Churches and faith communities are often religiously based. This manifests itself in a common subculture. You go to church, you sing songs, you attend Bible studies, and you practice “quiet time.” All these things are expressions of religious behavior. Nothing more. It is allowed to have a value, and one can cultivate values here, but these values are not to be confused with a living faith.

Faith is different. Faith is not to be confused with a subculture. Faith has nothing to do with a church or with affirming certain dogmas. Faith is not complicated. Faith has to do with trust.

Abraham’s faith

From Abraham, who is seen as the father of all believers (Rom 4:16), we learn what this means:

“And he led him out and said, ‘Look up to the sky and count the stars, if you can count them. And he said to him, ‘This is how many your descendants will be! And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
Gen 15:5-6

Abraham believed God. It’s as simple as that. He trusted God. He trusted what God told him. Abraham belonged to neither a synagogue nor a church (neither existed yet). Abraham was also not a member of a Bible group (the Bible was not yet written). We don’t even know whether he had regular prayer times or was otherwise “religious”. But Abraham believed God. That was enough. This has left visible traces in His life and led to concrete steps. Abraham entered into relationship with God.

Religious subcultures

Abraham did not know our religious traditions, which can block our view of what is essential. Not only did Abraham trust God, but we also read that God “counted it to him as righteousness.” Let’s imagine that for a moment! How unimportant there seem religious subcultures that have taken the place of this simple attitude of faith.

With Abraham, faith was the same as trust. There is also only a single word in Hebrew and Greek for each of these two terms. Faith is always trust, and never anything else. Trust, however, is an expression of a relationship. It has nothing to do with dogmas or institutions, with pious behavior or religious customs.

Faith is relational expression. Religious subcultures, on the other hand, are what take the place of relationship. Here one might object that within subcultures, within churches and congregations, it is after all about faith. And indeed, living faith is found among visitors to churches and free churches. But faith is not only found there. Not everyone who trusts God goes to church. A church affiliation is therefore not necessarily an expression of living faith.

Religiosity is for us, not for God

Those who are religious do so for themselves, and not for God. God does not demand religiosity from us. God wants to meet us. He wants an encounter. He wants us to trust Him. All true piety does not consist in outward things, but arises in gratitude for grace received and is expressed in trust in God and service to others (1Tim 6:3-12).

In the same vein, Paul writes to Titus of an educating grace that reorients our lives. There is no mention of religious duties here:

“For the grace of God has appeared to all men for salvation, training us to deny impiety and worldly desires, so that we may live sensibly, righteously and piously in the present eon, looking forward to the blissful expectation and appearance of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people to be around Him, a zealot for noble works. Speak, speak, and deliver with all commandment. Let no one disregard you.”
Tit 2:11-15

These are the important things. Church attendance or Bible study, quiet time and whatever other religious customs apply do not play a role here. Sharpening our eyes for this can protect us from false piety and religious compulsions. To the Colossians the apostle writes:

“Beware lest anyone lead you astray through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Col 2

Religiosity has no value

The community in Colosse was in a situation in which all kinds of religious duties were practiced. Paul speaks of philosophy and empty seduction according to traditions and traditions. Undoubtedly, philosophy has value, and the same can be said of traditions and lore. Nevertheless, Paul points out that they detract from Christ. The reality of the gospel is this: “For in Him [in Christ] dwells all the perfection of the Godhead bodily; and you are completed in Him, who is the head of every principality and authority” (Col. 2:9). Now that we have everything, why should we bother with other things?

“You are completed!” So there is nothing more we need to add in order to stand before God. There is nothing He asks of us that He has not already accomplished through Christ. We cannot add anything to our salvation. Salvation cannot be earned through good works. We cannot and need not ingratiate ourselves with God by certain behaviors. We have received everything in Christ to be able to live this relationship with God. This is finished – He has accomplished this (John 19:30).

What took place in Kolosse at that time, we still find so today. All this distracts us: philosophy, tradition, the observance of feast days and religious days of rest, food regulations, rituals, etc. All these things, says Paul, have an expression of wisdom, but they are arbitrary and of no value except to satisfy our own flesh (Col 2:18-23). Paul’s words stand athwart many a tradition and belief.

God is not religious

God is not religious. God is. That’s enough. Only people are religious, or – as we read just now in Colossians – the “flesh” is religious.

According to Paul, religiosity is a kind of self-gratification. It’s something you do to feel good about yourself without entering into the relationship. Therefore, we should never confuse it with a relationship. This has little to do with God. It is not an expression of faith to engage in religious behavior. Faith, in fact, is not made effective through religiosity, but through love toward one’s neighbor (Gal 5:6).

