Religious Stumblingblock

It is so hard for anyone to give up their religion. Look at the Jews and the way they held to the Law of Moses, when the Messiah they had prophesied and longed for was right in their midst! Religion is a strange animal because it causes us to adhere to something that is not possible, because we are sinners, and will always be sinners. It is God's grace that intervenes for us when we are born again, and the blood of Jesus, the Messiah, is applied to that sin. Praise God!! Still, religion at times seems comfortable and realistic because we are involved in it with our efforts to be "made right" with God. Martin Luther was a very religious man who was pursuing religious righteousness, and he was failing miserably, even in his greatest sacrifices. It wasn't until he experienced, yes, experienced the wonderful grace of our loving God, that he found what he was looking for, and that was mercy and grace. That grace changed his whole life, because He found a true peace and love he had never realized before, and it was not religious at all. It was pure God and pure love.

Do you seek satisfaction? If you are breathing, you probably do. The old song "I can't get no satisfaction is the battle cry of religious people. Here are some of the lyrics I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction 'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try. I can't get no, I can't get no When I'm drivin' in my car And the man comes on the radio He's tellin' me more and more About some useless information Supposed to fire my imagination.

If you are trying to make yourself look better to God you will never be satisfied. We need to look at this from a different perspective. God is all-powerful. God's love is infinite and eternal. God's grace is our only hope. God is the only one good, and it is His goodness we are to live in. Paul wrote about this in Romans 9:30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith; 31 however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written: Jesus was the stumbling block that exposed their manmade righteousness and religion. Israel could not get righteousness, even with all their law following, and those Gentiles got righteousness without following one law because of their faith in Jesus. If you are not Jewish, then you are a Gentile, by the way.

How deep was the Jews' desire to make sure they were right? They sent out "religious" leaders with the Law as their weapon to kill all followers of Jesus and His righteousness, and Saul was one of their top dogs. So Jesus met Saul, who became Paul, and blinded him to the way he was going and opened his eyes to the way of truth, and Paul dedicated his life to preaching the Good News about the true righteousness of God. Go figure.

Make sure you realize what the "real thing" is when it comes to righteousness. It is not anything you do, because it is "who you are" in Jesus. BIG DIFFERENCE because who we are in Jesus is made possible by the righteousness of God. Don't let your religion be a stumbling block to your faith and to how you perceive anyone else.

Today's Message,

David Warren