YOU'RE A RELIGION ATHEIST? YOU MAY BE CLOSER TO GOD THAN YOU THINK!!

I know it seems as though I have just contradicted myself, but I really haven't. See, religion is a system of rules and regulations. Laws. Do's and dont's. And, as anyone whose ever been in need of help knows, the law cannot save you. The law only tells you what is wrong, and the punishment for breaking the law. So, the law, by itself, cannot save your immortal soul. Or, you life, depending on whether your taking the law spiritually or  in the so called,"reality" sense. If you have ever been in danger from a person,and had occasion to call the law, you know you can't expect anything from the police, until a law has been broken. So the law cannot save you. They can only dispense punishment to the law breaker,and perhaps, reparations to the one who has been wounded, unless they are beyond help. Okay? That is our world, our actual system of "justice". Likewise, in the religious world, the churches, in and of themselves cannot save you either. They can only tell you what the law is,and show you in the scriptures how God dealt with those who broke his laws. Relate to you the stories, the songs, the proverbs, and the eventual outcome of each and every great man of God, all of whom, with a couple exceptions, failed God, somehow, someway. And yet, God, for the most part, forgave them,when they turned away from their wicked ways. The grand exception, was Job. He was the most righteous, upright man of his day,and God knew it,and was so proud of him, he bragged to Satan about him, and Satan took him on as a challenge, to try to turn this wonderful man of faith against God, just by taking away from him most of God's blessings. Well, we all know the story, Poor Job lost everything, but his wife,and his life. Yet even at it's worst point, Job refused to curse God, and then the Lord said, that's enough, and restored to his servant everything he had lost, and more. The other great "man" of faith, of course, was Jesus. He did not fail God either. He did exactly what he was sent here to do.And, here is where most religions miss the mark. They will preach about everything else, but they won't hardly touch on the one subject that will bring you face to face with your savior. See, salvation is not in keeping the law, because the law cannot save you! Only one man ever kept the law,and that man was Jesus, who lived perfect, and died on the cross, just as the lamb of God was supposed to do, as it was laid out repeatedly in the old testament. He paid the price for the sins of the world, and all we have to do is  ACCEPT IT! So, that means that religion misses the mark,doesn't it? Since a system of rules and regulations can't save you, you need a relationship with Jesus to be saved. What Christ did on the cross is not something you can earn, or pay for. Jesus paid it all, and salvation is a gift of God. 

And, that is not all. Once you pray to be forgiven for your sins and accept what the son of God did for you on the cross, by faith believing, God then gives you the ability to live up to what he has given you, and it changes you, from the inside out.

So, which would you rather have? Dead,cold, formal religion, or an exciting relationship with the living God,who speaks to your heart,and cares about everything you care about? And the best part is, you don't have to join a church! You don't have to shake a preachers hand! You don't have to go to catechism classes and sign a contract saying you won't do this and you won't do that! You have an advocate with the Father, who has lived on this earth, and knows how hard life can be, and has experienced temptation,who, the minute you accept him as your Lord and Savior, will turn to the Father,and say, I died for them!

Yeah. Me too!

OUI?

 

Comments

[Lori]

That was incredibly well-said. It's so hard, even as a Believer who knows all these things are true, to not get caught up in living a "performance-based" life. It sets us up for failure every time, because we can NEVER be "good enough". I read a story recently that really drives this home. It spoke of one of Napoleon's soldiers, who had failed to perform to expectations. The usual price and punishment for this was execution. The soldier's mother pleaded with Napoleon to have mercy on her son. Napoleon answered that the soldier had failed to do his job, and did not deserve pardon. The mother's answer was profound: if he had deserved to be pardoned, the pardon would not be "mercy"! Napoleon was so touched by the mother's wisdom in this matter, that he pardoned the soldier--gave him mercy. Isn't that just like what Jesus has promised to us? How amazing that He gives us His mercy and grace! And at such a huge price to Him, but only a small step in faith, for us!

[Kilter]

I agree with the previous poster, this was a strong and powerful entry. You seem to be able to boil things down and get right to the essence, Featherhead. I may steal a few of your ideas!