1. Religion is the effort made by men to
please God while salvation is God’s offer of His free gift of eternal life to
rescue fallen man from sin and its deadly eternal consequences. Religion is the
efforts men make seeking God while salvation is God looking for man to
reconcile with.
2. Religion is the works men boast about
to get the favour of God while salvation is simple faith in what God has done
by His grace to deliver man from destruction. Ephesians 2:8-9 says ‘for by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: not of works lest any man should boast.’’
3. Religion is placing trust in the
‘works’ we do while alive while salvation is to trust in the work God has done
for us through the Blood of Jesus that was shed for the remission of our sins
(Matthew 26:28).
4. Religion depends on how we behave
before God while salvation depends on our belief in the sacrifices God made
through Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) that says ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shall be saved and thy house.’’
5. Religion teaches us to depend on the
sufficiency of a good character while salvation teaches us to depend on the
sacrifices God made to redeem our souls on the Cross. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says
‘the preaching of the Cross is foolishness to them that perish but unto those
which are saved, it is the power of God unto salvation.’’
6. Religion is striving for a better
attainment through your own efforts while salvation is secured through a
perfect atonement without our efforts (1 Peter 1:18-19)
7. Religion shields the eyes of men from
seeing the goodness of God (Acts 28:27) while salvation opens our spiritual
eyes to the abundant grace of God (Ephesians 1:18).
8. Religion consists of attention to
rites, ceremonies, laws and commands while salvation imparts eternal life on
anyone who places his trust in God’s readymade provision. John 1:12 says ‘as
many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name.’’
9. Religion provides us with a robe of
righteousness of our own making while the salvation that God offers us tells us
that our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6)
1 Religion
tries to redeem a man physically or outwardly while inwardly, he remains
spiritually dead and full of all manner of wickedness, sin, darkness and
iniquity. Salvation transforms a man from spiritual death to life (John 5:24)
and makes him a saint before God as if he never sinned.
Religion
cannot save anyone from sin and its consequences. The more religious men claim
to become, the more sinful they are and worse sins they commit. Society is full
of fornicators and adulterers, thieves and robbers, murderers, bribe takers and
givers, gamblers and drunkards, wife beaters and a host of other vices all
claiming to be religious.
Some wear
white garments under the pretense of a religion claiming to be holy yet under
their white garments are incredible acts of wickedness buried and covered. Even
in Christianity, there is a religious side in it that cannot take anyone to
eternity with God.
That is,
anyone in the church playing church and playing religion whose heart is not
right with God and is not walking in the newness of life is not relating with
God. Christianity is more than a religion. It is an intimate, personal
relationship with God who desires true worship to Him to be in Spirit and in
truth (John 4:24).
Many in the
church are practicing mere carnal religion without genuine salvation. They are
mere church attendants and are not biblical Christians practicing biblical
Christianity. One can come to church and yet be missing from the presence of
the Lord. One can come to church worshiping God in vain with his lips while
his heart is far away from Him (Matthew 15:8).
God is God
in the lives of every man on earth irrespective of his religion but when it
comes to the issue of eternal life with Him, salvation through Jesus Christ is
the only Key to eternity with God (John14:6) (Acts 4:12)
Ayodele Adegbulugbe
www.xtianrace.blogspot.com
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