A HELPLESS RELIGION

By Andrea Guachalla

It’s so easy.

Beyond easy, really. To see religion only as a vain set of rituals, to see the Bible as a mere book with no more value than any other book, to see Christ as a mere teacher who died and never rose from the dead.

It’s so comfortable and easy. 

To believe that God exists, and yet be unwilling to come closer to Him, and unwilling to acknowledge that He doesn’t accept or condone our sinful life. It’s so comfortable to believe that God “loves us as we are right now” referring to our sinful, lawless life, and therefore we need not change anything about ourselves.

Isn’t it ridiculous, though? That we would admit there is a God, that Jesus existed, that the Bible is the Word of God, and then when reading it, or listening to it, we would still refuse to accept that the Bible is about the holiness of God, and the sinful nature of man, and the condemnation that comes with it, and therefore we must repent. 

It’s comfortable and easy, easy and sad, that we would blindly ignore that the Bible does not only talk about repentance, sin, and condemnation, but also about forgiveness, holiness, and reconciliation with the Father. In our christless, godless state we would prefer living our lives ignoring that the very core of the Christian faith, the very core of the Holy Bible is this: that Christ came to earth with the power of the Holy Spirit, moved by genuine and sacrificial love for the Father and His people, to receive the condemnation that we were to receive because of our sins.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14, English Standard Version

And yet, people seem to want precisely that… A helpless religion that refuses to define sin biblically, a religion without a Holy God, a religion with no call to repentance, no call to holiness, and no call to be reconciled with God. Look around you, and look into your own heart if you will, that is what culture wants: a religion with no Christ, and therefore with no impact in our lives…

We would be content if we were only asked to follow rules, and procedures: to go to church on Sundays, to read our Bibles for a couple of minutes every other week, to repeat words with no substance and call them “prayer”, to get baptized with water but not with the Spirit of Truth. In our sinfulness, we would be content if we could rely on these helpless rituals and that would be enough to reconcile us with God. But, what kind of unrighteous contentment is that? A sinner’s life that is content with living in sin, not wanting to deal with it, and refusing to see what it entails: disobeying a holy, righteous, merciful, God, arrogantly defying the Creator of all things. 

In our human (sinful) eyes, we would be better off with reading our Bibles with no understanding whatsoever, avoiding applying what it says in the way we are living our lives. That would be easier than actually learning about God’s character, and Christ’s holiness, and why/how sin is so against the Father. We would be content, and we would gladly walk our way down to hell, if that would signify having a comfortable life now, with all its sinfulness, with all its vices, with all its wickedness…

Can’t we see that one day, sooner than later, we will respond for all our unrighteous deeds to a Holy, Powerful, All-knowing God, the Creator of the universe? (Ezekiel 24:14).

We would be comfortable in our sins while we live on this earth, and learn too late that we had lived in our own unrighteous way, apart from a loving Father, who offered a way of Salvation: Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9). We would rejoice in our trespasses, and learn too late that we rejected the Gospel of the Messiah, who called us to repent of our sins, believe in Him, and love God above all, and our neighbor as ourselves. 

If we could see how wicked we are (Romans 3:12), we wouldn’t doubt to come in repentance to the Father and rejoice at the knowledge of Jesus and Him crucified for our sins, and He resurrected and glorified to fulfill the Father’s will and for our eternal good. If we could see our unrighteousness, and how all our good works are stained with sin, we would not doubt on thanking the Father that despite our stupidity, weakness, and sinfulness, He would still use us as instruments to show His love, grace, and kindness to others, and teach to honor God (Philippians 1:15-18).

If we could see how little we are, and how great and glorious He is, we would not seek to live comfortably with a helpless religion that has no impact on us or anybody else, we would not passively follow traditions of man disregarding God’s commandments, we would not dare preach a Gospel with no Christ, therefore no substance, no life, and no truth in it…

Whether you are a Christian who lives comfortably behind religious rituals, or a gnostic who is content with listening to what religion says as long as it doesn’t make an impact on your life, or you are the greatest of all atheists, I tell you: 

TODAY IS THE DAY OF REPENTANCE, 
TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.

Let not go another day without coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became a human and came to earth to die for YOUR sins, and thus has the power to reconcile you with the Father. Let not another day pass in which you don’t learn about His character, love, and wisdom. Outside of Christ, you will find no life, nor meaning, no rest, nor forgiveness. Outside of Christ, you’ll find the nothingness and eternal condemnation that comes with a helpless religion.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 3:12-15, English Standard Version