TODAY’S VERSE:
James 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
We have begun a new series in prep school titled, Christianity vs Religion. You may be wondering what the difference is. Let us first define our terms. For this study, when we say “religion” we mean the religion of the world, the belief that people must earn their way to Heaven and do good deeds to please God. When we say Christianity, we mean the religion of the Bible, where both salvation and good works are accomplished by grace through faith because of God’s love.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
So, the differences between the two are the power source (God vs. self) and the motivation (love vs. fear). Religions of the world teach that people must work to earn their salvation and keep working in order to sustain it or they will lose it! That sounds exhausting and scary, huh? The Bible teaches against all of that nonsense!
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
God wants us to know that we are loved and to live in gratitude for all that He has done to make our salvation possible. Then, we will serve Him because of our love and gratitude NOT because we fear going to hell. When we understand what He has done for us, we love Him and want to obey His commands in order to please Him. When we do this, the Bible tells us that we will have joy!
John 15:10-11 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
The religion of the world, on the other hand, robs people of joy because they live in fear of going to hell if they are not “good enough”. They are afraid to die because they are unsure of where they will be for all of eternity since they believe it depends upon their behavior. UGH! They must be so stressed and anxious. God does not want that for His children and commands that we let Him handle our problems!
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
When we believe what God tells us in the Bible about salvation, we can live without fear, stress, and anxiety! We ask you, why would anyone choose to live any other way?!