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Baker Publishing Group - Fritz Ridenour

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102 pages

English

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Since the days of the early church, Christians have struggled to find a way to be "good"--to please God by their own efforts. They end up carrying a burden God never intended them to bear. And what's more, their brand of Christianity ends up looking like any other religion of the world--bound by joyless rules and rituals. Fritz Ridenour's study of the book of Romans provides an antidote to the pharisaical spirit and shows that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. It is not people reaching up, but God reaching down. All Christians can enjoy their birthright when they realize who they are in Christ. The result is a life full of hope, joy, power, and potential.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	25 août 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441266989
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0403€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Are you religious? Do you sometimes feel you have been trapped into playing a game called “Church”? This book shows why religion has failed and points the way to being a Christian without being religious.

© 2002 Fritz Ridenour
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6698-9
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Other versions used are
NIV —Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
NKJV —Scripture taken from the New King James Version . Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Phillips—The New Testament in Modern English , Revised Edition, J. B. Phillips, Translator. © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
TLB —Scripture quotations marked ( TLB ) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.
Cover and interior design by Robert Williams Cover and interior illustrations by Curt Dawson
C ONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Shouldn’t a Christian Be Religious?
Chapter 1
Your Faith—Dead or Alive?
Chapter 2
Does God Ever Grade on a Curve?
Chapter 3
Are Christians on Parole or Fully Pardoned?
Chapter 4
Is Your Faith More Than “Fire Insurance”?
Chapter 5
Whose Slave Are You?
Chapter 6
Spirit Versus Self: How Do I Win the War Within?
Chapter 7
How Can ALL Things Work Together for Good?
Chapter 8
Who Can Know the Mind of God?
Chapter 9
Is It God’s Will?
Chapter 10
Is Your Christianity Actually Counterfeit Love?
Chapter 11
The Only Law You Need
Chapter 12
The Game Christians Play Too Well
Chapter 13
Stepping-Stone or Stumbling Block?
Chapter 14
Divide or Multiply?
Conclusion
Never Look Back
Endnotes
P REFACE
When this book first appeared, it was the late ’60s—the decade of turbulence, rebellion and seeking freedom in drugs and the “new morality.” Could the Bible offer understandable answers to the spiritual questions being asked by a generation that was tired of religious rules and churchianity?
As I studied the book of Romans, I realized that the apostle Paul had the answer. All that was needed was his letter to the church in Rome in a readable translation with just enough “commentary” to help the reader grasp the gist of his message: Being a Christian is not about obeying laws and rules. It’s not about being “religious”—that is, trying to find God or please Him through your own futile efforts. Being a Christian is knowing—deep in your soul—that through His marvelous grace God has reached down and found you , and all you have to do is trust Him with your life.
With the invaluable editorial help of Georgiana Walker and the artistic genius of Joyce Thimsen, who did the original cartoons, How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious was created. God chose to bless it far beyond what anyone could have asked or thought, and there was a ready reception among millions of readers, young and old. Now it is over 30 years later. This “revised edition” contains updated illustrations and terminology; and the complete text of Romans has been changed from The Living Bible to the New Living Translation , a product of 90 scholars working for seven years to develop a translation that is accurate, easy to read and excellent for study.
The turbulent ’60s are gone; the “anything goes” third millennium has arrived. We live in a secular society, a postmodern culture that claims there is no absolute truth of any kind, anywhere . . . that all ideas are equally valid . . . that knowing God is simply a matter of “becoming aware of your own divinity.” But postmodernist New Age jargon can’t fill the God-sized vacuum in each of us. Today’s new interest in “spirituality” is really the same old self-effort to be religious and somehow feel okay about God (and, of course, yourself).
Today’s spiritual questions are a bit different, but the answers are still the same. There is absolute truth—the gospel of Jesus Christ. You don’t find God within your own sinful self. God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, finds you, and then His Holy Spirit comes into your life to give you hope, power and potential from beyond yourself.
If that sounds too simple, read on and see what Paul (and God) have to say. Paul was the most religious, law-abiding Pharisee on the planet; but one day, on that road to Damascus, he met Jesus Christ. Then Paul realized that being religious is hard work, a fruitless struggle, a tremendous burden. He became an apostle of the good news—being a Christian means the burden is off your back. You are free to become all that God has in mind for you to be.
Fritz Ridenour
I NTRODUCTION

Shouldn’t a Christian Be Religious?
How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious almost sounds like a contradiction in terms. Christianity is called one of the world’s great religions, is it not?
According to Webster’s dictionary, a religion is a system of faith and of worship.
Christianity is certainly that.
According to Webster’s dictionary, a religion is the service to and adoration of God expressed in forms of worship.
Christianity is certainly that, too.
According to Webster’s dictionary, religion is devotion, fidelity, conscientiousness, an awareness or conviction of the existence of a supreme being, which arouses reverence, love, gratitude, the will to obey and serve.
Christianity is certainly that . . . and more.
It is the “more” that is behind the title of this book.
Christianity is more than a religion, because every religion has one basic characteristic. Its followers are trying to reach God, find God and please God through their own efforts. Religions reach up toward God. Christianity is God reaching down to man. Christianity claims that men have not found God but that God has found them . To some this is a crushing blow. They prefer religious effort—dealing with God on their own terms. This puts them in control. They feel good about “being religious.”
Christianity, however, is not religious striving.
To practice Christianity is to respond to what God has done for you. The Christian life is a relationship with God, not a religious treadmill. Many Christians, however, behave like they really don’t believe this. With form, formalism, ritual, legalism, rules, systems and formulas, we attempt to reduce Christianity to a religion—a system of some kind where works are really substituted for faith and trust, where law takes precedence over grace. We will not necessarily admit this, but it’s true nonetheless. Instead of responding to God’s love, we reach out for it on our own terms—and neatly keep God at arm’s length while we do so.
But God will not stay at arm’s length. When He comes into your life, He demands all of it. Away with religious pretense and pontificating. Away with your religious game called “Church” that you play so well every Sunday. God wants all of you—your heart, your soul, your body—as a living sacrifice to Him.

Is there a way to be a Christian without being religious? Is there some kind of surgical tool that will help us cut through the facade that leaves many of us feeling deep within that “Christianity is really ‘being good’ and if I’m not good, I haven’t made the grade; and if I haven’t made the grade, I’m left feeling frustrated, guilty and really not very happy with myself or my faith.”

Yes, there is such a tool. It is a single book of the New Testament—Paul’s letter to the Romans. In 16 brief chapters the great apostle shows you that Christianity is far more than a religion. He tells you who you really are, why you are living and how to get the most out of life. In short, in the following chapters you can find out for yourself how to be a Christian without being religious.
C HAPTER 1

Your Faith—Dead or Alive?
An old question . . . or is it? Let’s define terms. Your faith is what you believe, the guiding principles and hope for your life. “Dead faith” is the kind that rests on little more than an intellectual system, dry and dusty credos, meaningless dogmas that have little to do with life as it really is. A “live faith” is just the opposite. To have a living faith means more than mental assent to a statement of beliefs. A living faith puts you in touch with God. A living faith has power. Paul opens his letter to Rome on this very same note.
R OMANS 1:1-17
1 This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 This Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus, who came as a man, born into King David’s royal family line. 4 And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. 5 Through Christ, G