CONVERSATION AMONG FRIENDS ABOUT CHRISYIANITY VS RELIGION
POSTED: “Christianity is NOT religion. Religion is humanistic. It promotes self-potential of good or evil. It is performance-based.”
AAA I think you’re just playing with words…”religion” can be humanistic, empty, even evil: “If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. (James1:26)
BBB I do not do religon.
CCC Green Not all “religion” is wrong or empty or self-serving — it’s just a word that indicates a set of beliefs. PURE RELIGION (see — there is such a thing) and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.(James 1:27) The trick is to know the difference and to be able- by God’s grace- to have the RIGHT kind of religion. It’s really just a word — and not a “dirty” one, at that!
DDD Please see the post below for a complete explanation.
EEE Sorry to vent, but I just don’t understand how you can say Christianity “Is not a religion”. Of course it is! People will know whether our personal Christianity is vain or if it is pure and undefiled – we won’t have to pretend that it is not a religion.
FFF definition that denotes bondage (Hebrew meaning)I love words, they are important and God’s word says to choose our words carefully. The Latin term religiō, origin of the modern lexeme religion (via Old French/Middle Latin[2]) is of ultimately obscure etymology. It is recorded beginning in the 1st century BC, i.e. in Classical Latin at the beginning of the Roman Empire, notably by Cicero, in the sense of “scrupulous or strict observance of the traditional cultus”. Wikipedia
GGG Christianity Is Hanging On The Cross 🌴
HHH He is risen!
III Yup
JJJ Ah the Bait of Satan, to take up our time debating or sharing our views while all in all we are to help the lost be found! most folks that get offended by statements then showing their Best fruit of the Day…… Be careful not to waste our time “taking the Bait ” remember Jesus cast with a net” No Hooks Needed………………………
KKK Rest, sweet rest, not work at all!
LLL Surely James 1:27 is part of Christianity though. Right?
MMM James explains that, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26,27). The Greek word that he uses is threskeia, meaning “worship or religion.” Misrepresentation of the character of God in our behavior often indicates that we are engaging in “worthless religion.” James continues, though, to use threskeia in a positive way when he refers to “pure and undefiled religion” (James 1:27), wherein the worth-ship of God’s character is genuinely expressed in practical ministry to orphans and widows, and in the expression of the purity of God’s character. In that case genuine Christian worship transpires as we are receptive to the activity of God and express the worth-ship of His character in our behavior.
In light of the predominantly negative inferences of the word “religion” in the New Testament, we should avoid applying this word to Christianity. -(excerpt from Christianity is not religion, see post below).
NNN The intent of this post is to bring clarity to Christians and with that spirit in mind, I offer the following article to help those struggling with understanding the difference between Christianity and religion. The Latin word from which the English word “religion” is derived means “to bind up.” Jesus did not come to bind us up in rules and regulations or rituals of devotion, but to set us free to be man as God intended. http://www.christinyou.net/pages/Xnotrel.html
OOO Amen 💙
PPP Love this post….
I care more about a person and their personal relationship with the Lord, than a title we choose to give ourselves.
QQQ All religion is a failure. Church is even a trap if we’re not careful. Jesus is the only answer. The older I get the more I understand this.
RRR I completely understand what was posted. And sixth months ago I would of misinterpreted his intent. What I have experienced in my life, is often I became so imbedded in a title, that I lost the point behind what I believed in. And I have come to realize is that for me, I acknowledge I am a creation of a deep and loving God. And our sweet God has imbedded in me, as well as most humans, the emotion that desires to belong. As we examine the life of Jesus Christ he was the soul that has allowed us to forwever belong in his eternal kingdom. That was Jesus’s mission; he wants us to be with him in heaven. And as creations of Christ, knowing that we desire to belong, owning or expressing a title of belief for many, makes them feel wanted and part of something. We have many individuals who are lonely. To understanding the point and the why behind it l, has helps me to feel that is nothing wrong with that, except that it can lead into a false belief system, which than can lead into legalism within our church walls. And that false belief and legalism can happen in any church regardless of denomination. The title, the words like Judaism, Catholism, or Christianity, are all just titles we have choose to give ourselves. Why are we at many levels as a society l, so fixated on the title people chose to use, and less on loving and accepting the diversity in which a person may offer to celebrate their relationship with the Lord? A title doesn’t indicate religion, its people who have indicated religion.
SSS It’s not about religion–it’s about relationship. All Christ followers should understand this. 🙂