Faith vs. Religion

Is there even a difference? Are you religious if you have faith? If you have no faith, can you still say you believe in something? Anything?
I'm getting real sick of religion.
Why can't God just come down and say, "Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny."
Thats so simple. And its not even like hes telling us what to do, its still our own free will. How in the heck are we supposed to just do whats right if EVERYTHING seems right.
I'm getting annoyed.
You all are very awesome though, those of you that have given me input and more to research. Thanks.

reply to post by el justeen o

If you have no faith, can you still say you believe in something? Anything?

You can find examples in the Gospels.
All those sick and disabled people in the Bible that Jesus healed were excluded from the Temple, because the authorities were of the opinion that it was a sign of their sinfulness.
So, my guess was that the man who was born blind was not religious because he had never even been allowed to set foot in the Temple.
Jesus said that the people he healed were healed because they had faith.
So, my conclusion is that Jesus proved that Faith is stronger than Religion.

Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny.

You are in a illusion of physical existance that only acts as a garden for your spiritual/soul being. You should be less conserned with phyiscial matters and look for the spiritual doorways within your self. There you can find a direct link to the universal whole and you can address the first source and center of creation, our father, the father of all creation. This is what Our Father wishes. This is what you should be doing.

Pain, suffering, all these things you obsess over in "life" are mearly illusions you've created to keep you from doing what you should be doing. There is no one else here to blame but you if you fail.

You are a plant in the garden. Grow toward the light.

Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny.

This world is darkened by the confusion of the shadow of original sin that is the echo of the evil done here thousands of years ago. Several layers of spiritual personalies are trapped in karmic like cycles. However that time for cycles is over. There has been great info sent to you. Too many of you however wish to cling to "old religion" that is personallize and biased, nationalistic, and egotisitc.

If you want to know the truth it is as simple as picking up a copy of the urantia book. That is the best spiritual book on the face of the planet at this time. It was sent to clear the way.

You life is about your choice and your free will. You can do what ever it is you wish to do in this illusion of life on the physical plain. However you will face your destaned choices.

So the question is do you want to really LIVE or are you willing to lose all rights to life after the end of this physical illusion?

Originally posted by Incarnated
Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny.

You are in a illusion of physical existance that only acts as a garden for your spiritual/soul being. You should be less conserned with phyiscial matters and look for the spiritual doorways within your self. There you can find a direct link to the universal whole and you can address the first source and center of creation, our father, the father of all creation. This is what Our Father wishes. This is what you should be doing.

Pain, suffering, all these things you obsess over in "life" are mearly illusions you've created to keep you from doing what you should be doing. There is no one else here to blame but you if you fail.

You are a plant in the garden. Grow toward the light.

the only way to god is through jesus

faith in him will bring salvation

you of all people should know that, you are the incarnated one of him

Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny.

Are you going to listen to me? Of course not! Even thought The OP says that they wished I'd say "Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny." and so I've said "Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny." you'll too quickly pass it off as a joke, or me a quack, or a nutcase, or what ever it is you will to picture me as. That's not the reality however that's just another attempt by you not to have to face the reality of what I'm throwing down clearly.

The evil is not outside of you. The evil you need consern yourselves with is within you. It is "the beast", the animalistic nature of the being that you're suposed to be rising above.

All those around you are your brothers (and sisters). You should live as such.

Yeah, I know, you're not going to listen to me. However I had to try.

Religion is something you make a habit of, and that may include going to church or saying prayers every day at a certain time. They're the mechanical things you do to display and acknowledge your faith, either with others or by yourself, although usually with other people who also share your wacky notions.

Faith, on the other hand, is something you believe that you carry around in the background of your life and stop questioning because it's just easier to accept it. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. It may not, but it's easier for me just to assume it will rather than have to take the time and effort to think about it.

[edit on 10-7-2008 by Nohup]

Originally posted by Incarnated
Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny.

See? That's something you "believe" because somebody told you or you read it somewhere and you thought it made sense. You have faith that it's the truth, even though you don't really have anything to verify that other than somebody else's word and your own feelings about it. Pretty lousy proof all around. But you still carry that around with you without questioning it too much, because it's easier. So you have faith in it.

It's not the same as religion.

Originally posted by MurderCityDevil
the only way to god is through jesus
faith in him will bring salvation

Now, is there any particular thing you do to express this belief? Go to some kind of church that has a name and organizational structure, for instance? That would be religion.

The faith you have is that those things are true, which naturally have never been proven. Because, after all, proof negates faith.

reply to post by Nohup


no church, as they dont teach what jesus was about

the best way to live is to follow his example and the 10 commandments

all which make sense and seem like common sense

although i am a man, im very prone to sin and do

but i still believe, its something i feel and im very ok with that

reply to post by MurderCityDevil

the only way to god is through jesus

faith in him will bring salvation

Natural man is devoid of real Faith.
That is why the unpardonable sin is to reject the Holy Spirit.
When you hear the Truth, the Holy Spirit comes and gives your soul conviction of the fact of Jesus being our way to Salvation.
If we fight that Spirit of Truth, we are left in a weakened state to be taken in by the spirit of deception.
Following the deception leads only to death.

