For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more,
because God took him away. (Genesis 5:24)
As
they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of
fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah
went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The
chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took
hold of his garment and tore it in two. (II
Kings 2:11-12)
Let me begin with the
statement that religion is not a bad thing – or not always or entirely a bad
thing. Religion and its sterile sibling, philosophy both seek to understand the
nature of the universe, and to prescribe how best to live based on their
individual understandings. Religions tend to include deities, while
philosophies tend not to – but that rule is not written in stone. In simple
terms, both religions and philosophies are – generally speaking – about what is
real and how to live within that reality to the best of the understanding of
the religious or philosophical leader. Philosophy tends to be reductionist in
comparison to religion.
What
this means is that religion and philosophy are manmade. They are about what
people think about the universe and how to live well. In the case of religion,
it generally involves the answer to the question of how to live well enough to
be allowed into heaven.
In
other words, religion is basically about bragging rights, but today’s passage is
one of many in the Bible that makes it clear that what is taught in the Bible
isn’t about religion, and it’s not about bragging rights. Consider, for
example, the Mosaic Law. What it promised was is ever Israelite and every
foreigner living in the land of Israel kept the law perfectly that their lives
in Israel would be blessed. And if anyone in Israel violated the Law, not only would
their lives in Israel be cursed, but they would lose Israel. And because it was
obvious that keeping that Law to that extent was impossible, a sacrificial
system was set up that would allow Israelites to receive forgiveness for their
sins. This would let them continue to dwell in the land.
If
you read the biographies of the few men in the Old Testament who were described
as “righteous,” you’ll find they had their faults. David was described as “A
man after God’s own heart” but he committed adultery and murder and wasn’t a
good father. And while David claimed to want to dwell in the house of the Lord
forever, there is nothing in Scripture that tells us what he did to earn that
right. Prior to Jesus, the only men who might have made the grade were Enoch
and Elijah, and we’re not given much clue as to how they did it.
Jesus
is different. Yes, He taught religion/philosophy, because He taught about reality
and how best to live, but He didn’t teach that if we do A though Z and AA
through ZZ, we’ll earn our way to Heaven. Instead, He taught that He is the way
to Heaven. As I have stated before – this difference between what all the standard
religions teach and what Jesus and His followers taught is why I believe that Jesus
is, as He said, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It’s not about religion and our
earning bragging rights. It’s about Him.
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