What makes your religion different than any other?
Brendan Mc Crossan
What makes your religion different than any other?
Brendan Mc Crossan
2-1-2011
What makes your religion any different than any other is the question I ask? Is your religion different from a Hindu, Jew, Hari Krishna, Buddha, or a Muslim? To name but a few religions. Whatisitthatyoucantellmethatmakesyourreligionsospecial,toyourbeliefthetruereligion? Are you the Christian showing any signs that you have a better religion, a better example than a Muslim. I know many devout Muslims and have many Muslim friends including two Sons in Law who considered themselves Muslim but who have accepted Jesus as lord of their lives and are baptised in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. The difference between the Christian believer and the rest is, the Christian is starting from the point of being in heaven already and the rest are struggling to get there. The Christian is in heaven and seated in Christ Jesus the moment they chose to accept Jesus, they died and rose on the cross on Calvary with and in and through Christ Jesus and he did it no one else can get the credit for this awesome plan.
All religions are struggling to reach the end of their lives with the hope of getting into heaven, and they are on a starting point from trying to get there in the end, but the Christian child of God starts from the point that he or she is already there and are already dead, in their spirit they are in effect going backwards from Eternal life to death to living in their human bodies; this is what makes the Christians different from every other religion. Because Christianity is not a religion but a relationship they share with their heavenly father, true they may be Apostolic, Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, or any other Christian religion they were born into or now go to. Being a Christian is not a religion but a way of life, Jesus said “I am the way,” follow me, he didn’t come to start a religion because there were many religions around when he came upon the earth, and in fact scripture says your religion has made the word of God null and void, so religion can make the word of God worthless; he came to start a way of life. Most of us were born into a religion, some stayed there and some moved on to Christian groups or other churches.
Romans-6-7-Romans 6:7- ].8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,9Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.10For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].11Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. (Amplified Bible)
When the scripture talks about “died” it is talking about your spirit not your flesh otherwise you would not be reading this or the word of God either, you would be physical dead. You must read the word of God from the spiritual standpoint as God sees things; too often we Christians read things in God’s word from the human perspective failing to see the spiritual aspect.
I have read Ephesians 1-4-for thirty plus years and I seen things in this one scripture that have blown my mind, I seen that God chose us from before time even began, I
then seen that he made us pure and holy spotless without a single fault. Now after reading it again through the eyes of God, by my spirit I mean; I see that we were created before time began, then I seen that we were kept in heaven as a spirit being until the time for us to come into this earth and receive a physical body, and then realised that we were going back to becoming a spirit being with a body but who is now back in heaven but this time connected to my physical body through my spirit. All of which is God’s plan not mans because it is difficult to understand from a human point of view. To read that we have died with Christ means that we died someway or other spiritually, not physically, and this changes our perspective on things in the word of God.
2 Timothy-2-11-The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
To have died with Christ as I said earlier means spiritual death and to become alive again him means that spiritually we have become alive; we have been reborn, this time as a spirit and physical being, thus the word of God that states we must be born again, {reborn} spirit and soul and body. Before, our spirit was in heaven from before time began, it lived therein fellowshipwithGodourfatherasaspiritaloneinthesamewaythathecreatedAdaminGenesis.
Genesis 1-26- God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in our image, after our likeness, 27So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. {Amplified Bible}Genesis-2-7-the time came when the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. {Amplified bible}
These two scriptures seem to be saying the same thing don’t they, but there are vast differences between them, if you look you will see that God made man in his own image and what image is God? Is he flesh and blood? No he is spirit. So God made man first in his image a spirit being, and then much later he then made man as a flesh and blood creation. Scripture says the time came, which means it was after he created man as a spirit before he made the world.
Then in Genesis-2-7- we see that god made man a flesh and blood being formed from the dust of the earth and breathed the spirit into him. And he lived in fellowship with God on the earth as a spirit being first; then God decided to make him a physical man as well as a spirit being but he done this much later, and he placed man in the earth as a spiritual man and a physical man, with the spirit of God within him. But then man sinned and his spirit became spoiled and rotten and that separated him from God. Then God decided much later on that he would send his Son Jesus into the earth to correct mans mistakes and he did, and now Jesus has reconciled us back into the former relationship and spiritual being that we were created to be, but without sin again. So now we are back to being a spirit being living in a body reborn again in the true image and likeness of God our father and now we dwell in the heavenly places with and in Christ Jesus.
