Photo courtesy of Kristanix.com
I would be one of the last people on this entire planet to defend religion. In the past, so much wickedness has been perpetrated in the name of religion, that one would have to be half-daff to wave that flag.
Jesus was not a religious person. He was considered irreligious in his day. Jesus did not incarnate on this planet to force dogma down our throat. He released us from dogma and the curse of the law. We couldn’t hang.
Jesus doesn’t expect us to blindly abdicate all reason and become blind zombies. The Son of God came so that we might have life, and have that more abundantly. He didn’t sacrifice His life to force religion down our throats. He came to help us. HE CAME TO SAVE MEN’S SOULS!
Broadly speaking, “religion is a set of beliefs.” In that regard I guess we all possess some degree of religion. We all have beliefs. But don’t try to lay religion’s negative history and negative connotation on Jesus’ doorstep. He’d be the last person in the world to require that you adopt religion.
But what does Jesus require? {Note: bolded words are my device}
Micah 6:8. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Mark 1:15. “… the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
John 14:6. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
1 John 3:23. “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
You can cast aspersions and mis-characterize things all day long… but Jesus was not touting religion. He offers all “who have ears to hear” the opportunity to be delivered from their sin and inherit eternal life. Those blinded by their own intellect, however, are going to have a difficult time.
I urge the skeptic to do this one small thing: just read (again) what Jesus actually said about himself in the first four chapters of the New Testament. READ FOR YOURSELF what the man actually said! After reading what Jesus actually did say… then yes. It is your free-will choice to believe what the man said or to reject him entirely – as probably the biggest fraud to ever hit this planet.
Love you guys,
Peace out,
JCT (John)