I grew up in a Christian home. I went to church every Sunday and my mom would pray with me every night and I sang “Jesus Loves Me” etc. Does that make me a Christian? Is going to church and singing songs at church every Sunday truly what saves me? What about the Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays? Did I truly love Jesus and have a relationship with him? I didn’t then, but I do now. I was baptized when I was ten years old because I had accepted Jesus into my life as my Lord and Saviour. It was by far, the best day of my life and I am a new man, not because of my good works, but by His sovereign grace and mercy towards me. I’m a Christian who loves Jesus and hates religion. This almost always confuses people. This is because everyone refers to Christianity as a religion and they’re right. Christianity is considered a religion, but true Christianity is not “religious.” Whenever I say this, people always think “Wow. This guy’s a complete nut!” Now, there is a lot of Biblical evidence people don’t know about that supports the truth that  “religion” is man-made, self-dependant, and deceiving. Christianity is the work of God, totally dependent on God, humbling, and it’s truth.

Religion relies on the impossible. Religion relies on the belief that if you go to church a certain number of times, get baptized as an infant, or do a certain amount of good works in your life, you’ll go to heaven. Basically if you’re a good enough person. There is no scriptural evidence to back this up. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”God’s not up there with a checkbook in His hands marking how many times we go to church. He’s not Santa Claus. He’s the King of kings. He is God, the Great I Am. Many people I know have angrily told me that they’re good enough and that they deserve to go to heaven. I always point them to Romans 3:23. It says “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God….” Romans 8:20-21 also says “For the creation (All who live in this world) was subjected to futility, not willingly, but according to the will of Him (God) who subjected it, in hope that the creation would be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God!” What all of these scriptures are saying is that we cannot earn our way to heaven because we all fall short. We all have sinned. But there is good news! The good news is that God is merciful and He sent His only son who was sinless and made him bear all of our sins on a cross if we would come to him and repent. This how I know Jesus. I have faith in Him and He listens to my prayers. He loves me. I do not do good works out of fear, but out of delight to be more like Him. God is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him. That is why I cry out to Him saying “Abba, Father!” I love Him because He is my perfect Father and my Saviour. He is sovereign. Religion relies on the impossible, and in doing this, they also lie about it to others, blocking them from the true way to get to God.

One way that they lie is infant baptism. They tell people that they’re a Christian and that they’re going to go to heaven because they were baptized and they don’t even remember. The truth is that baptism is not what saves us. What saves us is repenting for our sins and accepting Jesus into our heart. “...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) That leads me to another way religion likes to deceive people. I often hear in my school about confirmation night and it really makes me sad. Confirmation is to where they make you go through this Religious School or class as if it were a drivers ed type of thing and then, when you’re done, they have confirmation. This is basically them graduating from religious schools. From what I know, it’s them being forced to give their lives to Jesus against their will. It’s not always against their will, but it usually is. Many of them believe in God and they want to get to heaven, but they don’t want to live the Christian life because they might be scared of what their friends will think, so they think that their infant baptism and confirmation is enough for them to easily make it into heaven. Again, these are works. In the scripture I just quoted, it says “...confess with your mouth and believe with your heart….” The Bible tells us to go out and make disciples, but the Bible also tells us that Jesus said “If any one believes in me, let him take up his cross and follow me.” So, if people aren’t willing to take up their cross and follow Jesus, you shouldn’t tell them that they’re saved just because they know what they’ve been taught. I’m not saying give up on them. I’m just saying that it doesn’t work like that. I’ve heard so many people on confirmation day saying stuff like this: “Dang it! It’s confirmation tonight! It’s so boring!” Does that sound like they are overjoyed about going to become a follower of Jesus; the most beautiful and wonderful thing there is? No! They would rather be doing other things. Sometimes, they even come out themselves saying that they don’t even believe in God. I don’t mean to judge because I don’t know people’s hearts. Only God knows that. Just stop putting on the fake mask of religion. You don’t have to hide your sins because Jesus will wipe them all away in an instant if you accept him with all your heart. It is God who justifies and you can not justify your own sins. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) A man can go to seminary and study the Bible for his whole life and never truly know Jesus.

Religion can also be very power-hungry. This goes all the way back to when Jesus came. The high priests and the pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because they were scared. They were scared that Jesus was going to have Israel turn against them. They were some of the most powerful people and they wanted people to keep following their ways. When the Roman Catholic Church started, it was all about power and money. They didn’t care one bit about what the Bible said, which is why they didn’t translate it for everyone to see. They had the people believing lies about how you have to pay this much money to walk up these stairs in order to get to heaven or anything else like that. It was one big con! By the grace of God, Martin Luther came around and did something about it. He was the founder of reformed theology. Religion can also be quite arrogant.

I have heard so many people say that they deserve to go to heaven because they’re a really good person. I always want to ask them if they’re going to say that to the creator of the universe when they have to stand  before the throne and give an account for all of their sins. I can only imagine… “Uh… uh… uh…. Well God….. umm…. You see, I’ve been really good, God….” No. God is not Santa.When I get to heaven, I’m going to say that I am unworthy, but Jesus paid for all of my sins. Then Jesus is going to walk up to His Heavenly Father and say “He’s with me.” I look forward to that day. I have every confidence that I am going to heaven and it’s not because of my merits, but Jesus’ love alone. Jesus says that whoever humbles himself before God will be exalted and whoever exalts himself will be humbled.

The key to get to heaven is not good works, it’s not by power, it’s not by getting baptized. These are all lies that the the enemy tells us. Satan hates the word of God, so he takes it and he twists it and dissects it to make a trap for fools. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ who paid the price for all sins so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. He is the only way. It’s not about you. It’s about Him. Now, let me get this straight. I love the church and I love the Bible and I do believe in sin. But now that Jesus is raised from the dead, I boast in my weakness because I know that Jesus will help me. So, please take off this fake mask of religion and come and be set free from sin for good by the grace of God! God’s grace is greater than all sin! So, yes I did grow up in a Christian home. I’m very glad that I did! I didn’t grow up in a religious home. I wasn’t baptized as a baby. My parents never forced me to accept Jesus. They kept sharing the gospel with me until the Holy Spirit entered my heart when I was ten years old and I was baptized by my dad three months afterward. The day that Jesus came into my life was the best day of my life because I was set free from the law of sin and the true law of Christ was fulfilled in me. That is why I despise religion, but love and delight myself in Jesus.