Mark (from Bob),
I understand your point about the religions of the world and their confidence that they are correct. I'm not sure if you saw some of my other postings, but I also am against religion. I believe religion is man-made and is mankinds attempts to justify ourselves before God. Religion tends to divide and also provides an avenue to establish a governmental like hierarchy where the people at the top exalt themselves among their followers.
Jesus Christ did the exact opposite, He never tried to exalt Himself but the Father in heaven. His teachings showed us that to be the greatest among the people, you had to be the servant of all. His teachings were full of love and beauty and I know that you are not disputing that. While I believe that religion is mans attempt to reach God, I believe that Jesus Christ is God reaching down to us.
There are a couple of things that separate Christianity (which is following Christ not being part of a church) from all other religions. All the large mainline religions preach that we are justified before a Holy God by our actions. Christianity says there is no way sinful people can justify themselves before God. The implication of self-justification is that God is indebt to us to give us salvation. This never made sense to me, how can God be indebt to me??? This always seemed quite arrogant to me to believe that. Jesus told us that we are justified by our faith in Him, not by our actions. Jesus' teachings made more sense to me than any others, which is why I love Him more and more everyday.
I really enjoyed your last post that stated Jesus would try to reach people in a more loving manner.
Tell me what you think of my thoughts, I really enjoy hearing you.
Bob |
