joyindestructible

It should have been enough to end all religious confusion. The Son of God came to earth in the form of a man, lived a sinless life, was crucified, and rose to live again on the third day. This graceful action proceeding from divine love is enough to set all people free from bondage to sin and this was the reason for this act of profound love: that even while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us and paid the penalty for our sins so we can live and by faith, gain full liberty from our sin. There is nothing to add to the work of Christ Jesus which proceeded from ultimate wisdom. The centerpiece of God’s redemption plan is enough to confound every human philosophy, none of which can ever achieve anything more Truthful; but foolishness is persistent like the pride that births it and by its ever-seeking human god-like power, blinding religious clouds formed in an effort by human controllers, to apprehend God’s glory and harness His power as their own. Leaving the joy found in Jesus that blazes (that bright Morning Star) as simple Truth re-mystified and shrouded in clouds of human religious confusion.

The work Jesus accomplished on the cross is enough to satisfy (upon believing acceptance) every human need for holiness by revealed, simple Truth and obedient response. However, soon after Jesus completed His great work of self-sacrifice, mists from the depths of sin darkened human intellect began to rise and form disorienting cumulus clouds of confusion in preferred human teachers, doctrines, theologies, methods, and practice. All the boxes people create to conform and limit God to human understanding serve only, the evil purpose of categorizing uniformity that isn’t large enough to contain God’s universal Truth; but locks it away in a greedy hoard that creates a form of godliness but denies the power found only, by transforming faith in Jesus. Religion takes all the focus off of Christ and places it back on man and the silent awe and humbled human response that only Christ’s profound act of love can accomplish is forgotten, as strife rises and the bickering begins. Relationships are broken in disputes over how God’s Truth should be understood, expressed, and put into action. Pride surges in who knows more, who understands it better, who gathers more converts, what methods are best, which form of worship is correct, what theologian has the best theory, and Truth is left utterly, convoluted. Wolves seeing an opportunity in distracted believers enter by stealth and manipulate confused minds toward their own ends. Saying what one faction wants to hear and putting other factions down is the method wolves dressed as sheep use to divide believers and leave them vulnerable as prey. Led by wolves, believers begin to act like predators and rip, bite, and tear one another over each other’s incomplete understanding of Truth. Such disorderly conduct thickens the confusing clouds of religion making them nearly opaque and thereby, obscuring the Truth around which they formed. The outside world sees only, madness and those trapped inside spiral downward in diminishing purpose. The Truth is suppressed by those who sought God’s power for themselves, by human religion and the world flounders in spiritual darkness.

Still, enough is enough! No matter how dense the confusion caused by false religion, the Truth is enough! It can’t be altered by the astonishing nebula that swirls around it. Those who are of genuine faith may be confused and oppressed for a season but the Truth lives in them and by this Truth, the counterfeit is revealed. They are the small lights that reflect the true Light of the world; tiny beacons lighting the way out of the dark mist of religious confusion and pointing others to Jesus Christ and the work He accomplished on the cross. Lifting Jesus in lives of loving obedience and true testimonies of the power of God’s amazing grace and its life transforming power; so that others may look to Jesus for themselves and live. These are those who practice the pure religion of loving others in their affliction and living moral lives. On the day Jesus returns the clouds of confusion will forever, dissipate and never from again. On that glorious day when everyone will understand that Jesus is enough and all human controversy ends. Joy will crescendo in bright rapture and never again be obscured by the dense clouds formed from prideful human intellect, known as religion.

Romans 10:⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{[a] 6} But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”^[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”^[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^{[e] 12} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[f]