Theophilus

Far and away the clearest delineation between "religion" and Christianity is drawn by the Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, who was without a doubt the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. In his voluminous Church Dogmatics, Barth wrote that

"the revelation of God is the abolition of religion." 4

"It is always the sign of definite misunderstanding when an attempt is made to systematically coordinate revelation and religion...to fix their mutual relationship. 5

"In opposition to all 'religionism' the proclamation of the grace of God is introduced as the truth..." 6

"Religion is unbelief. It is a concern of...godless man." 7

"Religion is clearly seen to be a human attempt to anticipate what God in His revelation wills to do and does do. It is the attempted replacement of the divine work by a human manufacture." 8

"It is a feeble but defiant, an arrogant but hopeless, attempt to create something which man could do. In religion man bolts and bars himself against revelation by providing a substitute, by taking away in advance the very thing which has to be given by God. It is never the truth. It is a complete fiction, which has not only little but no relation to God."9

"What is the purpose of the universal attempt of religions but to anticipate God, to foist a human product into the place of His word, to make our own images of the One who is known only where He gives Himself to be known."10

"The revelation of God denies that any religion is true. No religion can stand before the grace of God as true religion."11

Read more... http://www.christinyou.net/pages/Xnotrel.html

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

"Religion is clearly seen to be a human attempt to anticipate what God in His revelation wills to do and does do. It is the attempted replacement of the divine work by a human manufacture." 8~~ pretty well sums it up doesn't it?? Mans inability to sustain in level what God simply gives us... we make more out of it than to enjoy the " simple pleasure" God gives us in comparison to what man gives us in religion itself~~

Theophilus

I believe that even if someone has never heard of Jesus, they can still go to Heaven. All it takes is to acknowledge that there is a God and that there is a certain way He wants us to live. Gods law is in every heart, from the moment of birth. If we follow it in our lives and try our best to please God, that's enough.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

I agree with you...God knows our heart and soul .. An infant born not yet influenced one way or the other is returned to heaven even tho not expierencing God at that point..Then again that infant spirit came from God so my comnent is moot..

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

Of course you realize that you negate the purpose of the Holy Spirit to guide the Church into all Truth. The Church that is "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic." We're certainly not talking about the 25,000 different Christian denominations all using the same bible but differing in interpretations yet believing they have the truth.

Theophilus

You mean the same Catholic Church that was begun by a Pagan Emperor? The Church existed centuries before the Catholic Church was a gleam in Constantine's eye. The CC is corrupt and teaches Pagan practices. They also deify the mother of Christ, saying that she was sinless. This clearly violates Biblical teaching. Then there's that thing about transubstantiation. Also not Biblical. The list goes on. You keep your religion. I'll stick with my personal relationship with God.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

Only problem is that NO ONE can follow God's law.

Theophilus

This is true. But God judges the heart.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

That is true also but man’s heart before his salvation is depraved…

"For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:21-23

Theophilus

But if someone who has never heard the Gospel of Christ believes that there is a God, and tries to live his life according to Gods law written in his heart, it's the same as being saved. Their faith is counted as righteousness.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

gotQuestions.org
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.

The Greek New Testament word for “righteousness” primarily describes conduct in relation to others, especially with regards to the rights of others in business, in legal matters, and beginning with relationship to God. It is contrasted with wickedness, the conduct of the one who, out of gross self-centeredness, neither reveres God nor respects man. The Bible describes the righteous person as just or right, holding to God and trusting in Him (Psalm 33:18–22).

The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

This means that we are made righteous in the sight of God; that is, that we are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done. He was made sin; we are made righteousness. On the cross, Jesus was treated as if He were a sinner, though He was perfectly holy and pure, and we are treated as if we were righteous, though we are defiled and depraved. On account of what the Lord Jesus has endured on our behalf, we are treated as if we had entirely fulfilled the Law of God and had never become exposed to its penalty. We have received this precious gift of righteousness from the God of all mercy and grace. To Him be the glory!

Thankfully, the Bible contains a clear definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Simply put, the biblical definition of faith is “trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove.”

This definition of faith contains two aspects: intellectual assent and trust. Intellectual assent is believing something to be true. Trust is actually relying on the fact that the something is true. A chair is often used to help illustrate this. Intellectual assent is recognizing that a chair is a chair and agreeing that it is designed to support a person who sits on it. Trust is actually sitting in the chair.

Understanding these two aspects of faith is crucial. Many people believe certain facts about Jesus Christ. Many people will intellectually agree with the facts the Bible declares about Jesus. But knowing those facts to be true is not what the Bible means by “faith.” The biblical definition of faith requires intellectual assent to the facts and trust in the facts.

Believing that Jesus is God incarnate who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and was resurrected is not enough. Even the demons “believe” in God and acknowledge those facts (James 2:19). We must personally and fully rely on the death of Christ as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We must “sit in the chair” of the salvation that Jesus Christ has provided. This is saving faith. The faith God requires of us for salvation is belief in what the Bible says about who Jesus is and what He accomplished and fully trusting in Jesus for that salvation (Acts 16:31). Biblical faith is always accompanied by repentance (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15).

The biblical definition of faith does not apply only to salvation. It is equally applicable to the rest of the Christian life. We are to believe what the Bible says, and we are to obey it. We are to believe the promises of God, and we are to live accordingly. We are to agree with the truth of God’s Word, and we are to allow ourselves to be transformed by it (Romans 12:2).

Why is this definition of faith so important? Why must trust accompany agreeing with facts? Because “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, we cannot be saved (John 3:16). Without faith, the Christian life cannot be what God intends it to be (John 10:10).

This is me writing…
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20

So why do I post of this? As unfair as it may seem, someone who has never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ is destined for Hell unless he admits that he’s a sinner, believes in his heart that Jesus died on the cross and that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10), and calls on the name of Jesus for his salvation (Romans 10:13)

But like you said, God looks at the heart. And if that person who has never heard the Good News is truly searching for God, God WILL supply a way for him to hear it so he can accept or reject it with his free will.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

No! Your wrong!

Theophilus

So, you're saying that Scripture is wrong? Righteousness is the result of faith. Do you deny this? Gods law is written in every heart. If someone believes in God and tries to live their life the way they believe God wants them to, that is faith. Do you deny this? Do you believe that God would condemn someone simply because they never heard of Jesus?

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

You bigoted numbskull. You have no understanding of the Catholic faith and I'm not talking about the Roman church. (Google Vincent of Lerins) Anglicans, Orthodox and Romans all recognize Mary as the Theotokos, The Mother of God. They recognize her holiness and use her only as an intecessor not a deity and recognize her blessedness. Again, false teaching and understanding by fundamentalist protestants who possess no history pre-reformation. In 2000 years of Christian history you've been around for only 500. You might want to investigate some of the writings of early Christian fathers; those, for example, who sat at the feet of an apostle and learned the faith and wrote before there even was a bible. You know nothing! The richness contained in Christian history, Tradition, and teachings are glorious, inspiring and build up one's knowledge which builds faith. Faith was never intended to be blind.

Theophilus

Answer one question. Do Catholics believe that Mary was sinless?