Religion means a link to God. How can you know Jesus and His life if you don't have the religion?
You ask: “Religion means a link to God. How can you know Jesus and His life if you don't have the religion?”
You don’t meet Jesus through religion,
you meet Him through His Word and His Spirit. Religion is man trying to get to God through rituals and systems, but
the gospel is God coming to us through His Son. Jesus didn’t say, “Join a religion,” He said, “Follow Me” ~Matthew 4:19. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” ~Romans 10:17. You meet Jesus when you open His Word and the Holy Spirit opens your heart. His words are “spirit and life” ~John 6:63, and as you read, believe, and obey them, you begin to truly know Him. Eternal life isn’t in ceremonies or institutions, it’s in knowing a Person: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” ~John 17:3.
And once you’ve come to know Him, find a Bible-believing church that teaches Scripture alone,
not man-made religion or worldly compromise. But first,
study the Word for yourself so you can recognize truth from error. Many churches today have watered down the gospel to please people instead of God. Stay anchored in the Word, because that’s where the real Jesus is found.
You said Scripture is part of tradition, but God’s Word actually says the opposite. Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, “
In vain do you worship Me, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition” ~Mark 7:13. Scripture has never placed tradition beside itself as equal authority. The Bible alone is “God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” so that the believer is “complete, equipped for every good work” ~2 Timothy 3:16-17. In other words, Scripture is sufficient by itself to guide and sustain the Church.
You said the Church preserved Scripture, but the Bible says it is the Word that preserves the Church. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” ~Matthew 24:35. The Word was before any denomination or institution came to be, and it will remain when all those are gone. Authority comes from God’s breath,
not from man’s preservation.
You said Mary is the mediatrix of all graces, but the verse you quoted in ~Luke 1: 42 only records Elizabeth’s words of blessing as she spoke about
God’s favor on Mary for bearing the Savior.
The passage never commands us to pray with or to her. In fact, the disciples were told directly how to pray: “Our Father in heaven” ~Matthew 6:9. Nowhere in Scripture does anyone pray to or through Mary or the saints. The Word is clear: “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” ~1 Timothy 2:5.
You said priests have the authority to forgive and teach, actually, the Bible does not teach that priests have authority to forgive sins or rule as spiritual mediators. Only God can forgive sin. Jesus said plainly, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ~Mark 2:7. The New Testament declares every believer in Christ has direct access to God through Jesus. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood” ~1 Peter 2:9. Human hierarchy was abolished at the cross; the veil was torn ~Matthew 27:51. Pastors and elders exist to teach and shepherd (
not to mediate or absolve), and their authority is only valid when it lines up with Scripture ~Titus 1:9.
You said the Eucharist is the real body and blood of Jesus. But Jesus’ words “eat My flesh and drink My blood” in ~John 6:53 is not talking about literal consumption. He clarified, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” ~John 6:63. He was teaching about receiving Him by faith spiritually, not physically eating Him. At the Last Supper, He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” ~Luke 22: 19—
not “re-sacrifice Me.” Scripture says His one sacrifice was sufficient forever ~Hebrews 10:10-14.
Religion, in the Bible, is not a system of rituals, but a life of obedience to God’s Word. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” ~James 1:27. You don’t need a religious institution to know Jesus; you need to be born again through faith in Him ~John 3:3.
So, when everything is tested by Scripture alone, Catholicism’s claims do not hold up. Truth is not defined by tradition or leaders
but by the unchanging Word of God. “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” ~John 17:17.
Catholicism teaches a false gospel. It substitutes the finished work of Christ with the works of men. Ritual, tradition, and ceremonies replace faith and God’s grace ~Ephesians 2:8-9. Catholicism adds mediators to Christ, Mary and a host of priests. But
the Bible clearly says there is only one mediator,
Jesus Christ ~1 Timothy 2:5. It re-sacrifices Christ in the Mass, but His death on the cross was a one time event ~Hebrews 10:10. It teaches purgatory, prayers to saints and the authority of the Church as equal to Scripture,
all in opposition to God’s Word. Only by being born again, through faith in Jesus alone can one be saved ~John 3:3, 8; 1 John 5:12.
