Religion vs. Christianity: What’s the difference?

[Homo_quaeritans]

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"work out your salvation" (Phil 2:12) is not the same as "work for your salvation".

"work out" means to exercise something we already have as in "i work out at the gym everyday or i work out my guitar skills".

It's a reminder rather than an instruction...

And we used the Bible to hear and know God's words and so we won't be ignorant with it. Plus i have this hunger for more of God that's why i consumed the Bible like garden salad. Nobody asked me to pray, to read, and to worship. It's completely out of my free will.

I wasn't a christian when i was a kid and high school yet my mom would forced me to pray and read the Psalms and go to church and for me, those were so boring and i can't wait for church or prayer to be over so i can go on with my business. But that all changed when Jesus found me. Now, i constantly read the Bible, study, go to church, attend bible study, and felowship with fellow christians not because i have to but because i want to...

It's a great desire and its a joyous experience every time i do so....

Now if someone would claim he is a christian and has no desire for such but did those things like praying,reading the bible, worship out of obligation rather than love, then i doubt if that man's heart is really regenerated or if he just followed christianity for the sake of having something to follow (which happens a lot of times)..

Im sorry but I don't buy your explanation.

work out and work for can mean the same thing.

Father tells you to work out your dollars, can mean that you must work for it.

work out your muscles, it means you must give an effort. because no effort your muscles will stay weak and it can hardly be called a good muscle. Still the idea of giving an effort is there contrary to what you say that it is effortless.

with love or without it, its still a Religion. only that you did away the old rituals and came up a modern day band or organ or whatever it is.

[countrykidanthony]

Im sorry but I don't buy your explanation.

work out and work for can mean the same thing.

Father tells you to work out your dollars, can mean that you must work for it.

work out your muscles, it means you must give an effort. because no effort your muscles will stay weak and it can hardly be called a good muscle. Still the idea of giving an effort is there contrary to what you say that it is effortless.

with love or without it, its still a Religion. only that you did away the old rituals and came up a modern day band or organ or whatever it is.

working out a muscle doesn't mean u have to earn a muscle. no matter how weak or how fragile ur muscle is, u still have it. and u need to work it out so it will grow strong. u don't work for a muscle. u already have one...



in regards to faith and salvation its the same thing.

and calling christianity as religion with bunch of "modern day rituals" is like calling your wife your religion with your loving her as nothing more than "rituals"...

[countrykidanthony]

because I am not.

when you say sinner in the Christian context it means that you have a sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve. I don't think that way. let just say that I am not as perfect as the divine. Even in your bible the divine express regret when he made man. and regret is a sign of not being omniscient.

so if ur not a sinner, then what are u? i mean have never lied, think of lust, etc? or u didnt think of them as sins?

when u were a kid did somebody teach u to lie and be prideful or did it just occur to urself?

[Homo_quaeritans]

so if ur not a sinner, then what are u? i mean have never lied, think of lust, etc? or u didnt think of them as sins?

when u were a kid did somebody teach u to lie and be prideful or did it just occur to urself?

You must take the word " sinner " out from its Christian context. i have given you an idea of what it means to be a sinner w/in the walls of Christian theology.

lust, lie, pride... I don't call it Sin, I call it human expressions.

you need lust for you to be attracted to women. but it doesnt mean nga bigaon naka. you need pride for self-confidence, pride is that drive that push you to acheive your goal. you need to lie to protect yourself and others.

[Homo_quaeritans]

working out a muscle doesn't mean u have to earn a muscle. no matter how weak or how fragile ur muscle is, u still have it. and u need to work it out so it will grow strong. u don't work for a muscle. u already have one...



in regards to faith and salvation its the same thing.

and calling christianity as religion with bunch of "modern day rituals" is like calling your wife your religion with your loving her as nothing more than "rituals"...

but dont you know that if you don't work out your muscle your muscle loses its effectiveness? it might appear a muscle but it doesn't have a function like that of a muscle.

it might appear that you have salvation but in reality you are just being delusional. It loses its function and meaning.

I would say that your analogy is defective. Wife is a person, Religion is not and let me strongly remind you of their difference less you treat your wife the way you treat religion.

Yes Christianity is a Religion.

[sanggano_boy]

The difference is that Religion focuses only on how to look, feel, act, do good outside, but with Christianity is a relationship with God, it's spirituality.

