Origins (of Religion)

The Word Brings Salvation

'Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.'

-the Apostle Paul writing to the first Christians in Rome, 1st century

Romans 10:1-3

[This is the 15th message of this series]

Today we are going to look at the origins of religiosity or self-righteousness -- where people are trying to reach heaven or righteousness by their own strength.

Paul

Paul used to be a religious zealot. He used to be a pharisee named Saul. Before he became a Christian (and a missionary), his main goal was to sentence Christians to death if they do not denounce Christ. He believed he was called by God, that he was doing God a favor and doing His work with what he was doing. 

This is why he knows what he is talking about. He lived the life of one who is trying to achieve a righteousness apart from God through their own strength and their own wisdom (even killing in the name of God). 

All religions are like this -- trying to reach heaven on our own. This is why we have often said that Jesus did not come to establish a religion.

He came to us because there was no other way for us to reach God, unless He Himself reached down to us. And He did. He was and is the Way.

Religion

Religion more often than not is characterized by rigidness and strict adherence to doctrine and tradition. It is based off of rituals and rules and regulations. It is blind. It is deaf. It is performance based. It is do this and do that.

Humankind has always pursued heaven this way, through the centuries people have either gravitated to being more and more religious or farther and farther away from religion. The end-result being exactly the same thing -- a life far away from God.

Religious people do have the perception and the false notion of having a relationship with God, while those who left religion (got turned off by it) have the same level of closeness with God.

Religious People

Religious people may know of God but they do not know Him. Theirs is self-righteousness apart from God. They think that attaining salvation is working for it with their own hands and that it is their business to do so.

No, salvation is God's line of work. It is his business. God saved humankind through the cross. It is finished. Nothing we can add to it. Nothing we can take away from it. It is a done deal. Signed, sealed and delivered by the Holy Spirit. 

We will continue on this in the next message.

Origins (the Series)

Church of the Lost Sheep 2012

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