short answer: i'm not.
long answer:i entrusted my life to the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, on 29th December 2006. i'm a Christian now!
...but i'm not religious! the sad thing is that for two millenia now Christians worldwide have been practising Christianity as a religion. that's all well and good and surely there's no harm. however, as Christians, we don't need religion. it's the Grace of God through our faith that saves us [John 3v16].
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [KJV]
confused? what is religion? the belief in a supernatural being and practice of a doctrine. that seems to fit Christianity quite well, but let's go back to the quote in John. it doesn't say "do enough good deeds" or "do more good deeds than bad" or "follow this set of rules" and "you shall be granted access to heaven".
yes, God wants us to be good. but what does God define as "good"? His Word says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". here's an analogy i like - it's easy to remember because of the "sinne" of an arrow: in an archery event, God sets being good as hitting the bullseye with every arrow you fire. every time you take an action (or indeed fail to take an action) in your life, you fire an arrow. if you miss the bullseye, you have sinned. if you have sinned, you are no longer good. ouch! this bars practically all of humanity (perhaps excepting infants) from being "good" in God's eyes.
solution? God loves us so much and though "sin cannot enter His Holy Prescence" he created a solution for us. He gave His only Son to take the punishment for us. Jesus took all of our sin onto Himself on the cross, and as a result went to Hell... for THREE days until He conquered death and rose from the dead!
but why would God do this for us? because he wants to have a personal RELATIONSHIP with each of us. i know that word can sound scary, especially when it's with the Creator of the Universe! but the only way we can touch Him is to be pure and blameless, not contaminated with Sin. all we have to do is believe in the sacrifice He made for us in Jesus's agonising execution on the cross then to be taunted by devils in Hell.
believing is a lot more difficult than it sounds, but it's the only way we can become part of God's family. i've had lot's of help from dear friends and the Holy Spirit over the past few months to help me take the leap of faith.
in conclusion, God wants to have a relationship with us, instead of just following a set of rules to please Him. as a Christian, i accept that i am a child of God and that he loves everyone no matter how often they fall out of line. one cannot be a "better" Christian than someone else.
questions welcome. i had loads when i hadn't become a Christian and i still have loads presently unanswered now.
thank you for reading this far. God has always and will always love you unconditionally (i.e. He won't bless you just because you read this article).
