The Red Pill Moment...salvation as escape pt 1

I have been running across a cultural reference lately which I hadn’t given much thought to, until the sheer repetition of it in reading, and media and even some conversation, led me to look it up. The reference is to “taking the Red Pill” or people coming to a “Red Pill moment”.

The red pill and its opposite, the blue pill, are popular cultural symbols representing the choice between: Knowledge, freedom and the (sometimes painful) truth of reality (red pill) or Falsehood, security and the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue pill) The terms, popularized in science fiction culture, are derived from the 1999 film The Matrix. In the film, the main character, Neo, is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill. The red pill would allow him to escape from the Matrix into the real world, but living the “truth of reality” is harsher and more difficult. On the other hand, the blue pill would lead him to stay in the Matrix, a simulated comfortable world.(Wikipedia)

That makes a lot of sense to me , I see why it is such a popular metaphor. It seems especially true to the current spiritual situation. People are being deceived into a state of complacency, whilst they live in a world of lies and delusion.

Who will awaken them? Would to the LORD that people would awaken out of the deep spell of slumber cast upon them by the ‘god of this age’ and truly realize what is going on!

Most people are literally perishing and do not realize it. They have no idea what is happening around them spiritually, and where that they are slowly being pushed, pulled and sleep walked into the everlasting pit. The delusions have for the most part deadened people’s souls to the reality of God.

Even a good many confessing Christians are not abiding in Christ anymore, and they don’t even realize it. They have quit going to church entirely, they live in the memory of having become a Christian in the past, and perhaps a period of zeal, followed by the cares of this world, absorption into politics, sports, entertainment, career, family to the point that the concept of godliness ,(personal devotion to God) sees like a quaint but outdated ideal.

There are many who are on the way to hell and do not even know it! They need to escape but are in a trance, and unable to come out of it.

The nature of our “Red Pill “moment is no doubt a far cry from the message of the the movie the Matrix,(which I am told is a gnostic tract). There is a false knowledge spirituality called gnosticism which tells its adherents that the whole material world is a mere illusion, and that we are all part of “god”.

Our eyes are opened by the gospel to the truth that The Apostle John warned us that “The Whole World Lies in the Wicked One…(I John 5:19), and that Satan is no less than the proud “Prince of this Age”, or as Jesus refers to Him, “the Strong man fully armed,Keeping his goods…”.

Furthermore we are awakened to the doom of this world, and the danger of dying in our sins, and to the fallen state of all mankind. Another tremendous thing to have our eyes impend to is that the prophecies of the Bible are forming and being fulfilled right before our eyes! Jesus is soon coming back in glory, to judge the world in Righteousness!

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:24-26)

Salvation is always presented as Escape, in the Bible. People are awakened to a danger, they have a sense of urgency, a “red Pill moment” occurs to them and they move in response to it, to get away.

Noah and His family were shown a way of escape, they obeyed the LORD and were delivered from the doomed age in which they lived. Every man woman and child on earth perished under the judgment of the Holy God, but they escaped.

Lot and his family lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. The depravity they encountered there may have shocked Lot’s family at first, but a person can become inured to anything, by constant exposure. True enough, there were many perversities practiced there, but there was so much more to Sodom and Gomorrah than that ;there were the restaraunts, the fashions and the arts, and the clever and witty mannerisms of the people in those well fed and watered cities.

But when the time for the righteous Judgment of God dew near, the LORD made a way of escape for LOT and his family. He first had to rouse them, a task he was only partially successful in.

Who among them did escape? Only Lot and his two daughters. Not his wife, nor his sons, nor his sons in laws, they didn’t escape even though a way was made for them. What a tragedy!

Furthermore in Salvation History we read of the great escape of the children of Israel, from Egypt, the violent, great, doomed, “house of bondage and furnace of affliction” . Two million Israelites escaped at once, through the blood of the Land, and the Red Sea.

The very name of the second book of the Bible, ‘the Exodus’, testifies to us that salvation is escape. The Exodus, is our’ Exit’, for we have to get out of this doomed world! Egypt is only a type of this world, we must make our escape through the gospel.,kk

Remember Rahab the harlot? She and her family just made it out of Jericho in time. One day she sat nervously tapping her fingers, a pagan harlot, who know something dreadful was going to happen when the Redeemed nation of Israel came into her land, but not knowing what to do about it. The next day she is recieving and hiding the two spies, who showed her the way of escape, the scarlet cord in the window.

