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Not All Religions Are Alike

4/7/2015

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People have told me that they respect my “religion” and they have their own beliefs. They say things like, “All religions are the same and are to help end the problem of evil in the world.”.  Not all religions are alike. Christianity is the only religion whose core idea is substitutionary atonement.

Substitution means taking the place of another. March Madness basketball just finished the championship game last night. When a player fouls out, he  is substituted.
Substitution = taking the place of another.

The second half of the core idea is atonement. Atonement  is the appropriate payment; satisfying the demands of justice when a crime has been committed.

The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 on March 24 killing 150 has the world in an outrage. The black box and other evidence indicate that the co-pilot’s suicidal depression brought him to lock the pilot from the cockpit and intentionally fly the airline into the mountainside killing all 150 aboard. Society cannot put a crime behind it until there has been an appropriate payment made.

Substitutionary Atonement is taking the place of someone else and satisfying the demands of justice when a crime has been committed.

Jesus – the perfect, unblemished prize lamb that was offered as the ultimate substitute, atoning  for people’s sin. This is the core idea of Christianity.

Other religions resolve a person’s sin through works, doing more good than bad, appeasing other gods through gifts, or separating from this reality and focusing on an alternate reality.

Christianity is the only religion in the world whose core idea is based on substitutionary atonement. Jesus Christ took our place as a substitute and satisfied the demands of justice for our sin when we put our trust in Him.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will never perish, but have eternal lie."
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    Mark Radeke

    Husband of one, father of five, pastor and friend of many.

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