Think of this we know from scientists that dinosaurs roamed the earth before man even stepped on this planet, and they were here on earth about at least three hundred
and fifty million years ago, we know that it was more like millions of years after that, before man came on the earth, science proves this, and dinosaurs were here before man. So then where was man? Because we know from the word, that God created man in his own image, a spirit being as the earth was being formed; and in fact Ephesians 1-4- says before he made the world God chose us to be his very own. Then he formed man and maid from the dust of the earth at a specific time, and then he breathed life into them. Where has man been all that time from the moment God created man, to when the first man appeared on earth? Where was man, that’s the question I want you to ask yourself; if God made man from before he made the world, or even if you think from when he first made the world, where was man? We know he didn’t arrive on earth until after the dinosaurs, long after in fact, we know after the dinosaurs there were different time zones and much, much later on man arrived, so where was man If God made him before he made the world itself.
Man was kept in heaven, the spirit of man that is not the flesh man, so for millions of years man has been in heaven with God in Christ Jesus as scripture tells us; then one day in 1947 God prepared a body for me, and at the moment of my conception, God planted my spirit into my mother’s womb and joined it to my soul and body. Just as when you were conceived he put your spirit that was in heaven into your body.
Scripture also tells us that he took from Jesus body a piece of it and created us individual spirits, and then when we died {by accepting Jesus as lord and saviour} he rejoined us spiritually back to Jesus.
Your spirit in heaven was clean and holy and spotless, but when you were transplanted into your human body sin corrupted your spirit, it became tainted with sin. Then when you accepted Jesus as Lord and saviour you were re-joined to him again, reborn and declared sinless and have been taken back into heaven with him in spirit and your body is still on the earth and also still connected to our body.
Weird aren’t it, in heaven, {spiritual bodies} then out, {Flesh and spirit bodies} then back in {spirit bodies again} and later on we will get new heavenly bodies, {bloodless bodies supernatural bodies} when Jesus comes back for us, bodies that will never wear out, that are free from pain and disease and bloodless bodies like the body of Jesus, so says the word of God. I am glad God worked this out because it gets a bit confusing for me at times.lol
Your religion is different because you are already dead spiritually, everyone knows you can’t get into heaven with your flesh and blood body so it is your spirit that goes to heaven or to hell, and all these religions are trying everything they can do to get to heaven, when they die, while the Christian is dead already and is seated in heaven with and in Christ Jesus
Colossians -3-3 3For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. {Amplified Bible}
Your dead, maybe you don’t know it yet, but you are dead according to the word of God and I wonder which is right, you or the word of God? Your real life, ‘God says
your real life,’ that means there is another part of you that you may not have even considered, your spirit side of you, is dead to this world but alive in Christ Jesus who is seated in heaven and you are seated in heaven in him. Your dead already and have entered heaven spiritually not physically, the scripture is talking about your spirit not your flesh, which is sitting reading this. This is what makes you different from every other religion, they have to wait until they die physically before they find out they are wrong, because you are already in heaven while still alive in your physical body. God is amazing he says ‘his thoughts are above mans.’ It’s great to know that we are already in heaven, that were not going to get there when we die but have already passed out of death into eternal life
John -3-15-In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever! 16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. 17For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. 18He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name.] {Amplified Bible}
Because we chose to believe in Jesus and accept him into our lives we will never be judged, because our judgement is now {this very second} as this scripture makes very clear and comes direct from the mouth of Jesus himself, and those who refuse him now, is already judged and condemned to hell. But thanks be to God for he has brought us into the place of highest privilege where we ‘now’ stand. Now this very second is where you are standing in heaven and still connected to your physical body, God is a supernatural God he can do these things and we can just stand back and marvel at him. Little words are important, words like ‘now’ meaning this split second, especially when you think where is my spirit right ‘now’ this very second and it is in heaven with and in Christ Jesus, doesn’t this make your soul spin with joy, that you are actually in heaven right now, {there’s that word again,} now’, not when you die but now this instant, your already dead to this world if Jesus is your lord and saviour.
