Jesus Loves Religion

Pictured: you when you read the title

Waitwaitwait, don’t stone me just yet! Hear me out. It’s not what you think.

Phew. That was close.

So, there is a super common phrase used in conversations about the Christian life that takes on several forms—“It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship,” “Jesus hates religion,” “Christianity isn’t a religion,” you know. This whole train of thought was popularized in the late 2000s and early 2010s. These phrases have great intentions behind them, and, when you get past the packaging, the message is great, and thoroughly Biblical: we aren’t made right with God by what we do for Him, but by what Jesus has done for us. There’s just one problem…

Jesus doesn’t hate religion.
Most of the lingo we’re talking about is not biblically founded, and the Bible actually says something quite different.
Let me explain.

Religion vs. Relationship?

First off, let’s talk about what we mean when we talk about “religion versus relationship” in our cultural context. When modern evangelicals give their definition of religion in these talks, this is usually the definition given: “A set of rules that gains me favor with God, or which I must keep in order to earn salvation.” Christianity—the Gospel—is then said not to be a religion by that definition because our righteous acts are motivated not by rewards and results, but by love, thankfulness, and a new heart with new desires; we are then motivated by relationship and not legalistic fear. In substance, that is all absolutely true.

Just not the part about “religion” being bad.

Under that definition, it is bad, but that is not what the Bible means when it talks about religion.

The word “religion” appears about 5-7 times in Scripture, depending on your translation. The Greek word underlying it carries the idea of a set of beliefs and their accompanying lifestyle; piety; devotion; being bound to a set of beliefs and displaying how they affect you in your daily life. Nothing wrong with that, is there? “Religion” as a concept is never used in a negative sense in the Scriptures. There is only one text where religion is dealt with in a didactic or prescriptive sense, and it’s a whopper—James 1:26-27.

True Religion vs. False Religion

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
--James 1:26-27, English Standard Version

What’s he talking about? There’s false religion and true religion? We better define some terms. Thankfully, he does that pretty concisely for us. He tells us that true religion:

-is pure and undefiled before God the Father (read: not a bad thing)
-consists of good works aimed at the least of these (orphans and widows)
-is characterized by a holy life (keeping oneself unstained from the world)

There is nothing wrong with any of that. God the Father beholds it as pure and undefiled. But what about false religion? God finds false religion to be impure, defiled, and worthless. What characterizes false religion?

False religion is characterized by self-deception and conceit (“If anyone thinks he is religious… but deceives his heart…”). This self-deception and conceit is revealed in that the person believes themselves to be religious (devoted, pious, spiritual, etc.), yet their behavior betrays that supposition because they lack self-control (failing to bridle their tongue; self-control being a fruit of the spirit), and their words are evil (James 2-3), revealing that their heart, in fact, is evil (Luke 6:45—“For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”). This person believes themselves to be religious, but, in all reality, they are not. They are a hearer of the word and not a doer (James 1:22-25). They’re a whitewashed tomb with dead men’s bones on the inside. This false sense of religion is what Jesus hates.

The dichotomy of the New Testament is not religion versus relationship, it is true religion versus false religion. One is pleasing to God, and the other is worthless to God.  True religion and false religion possess two different hearts: when we have true religion, our religion is the result of a regenerate, thankful heart; when we have false religion, our religion is motivated by self-deception, pride, and conceit. As Christians, our religion is not a means to an end; we do not perform good works in order to gain favor with God. On the contrary, our religion is motivated and driven by relationship.

Conclusion

Take a deep breath…
Exhale.

That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Someone might say, “Isn’t this just nitpicking?” You may look at it that way, but the problem with using lingo like this is that when people open up the actual Bible, not the unwritten book of Evangelical Christianese, it gets confusing for them when concepts that are spoken of exclusively in a negative sense from pulpits today (ie: religion) are actually spoken of, in their purest sense, in a positive way in the Scriptures (ie: … religion). It’s important that we don’t alienate Biblical concepts for the sake of maintaining language that makes us feel good inside (see: “the warm and fuzzies”) and leave Christians who are sincerely seeking to understand these issues confused by the Biblical text.

