Boanerges

God in His loving kindness has reached out to man. Man in his ignorance will defile all he touches unless that touch is directed, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit. The Jews thought they had it together, the followed all the rules and kept the Sabbath. Jesus Himself had to come and inform them that the Sabbath was made for man and not the other way around. This same principle can readily be applied today as some have ritualized their walk with God. The good news is God has given us eternal life through His Son as a love gift. Many respond by following rules- these have missed the whole reason for redemption and that is to restore fellowship between man and God on a personal level. Jesus Christ is of course our Sabbath rest- in Him we cease from our own works and become the children of God. Yet sadly many still base their standing with God on their own merits and perhaps a few rituals. We have a higher calling than this- selah.

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

YelowJacket

The way I see it is, in man's "religion", no matter which one, you have to "do" something. In Gods perfect way there is nothing to do. It has all been done for you. Man just wrecks any form of religion because he is man.

Boanerges

One must bust surrender and accept God's love and life.

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

el Pollo

To me "religion" is mere ritual. As in "what can I do for God so that he will accept me?" rather than "God accepted me for no specific reason other than he loves me, so I will do whatever he asks because I too love him."

Reminds me of a conversation I had with the local J-dubs one Saturday morning. Two well dressed Witnesses knocked on my door, and I had always wanted to talk with these people. But what came out of my mouth wasn't what I expected.

J-Dub: "Hello! I wanted to know if you had every heard of Jehovah God and his Son Jesus?"

Me: "No thanks. I'm currently an active member of a church."

J-Dub: "Oh, so I see you are a religious man."

Me: "Nope. Religion is mere ritial. Faith is a relationship."

J-Dub: "Say that again? What do you mean?"

Me: "A relationship with Christ will gain you access to Heaven. Not ritual. Religion is ritual."

I haven't seen another one since.