An Interview With Godنموونە

Suppose you go to a friend’s house to see their new car. The friend answers, “Oh, I had a major accident last week. I’m okay but my car isn’t even drive-able anymore.” So you ask, “Did you have it towed in to a body shop to get it fixed?” “Oh no,” the friend answers. “I can’t do that. It’s way too damaged. It would be so embarrassing to face the people at the body shop and admit I had an accident. So I’m hiding the car in my garage and working on it myself with a hammer, some body filler, and duct tape. When I feel like I have my car in better shape and it doesn’t look so bad, maybe then I’ll get it to a shop so I can drive it again.” 

This may sound like a ridiculous scenario, but that is exactly what many people think they must do for salvation—“fix” their lives first before giving everything to God, even when they have no idea how or what to do.  

Watch today’s clip as Paul is running away from God’s confrontation of the truth about faith and salvation. 

Religion has been defined as man’s attempt to reach out for God. But God has already extended His hand of rescue through Christ and offered a relationship with Him through His Son. Faith is the doorway by which we enter into a lifelong journey of walking with Him. Salvation is not an event that takes place and then we just live our lives, waiting on Heaven, but rather a lifestyle we adopt that gives us His abundant life before we experience eternal life. 

Religion is when we work hard in our own strength and abilities to prove we are worthy of being a child of God. A relationship with Jesus becomes real when we accept that He has already made the way for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection. He has provided all we need for salvation and new life. There is nothing we can do to be saved from Hell to enter Heaven. We simply agree with Him about our sin, accept His gift of salvation, and be a child of God. 

Why do we often feel we must behave a certain way to win God’s approval? How would you describe the difference between religion and a relationship with Jesus to someone who does not yet know Him?