Faith or religion
"It is natural for a person to be religious but it is supernatural for a person to be a Christian."
I read that the other day and it is true. Where does the faith of a religious person come from? And where does the faith of a Christian come from?
The faith of a religious person comes from the teaching they receive and other outside influences. The faith of a Christian comes directly from God via the Holy Spirit; it is supernatural because it is not of our own making, not of our own planning, not of our own upbringing. It is supernatural because it can turn atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus etc into Spirit filled Christians.
Some people equate faith with belief? To me it is much more than that.
I have always believed in God but I haven't always had that God-given faith in the work of the cross. That only came when I eventually 'saw the light' or 'got it'. I always knew that Jesus died on the cross to atone for my sin but it wasn't until it was actually pointed out to me that I had to do something about it and I responded in my heart to that with the prayer of repentance that I actually became a Christian and my belief became faith. Absolute trust. You have to respond with your heart to make it real.
But as Christians we know the difference, or we should. Just as we know that others follow 'religions' that they hope will bring them close to their gods whilst we follow a God that brought us close to himself through the blood of Jesus.
Christianity is not really a religion it is a relationship. Some might see it as a religion and it has developed into a religion in many cases but that is what man has made it. In essence it boils down to our relationship with God which we can't have without Jesus.
Religion is man seeking a god for spiritual fulfilment. Christianity is God seeking man for a loving relationship. See the difference?
And yes they do have their different faiths where faith = belief. But unless, as an adult, you have chosen to be a born again Christian your faith/belief is in something dead and leads to death for the believer. A Christian's faith on the other hand is not in some dead doctrines but in a living God who lives within them and loves them and forgiven their sin so that they can have that close intimate relationship with him that believers in other deities don't have. All roads do not lead to Salvation.
Only Jesus gives life to the spirit, without Jesus the spirit remains dead and that is the state of all who have not been born again and do not have that real faith in him. It isn't enough to believe in him for as you probably know the devil believes as do so many churchgoers before they 'get' what the gospel is about. There has to be that vital step that leads to the supernatural re-birth of our spirits. Without that spiritual awakening there is only spiritual death. And I'm not talking about the lake of fire but of exclusion from God's presence.
"It is natural for a person to be religious but it is supernatural for a person to be a Christian."
I read that the other day and it is true. Where does the faith of a religious person come from? And where does the faith of a Christian come from?
The faith of a religious person comes from the teaching they receive and other outside influences. The faith of a Christian comes directly from God via the Holy Spirit; it is supernatural because it is not of our own making, not of our own planning, not of our own upbringing. It is supernatural because it can turn atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus etc into Spirit filled Christians.
Some people equate faith with belief? To me it is much more than that.
I have always believed in God but I haven't always had that God-given faith in the work of the cross. That only came when I eventually 'saw the light' or 'got it'. I always knew that Jesus died on the cross to atone for my sin but it wasn't until it was actually pointed out to me that I had to do something about it and I responded in my heart to that with the prayer of repentance that I actually became a Christian and my belief became faith. Absolute trust. You have to respond with your heart to make it real.
But as Christians we know the difference, or we should. Just as we know that others follow 'religions' that they hope will bring them close to their gods whilst we follow a God that brought us close to himself through the blood of Jesus.
Christianity is not really a religion it is a relationship. Some might see it as a religion and it has developed into a religion in many cases but that is what man has made it. In essence it boils down to our relationship with God which we can't have without Jesus.
Religion is man seeking a god for spiritual fulfilment. Christianity is God seeking man for a loving relationship. See the difference?
And yes they do have their different faiths where faith = belief. But unless, as an adult, you have chosen to be a born again Christian your faith/belief is in something dead and leads to death for the believer. A Christian's faith on the other hand is not in some dead doctrines but in a living God who lives within them and loves them and forgiven their sin so that they can have that close intimate relationship with him that believers in other deities don't have. All roads do not lead to Salvation.
Only Jesus gives life to the spirit, without Jesus the spirit remains dead and that is the state of all who have not been born again and do not have that real faith in him. It isn't enough to believe in him for as you probably know the devil believes as do so many churchgoers before they 'get' what the gospel is about. There has to be that vital step that leads to the supernatural re-birth of our spirits. Without that spiritual awakening there is only spiritual death. And I'm not talking about the lake of fire but of exclusion from God's presence.