I don’t expect that because I have written this article that these phrases will suddenly disappear, nor do I expect that everyone who has read this article is now magically persuaded. I do hope that this has given you pause to consider how this new phraseology, while perfectly well-intentioned, may be opposed (and even detrimental) to the advancement of Biblical understanding, even if in substance the underlying ideas are correct.

Of course if you just skimmed the article and you’re good and mad, then please make sure you share the article so all your friends can see how wrong and/or dumb I am. Thanks!

‘Til next time.

Unapologetic: An Appeal to Joel Davis of Ascend the Hill

This article is a public appeal to Joel Davis, frontman of Ascend the Hill, Christian songwriter, and author of this recent article titled, "An Apology." The letter won’t make much sense without reading his original article, so I would encourage you to read it. I’m making it public so that anyone who might feel the way that Joel feels or has been swayed by what he has said can see a Biblical response, in grace. Without further ado, here is my response:

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Joel,

Let me first say that I have always enjoyed your music. As a worship leader, I’ve used Ascend the Hill’s rendition of “Rock of Ages” countless times. God has used your rendition of that hymn and many others to minister to me in some truly dark times, chiefly because those old hymns that outdate both of us taught some concrete Biblical truths that have served as a refuge for thousands of years. But your recent article sincerely moves me to grief, as it seems you have swerved from those Biblical truths and have exchanged them for a lie.

I’ll be straightforward — you said, “I used to believe some strange and destructive things about God. But I have found grace for my journey. The problem is that I was also given a fairly large stage to express these strange and destructive things about God from.” Brother, you still have that stage, and you are at present expressing strange and destructive things about God from that stage that will lead many astray.

I am not trying to be hostile or mean or vindictive; I sincerely hope you read this and see the error in what you are saying from a Biblical perspective, and that you realize that, based on what you shared in this article, you have some serious misunderstandings about central Biblical doctrines and their implications.

The Scriptures teach, concerning the nature of man, that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), that the heart of man is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:5), that our sins have separated humanity from God (Isaiah 59:1–2), that none of us are good and none of us seek after God but instead are inclined to evil (Romans 3:10–17), that none of us fear God (Romans 3:18), that we, while in the flesh, are hostile to God and His Law (Romans 8:7–8), none of us, while in the flesh, are able to please God (Romans 8:9), that natural men cannot receive anything from the Spirit of God because it is foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 2:14), that none of us can come to Christ except the Father draw us (John 6:44; implying there is an inherent issue that prevents us from doing so and which requires divine intervention), and the list goes on and on; in fact, you can work through this list of texts compiled by Travis Carder concerning the Biblical witness on the sinful nature of man.
 

Scripture does not teach inherent union with God, that men are naturally good, that we have inherent goodness and virtue, that God possesses no wrath for sin, or any of the other contentions you made in this article.

The Scriptures, again, teach that we are separated from God by our sins. It teaches further that the wages of sin is death and, in contrast, the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). On the wrath of God, John said, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son shall not see life, for the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36). Paul wrote, ““For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18) and spends the rest of the chapter expanding on that idea. 

Paul warned us: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (diverse sins listed in the prior verses) the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of unrighteousness.” (Ephesians 5:6); Joel, I’m afraid that this text is talking about you. Again, don’t read this with malice, but your whole diatribe had zero Scripture; it was nothing but vain words and emotional appeals and human philosophy and New Age junk. You can’t read the Bible and come away believing what you said in this article.

So, if you stop there, it’s a pretty sucky picture. Everyone is a sinner by nature and by choice, and God’s wrath is set against sin and sinners. But the Gospel does not leave us there.

