Good morning. The title of this “thought for the day” is the same as the title for our sermon message this coming Sunday. My hope is that what is written here will cause you to think about this important subject, and for those who will be attending New Life Christian Church this Sunday it will be a thought of preparation for what is coming.
Is it going too far to say, “God hates religion”? No, it is not. I say that because God makes that point clear repeatedly in His Word, both Old Testament and New.
Our central scripture verse for the present sermon series: “Words of Faith”, is 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.”
The key truth of that verse is that our righteousness, which is an essential quality if we are to approach our holy God, is ours through Jesus Christ, never from ourselves. One of the chief concerns with religion is that it is “self-righteous”. Whatever religion you point to, (and if you are wondering how to identify them, apply this: if there is an “ism” at the end, it is a religion) that religion is going to say that the “way to God” is through a variety of acts and practices. It is all about satisfying requirements rather than accepting the grace of Jesus. To be sure, many of those acts and practices are very “good” in and of themselves. They meet human needs. They often accomplish godly ends. But are personal acts of righteousness enough? Consider John 14:6 when contemplating what is needed to come to the Father: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus put it this way in Matthew 23:23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of evil.’
Were they doing “good things”? It sounds as though they were doing good deeds. So, what is the problem? It wasn’t in Jesus, for Jesus, of Jesus. It was self-righteousness not righteousness found through Him. It was all about religion but not relationship.
The sermon this Sunday should prove to be interesting. If it is well preached it will almost certainly irritate some, if not all, who hear it. That’s okay, because my promise is that it will be all about Jesus and growing to know Him more.
For today, please think about knowing Jesus. To know is a matter of building your relationship with Him, it is never about being more “religious”.
Vern