What exactly are we being saved and delivered from anyway?

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

Temptation sounds kinda fun. But a lot of Bible translations use the word "trial" where the King James version uses "temptation." "Trial" doesn't sound like much fun. That's because what Jesus is talking about here in this verse of the Lord's prayer is very pointedly exposing evil for what it is: NOT fun. In fact, just the opposite. Evil is what would - if it could - suck the life and love and joy right out of you. It would love for you to think that "temptation" is kinda fun, because then you'd voluntarily give up your life to it. But Jesus tells us evil is a "liar and the father of it". Don't buy the lie.

And what exactly is the lie?

Sin = is thinking you want to be separated from God, that you are better off being separated from God;
Sickness = is thinking that you must be separated from God because of contagion, heredity, circumstances, "world beliefs."
Death = is thinking you are finally separated from God because sin and sickness cause death - the ultimate lie of separation from Life, God.

Fortunately for us, Jesus gave us his prayer that proves God never leads us into evil, never leads us into these evil lies, but delivers us into holiness, health, and wholeness of life.

So what is this wholeness / holiness thing then? Is it some "better than you" goodie-goodie human perfection? Does it require you to become some ascetic mystic wrapped in self-denial and a vow of poverty? Is it being morally pure and always "doing the right thing"?

No.

It is the opposite of such human ego-trips and moralism.

Does that shock you?

It shouldn't. Human moralism puts "what is right" ahead of what is spiritually true. It judges by the letter of the law instead of the spirit. It is all about appearances instead of substance.

What Jesus taught is God's reality being made manifest. Jesus always put spirituality first. He constantly broke human "moral" law - often to prove the point that living the letter but not the spirit was a phony, and dangerous and usually hypocritical way of living.

Jesus always acted from what is true about God. And he always acted from what is true about us as His image and likeness. He always lived and acted from the point of God as Spirit, of God as Love.

Here's how Jesus categorically shut down human "moralism":

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

And then he silenced moralism for all time by saying:

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Right and wrong are not based on following dietary codes, religious traditions, tribal or national customs, or even things your parents told you.

There are only these 2 commandments.

And - if you are able to live your life from these two points, you will have fullfilled "all the law and the prophets" - all other ethical and moral standards.

Why?

Because you will be living out from the Christ, from the truth about who God is, and about who you are, and about who your neighbor (which includes the world) is as His creation, His reflection. You will be living out from a fundamental spiritual Truth: God actually is Love. And you and everyone you encounter actually are His image and likeness.

So love God - be utterly grateful that God is good, is Love itself. And then recognize His image and likeness - love His image and likeness - in every one you meet. And you will be fulfilling your own identity - living out from your core purpose - as His image and likeness - the living breathing acting image and likeness of Divine Love itself. Because that is who you really are.

None of this has anything to do with your national culture, your upbringing, your heredity, human character, what you've been taught, or human "morality" good bad or indifferent. You can't "make" yourself holy (which is what moralism claims). But you can awake to it - since it is already your everpresent natural state of being.

Huh?

Yes. If God is good (and He is), and if you are made in His image and likeness (and you are), then yes, holiness is your natural state of being. It is your God-given Christliness. It is the fulfillment of "Be ye holy; for I am holy." It is the opposite of moralism. It is living out from the Holy Spirit always.

Jesus lived his divine holiness - even though he was repeatedly accused of being immoral. And according to the literal understanding of the Law, he was. He routinely broke the sabbath by healing people. He and his disciples ate with unwashed hands. He spoke to Samaritans. He touched lepers. The world's "morality" is a dim shadow of the spiritual Truth of being that Jesus lived, taught, and demonstrated. In fact, it was that worldly "morality" that crucified him. But he proved that literal morality to be false and powerless with his resurrection and ascension.

Jesus' entire life proved the spiritual truth found in the 1st chapter of Genesis, the 10 Commandments, and the Sermon on the Mount. His morality was always an outgrowth of his spiritual understanding. His actions were always the expression of his deepest conviction that God is Love. And he summed up "all the law and the prophets" in those two short commandments:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

This is also your natural state of being here and now. Jesus proved it so you may live it. His holiness - His salvation - is this spiritual awakening made manifest in your life. This spirituality lived is the true morality Jesus expects of us.

God never leads us into temptation, into firery trials and torturous self-denials, into sin, disease, and death, but always only delivers us into Love, Truth, and Life as His living likeness!

Hallelujah!