(Christianity Is Not A Religion)
TO THE BIBLE: Acts 11:26 NIV
“And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
LET’S TALK
Ask people about the major religions of the world, and the first one many would probably mention would be Christianity. But there’s nothing in the Bible that suggests Christianity is a religion. Though many Christians have helped propagate the notion that Christianity is “the world’s greatest and most respected religion,” the truth is Christianity isn’t a religion.
Religion is man’s work towards God, but Christianity is God’s work in man. It’s a call to oneness with Divinity. Christianity is Christ alive in you. Little wonder the Bible says in Colossians 1:26-27 CEV: “For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God’s people. God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory.”
God didn’t want us looking up or reaching out to heaven for Him; He wasn’t even satisfied to merely be with or live amongst us as “Emmanuel”—God with us (Matthew 1:23). Rather, He chose to take up His abode in the quarters of our hearts! That’s Christianity! It’s the pulsating life of God lived out through you. It’s the unveiling of the Living Word in a human life! Until this becomes a personal revelation to you, all you have will be mere religion.
Thus, the reason we go to church, pray, preach the Gospel and do the things we do as Christians isn’t because we’ve received a religion, but because we’ve received God’s nature—His life. That’s what Jesus brought to us. He made it possible for us to receive into our spirits the same quality of life that only God has: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Go Deeper
1 John 5:11-13
Pray
Dear Father, I thank you for the wonderful life you’ve given me, and the glorious fellowship you’ve called me into! Thank you for making me a partaker of your divine nature. You’ve given me life to the full—the ever-winning life of success, progress, peace and prosperity; something greater than religion. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
ONE YEAR
2 Thessalonians 3:1-18, Jeremiah 3-4
TWO YEAR
Hebrews 9:1-10, Ezekiel 16
Act
Meditate on this scripture – John 3:16.
My Notes
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