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Greetings Mark, Thank you for your reply. I will try to convey to you from personal experience the difference between religion and Christianity ( new birth ). I was raised in a main line " christian " denomination. I knew all about Jesus dying for all mankind. My understanding of God was one of fear and never being able to make my life acceptable to what I thought He required. My understanding of this religion was a list of do's and don'ts. The more effort I expended to try and live a " good " life, the more I failed and frustrated I became. I could also see that I was not alone with this struggle although the majority of people would never admit that they to had similiar struggles. He was to me a " distant " God who I would visit every Sunday for the first 17 years of my life. This to me Mark, is what I call " religion " definitely man-made. Between 20-38 years of age Mark I embarked on a life built totally on self-fullfillment, and left a trail of destruction on my path. The more I would indulge to satisfy the cravings of the " flesh " the more my appetite would grow for more, always hoping but never finding what I was really looking for. At 35 years of age, I had tried most things this world has to offer which gave pleasure but no peace. I was 35 years of age when my best friend who became a born-again christian shared the " Gospel " with me. I ran across Canada and the United States for the next three years in an attempt to prove that all I needed in life was material things. After three years had elapsed, I had been successful at acquiring what I believed would satisfy this " inner " craving and restlessness but although I looked in the eyes of man that I had it made , with-in me, I knew this world had nothing to offer me. Things started to change very fast in my life now, the company I was working for picked up a contract in Ontario, Canada and I was therefore heading back to Ontario. I had no sooner entered the town where I would be residing when I met the same friend who shared the Gospel with me 3 years previously. This time I was READY to hear and understand the Gospel and for the next three weeks I was at my friends house daily, wanting to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday 1983, after much consideration I knelt down and received the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the next few weeks I knew within me something had happened, I was a " womanizer " and an " alcoholic" who had to drink scoth whiskey daily in order to navigate, the desire for alcohol was no longer present with-in me. Also the relationship I was having with a woman, I knew deep with-in me I must stop, which I did. I was then compelled by God to return to my wife and children who I deserted 4 years previously and ask her forgiveness and for reconciliation between us. Mark , what had happened when I was " born from above " is that I received the very life that God is, that is " Eternal Life " in my spirit. I had become a partaker of the Divine nature, thanks be unto the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this new nature that gives me the ability and freedom to love and serve Almighty God. No longer do I have to wrestle with the futility of my mind of in overcoming the cravings of the " flesh " which by the way always lost. Born-again Christians have by their new nature a personal relationship with the living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Relationship( God-made) not Religion( Man-made). Please read 2 Cor. 5:17, " Therefore if any man is in Christ, He is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come ". That verse was becoming a daily reality in my life. Mark I said all that hoping you can see the difference beteen true Biblical christianity and all the man made religions this world has to offer. The intolerance that I uphold is to the many ways that man thinks He can come to God, other than Gods only way , that being the Lord Jesus Christ. My intolerance would NEVER bring me to a place where I could ever physically hurt anyone, let alone kill anyone. May The Lord Most Holy grant you to see the futility in this world outside of His Eternal Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, and grant you the ability to come unto His Lordship. Robert |