Originally posted by el justeen o

Why can't God just come down and say, "Hey guys. Look, your all very off. This is the way. Live it or don't, but your decision will be your destiny."

this is the very question that i had in my head when i shed the christian religion. i couldn't understand it and have just recently, over the last couple of months started to gain insight into why the Creator doesn't do this.

first, consequences are very natural thing and nothing to be feared, but rather it should serve as a guide in your life. you stab yourself w/ a knife, you will bleed. you put your hand on a hot stove, it will burn the flesh. you keep your hand off the stove, you avoid being burned. we learn through experiencing and we learn about our Creator through experience, not through fear and ignorant acceptance.

he doesn't come down and show himself and say "this is who i am" bc he is giving us the choice to first, deny ignorance then to seek him w/out selfish motivation and personal agendas.

when he hears the genuine heartfelt cry of someone, He will reveal himself to you in a very personal way that you can't argue with. others may be able to argue with it, but you yourself understand that He exists and you will not feel the need to prove it bc you will trust that He can and will prove himself to all those who want to know w/ the right purpose of heart.

religion to me is so objective to the point of being a fault. it has created a very impersonal god and then stuffed him into a box and you must be willing to crawl into this box w/ him or you are in danger of hell fire. religion has a human agenda behind it.

true faith has no agenda behind it. it is understanding that the Creator cannot be contained in a box. It is understanding and trusting the brilliance and great love this Creator possesses. True faith isn't about loving him and others simply to get out of punishment. it is about loving him and others because of their own inherent values......... not what you can get out of them and not what you expect out of them. it is allowing others the right to have their own experiences w/ out impositions being placed on them.

religion can (and should be lol) lost...... True faith can not be lost bc true faith comes w/ a deeper understanding..

w/ true faith, you possess your own soul and accept personal responsibility for it and for the choices you make.

w/ religion, you sell your soul in hopes to gain something in return. you take responsibility out of your hands and place it into the box w/ your god. i see this as a gamble i am not willing to risk, personally.

reply to post by jmdewey60


i dont get what you are saying?

reply to post by MurderCityDevil

i dont get what you are saying?

We do not have the real faith of God, until we hear what it is that we need to have faith in.
Our feelings, before that happens is belief.
What I am trying to say is that, God not only provides the Salvation but also provides the means by which we can utilize it.

reply to post by jmdewey60


well to me, faith is the belief

for me, i honestly feel when christ was being crucified and knew what he had to do, i was a thought, as small and as not even born yet, i knew he knew me, how? i dont know, i just feel that

and for that nothing can shake that from me

when tribulation comes, i will die for my faith in him, well if i make it til then

reply to post by MurderCityDevil

well to me, faith is the belief

Many people who think they have faith will throw their beliefs away, when adversity comes.
Faith has to be cultivated and continuously fed, by listening, day by day to the Holy Spirit and it needs to advance beyond simple believing.
If we fight against God speaking to us, through his spirit, we will be like Jesus' parable of the seed corn that falls on the rocky soil and starts to grow but withers with the full heat of the sun.


[edit on 10-7-2008 by jmdewey60]

reply to post by Nohup



You're mistaken. This world you live in is your perceptive. If you truly knew what I was about, you'd live somewhere else.

I understand you believe you know. This is the egotisim that riths beneath the skin.

Don't take me wrong. I respect much of the perspective you see. You seem to be sharply perceptive. However, just because YOU believe the lockness monster doesn't exist doesn't make it so. If you were to come face to face with something you didn't want to believe in, you'd see something else.

This is your error of standardized assumptions according to your lack of understanding about my persona.

religion can (and should be lol) lost......



I completely agree...

Oooooooh there is a big difference!!! I often had trouble with this one until I entered the program(AA) see now I dont go to church and i dont belong to a specific "religion" I conseder myself "A believer" I found that when I read the New testament and try to live acording to it.its not anything like"people of the church.I dont know where things changed so much..
Now I have many friends that dont believe that Christ is the savior. and who am I to tell them they are wrong.
Its a thing called spirituality:::Coming from the Latin meaning to breath to be filled..
Spirituality has nothing to do with Religion, and I'm not sure if faith is that different from spirituality at all , because if you are spitual then you have faith in it right?

reply to post by bugs_n_recovery

if you are spitual then you have faith in it right?

A few years ago I was on Match.com and I noticed all these people saying they were spiritual but not religious.
I said I was religious but not spiritual.
If everyone is spiritual, it is hard for me to imagine that it means very much.
I remember 27 years ago, the big saying among Christians was that you have to be a Committed Christian.
Ditto on that one too.
The word Faith, to me, implies believing in something, but in a way that causes action.
Maybe we should say we are active Christians. (if we need to have a slogan)