While visiting our daughter in Virginia, we watched a YouTube video by Jefferson Bethke. It is called “Why I Hate Religion=But Love Jesus.” It has over 32 million hits and is well worth a look!!

Jeff says,

Religion says Do

Jesus says Done

Religion says Slave

Jesus says Son

Religion puts you in Bondage

while

Jesus sets you Free

Religion makes you Blind

but

Jesus makes you Free

Then he goes on to say,

“And that’s why religion and Jesus are two different clans...Religion is man searching for God; Christianity is God searching for man. Which is why salvation is freely mine and forgiveness is my own, not based on my merits, but on Jesus’ obedience alone....He took what we all deserve, I guess that’s why you call it grace. And while being murdered, He yelled, ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do.’ Because when He was dangling on that cross, He was thinking of YOU. And He absorbed all your sin and He buried it in the tomb, which is why I’m kneeling at the cross now saying, ‘c’mon there’s room.’ So for religion, no I hate it; in fact I literally resent it. When Jesus said ‘It is finished,’ I believe He meant it!” (Words written and spoken @bball1989)

This young man gets it and he’s not ashamed to tell the world what he knows to be Biblically true. Matthew 10:32-32 says, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whosoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

Father God, thank you for getting your Word out to all generations. Amen.

1 John 2:2, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross finished once and for all the demands of God’s holiness for the punishment of sin. Jesus died for relationship, NOT religion.