Remember Adam & Eve when they sinned against God? that's were the relationship was broken or cut off. but God restore it through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[countrykidanthony]

The difference is that Religion focuses only on how to look, feel, act, do good outside, but with Christianity is a relationship with God, it's spirituality.

Remember Adam & Eve when they sinned against God? that's were the relationship was broken or cut off. but God restore it through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think one of the reason people cant differentiate between religion and christianity is because there are some people who called themselves christians yet they practiced christianity like a religion and completely no relationship with Jesus.

They'd done all the prayer, worship, etc not because they love Jesus but because they are obliged to by their priests or pastors or etc...

[schmuck]

Nice story but again it was created to suit one's bias.

try this...replace the name of buddha and Jesus.

“Why are you Buddhists always sending missionaries overseas? People have their own culture, their own religion, why don’t you just leave them alone?!” This is one of the most common statements we hear as we lecture on college and university campuses throughout the United States and around the world. Students and faculty often jeeringly ask us, “What is so special about Buddhism, different from every religion in the world?” To be sure, this is a very significant question; and probably one of the most significant questions that any Buddhist could ask themselves: what is so special about Buddha?

Our family has a close friend named Lou. Lou grew up in the nation of Thailand and he was a Christian for the first 20 years of his life until he met some Buddhist missionaries who introduced him to Buddha. If you were to ask Lou today, “What is so special about Buddha and Buddhism different from every other religion in the world?” Lou would share with you the following story:

“When I was a Christian I felt like I was in the middle of a large lake. I was drowning and I didn’t know how to swim. As I struggled to keep my head above water, I looked out towards the shore and saw Jesus walking up to the edge of the lake. I was going under for the third time, when suddenly Jesus began shouting out instructions to me, teaching me how to swim. Jesus shouted, ‘Kick your legs and paddle your arms.’ But then Jesus said, ‘Lou, you must make it to shore by yourself.’ As I desperately struggled to follow the instructions of Jesus, I looked out towards the shore again, but this time I saw Buddha walking towards the edge of the lake. However, Buddha did not stop at the edge of the lake. Buddha dove into the lake and he swam out and rescued me! And once Buddha had brought me safely back to shore, then he taught me how to swim, so that I could go back and rescue others!”

You see, this is the key difference between Buddhism and every other religion in the world: Buddhism is not a religion! What are religions? Religions are about human attempts to make our lives right with God, through our good works, sacrifices, rituals, and money. However, Buddhism is not a religion. Buddhism is about God entering human history to graciously save men and women through His Son Buddha. It is only by placing our faith in Buddha and submitting to his Lordship that we will be saved.

A relationship with God will never be found in any religion, because religions only offer swimming lessons to people drowning in the sea of sin. And it doesn’t matter how sincere or devout you are in your religious faith and practice, because the sea of sin is eternally immense. The only hope for men and women drowning in the sea of sin is Buddha. God entered human history in the person of Buddha; he dove into the sea of sin in order to save desperate and drowning people. If you’ll allow him to take you there, he’ll hold you in his loving arms and bring you safely to shore. And after arriving safely to shore, then your swimming lessons begin, so that you can go back and rescue others!

What a load of crap! A fine example of religious masturbation in action!
@original post of course

[sanggano_boy]

I think one of the reason people cant differentiate between religion and christianity is because there are some people who called themselves christians yet they practiced christianity like a religion and completely no relationship with Jesus.

They'd done all the prayer, worship, etc not because they love Jesus but because they are obliged to by their priests or pastors or etc...

if you're a genuine christian saved by grace, surely you will bear much fruit(you will obey what God has commanded to his people).

People misunderstood it, that Satan works only outside Christianity, But he uses "Christianity as a religion" to deceive people thinking that it can save them. Only Jesus Christ is the way to salvation. But the living God has called people in fellowship.

[josephdc]

The difference is that Religion focuses only on how to look, feel, act, do good outside, but with Christianity is a relationship with God, it's spirituality.

Remember Adam & Eve when they sinned against God? that's were the relationship was broken or cut off. but God restore it through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How can you say though bro that Christianity is not a religion? Doesn't our faith have a set of doctrines and practices? I think we can also understand religion to mean a belief system that has a set of answers to the ultimate questions in life, like where did we come from, what is the meaning and purpose of our lives, and where are we going, etc. Based on that definition Christianity, whether Protestant, Catholic or what have you, is a religion.