* Those who will escape are those who see the need for escape, and who seek the way out of this world. Have you had your own “red Pill moment”? Do you “get it”?

A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.(Proverbs 22:3)

*Those who escape this world will be those who in this world fight and seek to escape lust and sin … “… by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust…”(2 Peter 1:4)

*The escape is based upon the reception of “the Love of the Truth” … and rejection of “The LIE” …which deceives and blinds the whole world,

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.( 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

I don’t like this analogy.

The red pill is equated to reality and hardship?

Salvation is a conversion and transformation which is God’s work... not ours.

Those who are truly saved are continually transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.... Again.. His work not ours.

Our choices DO have consequences, and can result in a harder life here on earth than need be... but our faith is in Him who transforms us. Not our own works.

That is fine, I can see your point, although I am not teaching that salvation is in any way our work, I agree that “Salvation belongs to God” and God alone. The point of this article is that people are indeed in a slumber, they need to wake up and to be roused out of their slumber by God, and through prayer, and that there are a good many who need a confrontation, a clear revelation of the choice between reality, or to go back to comfortable illusion.I just thought the saying Red Pill moment was very analogous to people being awakened to the reality that is around them. Thanks for the input.

I didn’t see where the “Red Pill” was related to hardship , other than the fact that reality is harsher than illusion for the short term.

>>> That is fine, I can see your point, although I am not teaching that salvation is in any way our work, I agree that “Salvation belongs to God” and God alone.

Thanks for seeing my point. I see yours as well.

I like analogies... they can be very helpful.
Unfortunately, they can also send unintended messages.

If I were to attempt to improve upon the analogy, I would submit that the red pill is actually representative of false religion... giving those who know they are guilty a means of finding self forgiveness or self righteousness without actually being saved.

I recall an episode from star trek that had some similarities with the matrix... where the characters were caught in a virtual reality or illusion which seemed real.

Once they realized they were in a simulation, they sought escape... and the antagonist/villain conveniently gave them one which presented the illusion they were back on their ship.... and in order for them to break the cycle, they had to identify the true source of the illusion. I mention this, because in order expand upon my correction, I would note that Neo did not have to take a pill in order to “wake up” to reality. It just happened... and the aliens immediately tried to destroy him when it did. The red and blue pills were something offered by the aliens to those within the matrix as a means of compromise in order to prevent everyone from leaving... but we never saw the actual outcome of that... now did we?

I see this as the problem in the body of Christ today. We go to church and sing our songs and read our bible, and think our religious practices is evidence that we are free.
Too many churches have succumbed to the pressures of society and accepted the cool-aid of coexistence and gender neutrality. We don’t stand up anymore against what is clearly wrong... we don’t study doctrine anymore... and most unfortunately we rarely apply God’s teachings to our daily lives. We just talk about how good things are going to be for us when we go to heaven.

If we are looking for a reason why christians are not going to church, I would submit that the real problem is with elites and leaders within the church organizations who are not willing to go to war with the enemy... not the individual christians who are experiencing their red-pill moments. (slap not intended for you personally... I have seen this pretty much everywhere)

We perish due to our lack of knowledge.

I didn’t see where the “Red Pill” was related to hardship

I do.

because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,

I always think of this from 2 Thessalonians when I see what is happening today.

When you see people parade around their children as being trans gender, when you see liberals support Sharia, when you see Hollywood celebs support the assassination of the president, I think of that line. Then I think, these people are happy in their delusions while everyone else has to suffer because of it.

The question posed to Neo by Morpheus was a simple one but not easy:

If you were to be shown that everything you believed and have known to be true were to be shown false, would you want to know the truth?

Or would you rather “wake up in you bed and believe whatever you want to believe?”

I am surprised and yet not surprised how many people take the “blue pill” on a daily basis.

Read my tag line.

The second movie asked the questions:
What is control?
And if you are limited by your choices, who actually has control?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.