Many religious people live their lives by the Scriptures. So why is the fruit of their lives sometimes legalism and guilt rather than life? They feel like they continually fall short of God's standards for their lives. Jesus said to the religious people of his day, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give… Read More
Category: Non-religious Christianity
In my last post on this subject, I looked at my personal journey and how God set me free from guilt-based religion. For me, that liberty came many years ago during my medical school days. I've not always lived in that freedom, but it has formed a basic backdrop for my life. My advice to… Read More
My last few posts on non-religious Christianity (starting here) provoked a couple of people to question, "How do you get from shame-based Christianity to living the abundant life Jesus talked about?" Knowing I was going to blog about it, Tony (my husband) and I had a lengthy early morning conversation on the subject today. "How would… Read More
The new covenant makes all the difference. Under the old covenant, people had to keep a series of laws. Under the new covenant, these same laws were written on our hearts. Here's what Hebrews 8 says The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This… Read More
All too often Christianity is cheapened to the point that it becomes a religion of rules in which the do's and don'ts (especially the don'ts) govern our lives. In an effort to please God by keeping ourselves separate from the world (2 Cor 6:17), we live lives that are unattractive, to say the least, to… Read More
We all know people who are "holier than thou." They tend to live perfect lives, even if a trifle legalistic. We know we ought to like them, but somehow they leave us feeling condemned and unworthy. I don't think Jesus was like this. If anyone was holy, Jesus was, but sinners loved to be around… Read More
Religion or relationship: Isn't that our choice? We can do things out of a sense of duty. That is religion, and it's a killer. Or we can choose to let Jesus live out his life through us. Our relationship with him causes us to respond as he did. The love of Christ compels us. The… Read More