Are You Religious?

 

 There was a man that called Jesus 
"Good Master". He went to 
Jesus asking how he could 
have eternal life. 
His first mistake was only 
acknowledging our Saviour as
a teacher. That was the meaning
of "Good Master" of that day.
Jesus is our Saviour. We are to
acknowledge the fact that He is
the Son of God. Jesus is not 
merely a good teacher.
His second mistake was seeking a 
way for him "to do" something
to receive eternal life.
There is NO work we can ever
do to earn salvation.
Our Salvation is always 
about our belief in 
Jesus as our Saviour.
No matter how "good"
we become, good works
will never be our 
ticket to eternal life.

 
Matthew 19: 16-24
"And behold, one came and said
unto Him, Good Master,
what good thing shall I do,
that I may have
eternal life?
And He (Jesus) said unto him,
Why do you call Me good?
there is none good but One,
that is, God;
but if you will enter into life,
keep the Commandments.
He said unto him,
Which?
Jesus said, 
you shall not commit murder,
you shall not commit adultery,
you shall not steal,
you shall not bear false witness,
Honour your father and your mother,
and you shall love your 
neighbor as yourself.
The young man said unto Him,
All these things have I kept from 
my youth up:
what lack I yet?
Jesus said unto him,
If you will be perfect
go and sell that you have,
and give to the poor
and you shall have 
treasure in Heaven:
and come and follow Me.
But when the young man 
heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful:
for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus,
unto His Disciples,
Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall
hardly enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven.
And again, I say unto you,
It is easier for a camel to
go through the eye of a
needle, then for a rich man
to enter into the 
Kingdom of Heaven."

Just as it is impossible for 
a camel to go through the 
eye of a needle,
It is also impossible for a
person that puts their 
faith in being 
"Religious"
to enter Heaven.

This young ruler came to
Jesus with many good works
to tell Jesus about.
All those good works he did 
from a young man up.
Years of good works to 
lay at the Feet of Jesus.

He thought the 
good things he had done
would impress our Lord.
But...he was soon to learn
that good works were not 
enough to make it to Heaven.


Being "Religious" is 
very addictive. We can wolk
through life and look so 
close to God because of 
the works we do...
However,
our heart can be far away
from our Lords' Heartbeat.

To those around him,
this young ruler looked 
very Religious because of
his works...
However, he did not have
a Relationship with God.

He stood before the 
Son of God that came
to save Him and wash 
away all His Sins,
and give Him 
Eternal Life.

Instead of seeing 
Jesus as 
His Saviour,
who had the keys
to Eternal Life,
He wanted to lay
his works down 
and say,
"This is what I have
done to earn
my eternal life."

One day we too will stand
before our Lord as this
young ruler stood before 
Jesus, the Son of God.

Many today, if they believe in
Jesus at all, call Him,
a good teacher. They do not 
believe Jesus is the
Only Begotten Son of God.
Many are just good people
that are full of good works.
We are to live a life following
the Word of God, and doing 
what is right...however,
that alone is not what will
get us into Heaven.

Eternal Life does not depend
on what we do,
but on what 
Jesus did for us at Calvary.
We must accept Jesus 
as our Personal Saviour and 
live in Relationship with our 
God. Then good works will 
follow because we are now
 saved and our sins are washed
away by the 
Blood Jesus shed at Calvary.
We are not living a 
Religious, self righteous life,
but now we are living
In Relationship with 
the Lord!