most clearly by doing good deeds for the needy.

Even when this much is known, the do-gooding is often too superficial and selfish to overcome sin. To make the path work, Christ said it must include love (John 13:34). With love, the do-gooding is for other persons than oneself, and real results occur. The results which occur for others are the results which occur for self.

There is another technicality which is too important to ignore. The most important thing anyone can do for someone else is produce truth. Only truth feeds the hungry. People can solve their own problems when allowed to. They aren't allowed to because of injustices, and only truth ends injustices.

Sin cannot exist in the light of truth. Nothing but truth ends sin; and there is no other problem than sin. But there is almost nothing but superficial trivia being produced for truth anyplace.

Producing significant truth means relevant truth. Relevant truth starts with basic truth. Basic truth requires knowledge. Seeking and finding truth and knowledge are the most important elements of following the path to life.

Morality Applied
Christ