Jesus vs Religion

 Are all religions equal? 

The short answer is YES! All religions are equal. Yes. I know some want to argue that this religion is greater or lesser than that religion. Most Christians say that Christianity is the only true religion. Truth is, Christianity is not the only true religion. All religions ARE equal. They are all man-made.

God made His plan of salvation simple and easy for all to obtain.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:16-18

First, notice this does not say "If you eat meat on Friday, or don't eat meat at all, or walk a half a mile on the Sabbath day, or if you say ten "Hail Marry" No He says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Whoever. What does this mean? Whoever. Anyone. Everyone. All you have to do is accept Jesus and believe He raised from the dead, and you shall be saved. Romans 10:9.

It also says this. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Does it say "If you murder someone, or if you do not follow this or that tenants of said religion, or if you do all sorts of evil?" No. It says "but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Whoever? Whoever. Anyone. Everyone. That simply? "has not believed" is? "condemned already." There is nothing you need to do accept not believe in Jesus, and you are condemned already because He is the only authentic way to Heaven. He is the Door, the Gate, the Shepard. He and the Father are one. John 10, Romans 10:13 says “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

So any religion that does not have this simple truth, Jesus IS Lord and He is God, is a false religion. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 12:3

"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit."

Jesus puts it plainly as recorded in Mark 9:40 "Whoever is not against us, is for us." Which also works the other way.

You see it really is that simple. You accept the gift. You receive the key. You are adopted into the family of God, and He becomes your Father. He tells us, that, His people are a family. That being a child of God, you are now heirs.

"and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8:17

How many of you are parents? You have a child and all of a sudden, nothing else really matters. When the child is a baby, you have to treat it as a baby. Feed it, burp it, change it. Do everything for it. As it grows, you teach it. As it gets older, it will make its own choices. You still love him or her, no matter what choice they make. However, once they reach a certain age, they will decide the direction of their life. Either they will follow what you have taught them, or they will go out on their own. But you are still their parent, and they are still your children.

God is the same way. He wants you to get to know Him. He wants to spend time with you. You with Him. He wants to teach you all things and the ways you should go. Religion comes in and attempts to teach us God's Will. However, religion IS Man. Organized religion is a man-made tradition. Man-made beliefs. Man-made rules and regulations. What to do. Not to do. What to eat. What to wear. How to speak, etc. Religion for religion's sake is pointless and can actually do more harm than good.

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” James 1:26

Look here as well.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:8-16

If the religion that you belong to, does not have the key, what's the point? If the religion you belong to, tells you things that are NOT in the Word of God? What's the point? If you are mindlessly following the traditions of men, in the hopes of feeling holy, just, or even simply forgiven, if God is not involved, you accomplish nothing.

Look at Acts 4, Peter and John are arrested and brought before the council and they are put on trial. They see that a man has been healed and Peter and John are doing good works. Do they tell them to stop? Nope. They did not tell them to stop doing good works, but they did tell them to stop teaching the name of Jesus.

"So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." Acts 4:18

Then they threatened them more and let them go. They had no problem with "religion." After all, Peter and John were Jews and had the same "religion" as those on the council. They did not have a problem with the "good works:" that they were performing. No. What they had the problem with was the name of, and Jesus, Himself. It is still this way today, in many places around the world.

What did Jesus himself say about Religion?

"Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” Matthew 15:1-9

Teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men. Just because you may be following the traditions of men, doesn't mean you are following God's Word. Or His teachings. Jesus warns us of false prophets and false religions.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." Matthew 7:15-20

Wonder about a certain religion? First, do they have Jesus? Second, look at what they are doing. Are they going out to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give peace to those in need? Are they using the tithes and offerings to help others? Is what they are telling you actually IN The Word? Are they producing anything? Are people being saved because of them? That is the sort of thing you should look into before committing to becoming a member of that religion or even that Church. Remember what Jesus said to the religious leaders?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:23-28

He goes on. In John 8:44-47 He calls them the children of the devil. What Jesus is saying to these people, is that they are so caught up in following their man-made traditions, called religion, that they could not see the truth, when it was right there in front of them. Many times we do this. When we get so caught up in religion, politics, culture, whatever, that we become blind to anything else. We become so focused on the "me" factor, that we fail to see anyone or anything else. If you are a black man, you can not possibly believe anything a white man says. If you are a Jew, you can not possibly believe anything a Christian says. If you are a Democrat, you can not possibly believe anything a Republican says. ETC. We get so caught up in following the traditions of those that came before, we can not hear anything that may be new to us. We can not believe that what we have always believed, may not be the truth.

Jesus is the Truth. He is the Way. He is the Life. Nothing else matters. Look at what Paul tells us here.

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." Galatians 1:11-17

This is very powerful. Paul is telling them here that he once killed and enslaved God's chosen people. He received great profit and praise and received high positions of power in his religion. He was "great" in the eyes of his religion. Yet, he found that he was wrong. He stopped listening to the teachings of his religion, and he started to learn from God himself. You can too. It's called a one-on-one relationship with God. Read His Word. Ask Him to teach you. Learn from the Spirit.

"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!" 1 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Again, you see that it is not about religion. You know, I was once told by a Hasidic kid "I am not supposed to talk to you." “Why not?” I asked him. "Because you are not clean. You are beneath me." I asked, do you believe that? He didn't know. We ended up playing paper football at the front desk in a Hotel, where the boy was attending a religious ceremony.

Religion teaches of a loving God, yet, are we supposed to hate and shun those that are not like us? Religion teaches salvation, but not for everyone. Religion teaches us to murder those that are not like us. Yes, religion teaches us many things. But do you REALLY know who God is? Do you have the Key? Are you doing God's Will or the Will of man? Are you making the Commandments of God of no effect, in the keeping of man-made traditions? These are the things you really need to ask yourself.

Learn from God. He will teach you the truth. Have faith in Him. In His Word. Seek out His Will, plan, and purpose for you and your life. If someone tells you something that is not in the Word, they are lying to you. If they tell you something that is not of God, they are telling you things of man. Or worse. Get to know the truth. For if you know the truth, you will not fall for a lie. God is the truth. His Word is the truth. Everything else is the traditions of men. Even Christianity can fall into this trap. More on that next time Be careful. Seek Jesus.

Say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I believed He rose from the dead. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, You shall be saved." Romans 10:9. You need to find a Church that God leads you to and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."Colossians 3:10

May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Jesus, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.

Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Jesus is Lord!