This past Monday night we started our “Religion Saves” series, which is all about how religion doesn’t save, it is our relationship with Jesus Christ that saves. We kicked the series off in Galatians 2:15-21. In the preceding verses we see that Paul (the writer of Galatians) was having a dispute with Peter and Barnabas because the had stopped eating with the Gentile Christians because they were not following Jewish dietary laws. This was like saying “If you don’t follow these rules, then you are not good enough to be accepted by the church or God.” Paul reminded Peter and Barnabas that no one is good enough to get to heaven. We can’t do enough good things to earn salvation and gain entry to heaven. It is only by the grace of God and the work of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross that we are able to receive His free gift of salvation.
Picture this, God gave the law in the Old Testament as a railroad track to follow in life. The power of God in His grace served as the locomotive to move us along this track. Our faith in Him was the coupler that joined our car to God. What religion tends to do is take that railroad track, set it up on end, lean it against the doors of heaven, and say climb this to get to heaven. On a railroad track, you can have a railroad tie missing here or there and still be ok to travel that line. With a ladder every rung is important for safely reaching the top. When the laws and rules of the Bible are laid out as a railroad track to guide us, we can mess up on some of them and, through the grace of God, still be ok – as long as we have put our hope and faith in Jesus Christ as our savior. When we have to climb the ladder of the law every rung becomes important as we try to essentially be perfect to gain entrance to heaven.
Here’s the bottom line. The laws, the rules, the moral standards put forth in the Bible are meant to serve as a guide. Should we try to live by these standards in every area of our life? Yes, of course. But realize that salvation – heaven – does not come through our works, but only through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior (Ephesians 2:8-9) Only then can our screw ups be forgiven, forgotten, and over looked as Christ welcomes us to heaven.
If you have any questions about this or how you can begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, please do not hesitate to ask. Leave any question or comments you may have and after I review them I’ll get them out there.
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