Religious behavior is not bad, but that is not the point. God is not religious and Christ does not require religiosity for the church, which is His body (Rom 12:5). Religiosity and faith stand in contrast to each other. Those who place a high value on certain religious behaviors will logically see that as the core. Relationship and religion contradict each other, because religiosity is only an expression of a feeling, so it deals only with itself, while faith in the biblical sense is directed towards a relationship outside itself. Religiosity is focused on itself. Faith has more important things to do.

Faith is trust in God, without any frills. Faith has an effect, as Paul describes it here, for example:

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord! Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth), testing what is pleasing to the Lord!”
Eph 5:8-10

Goodness, justice and truth – as well as the ability to examine things independently. These qualities are central to Paul. Differentiated reflection and walking in love are the characteristics of spiritual life. These are values. But they are not religious.

Whoever enters into freedom from God’s grace lives the relationship from this freedom. This is done out of trust. This trust comes from the proclamation of the Gospel. This Gospel tells of God’s unconditional love for us. This is the promise, the proclamation. It is the “YES of God” to us, in Christ Jesus.

This is the basis for living faith. It is the beginning of faith and therefore the beginning of relationship. The bond is therefore with God, through Christ Jesus. This bond makes you free from ties to people, free from the fear of living independently, free from the fear of making independent decisions (without a church, congregation or religious group).

With religious subcultures, however, it becomes problematic. For example, if parishioners are expected to attend church services and home groups, then religiosity is required – not faith. Here, religious compulsions arise that not infrequently lead people to see themselves as insufficient, as deficient, as “not believing enough.” They are then misled by the religious culture. No wonder that some people then turn away.

The persistence in bondage

When obedience to faith is confused with obedience to religious subcultures and their (unwritten) laws, a mess is created. Man is not led out into freedom (cf. Gal 5:1), but is imprisoned by the religious precepts. This solidifies the subculture, and it solidifies the expression of a particular religious community. Such a community lives from the fact that people remain in it. This has nothing to do with spiritual life.

Such a community lives from the fact that people remain in it. This has nothing to do with spiritual life.

It is precisely in this seemingly pious environment that the proclamation of grace is problematic. Grace shakes the bondage. Grace questions the community structure, the ideological edifice that shapes religiosity. Grace questions religiosity. Grace wants to set free. Grace is relational. God’s grace in Christ Jesus even wants to lead the whole creation out into the “freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). When the window of God’s grace is pushed open, the size of the landscape behind it can be so overwhelming that some people want to close the window again as quickly as possible.

When the window of God’s grace is pushed open, the size of the landscape behind it can be so overwhelming that some people want to close the window again as quickly as possible.

Grace is therefore rejected in some circles because grace exposes and dissolves this sham piety.

Contrasts with grace

Surprisingly, grace is often spoken of, but it is not always experienced. Grace can cause fear. The greater the grace, the greater the fear. I have heard and seen this over and over again.

When the Bible says that God is love and that He reconciles all created things to Himself through the blood of the cross (Col 1:20), this is not compatible with a doctrine of heaven and hell, for example. The contrast is too great. The grace is too overwhelming. It is almost unbearable. Everything resists simply believing the wording of the Bible here.

All internalized religious knowledge rebels against this: Man must perform, must allow himself to be saved, must … God’s grace has no place in this. This is perhaps why Paul exhorts the Colossians in the same chapter to recognize grace “in truth” (Col 1:6).

Departure to freedom

Religious structures and doctrinal encrustation go hand in hand. If one sets religiosity as the standard, it prevents liveliness, just as if one puts dogmatic thinking before living relationship with God.

The more religiosity and religious ideologies become the standard, the more unfreedom prevails. Communities that are ideologically religious have a tendency to live introverted lives or to see the world only in black and white. In free churches, for example, I observe time and again that this or that is seen as “biblical” when in fact it is a matter of religious views and dogmas foreign to the Bible.

Self-perception (for example: we are faithful to the Bible) has become an obstacle. That’s a problem. Healthy biblical teaching, however, can push open the window of grace and keep it open so that people can be led out into freedom. So how does this escape from bondage work?

Accepting freedom in Christ means saying goodbye to all religiosity. Not my doing, but His doing becomes decisive. It is entering into relationship with God alone. I expect everything from Him. Pious rituals, keeping certain rules, religious duties – all this distracts from the essence. These things serve only ourselves. They give a false sense of security. We must let go of these so that we can accept God’s promise in Christ.

This includes ideas like “You must believe, otherwise God is powerless to help you, to save you, to save you from hell.”

Dealing with the Bible

The same applies to the handling of the Bible. This interaction is also often religiously influenced. If we rely more on old familiar things, on religious structures and traditionally handed down thoughts (of this religious group we just belong to), then it can be difficult to let the Bible speak for itself. This comes from the fact that it is not the relationship but a certain religious self-understanding that is central.

