What is religion, anyway?

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

Religion is where a person tries to be made right with God by keeping the law. While it sounds good and reasonable, in reality it is discrediting the work of the cross and the Blood that was shed for us. With religion, a 60 year old man would have to go back and make every wrong right and he still couldn't stand before the Lord with an un-defiled heart. Even after all that, the stain of sin wouldn't really be removed. The man who hanged on the cross wouldn't have a chance if Jesus was religious!
Religion is man's attempt to be made right with God, just as Ishmael was an attempt to fulfill God's promise by human efforts:
Galatians 4:21-31, "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which engendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."
So what is the problem with religion? It denies the work of Christ and the grace/mercy of God in our lives! The fact is that religion is absolutely devastating to our relationship with God.
Religion is often nothing more than a form of pride and self-righteousness that the devil works diligently to promote in our lives.
Symptoms of dead religion
Before I list these symptoms, I first want to say that you don't necessarily have to manifest all of them to show a bondage to religion. Satan will use different strokes for different folks. He may cause one person to feel very religious, while he loads the next person down with guilt, shame and condemnation over their past.
Religion cries for justice... relationship cries for mercy
If you feel like others need to pay for their wrongs or face the penalties of their wrong doings, and think nothing about them receiving mercy from Jesus, then you are caught up in a religious mindset. Religion is more interested in seeing people punished and receive justice for their wrongs, than in seeing people repent and receive grace and mercy from God. Religion likes to see people 'taught lessons' when they are wrong. Love desires the best for others, and is truly concerned over the other person's well-being. Love is saddened when it sees a person make wrong choices, whereas religion awaits the day when that person will pay the consequences for their actions. Jesus clearly demonstrated His true love for us on the cross when He said, "Father forgive them!"
Religion attempts to discount sin in our own lives
Somebody who has a religious mindset will find it very difficult to admit when they are wrong. This is nothing more than self-righteous pride. Religion tries to discount the seriousness of sin, so that the person feels better... all while avoiding the Blood of Jesus, which removes even the worse and bloodiest of sins!
The reason we must see the seriousness of sin, is so that we are motivated to turn from it and repent! Dead religion is not interested in true repentance, but rather justifies the wrong as being acceptable for one reason or another. This also discounts the reality of the steep price that Jesus paid for our sins!
Religion does not accept instant forgiveness
Have you ever done something wrong, then felt like you had to 'feel bad' for a period of time before you can accept forgiveness for your sin? This is another attempt of the religious mindset to discount our sins, and make time seem to 'lessen' the seriousness of our wrongs. Once you repent of a failure, you must instantly accept and believe the truth about the Blood of Christ washing that sin away. The very moment you repent of your sin, God forgives you. He does not withhold forgiveness for even a fraction of a second... your sin is forgiven immediately! To delay the acceptance of your forgiveness, is to fall trap of the religious mindset in it's attempt to degrade the seriousness of your sin. Somehow, a religious mindset tends to 'feel better' about a sin, after a period of time has passed. Time does not make our sins any less; it does not degrade the seriousness of our sin. Remember, if we discount sin with any excuse (time, good deeds, etc.), then we are discounting the price that Jesus paid for our sin as well. We need to see our sin for what it truly is, and then realize the awesomeness of God's provision to have that sin removed from our account!
Time is no different than good works in the religious mindset. Good works and passing time both have something in common, they seem to 'lessen' the seriousness of our sin and make it seem more 'forgivable'.
It is absolutely vital that we learn to accept God's forgiveness, and forgive ourselves the very instant that we repent of our failures. To beat yourself up for a time period before accepting the forgiveness of God is to fall into the trap of a religious mindset.
Religion and grace are enemies
Religion wants nothing to do with grace; it wants to feel like it's right with God because it has somehow earned right standing with God by being good and 'keeping all the rules'. Grace humiliates religion, because grace admits to weakness and failure. Religion justifies it's actions while grace humbly realizes the failure and accepts mercy.
It is a goal of religion to degrade the seriousness of sin, so that it doesn't feel so bad, thus avoiding the need to repent and receive God's mercy. In this passage, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for rejecting the mercy of God through John the Baptist's baptism:
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

Matthew 21:32
The Pharisees rejected the grace of God, because the concept of grace humiliated their religious stature.
Religion keeps record of wrongdoing
Not only does religion try to get us to overlook God's love for us, it will also try to get us to hold things against others out of spite and unforgiveness, while God's Word tells us that love keeps no record of wrong:
"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity [love] shall cover the multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8
Now don't get me wrong, we are to judge the righteous judgment, which is common sense. If a person has not repented of their wrong, but continues in it, we may not be able to trust them with responsibilities that we could trust somebody else with. If you have been abused or raped, then you may not able to trust that person until they have earned their trust again (which may never happen). While it's important to forgive those who wrong us, it may be foolish to begin trusting them right away. For example, it normally isn't a good idea to leave your children alone with a child molester. Now if I know that person has truly repented, and sought deliverance, then it might be a different story. Trust can be earned, but we must be wise.