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Answer quickly:
What’s the difference between Christianity and every other religion?
Can you do it in 30 seconds or less?
Well, I’d like for you to be able to do this.
Unfortunately, the answer isn’t good news. The answer is a truth that keeps so many from being willing to follow God. In fact, it’s really distasteful.
But my job isn’t to please your ears. My job is to tell you the truth. And here it is:
The Answer
Except for Christianity, every other religion in the world is basically a set of instructions on how to be good enough for God. Christianity is the ONLY religion that says, "You CAN’T be good enough for God." It is the only religion with a Savior.
The world wants to believe that people are good, or that they can become good. The truth is that we are NOT good and that we can’t become good. Period.
You simply can’t EARN your way to God, and that is what all of the other religions of the world are desperately trying to teach you to do.
Scriptural Proof
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. - Mark 10:18
Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. - Psalm 53:3
All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. - Romans 3:12
Everyday Proof
Ask yourself these questions:
1.) Have you ever sinned?
If you are not sure, you can check yourself against the 10 Commandments. (Exodus 20:3-17). The Bible says that this is the whole reason WHY we were given the 10 commandments.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Romans 3:20
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8
2.) Have you even known anyone who hasn’t sinned?
If fact, even if someone doesn’t accept God or the Bible, you can ask them if they have their own set of rules to judge what is right and what is wrong.
They will say "yes", at which point you can ask them "Have you ALWAYS and COMPLETELY followed your OWN set of rules of right and wrong?" If they are truthful, they will say "no."
Scripture backs up this truth too in Romans 2:14-15.
We are not good and we cannot become good. This is a hard truth, but it is true nonetheless. It is the core of Christianity.
How Does Obedience Fit?
I’ll take a full look at obedience in the future, but for now, just know that even many Christians get off track because they try to be "worthy" of the fact that Jesus died for them.
Don’t get me wrong, obedience is important, but it is important only because of a love response to God. Obedience tells God that you love Him.
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. - John 14:23-24
This is love for God: to obey his commands.- 1 John 5:3
Sum It All Up
We are not good and we can’t become good enough (on our own) to get to God. However, God decided to make a way, because He is perfectly loving and perfectly just. He did this by sacrificing His Son, Jesus.
If confronted about your faith by someone of a different faith simply ask them:
"Who or what pays for your sins?"
Other religions typically have a strong sense of justice. Where, then, is justice regarding their own sin?
We MUST have a Savior. Muhammad did not die for your sins, neither did Buddha nor Confucius. Jesus Christ is the only Savior the world has ever known. Other religions are counting on the mercy of God, but this denies justice.
It is the most incredible love story that God wanted you so badly that He made the sacrifice of His Son, so that you could be good enough - perfect, in fact.
The more I recognize my own sins, the more extraordinary this love story becomes. Not only that God accepts me, not even that He loves me, but that He has actually chosen me to be adopted into His family as His very own child! Amazing, beautiful and humbling.
May you be blessed.
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