Romans-5-2-for because of our faith; ‘he’ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we “now” stand.” {In Heaven} {The Way Bible}
You see according to the word of God you are dead already, and have rose again with and in Christ Jesus, and are standing in the place of highest privilege where you are now standing. That place of highest standing is in Christ Jesus, because you are in him you are in the position
he is in. And you are also sitting with him when he sits because he has, and has means it has already happened gave us joint seating with him, you in fact sit on the same chair as he does because you are in him, not separated from him but actually in him, as joined together with spiritual superglue.
Ephesians-2-4- 4But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, 5Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favour and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation). 6And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Two
Those who are trying to enter into heaven by being good or by their religion will never get there because eternity is a free gift and cannot be bought.
Romans-4-5-no being saved is a gift; if a person could earn it by being good, then it wouldn’t be free; but it is. It is given to those who do not work for it.
You cannot earn a free gift no matter what you do, it is a free gift from a loving Father to you, and nothing you do can ever earn a free gift, it’s as it says ‘free’. Other religions are trying to get into heaven by earning their way by their religions and by their good deeds, but all their attempts are useless because entry into heaven is free. It was done for you by Jesus when he died for you and rose again for you, forgiving all the sins that you had previously and would continually commit, all gone forever, all you have to do is accept it and that is the key that opens the door into eternal life with God your Father.
2-Corinthians-5-13-For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit, 14For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; 15And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. (Amplified Bible)
One died for all, then all died, God says ‘Jesus died for all,’ and that ‘for all’ means everyone no matter what their religion, but it is only in accepting Jesus as lord does entitlement to heaven become yours, as he is the only way into eternal life. Other religions seem to offer a different heaven than the one God and Jesus talked about in the Bible, because the real heaven is accessible only by receiving Jesus as lord of your life and in doing so then you die to your old spirit and receive a new spirit and in doing so your new spirit is connected and joined to Jesus in heaven where he sits at the right hand side of God; your real life begins and ends here in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2-20-I have been crucified with Christ; I myself no longer live; but Christ lives in me and the real life I live now within this body is as a result of my trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
You see my real life I live within this spirit, soul, and body is as a result of God’s love for me, joining me to his son Jesus as one person, spiritually.
1 Corinthians-6-17-if you give yourself to the lord you and Christ are joined together as one person.
Not too many Christians understand that they are actually joined together as one person to Christ Jesus, it is incredible to imagine that you and Jesus are actually one person in the spirit not your flesh or soul, but in the spirit; It’s like adding milk to tea the two become one, they are joined together.
If you think in this book I was just talking about myself then read the next scripture, it says you also died to the law, that’s you the reader, if Jesus is your lord and saviour.
Romans -7-4- 4 So, my brothers and sisters, “you also” died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
In this next scripture you can see that God is talking about all of us when he says, even when we were dead, etc.
Ephesians-2-4- 4But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy thegreat and wonderfuland intenselovewith which Heloved us, 5Even ‘when “we” were dead’ (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favour and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation). 6And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down
You can see that you were given joint seating with and in Christ Jesus in the heavenly sphere that means heaven, so you can see that you are seated with him in heaven right now you didn’t have to die physically but spiritually die and you did if you accepted Jesus as your lord and saviour.
This is what makes you different from every other religion, your already dead and have come to life again in Christ Jesus, you are already seated in heaven with and in Christ, you have reachedtheendofyourgoalwhichalltheseotherreligionsarestrugglingtocometowithgood deeds and things that they did, trying to get into heaven, and there you are sitting in heaven already.
Because of Jesus
Psalm-139-16-Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. God knew me and knows everything about me and you, and in his book, “all,” the days of my life were written before they even took shape, when yet there was none of them. If God could plan out “all” the days of my life before I was even born, before they took shape, when there was no days but yet he knew everything about me, if he can do this surely he can have me in heaven with him now!
together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).