Religion.

Anguspure

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If it were not for the Lord, and his teaching about love, i would give up on Christianity. It causes me so much distress. Its as if i am clinging to hope, love, and faith, but without everything else. I consider this liberty. Liberty is joyful but religion is not. Any thoughts?
Religion eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Whereas we are invited to eat, once more, from the one who is our tree of Life.
 
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mozo41

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So Christ did away with this?:

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

not in the least ...
 
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W2L

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I would say that it is pride that causes strife and division, not a religion that teaches against pride.



I agree, but if there is a form of religion that is good and joyful, then it is not correct to say that religion is not good and joyful.
I disagree, but thanks for the opinion.
 
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Soyeong

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religion
[ri-lij-uh n]
noun
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Christianity is by definition a religion. There is absolutely nothing in the definition that says anything about whether or not it teaches us to have love, joy, and faith or about whether not we should have a relationship with God.
 
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Soyeong

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Again, there is nothing in the definition of "religion" that it is about traditions that are opposed to faith. Jesus taught taught us traditions, such as communion, so is communion opposed to faith?
 
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Halbhh

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Is this the path of the sepant?:

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Yes. It's very interesting that even back then, almost 2,000 years ago, even then it was already necessary to say what kind of 'religion' --> "that is pure and undefiled before God the Father...to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..." Isn't that so very interesting? Already back then, just like now, we cannot simply say 'religion' and mean a clear thing, or even a good thing. But instead we have to say what thing we mean.

Nowadays out in the popular usage that is the most common among the young, it seems like 'religion' means something like 'old false beliefs of people that lost track of whatever was true that they once had in some distant past'. I think that's close to how many now use the word. A somewhat more highbrow usage might use a phrasing like "the empty husk of".
 
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W2L

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Again, there is nothing in the definition of "religion" that it is about traditions that are opposed to faith. Jesus taught taught us traditions, such as communion, so is communion opposed to faith?
Whos version of communion? The one that says we are eating real flesh and blood, or the one that is a memorial of the crucifixion of Christ?
 
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Anguspure

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Is this the path of the sepant?:

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Even this stuff done out of a sense of moral obligation and not from the fruit of the Spirit of God falls short of what He has for us.
 
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paul1149

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If it were not for the Lord, and his teaching about love, i would give up on Christianity. It causes me so much distress.
When I look out at the state of Christianity, I see far too much strife, division, and arguing about words. These are the very things that to a large extent keep people away from the Lord. In my view, anything that keeps one from feeding on the love of God in Christ Jesus is a hindrance, and that includes legalistic religion, which is in a class of its own in that regard. 2Cor 3 is very clear on that.

As for the law, it now is only a guide on how to love. Christ has fulfilled the principle of law. It is no longer something we need to stress about. Everything is a matter of "becoming love", as Dan Mohler and Todd White would say. When we walk in that, we are fulfilling the requirements of the law, as well as being full of the Spirit. I like to keep it as simple, or childlike, as possible, and focus on motivation rather than the letter. From the heart are the issues of life, not the head.
 
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Soyeong

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Yes. It's very interesting that even back then, almost 2,000 years ago, even then it was already necessary to say what kind of 'religion' --> "that is pure and undefiled before God the Father...to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..." Isn't that so very interesting? Already back then, just like now, we cannot simply say 'religion' and mean a clear thing, or even a good thing. But instead we have to say what thing we mean.

"Religion" is a very broad term, but it is illogical for someone to say that a form of religion is good while also saying that religion is not good. We should only speak against the forms of religion that are not good and not speak against religion as a whole, especially when Christianity is by definition a religion. There is absolutely no need for someone to deny that Christianity is a religion in order to emphasize the fact that it is a religon that teaches about the importance of having a relationship with God.
 
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W2L

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Even this stuff done out of a sense of moral obligation and not from the fruit of the Spirit of God falls short of what He has for us.
I believe we can rightly do things out of obligation, but we also know that God has a good reason for it. I also agree that it does fall short though. What you say about fruit of the spirit is spot on. Religion however seems to take my attention off of that. For that reason i no longer care for religion.
 
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Halbhh

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"Religion" is a very broad term, but it is illogical for someone to say that a form of religion is good while also saying that religion is not good. We should only speak against the forms of religion that are not good and not speak against religion as a whole, especially when Christianity is by definition a religion. There is absolutely no need for someone to deny that Christianity is a religion in order to emphasize the fact that it is a religon that teaches about the importance of having a relationship with God.

I do recognize there are many meanings used by people for the word 'religion', yes, even the older ones in the old hardcopy dictionaries we all have around somewhere.

If anything, the internet does not reduce the Tower of Babel, but....amplifies it instead, or simultaneously builds and tears it down both at once, and the building seems a little faster than the tear down.
 
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Soyeong

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When I look out at the state of Christianity, I see far too much strife, division, and arguing about words. These are the very things that to a large extent keep people away from the Lord. In my view, anything that keeps one from feeding on the love of God in Christ Jesus is a hindrance, and that includes legalistic religion, which is in a class of its own in that regard. 2Cor 3 is very clear on that.

As for the law, it now is only a guide on how to love. Christ has fulfilled the principle of law. It is no longer something we need to stress about. Everything is a matter of "becoming love", as Dan Mohler and Todd White would say. When we walk in that, we are fulfilling the requirements of the law, as well as being full of the Spirit. I like to keep it as simple, or childlike, as possible, and focus on motivation rather than the letter. From the heart are the issues of life, not the head.

There is balance between unity and truth and it is not good to sacrifice one over the other. Someone who sacrifices unity for truth will be alone, while someone who sacrifices truth for unity will be deceived. Much of the NT is in regard to how we should act as a community of believers, so it is important for us to mature by learning how to get along with people that we disagree with, but it is also important to learn to discern between what is true and false, and to stand for the truth, which can eventually get to the point where someone was expelled from the community. So it is important to allow disagreement, but we must not lose sight of love. Becoming love does not mean that we stop speaking the truth when someone is not speaking the truth, but just the opposite. For someone to say all we need to focus on is becoming love, so it is not important to follow all of God's instructions for how He wants us to love is misunderstand the principle of love because the principle is at least inclusive of everything that God instructed as examples of that principle.
 
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Anguspure

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I believe we can rightly do things out of obligation, but we also know that God has a good reason for it. I also agree that it does fall short though. What you say about fruit of the spirit is spot on. Religion however seems to take my attention off of that. For that reason i no longer care for religion.
I think the problem is when we pursue "the knowledge of good and evil", which all men apart from relationship with God must do, for the sake of living a good life, but unfortunately it all leads to death.
The way that we were created to operate was demonstrated by the 2nd Adam who only acted as He saw His Father acting, and only spoke as He heard Him speak.
We are given the Spirit (which is why Christ left us) so that as we remain in Him we 2 can follow His commands as He gives them to us.
In this way we do not have to have any knowledge of what we should and shouldn't do in every little circumstance, only that we hear His voice and we obey. Yes we test the Spirits and yes we are fruit bearers and fruit inspectors but we are not religious moralists.
 
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