CHRIST IS SOMEONE TO KNOW AND TRUST.

Christ is more than a system, tradition, or belief. He is a Person who knows our needs, feels our pain, and sympathizes with our weakness. In exchange for our trust, He offers to forgive our sins, to intercede for us, and to bring us to His Father. He cried for us, died for us, and rose from the dead to show that He was all He claimed to be. Conquering death, He showed us that He can save us from our sins, live His life through us on earth, and then bring us safely to heaven. He offers Himself as a gift to anyone who will trust Him (John 20:24-31)

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RELIGION IS SOMETHING TO BELIEVE AND DO.

Religion is believing in God, attending religious services, taking catechism, being baptized, and receiving communion. Religion is tradition, ritual, ceremony, and learning the difference between right and wrong. Religion is reading and memorizing Scripture, offering prayers, giving to the poor, and celebrating religious holy days. Religion is singing in the choir, helping the poor, and making amends for past wrongs.

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RELIGION DOESN’T CHANGE HEARTS.

Jesus likened the religious Pharisees to a group of dishwashers who clean the outside of a cup while leaving the inside dirty. He said, “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?” (Luke 11:39-40) Jesus knew that a person can change his image without changing his act (Matt. 23:1-3) He knew that religious credentials and ceremony cannot change the heart. He told one of the most religious men of His day that unless a person is “born again” by the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Yet from that day until now, many of the most religious people in the world continue to forget that while religion can give attention to outward appearance, only Christ can change the heart.

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RELIGION MAKES MUCH OF LITTLE.

Jesus spoke to religionists who had a passion for detail when He said, “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgement and the love of God; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone ” (Luke 11:42). Jesus saw our tendency to make rules and to focus on “morally correct” behaviour instead of keeping our eyes on the bigger issue of why we are trying to be so right. While the Pharisees were big on knowledge carried out to its logical conclusions, they forgot that God doesn’t care how much we know until He knows how much we care. It was this greater “why” that the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.......and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. ” (1 Cor 13:1,3)

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RELIGION OFFERS THE APPROVAL OF MEN RATHER THAN GOD

Jesus reserved His strongest criticism for religious people who used their spiritual reputation to get social attention and honours. To such religionist Jesus said, “Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues; and greetings in the markets” (Luke 11:43). Then, speaking to His disciples, He said of the Pharisees, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men; they make broad of their phylacteries, and enlarge the border of their garments.” (Matt 23:5) Jesus saw clearly into the practice of religion, which holds the opinions and attention of man to be more important and desirable than the approval of God.

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RELIGION MAKES HYPOCRITES OF US.

Jesus said “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them ”(Luke 11:44) What looks better than being dressed right, attending religious services, and doing things that mark us as decent, God-fearing people? Yet how many religious scholars, ministers, and faithful followers with hold honour and encouragement from their doctrinal enemies, Jesus knew what we often forget: What looks good may have a heart of evil.

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RELIGION MAKES A HARD LIFE HARDER

Because religion cannot change a heart, it tries to control people with laws and expectations that are not even kept by the religionists who interpret and apply the rules. With this “burden factor” in mind, Jesus said, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers” (Luke 11:46). Religion is good at describing high standards of right behaviour and relationships, but poor at giving real and merciful help to those who realize they have not lived up to those expectations.

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RELIGION MAKE IT EASY TO DECEIVE OURSELVES.

It’s been jokingly said “I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand.” The Pharisees acted out a similar idea, but it wasn’t funny. According to Jesus, the Pharisees prided themselves in honouring and building memorials to the prophets. The irony is that when the met a real prophet they wanted to kill Him. Barclay say, “The only prophets the admired were dead prophets; when they met a living one, they tried to kill Him, They honoured the dead prophets with tombs and memorials, but they dishonoured the living ones with persecution and death.” This is the point Jesus made in Luke 11:47-51 and in a parallel passage in Matthew 23:29-32. The Pharisees had fooled themselves. They didn’t think of themselves as prophet-killers. Religionist don’t see themselves as the God-rejecting people they are.

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RELIGION HIDES THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.

One of the greatest dangers of religion is that it causes us to be a danger not only to ourselves but also to others. To the very religious biblical experts of His day Jesus said, “Woe unto you, lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered” (Luke 11:52). Religionist take away “the key of knowledge” by distracting people from the Word of God and from a “right attention of heart” by the unnecessary additions of denominationally correct traditions and expectations. Rather than leading people to God, religionist shift the focus to themselves and their own rules. Religionist are those who trust the beliefs and actions of their religion to do what only Christ can do.

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RELIGION LEADS ITS CONVERTS ASTRAY

In Matthew 23:15 Jesus said, ”Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisee, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves “. Converts of religion are in double jeopardy. They bring a double enthusiasm to their new way of life, and with zeal they blindly defend their blind teachers. They put themselves on the trust of people who have exchanged a system of rules and traditions for the life, forgiveness, and relationship of an infinite Saviour. Religion is important in its place (James 1:26-27), but only when it points us to the Christ who died for our sins and who now offer to live His life through those who trust Him (Gal 2:20 ; Titus 3:5).

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YOU’RE NOT ALONE if you are unconvinced that Christ is all He claimed to be. But keep in mind that He promised God’s help to those who have a good reasons for their questions. He said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself“(John 7:17). Here Jesus reminds us that we see things not only as they are, but as we are.

If you do see the reasonableness of faith in Christ, keep in mind that the Bible says to the family of God, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast “ (Eph 2:8-9). The salvation Christ offers is not a reward for religious effort but a gift to all who put their trust in Him.

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