RELIGIOSITY

I would like to drive home, what I believe to be a very important central truth of the gospel. I want to discuss a little bit about religion versus relationship.

As I was walking across my dining room area, looking over at my bookcase, I noticed a book. The book was stuck in between other books of interest. But what stuck out at me was the title:

Religions Of The World. My mind immediately went into “let’s make a post mode”. Let’s talk about religions and obeying rules. What I was really beginning to think about was how “anybody could make a set of rules.” (And obey or not obey them.) In what I believe to be an unregenerate mind, it’s easy for the human brain to think that obeying rules can actually do alot for us.

With what I’ve said so far as a backdrop. In my thinking, I would suppose the purpose of religion or obeying rules, would be to gain you access to heaven, Or what you consider to be a better afterlife.

I think if we have studied any length of dedicated time in the Bible, with a discerning and spirit-filled mind; we should learn that the real issue throughout the gospel is, THE WORD (ie: Jesus) and about life-and-death, and not necessarily obeying rules. I would hope that we would learn that the ” Good news” is about relationships and not necessarily about obeying rules.

)Study in Genesis chapters 2:17, and chapter 3. For the sake of this post, I will paraphrase, and get to my point. What were the first set of rules that God gave Adam-and-Eve and how were they broken? The first set of instructions and rules were that “Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of the fruit of All the trees in the garden, (Even apples think about that for a minute) except for the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God said in the day that you break these rules, and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which represents Satan, disobedience, and death), that they would die, (meaning spiritual death immediately and physical death *later.) *Because they obviously didn’t just fall over dead at that point.

So, from the start, obeying rules was very important. But this was a landmark moment in human history, in that obeying or breaking these rules meant either life-or-death. So I hope that you can see that “life-or-death is the real issue, and that having a relationship with Jesus is the answer” , since He solved the problem of man’s greatest enemy, which is death. All the other religions of the world make no claim by their founder in overcoming death. I want you to ask yourself a serious question: if the obeying of any set of rules, and ( doing more good than bad) would get you into heaven, why did Christ have to die the bloody, miserable, sacrificial death that he died on the cross, to make reconciliation for us to God The Father? And remember Jesus is Emmanuel which means “God with us.” GOD IN THE FLESH, leaving his comfortable abode in heaven, to come down and be a sacrifice, out of his great love. Jesus did this willingly and could have stopped the process at any point but, He was committed to his Father, and committed to his love for us. No set of rules can claim this, sets of rules are fraudulent for the most part.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this life is mainly concerned with choosing life-or-death, it’s all about preparation for what happens after death. “Life happens after physical death” I wonder how many of you are aware of what is called in the Bible, “The Second Death?” This happens at the great white throne judgment at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ known as the “Millennium”. The Christians have already had a form of judgment that was not for salvation, but for “works after salvation” at the “Bema Judgment Seat of Christ.” We are late in the game friends, I highly suggest, if you care, to do some studying. At the “Great White Throne Judgment”, ‘the book of life is opened, and if your name is not in the book of life, you are condemned to the lake of fire. Wouldn’t it be the ultimate failure if even one person had to endure this? … Clarification: The first death is physical death, the second death is for unbelievers. Only God can deliver the second eternal death, to be apart from Him.Frankie The Earthman.