Please, take a look at Ephesians 2. I’ll walk through the text with you at intervals.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts; like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”
Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV

The first thing in this text you have to notice is this: look at what Paul says about humanity — Paul, the Ephesians, you, me, every person eve. He says we, before Christ:

-were dead in our transgressions and sins
-followed the ways of the world which are also the ways of the devil
-possess desires and cravings in our nature that are contrary to God’s ways and, instead, are patterned after those of the world and of Satan
-by nature — meaning by that nature he just described — justly deserve God’s wrath.

What you said about human nature is literally dashed to pieces by this text thus far. People aren’t good by nature; it’s clear, Biblically, that it is wholly untrue to say that we are. Paul did not pull any punches about human nature, or our condition before Christ. Jesus didn’t either. Why do you think Paul starts out telling the Ephesians — reminding them, really — about how horrible their condition was before they met Jesus? Because in order to understand the grace of God, you HAVE to understand your desperate need for His grace at all points. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand the Gospel and the message of the New Covenant — a gracious God reconciling guilty sinners to Himself through the blood of His Son, because of His great love for them, as we now read:

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ even when we were dead in our transgression and sin; it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order than in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
 Ephesians 2:4–7, NIV

Paul says that despite everything he said in verses 1–3, God possesses this set of feeling for, and has acted in these ways toward, His people:

-He possesses GREAT love for us
-He is rich in mercy toward us
-He has made us alive together with Christ, though we once were dead in our sins
-In His grace, He has saved or rescued us from ourselves
-He has seated us at His own right hand (the heavenly place where Christ is)
-He has done that to this end: that He may forever display His love, mercy, and grace toward us in Christ

This is in stark contrast to what you wrote in this article and what you, as a Christian, felt about how God perceived you as a consequence of Total Depravity and Substitutionary Atonement; you simply have the implications of those Biblical truths wrong. Despite our sins, God does not view His children as lowly, unworthy worms. He is not disgusted with us. He does not hate us; rather, He loves us profoundly. He is, indeed, rich in grace and mercy toward us, even in our sins and our failures. Joel, your problem is that you had a skewed view of God from the start, and a deep misunderstanding of what it means that Jesus bore God’s wrath in our place. The Cross isn’t about an angry Father needing something on which to take out His frustration, but about a loving Father-God who graciously gave His only Son that we might be reconciled to Him, the penalty for our sins satisfied and our souls returned to right fellowship with Him forever. It is God graciously giving Jesus in my place. It is Substitutionary Atonement, and it is the heart of the Gospel.

1 John 2:1-2 reads, "My little children, I write these things to you that you may not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have an avocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." The word "propitiation" means "a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God from those on whose behalf it is offered."

The truth of human depravity should not make you despair. It should make you see Christ as that much more worthy and glorious and beautiful in contrast, and it should cause you to see how great a love it is that God would set His affections on us, though we have nothing to offer Him or add to Him in return, and in fact have openly rejected Him from the start. The truth of Christ’s substitutionary atonement should not cause you to see God in a disposition of hatred toward His people, but as having a disposition of unfathomable love for us, that He did not spare even His own Son for our redemption. 1 John 3:1 finds John rejoicing, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

I won’t even touch the wacky bit about you using different pronouns for God like “She” and “They.” God relates to His people as a Father 100% consistently all through Scripture. Come on, dude.

At the end of the day, this isn’t about “my truth” or “your truth,” it is about God’s truth in His Word. Truth is objective; morality is objective; it’s not up for grabs. Based on your responses, it seems like you’ve totally abandoned Scripture as God’s Word. David called God’s Word a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. Seeing as you’ve set that aside, it’s no surprise that, unfortunately, you’re stumbling in darkness. I pray that God will open your eyes to the Gospel and that you will come to see the Cross—the death of Christ, the wrath of God satisfied, the sins of the world taken away—for what it is: the greatest display of love in all eternity. It is my hope that you will turn to Christ and trust His work on that cross for your salvation, and to that end we may be together in glory.

In Christ,
Ethan Sowders