No Salvation in Religion

by Tracy Tennant

“How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

Psalm 4:2

There is no salvation in false gods, no matter how sincere an individual is in his worship; nor is there salvation in false gospels, regardless of how devout the follower. The apostle Paul lamented about those who “are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” They are missing the boat! The gospel in its simplicity teaches that once we accept and have faith in Jesus Christ and His work for us on the cross, we are clothed in HIS righteousness! When God receives a born-again believer into His presence, He is able to do so because Jesus was the propitiation for our sins. In other words, God does not see our sin; He sees the righteousness of Christ Who made atonement for our sin.

Those who are caught up in man-made religions are aptly described by Paul, “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:2-4)

Religion is man’s attempt to put himself into right-standing with God through a system of works or rituals. The laws and ordinances of the Old Testament, with their exactness and demands, were established by God to reveal His righteousness and our wickedness. As Paul said, “Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (Romans 7:7). The Bible teaches us that “all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law” (Romans 2:12). Jesus drove the point home that we are all sinners by nature and that even our thought life will condemn us (whoever even looks on another person with lust has committed adultery/fornication in his or her heart (Matthew 5:28).

Why is it imperative that we understand our fallen and desperate condition? Paul answers this very question: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:19-20). Only through the recognition of our sinful state, can genuine repentance ensue. It is only when we understand that without Christ we are objects of God’s wrath, can we cry out to God for forgiveness and salvation through the gift He offers in Jesus Christ. This gift of salvation is God’s work alone, so that no one can brag of his or her own “goodness” or “worthiness.” Once we accept this gift, Jesus, in Whom “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (the Trinity) (Colossians 2:9), in turn “[blots] out the handwriting of ordinances that [is] against us, which [is] contrary to us, and [takes] it out of the way, nailing it to His cross” (Colossians 2:14).

Religious systems which strive to “perfect” man or require works for salvation are not based on Biblical truth. The only righteousness through which we are justified before God comes through Jesus alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice for atonement, through faith in His blood” (Colossians 2:21-25).

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9); “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:5).

We cannot attain heaven through works, through a church, through a method, or through a “god” or gospel outside of the Bible. We must turn to Jesus of the Bible for salvation, for “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

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Copyright © 2005 Equipping Christians Ministries