I am not religious; I am a Christian, and there is a big distinction between the two. This is the distinction: The basis of religion is man working his way to god/s. The key word there is 'work.' And when I look at every religion in the world, this is the case. For examples, for the muslims, to go to heaven by keeping the 5 pillars of Islam, then maybe, just maybe Allah will be gracious and let them in. Similarly in Catholicism, (which is similar to Christianity, but is not Christianity) you must do the sacraments and be baptized. We can go through each religion as see what is called in theological circles: works righteousness or self righteousness. Basically man commending himself to god/s by their own virtue.
But (true, biblical) Christianity is different, This is the distinction, in that works play no part in commending us to God, but we are save by faith. Let me explain. First you need to understand that there is NOTHING in us that commends us to God. You see, while we may think that we are good people, the reality is, by God's holy standard, we are the opposite. For example, If you have lied, God sees you as a liar, If you have stolen (value is irrelevant) then God sees you as a thief. If you have taken God's name in vain even once (saying something like 'OMG', or not given Him due reverence whenever you say His name) that is called blasphemy, and the bible says that God will not find him guiltless who takes His name in vain. One more: You know what adultery is, but Jesus said that if you even look with lust, you commit adultery with her in her heart. Now I trust that you, like me, are a human being and therefore have broken those commandments (from the 10 commandments). I have, so God sees me as a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart, whether I like it or not, if you have broken these laws, He sees you the same.
Thats the bad news, and its pretty bleak, but Christianity doesn't stop there, there is good news also. The good news is that although we are all condemned, God made a way for us to be forgiven. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, voluntarily went to the cross, upon which they crucified Him. God looked down and saw Jesus' sacrifice and was satisfied. Then on the third day He defeated death and rose again. Its like this, you are in court for a serious crime, the judge sentences you to life in jail or a fine which is more than you could ever pay. You are about to be led off to jail, when someone in the crowd stands up and give the judge a check for the full amount. You can go free, not because you are good, but because he paid your fine. Same with Christ, He paid your sin debt to God. Now the bible says to repent and put you faith in Jesus Christ, thus we say that by faith we are saved, no works we can do can add to Christ's death, because that death was enough, and we have nothing worthy to add.
Now like it or not, every religion is opposed to this teaching. We like the idea of 'doing it ourselves' but the problem is we can't, in any way. Now there is one other thing I haven't mentioned yet. That is that the God of the bible, of Christianity, claims to be the only God that exists, He was the creator of the world, He owns it, and He makes the rules. On that basis, every other god does not exist, except as carved idols and in our mind. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me"
Thank you for reading this, Please think about it, consider your sin and then think on the kindness of the saviour, Jesus Christ, please repent and put your faith in Christ
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