But if we trust God, then we can simply listen. When we are free, we are only eager to see what shines forth from God’s Word. We can let the Bible itself have its say. We are not stressed by “true” or “untrue” but rejoice when Christ is proclaimed (Phil 1:18).

When someone highlights new thoughts from God’s Word, we can listen curiously first. We don’t have to reject it for the time being just because it’s different. New thoughts can be tested (Acts 17:11). Scripture is only a means to an end. Scripture feeds our relationship with God. There is no need to be afraid. Then we recognize and allow God to speak to us (cf. 1 Sam 3:4-10).

The Bible does not teach religion

The Bible is not religious, any more than God is religious. The Bible is not dogmatic. Dogmatic can only be our own view. Dogmatics has to do with human interpretation. This can be interesting and useful, but in this it is different from the Bible.

In the Bible we read about religious people whose dogmatic view kept them from living faith. It doesn’t have to be that way. There is a way out. But we have to go this way ourselves. We have to walk the path even if our community does not. Perhaps we say goodbye to a certain religiosity, but not to the living faith given to us.

When we leave a certain interpretation of the Bible, it does not mean that we no longer believe the Bible – others may see it that way. If we see the limitation of a certain religiosity and leave it, we do not have to despise those who persist in it. But making your own decision is more important. Because it is about true relationship and the freedom for which we have been set free by Christ.

We have received everything it needs for a healthy alignment. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes that “God has not given us a spirit of despondency, but of power and of love and of sound judgment” (2 Tim. 1:7).

With that, we can be on our way.

Strong and weak in faith

In chapters 14 and 15 of Romans, Paul talks about the strong and weak in faith. This is also about religiosity. There are some who eat a vegetarian diet to be closer to God, while others thank God that they can eat anything. Some keep a Sabbath, while others keep all the days of the week the same. Paul writes that the weak set themselves apart. They have a religious way of life characterized by enclosures and exclusions. It is noteworthy that Paul makes a judgment, but not a condemnation.

“But accept the weak in faith, but not to judge by inference. One man thinks he can eat everything, but the weak man eats only vegetables. He who eats all things should not despise him who does not eat all things; and he who does not eat anything should not judge him who eats it. For God took care of him.”
Rom 14:1-3

The fact that God accepts both the strong and the weak should serve as an example for us. We share the same vocation and are not in the business of disparaging others.

“One man esteems one day more highly than another day, but another esteems every day equally; let each one be fully assured in his own mind.”
Rom 14:5

Paul leaves room for various religious interpretations. May they not serve, but everyone should attach his own opinion, his own religiosity. For example, he writes:

“Whoever eats anything for the day, eats it for the Lord; and whoever eats everything, eats it for the Lord, because he gives thanks to God. He who does not eat anything does not eat it for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God.”
Rom 14:6

Paul recognizes that people, in their self-chosen religiosity, have all this do for the Lord, and thank God in the process. Perhaps he does not share the rationale for this or that religious act. Nor does he have to approve of them. He may even reject them. Still, he gives credit where credit is due for people doing them out of conviction. He honors the intention. But at the same time, he leaves that intention with each individual. Because these intentions are private intentions. Everyone should be convinced for himself, but not impose this own opinion on others. While we do not have to endorse the specific religious views of others, we may endure them.

“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us no longer judge one another, but rather be careful not to cause offense or entrapment to our brother.”
Rom 14:12-13

We should not grumble, but serve each other for edification:

“Let us therefore pursue the things of peace and the edifying of one another.”
Rom 14:19

“But we who are strong are bound to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us seek to please his neighbor for his good, for his edification.”
Rom 15:1-2

“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received you to himself for the glory of God.”
Rom 15:7

Paul was already dealing with religiosity in the churches in his day. He not only distanced himself from this, but clearly made it a private matter. We should carry each other here. Most important here, however, is the recognition that religiosity has no meaning in Paul.

To the Corinthians, for example, he writes that Christ did not send him to baptize (perform a religious act) but to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 1:17). Today, however, many churches make it an act of obedience to be baptized. From this, one can now recognize the desire for a certain religiosity. Even if baptism is a personal confession, not being baptized can also be a sign of one’s own freedom of faith in Christ. And should baptism become a religious compulsion, there is nothing to stop us from finally freeing ourselves from these compulsions and thanking God for them.

It is not about religiosity. It is about God. And this God loves you. He has borne witness to this. We can only do one thing: enter into the relationship and then live out the relationship in all its diversity.

This text was first published on October 19, 2016 and has been republished here after revision.