That is a great post Greg. But, you fail to realize that Christians are more capable at independent thought than an unbeliever for one simple reason.
We have been set FREE from the worldly influence that rejects God. While unbelievers are still trapped & blinded by vanity. You cannot understand this because you to are blinded by your own vanity that makes you believe you are better than other people who don't agree with you. (In other words, you are guilty of the VERY thing you accuse others of doing.)
I think if you honestly go back & re-read your post you will see that you are in fact edifying yourself and not trying to enlighten anybody else. (Please understand; I'm not attacking you at all. I'm just making an observation.)
You are absolutely correct that "religion" has failed in many ways. As a Christian, one of the main issues I have with organized religion is how denominational leaders have allowed the enemy to infiltrate Christianity and bring about compromise & division.
I recently talked to a leader of a major denomination about what a person needs to do in order to pray for the sick & teach people about the power of the Holy Spirit. I was told that before anyone could do this, they had to attend the "denomination" seminary to insure they were teaching the correct "doctrine".
It is a sad thing to see how much supposed "christian" denominations are putting their
"doctrine of division" ahead of the Holy Spirit and the Salvation & deliverance that HE wants to bring into their churches. Sin is SIN! Jesus died so we could have FORGIVENESS of our sins. After He ascended to sit at the right hand of our FATHER, God sent the Holy Spirit in order to provide the POWER we need to overcome & live victoriously over our sins.
The thing that breaks my heart is seeing so many fall away into destruction & sin because the church has failed to LOVE them. There are many, many churches that teach people about sin and how to be forgiven. But, many of those same churches fail in sharing the LOVE that Christ has to offer.
HOWEVER!!!!
This failure of "religion" you spoke about does not any way make "CHRISTIANITY" and what Jesus did in order to prove HIS love for us a failure. It's important to understand that the church is NOT infallible because it is made up of fallible human beings who are just sinners who have hopefully been saved by God's Grace.
This means the "believer" has a responsibility to the unbeliever to do their best to share the LOVE of Christ with those who have not received HIM. But, it is also important for the UN-believer to understand that there is something greater than themselves in this world. The Bible also teaches that to deny this is rebellion and foolish. So, when an unbeliever becomes offended by such talk, they need to keep an open mind about the possibility they are wrong & have been blinded by sin & the spirit of rebellion.
I am open to share my FAITH & the LOVE of God with anyone at anytime. But, I also refuse to be baited anymore. So, if someone really wants to understand more about what I believe concerning God, the Bible, Salvation & Deliverance from SIN, we can take it to PM.
God Bless
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