Religion or Belief?
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
A pressing issue of our time is the concept of religion. The media and the general populace believe that it is one of the many things that divide us as human beings. Everyone has their own opinion on religion, faith and the spiritual world. It’s part of human nature to be different from one another. However, as believers of Yahweh, we are not of this world (John 15:19); our perspective must therefore be different from the world. Our beliefs should be centered around the one true God, Yahweh. What does religion mean for the believer of the modern age?
To begin with answering that loaded question, one has to wonder what does religion even mean? The dictionary defines it as being “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God; a particular system of faith and worship.” If we are to take those very same lenses, then we are to believe and speculate on the fact that it is all a part of a system. This system should be guiding the way that we live, worship and practice our faith. That definition holds true to what the bible says about the faith in Deuteronomy 30, when the Lord says:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Deuteronomy 30:15 - 16
Yahweh gives us His system in His Word; it is supposed to be our lifestyle. In this, like vegetarianism or someone who is a workaholic: it is a choice that you make because you love something. In this case, the Lord asks you to love Him. It’s exactly what Yeshua asks of you in Luke 10:27, when He says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” You follow this lifestyle because you love Him and want to worship Him in everything that you want to do.
Yet, the pitfall of religion is something that was previously stated: we are all different from one another. Our human nature makes us see things in a plethora of different ways. It’s the reason why false doctrines can enter the faith. The fact that we interpret things, over time, can lead to us adding things that were never a part of Yahweh’s original plan. Yeshua talked about this in Matthew 23:4, saying about the Pharisees that “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden”. These demands come from man and not God, who says later on that “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
To conclude, Yeshua never came to earth to give us a religion for us to practice. He came to Earth so that we may believe and love. What the ancient Israelites and Jews lacked was a sincere love and devotion for God. It’s why the Lord says that “[He doesn’t] want your sacrifices— [He wants] your love; [He doesn’t] want your offerings—[He wants] you to know [Him]” (Hosea 6:6). We are meant to be worshippers and believers; people who follow Yahweh out of love, not because of a religious demand.