Vagrant Writer

The internet is filled with people who have gone on in their lives clinging to half truths and stories about “religion” or Christianity. These same people never bother doing their own research or study about what it truly means to walk in The Way of the Messiah. Perhaps they leave it to their pastors to guide them, or simply rely on the “traditions” passed down through their families? Asking someone if they’ve actually cracked open the Bible today is akin to asking someone if they’ve ever been into space. Even Christians, including myself a few years back (you can read about my past in the About section), carry on with the idea of Christianity without ever actually reading the words of our savior, without reading the words that prophesied His coming. They don’t do the research to understand even the most basic forms of Hebrew and Greek to understand the exacting precision with which the Bible is written. They don’t research the history to discover the origins of the Lord, the world, other religions, or even their own religious following.

Much to my own disappointment, in the mornings, instead of doing my Bible study immediately, I like to hit the internet checking out my favorite places, checking the news, checking out the news about my hobbies. Worst of all, I like to hit… YOUTUBE… dun dun dun. The place is rife with people making all sorts of assumptions. I don’t go looking for these people, but sometimes I can’t resist reading the comments sections. You’ve read about this in some of my previous articles (right? RIGHT!).

As usual, I found a comment that I think needs to be addressed:

You did not go past HS did you? If Christians HAD been in charge this is exactly what you would expect. Humanity is so facile at throwing labels “og I have a cross I am Christian” No you are NOT , you will go fuck your brother’s wife and then ask forgiveness. Jews with their constant praying and hats and beards are PHYSCHOTIC about money. The same as they were in the Temple when Christ kicked their asses. The problem is WE HAVE NOT HAD religion , we’ve had a placebo . I BET you that if the inquisition had continued we would not be here. What we have is “FREE WILL” you idiot which means there is no religion. Had we ONE TRUE religion , it’d be chopping Muslims heads. Humans have played a VERY good game of “pretend” regarding religion . If we had RELIGION we would not have 12 sects of Christianity, another 15 of Islam, 4 Hindu. If religion WAS in charge like you stupidly claim there would be ONE religion. And CLEARLY your problem IS Christianity . So let us abolish Christianity. NONE of those attending that festival are Christian so what fuck are you dribbling about? Next time you have a “brilliant ” Idea” to share .. let it simmer in your head. A 10-year-old can kick your philosophical ass.

Someone posted this in response to another comment about how Christians should run everything or the entire world, a nonsense post in itself, but that is a different topic…

My main point of contention is that he believes the idea that “religion” and Christ are one and the same. I responded with this below, trying to hit each of his points about how Religion is largely inspired by men and their sinful desires.

Everything you describe IS Religion. Religion is mans attempt to reconcile himself and YHWH/or a god through a system of specific/ repetitive acts. Only Yeshua can bridge that gap. The law condemns, Yeshua saves. Yeshua doesn’t have anything to do with religion, man does.

The Jews were not simply “changing money” in the temple. The problem was that they were selling salvation by charging people for the sacrificial animals, specifically the dove, animals used by the poor. Salvation should come free of charge and by freedom of choice, the free-will you talk about being exercised, the point of why we have it.

The Inquisition’s primary focus was to punish those who were not loyal to the Pope. Specifically christians. Others were targeted such as Jews, but most of their atrocities were against Christians who stood against the catholic church. The Catholic church has killed more christians in its quest for temporal power than any other organization until they were finally surpassed by communism. We are on youtube, i don’t even need to mention how specifically NOT christian the catholic church is.

All those different “sects” you talk about their [sic] are common threads in all of them, they diverge because of mans belief in what they should be doing, not in YHWH’s or Yeshua’s. A few may interpret his words slightly different, but even in those cases it is usually to facilitate their own worldly agendas, picking out one verse to build an entire religious movement around. For instance: Catholicism tries to explain Peter as “The Rock” from one single verse. Yeshua is the “The Rock” and the rock is a title for the messiah throughout both testaments.

Other religions masquerading as a divergent mess of christianity are mostly “new age,” luciferian, or gnostic beliefs in disguise. Mormons believe they can ascend to godhood, the transcendent man idea found in new age practices. Hindu, buddhists, all have their origins in pursuit of a transcendent man, or a liberation through the “self.” Anytime man is a critical component of being saved, it will fall into “religion.”

Yeshua requires no help from man because he did everything himself on a cross in Judea almost 2000 years ago. He did this according to scriptures that were translated into greek, in the complete form as we have them today, hundreds of years before he was even born. He was dead and raised three days later according to those same scriptures available, completely, hundreds of years before he was born. He fulfilled hundreds of specifications as the messiah, all outlined before his birth. His gift of eternal life and freedom from death is available to you right now.

Judea and eventual Christian “religion,” as we would typify it biblically comes from Genesis 3:21 (Use the link to find the verse in your favorite Bible):

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

People read this and assume this is saying the Lord simply made Adam and Eve some T-shirts and pants to cover up their bathing suit areas. No one cares about Penis’ and Vaginas. There is something larger here. In short, YHWH is showing them how to “cover” themselves from sin. The Lord is showing Adam and Eve how to make the ritual sacrifice to atone for their sins and be “ok” while they are outside YHWH’s domain, so that, in some form, they may still “be with” Him or be in His “good graces” as we might say.

This is the beginning of “religion.” This is why Able knew which sacrifice would please the Lord and why Cain fell short [Able offered a sacrificial animal, not just any but the best of his flock. Cain offered the fruits of a cursed ground, HIS OWN LABORS]. The replacement sacrifice of an “innocent” in the place of the sinful is man’s only way to reconcile himself to God for the moment. The animal is taking the man’s place for the penalty of sin and the penalty of sin is death. This is only a temporary solution. The process must be repeated depending on the situation. Remember, this is before the flood, before Moses, before the Law.

The Jewish belief system evolved over time, but the sacrifice remains. The Lord’s desires become codified into the Law. Again, this is all temporary and representative of a coming power, the coming Messiah. With Him the Law shows us that we are sinners, and through Yeshua, our sacrifice, his innocence has replaced our guilt. But, in this case, Yeshua’s sacrifice was met with resurrection, forever breaking the hold of sin on our lives. His righteousness, his innocence, is imparted on us when we earnestly believe on Him, eradicating any need for ritual, because the rituals of Judaism are about Yeshua.

Yeshua broke the bonds of “religion” for us. He fulfilled the Law, the religious requirements of righteousness on our behalf. That doesn’t mean he broke our faith, the belief and action we take daily to follow His path, but the repetitive, ritualistic , and ultimately temporary stop gaps those in the past used to impart righteousness on themselves. He gave us the ability to take the key to everlasting life, everlasting righteousness, His righteousness, through belief in and on Him, forever.