No, yet God so revealed Himself to him that his Moses face shone. In fact, God buried Moses when he died. Was Jacob a Christian? No, yet with all his ups and downs in life, he fought with an angel until his name got changed. Was Elijah a Christian? No, yet he pleased God so well that God sent one of His chariots to pick him up to Heaven — alive.
Enoch — he was not, for God took him. The many prophets of old were not Christians, yet they had relationships with God that manifested in their everyday life. All the above, and many more in the Bible had spectacular relationships with God that made God do the extra-ordinary in their lives and through them. Unfortunately, such people become useless and irrelevant to their immediate environment. Coming to the new-testament, was Jesus Himself a Christian?
No, He was the son of God. He had a relationship with God. He took instructions from God. Were he disciples Christians, No? Then I would say that the ultimate goal of everyman should be to have a relationship with God that shows positively in the way we live our lives. Without Jesus, people who believe in God would have wandered who they could take after. Which prophet would be the guiding light? We Christians would have been asking ourselves who we should take after.
Is it Abraham or Moses or Elisha or Daniel?
Who exactly should be the focus? Also where is the repentance? The word of God is what is powerful, but it seems to me that yall arent using that. We have the holy spirit to dissern what is right from wrong but we also have the word. That talks bout a true Religion? I guess you are referring to Jam1: It requires daily sacrifices to be made while living.
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The passage actually proves my point that Christianity is not a religion, and that Christianity is a way of life. To put it differently, we could say James 1: Fully believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is enough,cause that takes us to fully live the Christian lifestyle and NOT the other way around. Not living the Christian lifestyle will have a person to purposely decided not to.
Christainity is more of a relationship than a Religion. However, practically speaking, Christianity has a key difference that separates it from other belief systems that are considered religions.
That difference is relationship. Most religion, theistic or otherwise, is man-centered. In that regard, Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship that God has established with His children.
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In Christianity, God is the aggressor and man is the beneficiary Romans 8: The Bible states clearly that there is nothing man can do to make himself right with God Isaiah According to Christianity, God did for us what we cannot do for ourselves Colossians 2: Our sin separates us from His presence, and sin must be punished Romans 6: But, because God loves us, He took our punishment upon Himself.
The grace-based relationship between God and man is the foundation of Christianity and the antithesis of religion. Established religion was one of the staunchest opponents of Jesus during His earthly ministry. Obedience to all the other commands had to stem from a love for God. Then they added many of their own rules to make it even more cumbersome Isaiah They prided themselves on their ability to keep the Law—at least outwardly—and lorded their authority over the common people who could never keep such strenuous rules. The Pharisees, as adept as they were at rule-keeping, failed to recognize God Himself when He was standing right in front of them John 8: They had chosen religion over relationship.
Just as the Jewish leaders made a religion out of a relationship with God, many people do the same with Christianity. Entire denominations have followed the way of the Pharisees in creating rules not found in Scripture. Some who profess to follow Christ are actually following man-made religion in the name of Jesus. Jesus addressed this in Matthew Instead of pointing people to heaven, these religious leaders were keeping people out of the kingdom of God. However, how many of us have bothered to evaluate this ubiquitous saying?
There is a common mantra that has been around for a while, but which seems to be picking up steam. It goes like this: I believe we must do just that. We must evaluate this mantra and the syllogism by which it is frequently accompanied:. I believe this syllogism is not only invalid but patently false.
Bad Religion
If for no other reason, this syllogism must be rejected on the grounds that it contains at least one false premise. And Christianity is indeed a religion. Moreover, I believe it is dangerous —even foolish— to argue otherwise. The argument that Christianity is not a religion has many inherent problems. Most importantly, this line of reasoning is at odds with the English language, the history of the church, and good old common sense. This, in turn, exposes an unavoidable logical fallacy in what is ultimately a question-begging argument.
In order for the statement —Christianity is not a religion— to be true, one has to assume a certain definition of the word religion that does not exist i.
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The Encarta World English Dictionary defines religion as:. Even Encarta knows better. In fact, the distance between the true definition and this contemporary mantra is even more evident when one examines earlier sources. Webster offers a definition we would be hard-pressed to improve upon. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties.
It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion. Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness or real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and his law. Religion, as distinct from virtue, or morality, consists in the performance of the duties we owe directly to God, from a principle of obedience to his will.
Religion or Way of Life?
Hence we often speak of religion and virtue, as different branches of one system, or the duties of the first and second tables of the law. That reference James chapter 1 says as much about the nature of early America as it does about early American English. Far from being presented as something at odds with biblical Christianity, the James 1 reference alludes to the fact that religion is the means by which true followers of Christ accomplish things like bridling the tongue, ministering to orphans, and escaping defilement by the world.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, and the Father, is this: Thus, while the Bible does make a distinction between true and false religion, it does not teach that religion is something antithetical to biblical Christianity. Not only is the contemporary attitude toward religion at odds with the English language, it also stands at odds with the history of Christianity. Throughout the history of the church, Christianity has not only been viewed as a religion; it has been considered the only true religion.
One cannot read Christian literature from any period prior to our own without encountering the routine use of the word religion in reference to the Christian faith.