               Religious, but not right with God?

     Religious, but not right with God? That may sound strange to 
you, but there are many religious people "hiding" from God. They 
may be sincere, but sincerity is not enough; they need the truth 
of God's Word.
     Some people think that they are Christians automatically 
because they had Christian parents. Others presume that attending 
church or being baptized or sharing in Communion makes them 
Christians. These are all important Christian responsibilities, 
but if they have never committed their lives to Christ, their 
efforts are hopeless.
     The Bible - from beginning to end - teaches that to be right 
with God we need a sacrifice for our sins: "Without shedding of 
blood is no remission <of sins>." (1) God has provided salvation 
through His Son who "once suffered for sins, the just for the 
unjust, that He might bring us to God." (2)
     Trying to be religious without Jesus Christ as one's Savior 
can be like taking a drug that distorts a person's reasoning. It 
is a delusion to think that performing a religious duty can make 
us right with God. Even leading a respectable life can never 
erase our sins. We all need a Savior.
     The Bible teaches that salvation is God's gift which we do 
not deserve, nor can ever earn. The Lord taught that salvation is 
through faith in Him alone: "He that believeth on Me hath 
everlasting life." (3) His apostle Peter declared, "Through His 
name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." 
(4) The apostle Paul wrote of his Savior: "In whom we have 
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (5) The 
apostle John testified, "As many as received Him, to them gave He 
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His 
name." (6)
     God's Good News turns us from our own vain attempts to earn 
His pardon to Christ's complete salvation. John Wesley, the great 
evangelist of eighteenth-century England, strove for years to 
make himself acceptable to God by his own efforts. But he never 
found peace until he could say, "I trusted Christ and Christ 
alone for salvation. And an assurance was given me that He had 
taken away all my sins."
     Are you religious, but not right with God? Then come to Him 
today - just as we all must approach God, as sinners in need of a 
Savior. You can pray to God right where you are, believing that 
Jesus Christ died for your sins and claiming Him as your Lord.
     Jesus Christ promises, "He that heareth My word, and 
believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall 
not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." 
(7)

Bible References: (1) Hebrews 9:22b; (2) 1 Peter 3:18; (3) John 
6:47; (4) Acts 10:43; (5) Ephesians 1:7; (6) John 1:12; (7) John 
5:24.
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