THE RELATIONSHIP | Frank Becker

Week Thirty-One, 2024

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

A friend suggested that I read the book. It is entitled: Do I Stay Christian: A guide to the doubters, the disappointed and the disillusioned. In several hundred pages, he recited the mistakes, bad chapters and mis-used sagas of the Christian Church over history. He is right. Christian religion has some bad chapters. However, he totally misses the point of what it means to be a Christian.

One of my friends, a retired pastor, writes pamphlets to give away as a witness. In one, he listed various “religions.” I called it to his attention when I saw a pamphlet that failed to mention Christianity. When I called that to his attention, he told me that Christianity is not a religion, rather it is a relationship. So right he was.

The Christian faith teaches that humanity cannot attain salvation by our own merits, but rather, we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is God, not us, who is the primary actor who enters into a personal relationship with us, setting us free from our bondage to sin and death and clothing us in righteousness. This, of course, is true.

Our justification is solely a gift of God that is firmly grounded on our belief and confession that we are sinners in need of grace and that grace is found sufficient in the death of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, who loves us and gave himself up for us. In other words, we place our faith in Christ, and God enters into our hearts. There is nothing we do to earn this special intimacy with our Creator. Clearly, Christians benefit from a personal relationship with God.

Paul pegged it in Galatians 1:1….. Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

A religion is a system of rules and practices that are followed in order to make a person feel they are living in a way that satisfies God, their god or gods. If you follow the rules and the practices then you can have confidence that your appeasing God/the gods and thus increasing your chances of a blessed life, and depending on that religion’s perspectives, increasing your assurances of the quality of your life after death.

Religion gives people tangible rails to run on. It gives them a formula that they are in charge of. What you get out of it is entirely up to how much you put into it.

People who are good at practicing religion generally feel they have purpose in life; they experience confidence and peace. In many religions people who are good at it also find acceptance from others. They have a tribe that they have earned the right to be in and thus feel confident, secure and justified to be in it.

However, even if a person is good at religion, if they are also self-aware, then they understand both their ability to fail and consequence of failing. Failure necessitates guilt and shame and that it be born long enough to earn the right to come back, if there can even be any coming back.

A relationship is totally different. A relationship is not without expectations and standards, but a relationship isn’t based on my performance. The goal of a relationship is not to earn the right to be in it, but rather to prosper in it because you have it. Relationships provide you with all the things religion promises, but can’t provide and does so with a foundation that’s not based on you, but the other persons willingness to love you. Therefore, when it comes to a relationship with God, His commitment to love you becomes the most the substantial foundation in the universe.

I like the way Patrick Henry expressed it: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Remember, Christianity is not something you join; it’s a relationship you have.

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

After becoming only the second golfer in history to win two Masters championships in five years on the tour, Scottie Scheffler told interviewers: “I believe in Jesus. Ultimately, I think that’s what defines me the most.” He added: “I’ve been called to come out here, do my best to compete, and glorify God. That’s pretty much it.”

Scheffler met his caddy, Ted Scott, at a Bible study and together they co-hosted an annual retreat with members of the College Golf Fellowship, a faith-based ministry. Even a profile on CBS Sports acknowledges the depth of his faith and his belief that his identity is “secure in the cross.” The article closes with this statement by Scheffler:

“Winning this golf tournament does not change my identity. Rather, my identity is secure, and I cannot emphasize that enough.”

Scottie Scheffler’s public commitment to Christ illustrates an empowering fact believers can embrace in our ever more secularized culture.

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Only one out of four Americans get at least eight hours of sleep per night, according to a recent Gallup poll.

WORDS OF WISDON FROM EDGAR APONTE:

• Sin corrupts a person’s life, the family, and society.

• A godless society destroys the institution of marriage in order to satisfy sinful desires. Resist sin and honor your marriage.

• A godless society disregards the value of human life. Defend the dignity and value of life.

• Believers worship and proclaim the name of the Lord in the midst of ungodliness. Worship and proclaim the name of Jesus.

• Society today does not value human life.

• Technology reveals the sins of our hearts

• Society tries to separate us from God.

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Don’t change the Bible to fit the culture. Jim Denison

We cling to the hope that He is coming soon, that He will establish His kingdom, and that He will bring righteousness and peace to an earth that cries out for it. Dan Shock

Whose life is being changed because of what we are doing? Marty Stubblefield

It’s one thing to inherit and have our freedom; it’s quite another to protect it, keep it, and pass it along to the next generation. Dwight Short

Edgar Aponte:

• The Grace of the Lord defies logic and transcends human barriers. Rejoice in His grace.

• Those who are blessed by God will become a blessing to others. Be a blessing by evangelizing others.

• Saving faith hears the Word of God and obeys God. Obey God’s Word!

Be a doer. James 1:22.

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Prayer is less about molding God’s will to ours and more about molding His will to ours. Laura Story.

Lift up the Word and light up the world. Salem Radio

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. William Arthur Ward

John Ortberg responds this way, “Never try to have more faith – just get to know God better. And because God is faithful, the better you know Him, the more you’ll trust Him”.

Only the life lived in Jesus has eternal, lasting benefit. Dan Shock

Without true repentance, there isn’t real forgiveness. Florida Marketplace Ministries

If you can dream it, you can do it. Walt Disney

The home is the chief school of human virtues. William Ellery Channing

Don’t put the wrong things at the top of your priority list. Dan Shock

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, The Lord Jesus Christ… Philippians 3:20 Dwight Short

God lives always by His Spirit, in him, who is saved, the Bible says. And the saved one stays in his salvation, if he lives in the reality that he is a son of God bearing His likeness and is striving to create the attributes of Jesus in him. Stephen Bernard

Who so loves believes the impossible. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

This is always the heart of temptation: to let the flesh rule over the spirit. Dan Shock

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. William James

The devil won’t come through your front door. He will come in through the cracks in your foundation.

Walk gently in the lives of others. Not all wounds are visible.

You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become responsible. Thomas Sowell

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