I have learned one thing for sure in my journey so far. There is this newly adopted idea that religion is a bad word and everything comes down to a "personal relationship" that is up for us to decide the parameters of on our own terms and not God's.
The latest trend among "believers" is this concept that religion is a bad thing and was not intended by God at all. God left us to have a personal relationship with Him, not a religion. This idea completely contradicts that same "believer's" claim that they are a Bible believing Christian. Why? Because the Bible completely contradicts the notion that "it is not about religion, but a relationship" or "God did not leave religion, He left us to have a relationship with Him."
The problem with this idea, among many problems, is that the Bible speaks favorably of religion and uses the word "religion" in James 1:26-27. "For someone to think himself religious he has to be able to bridle his tongue, because if he does not, he deceives his own heart and that man's religion is worthless. Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one's self unspotted from this world."
So the bible is against worthless religion. It is against impure and undefiled religion. But it is not against religion. It is saying that our religion should not be worthless, but supreme worth. It should be not impure, but completely pure. It should be not defiled, but undefiled. So the bible itself says that religion is a good thing and a thing of God, which He intends for us to have. Yes there are false religions in the world and not any religion is pleasing to God. The only religion pleasing to Him is the one in which He established on earth. He is the ONLY way and no one enters heaven to see the Father except through Him.
Secondly, ones relationship with God has to be obedient to the truth which God has revealed. We are not allowed to create our own religion and decide what our relationship with God is going to look like on our own terms, it has to be based on God's terms. And that is exactly what the Bible gives us, which is MOST of God's terms, on how to love Him and know Him so we can be happy with Him forever in the next. Saying that you don't want to get bogged down with the nitty-gritty details is the same thing as saying you don't want to get bogged down with the bible. The bible is a tremendously intricate book and very hard to understand at many times. It is full of nitty-gritty just as any relationship in life is full of. I could never successfully date someone without always trying to learn about what makes them happy, what makes them tick, what makes them the person they are, how they think, when their birthday is, when our anniversary is etc. I can't say, hey significant other, I don't want to get bogged down with all the nitty-gritty details about you, I just want to work on my relationship with you. That is the most absurd and backwards way of thinking I could make the mistake of buying into. It is a complete oxymoron. Again if we truly want to know God and love Him, we have to dig into the nitty-gritty and learn Him. There is a reason God asks us to seek, knock and ask in the bible. Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you."
I have also gotten a sense that the word "religion" is kind of becoming a dirty word in my generations growth in non-denomination faith. The idea that I don't follow a Church, I follow God has really taken hold of many hearts. I would contest that ideal is not biblical nor is it logical. God is His Church and religion which are both one and the same and you cannot separate the two. They are one in the same not something separate from each other. "The Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth. 1 Timothy 3:15, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." This passage makes it clear that God has made a Church or institution in which we must obey it's teachings. There is no other way around it. We should not get hung up on silly terminology. If you don't want to call it religion, then fine, call it a "personal relationship" it doesn't matter. What matters is that both require a seeking of God to truly know Him and both require us to be obedient to God's word and keep His commandments. Both require a reaction to His Word and the question is, how do we properly respond to His word and live as He intended us to live?
If anything, you can't have one without the other. You need religion in order to develop a personal relationship with God. It is impossible to have a personal relationship with God without having His religion and understanding it. How can you have a relationship with someone, but refuse to get to know the deepest details about them? That is the definition of an oxymoron. It takes both a deep desire for a personal relationship with Christ and a deep desire to get to know Him a.k.a. learn about his Church and learn about His religion. It is only when we surrender and build our personal relationship with Him on His terms that we will accomplish salvation. Every single Christian is obligated to know their Faith as intrinsically as they can, never stopping to attempt to improve. 1st Peter 3:15, "To know his or her faith and be able to articulate it and give a reason for the hope that is in you."
A "personal relationship" and love is not something that is over and done with within a day. It is a life long process. We can relate our personal relationship with God to our romantic relationships we experience here on earth.
