“I threw away my religious life and gained a relationship with Jesus Christ.” That may be a surprising testimony to hear from a Christian, but that’s exactly what the apostle Paul was saying in Philippians 3:8. In this section of his letter, Paul writes, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Josh McDowell, a Christian author and representative of Campus Crusade for Christ, tells his testimony in his book A Ready Defense. When he was in college, he was looking for answers to the purpose of life and fulfillment. He began to hang out with a group of fellow students whom he noticed something different about their lives. One day their conversation turned to the subject of God. Josh asked them this question, “Tell me, what changed your lives? Why are your lives so different from the other students?” One of the young women in the group looked straight at him and said, “Jesus Christ.” Josh replied, “Oh, don’t give me that garbage. I’m fed up with religion; I’m fed up with the church; I’m fed up with the Bible. Don’t give me that garbage about religion.” She shot back, “Mister, I didn’t say religion; I said Jesus Christ.”
Which one do you have: a religion or a relationship? Having a daily, joy-filled relationship with Jesus is very different from being a religious person. A religious person is taking steps to reach God by putting forth all of his efforts, hoping to earn God’s favor by what he does. However, Paul says in Philippians 3:8-9 that he considers his religious achievements “as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” A Christian realizes that Jesus came to him first, then out of love and gratitude and faith he lives in obedience to Jesus, knowing he has God’s favor because Christ’s righteousness has been given to him.
Being “in Christ Jesus” means that Jesus has graciously given you His righteousness so that nothing stands in your way of worshiping God. God accepts you because Christ’s perfect righteousness is placed upon you because of your faith in Him.
Religious people think they have to work for God’s forgiveness – that whenever they sin they have to do some extra good deed to balance it out. Christians do not have to work to pay off a sin debt; they realize that Jesus has already paid their sin debt for them. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t require us to do a project to earn extra credit as a result of failing a Christian life test earlier in the semester. Because of our faith in Jesus we’re already 100 percent accepted by God.
Religious people beat themselves up whenever they miss their scheduled prayer time, or fail to read three chapters in their Bible each morning, or forgot to bring a donation to the missions offering. Christians realize that each day is a brand new day, God’s mercies are new every morning, and they can pick up their prayer time or Bible reading later that day or the next morning, and can give or serve at the next opportunity without any reproach from God.
Religious people are counting on their family ties and church affiliation to give them credit toward having a place in heaven. But Christians are placing their faith in Jesus Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
I hope that you have a real, dynamic, exciting relationship with the living Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that for you being a Christian means joy in having gained a relationship with Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and is not a religious act. I hope that being a Christian means that you worship Him, and pray, and dive deep into His Word, and serve others and volunteer in the church not because you feel like you have to as part of a religion, but because the Spirit of the living God is inside you and it motivates you to want to do those things out of love and gratitude for what Jesus has done on your behalf.
Praise God, you don’t have to be a religious person! You can have a joy-filled relationship with Jesus Christ!
