By Our Reporter
Church leaders have often used their sermons to explain how the relationship that Christians have with Jesus in this present day and era vary greatly from person to person.
Whatever the case, majority have called for a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus, which they urge comes with becoming born again.
To the leaders, term refers to the spiritual transformation that occurs after confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
But is this in anyway related to religion? Pastor Omongole David Omongole who is the founder and President of Agapao International Ministries on January 26 explained that there is a whole lot of difference between being born again and religion.
“Being born again is not a religion. It is a relationship we have with our Father, God, because we are bonafide sons to Him,” he said.
Pastor David went ahead and noted that religion is a man-made journey to try and reach God but “being born again starts with God our father.”
For Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre Cathedral, Christianity was never intended to be a ritual, formality or organised religion.
“It is and must always be an anointing, abundant life, a message of liberty and repentance. It is salvation. Pentecost was never given to be a tradition and a religion, but an experience of the supernatural – an enablement for humans to relate and live and act divinely on a daily basis,” he says.
Kayanja says unlike what religion looks like, Christ came to redeem the world from the curse of the law – “to stop slavery of all nature and type.”
“Today we see chemicals manufactured in laboratories. Religion has a lot of similarities to this. It creates an adhesive between itself and man, which makes it hard for people to break away from it.
“On the bright side, adhesives do a great job in joining elements together while at the same time making it very difficult to unglue or separate them. A good example is with floor tiles: it is very difficult to remove them from the floor once they have been glued there by adhesives,” he says.
The two Church leaders emphasise that instead of trying by our own efforts to somehow be righteous, we need to acknowledge that we need Jesus. We must receive Christ and his offer of salvation as a gift.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
“For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.” (Romans 10:3)
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Being religious is never enough. If it were, Nicodemus wouldn’t have the time or the interest to meet Jesus. But he comes because despite all his religious activity, there is still an aching void in his heart. Could it be that Jesus Himself can fill that void?
