Theology Survey (9): Jesus vs. Religion

Question: What is the difference between Jesus and Religion?

#1: I need Jesus, but don’t deserve him. I love Jesus because he first loved me (1 John 4:19.) I am perfect in Christ (Colossians 1:28.)
I don’t need religion. Religion is a rulebook and a checklist. Religion is what scares people away from Jesus. People mistake Jesus with religion. Religion occurs once a week, while Jesus should be on your mind throughout the entire week.

#2: I’m so tired of hearing certain kinds of Christians say (about Jesus and Christianity) “It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship”. Religion, etymologically, is to bind oneself to something one understands to be most meaningful. Jesus is the highest form of meaning to have ever been visible and touchable and accessible to humanity. It only makes sense that the most befitting response to Jesus is to bind ourselves to him. I argue that all humans are religious in some way. Jesus is the most pure object of religious affection, and the only thing truly worth binding ourselves to with utmost allegiance and love…better described as worship. Now, for those who say what I quoted above, they really create a false dichotomy to say that being with Jesus means to not be religious.

#3: Religion is the practices and beliefs concerning god (lowercase). The term religion can be applied when discussing any spiritual beliefs. Jesus stands in opposition to religion in that He is the only Truth about God and hates spiritual beliefs and practices that lead people away from God.

#4: Jesus is a person. Jesus is God. Jesus is the good news. He is the gospel. Religion is a group of people seeking after a God. They have established rules, and manners of experiencing that God. Jesus give life. Religion has no power to give life.

#5: He was a person. He is still alive.
Religion seems like it’s the means to grow closer to this person. It is a structure created in order to lead us to truth and keep us growing.

#6: Jesus is our only Lord and savior, through whom we’ve received the Holy Spirit. Religion cannot save souls, and cannot impart the Holy Spirit. Religion is an institution in which we can celebrate our beliefs, but it is not what we believe in.

#7: I think religion leaves bad taste in peoples’ mouths. Religion is imperfect because it is full of people, who are only people. Jesus is perfect, loves, and is not legalistic. Religion can sometimes seem legalistic. Religion can hurt people and leave them there to pick themselves up; while Jesus only loves, and he’s the one that picks everyone back up!

#8: Jesus is the Savior sent to earth by God the Father to live as a human being and die for the transgressions of God’s chosen, sinful people. Religion is what we believe we should do and what we actually practice in light of the truths of God and His Word.

#9: Jesus is God incarnate with whom I have a relationship. He is a tangible and real. His perfection saves me from my sin. It is through him that I have anything. He is to object of my worship and who I have faith in.
Religion is a set of ideas about faith and devotion to something. It could be anything. If someone says they are religious, that doesn’t automatically tell me anything other than they worship and put their faith in something .

#10: Jesus is both God and a historical person. Religion, on the other hand, is simply a big category of ideas about god/God.

#11: JESUS and CHRISTianity is not religion, but relational! It is based around an intimate relationship with the SON of GOD, who was the propitiation for our sins and fallen nature. Religion as referred to in James 1:27 means “a ceremonial observance”. Religion is a system of beliefs that requires no factual evidence or support.

#12: To me, Jesus wants us to have a personal, everlasting relationship with Him. But when I think of religion, I think of rituals, traditions, and what humans need to do to reach their god. I do believe Christianity is a religion, but I also believe that there is so much more to it than what I listed about religion.

#13: Jesus is a person. Religion is a set of beliefs that people follow.

#14: Religion is man’s faulty construct or representation of who and what God is, but Jesus is the pure representation of God.