With God we have the same process only through:
1) Evangelize
2) Catechize
3) Sacramentalize.
John 1:12 "To those who receive Him who believe in His name, He gave them power to become Children of God." To receive Him as Savor and Lord and accept Him into our hearts is necessary, but that is only step one. After we receive Him, step two, we have to believe in His name which is ever bit as necessary. We have to seek Him and desire to know Him at the deepest level we possibly can. Then God gives us the POWER to become children of Him. The Lord's Prayer is a great teacher and empowers us to understand it is not up to us alone and it is God who will move our spirit. Nothing is possible without Him.
I have also gotten a sense that the word "religion" is kind of becoming a dirty word in my generations growth in non-denomination faith. The idea that I don't follow a Church, I follow God has really taken hold of many hearts. I would contest that ideal is not biblical nor is it logical. God is His Church and religion which are both one and the same and you cannot separate the two. They are one in the same not something separate from each other. "The Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth. 1 Timothy 3:15, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." This passage makes it clear that God has made a Church or institution in which we must obey it's teachings. There is no other way around it. We should not get hung up on silly terminology. If you don't want to call it religion, then fine, call it a "personal relationship" it doesn't matter. What matters is that both require a seeking of God to truly know Him and both require us to be obedient to God's word and keep His commandments. Both require a reaction to His Word and the question is, how do we properly respond to His word and live as He intended us to live?
If anything, you can't have one without the other. You need religion in order to develop a personal relationship with God. It is impossible to have a personal relationship with God without having His religion and understanding it. How can you have a relationship with someone, but refuse to get to know the deepest details about them? That is the definition of an oxymoron. It takes both a deep desire for a personal relationship with Christ and a deep desire to get to know Him a.k.a. learn about his Church and learn about His religion. It is only when we surrender and build our personal relationship with Him on His terms that we will accomplish salvation. Every single Christian is obligated to know their Faith as intrinsically as they can, never stopping to attempt to improve. 1st Peter 3:15, "To know his or her faith and be able to articulate it and give a reason for the hope that is in you."
A "personal relationship" and love is not something that is over and done with within a day. It is a life long process. We can relate our personal relationship with God to our romantic relationships we experience here on earth.
With our romantic relationships we have the natural progression of:
1) Courtship
2) Engagement
3) Marriage.
1) Courtship
2) Engagement
3) Marriage.
With God we have the same process only through:
1) Evangelize
2) Catechize
3) Sacramentalize.
Evangelize is about falling in love. A COVENANTAL relationship that established personal communion in the covenant of God. But this is only the first step. It does not stop here. We then have to graduate to the second part and Catechize.
Catechize is where we learn about our faith and learn about the mystical body of Christ and how we become a working part of it. In this stage we study the word of God. Proclaim the fullness of the truth. Then we graduate from that stage to the final stage after we have accepted God's truth and Sacramentalize.
Catechize is where we learn about our faith and learn about the mystical body of Christ and how we become a working part of it. In this stage we study the word of God. Proclaim the fullness of the truth. Then we graduate from that stage to the final stage after we have accepted God's truth and Sacramentalize.
Sacramentalize is the interpersonal covenant sacramental communion. This is well beyond just rituals we do for God, but what God does for us. When we Sacramentalize we put into action what we believe in what is pleasing to God and seal our hearts to His in the absolute closest possible way while we are on earth.
John 1:12 "To those who receive Him who believe in His name, He gave them power to become Children of God." To receive Him as Savor and Lord and accept Him into our hearts is necessary, but that is only step one. After we receive Him, step two, we have to believe in His name which is ever bit as necessary. We have to seek Him and desire to know Him at the deepest level we possibly can. Then God gives us the POWER to become children of Him. The Lord's Prayer is a great teacher and empowers us to understand it is not up to us alone and it is God who will move our spirit. Nothing is possible without Him.
"There is no greater personal relationship with God than to obey Him and follow His religion on His terms, not our own." - The Writer
No comments:
Post a Comment