Re: Hello luhtdw

Let me first celebrate your love for my heavenly father (your sincere love means far more than you know). The fact that you have doubts about the spiritual legitimacy/validity of "religion" shows that God is not going to let you settle for "common" secular thought (He has plans for you). The words that we use are very important, they are how we express every thought in our lives, and we end up "living" them if we use them carelessly (this is a strategy of satan). The word "church" is often misused to refer to a building, but it actuaully means (1 Timothy 3:15 and John 14:6) "The Lord's body" (all of the believers who worship in truth and spirit-Colossians 1:18). The word "religion" is a very broad term that simply refers to "spiritual thought", it does not specify Christian thought (you'll notice in the bible it can also have a general meaning). It is commonly thought that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" refers to hygeine, but, religion is also NEXT to Godliness because it does not necessarily include "worship in truth and spirit" (John 4:23-24). Since the word "religion" does not specify the "truth of God" and has come to refer to the church as a building, the word is very misleading and doesn't express "TRUTH". There are many "mistruths" spread by religions because, basically, they are following a worship style similar to the Pharisees and Saducees that was based on:

a chain of command (priests and officers of different rank).

Protocol (scenario to be followed in order to acheive "approval").
AND,
Politically correct "worldly" reasoning that undermines the truth that Jesus is the ONLY mediator between God and man. Jesus is the mediator of a NEW covenant (Hebrews 9:15). Neither Mary nor the saints are necessary for recieving anything that the Lord has to offer. The ONLY priesthood that was ever sanctioned by God and had authority to forgive sin was The Levitical Priesthood (Hebrews 7:11). When Jesus died on the Cross, He became the final and ONLY sacrifice for sin and the Levitical Priesthood became obsolete (Hebrews 10:9). No intervention is necessary from Mary or the saints in order to recieve salvation or blessings from the Lord. NOBODY except the Trinity is worthy of worship and should not be prayed to.





Before the word "Christianity" was used to refer to the worshipers of Christ in spirit and truth, the first century church (Acts 9:22 and 24:14) was called "The Way". Tweet