Did you ever decide to count all of the religions in the world?

Sometimes it seems that there are as many religions as there are people in the world. If you search for religions on the internet the list goes on longer than you can imagine. There are religions that most of us have never even heard of, and even at that, it is a incomplete list. And there are new religions popping up every day.

It is confusing to say the least. Just how many religions are there anyway?

If there is anything that one has to conclude when looking at the people in our world is the fact that we are religious. Religions abound to the point that it seems there is a religion for everyone and if there isn't one for you, someone is on the verge of creating one just for you.

Man is inherently and incurably religious. Some of the religions are steeped in ritual while others are casual. Some demand great sacrifice while others are more convenience oriented. Some demand strict adherence to a particular tenets or a code of conduct while others pretty much let a man do whatever is right in his own eyes. Some demand that men deny any human comfort, even to the point of torturing themselves while others find ingenious methods of pampering the flesh. However, the bottom line is that when you say the word "religion" you are definitely talking about a broad and varied topic.

So just how many religions are there in the world anyway?

2.

There are just two religions in the world. Now I know that in light of what I have just said that sounds like a ridiculous statement, but it is exactly true. There are just two religions in the world. There is a religion that says that salvation is by works, and there is the religion that says that salvation is by grace, through faith. But there are just two religions.

The thing that gives the appearance that there are so many religions in the world is the fact that there are so many variations on the works side. When it comes to salvation by works it seems that the devil is ready and waiting to fill the bill. He has more works plans than the government has bureaucrats.

However, there is only one plan of salvation that is based on grace through faith and that is faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ offers salvation without works. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

In Titus 3:5 we are told, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

In Galatians 2:16 the Apostle Paul, writing under inspiration of God said "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

II Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

The Bible is clear that works, no matter what they might be, can never save anyone. Salvation is a matter of grace, which means getting something I don't deserve, mercy, which means not getting something I do deserve, and the whole thing comes as a matter of faith. The great truth of the Bible concerning salvation is that the Just shall live by faith. This phrase is found 4 times in the scriptures.

Once in the Old Testament - Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Once by the Apostles - Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Twice by the Apostle Paul - Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Throughout the Old Testament, people who lived by faith were commanded to perform certain actions as an evidence of their faith. They were commanded to sacrifice animals, circumcise their sons and celebrate certain holy days. Many in the that time believed that they could find justification before God because of these ceremonies or works that they performed. However, the Bible was clear that an outward performance of these ceremonies would make them fit for heaven. In fact the Pharisees of Jesus day had made an art out of performing the ceremonies, but Jesus said to them in Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

The had somehow forgotten or ignored commands like those made in Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. And again in Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. Or Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

The Apostle Paul quotes from these verses in Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

No wonder Jesus said concerning the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

The Pharisees had gone to great length and great trouble to develop a system of works that they claimed to adhere to religiously, (no pun intended). They had over 600 ceremonies that they performed and prohibitions that they refused to do. I don't know about you, but I don't think I could even learn that many commandments much less follow them all. But Christ said that it was all in vain if it didn't change their hearts.

However, those who were justified before God were not justified because they did or did not do certain things, they were jujstified by faith. Ah, this is the great truth of the Word of God. This is the thing that separates Christianity from all of the religions of the world. Justification by faith.

In Hebrews 11 we have the great "Hall of Faith" chapter. In sports and other places, we have the hall of fame where outstanding people from various fields are honored. Well, Hebrews 11 is not the hall of fame, but the hall of Faith. Here we are told that all of the people of the Old Testament did their great exploits "By Faith."

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark
By faith Abraham,
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac:
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph
By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel
By faith Moses, when he was born,By faith Moses
By faith they passed through the Red sea By faith the walls of Jericho fell down
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not

You see, there are just two religions in the world. Those that try to work their way to heaven and those who trust the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, by faith. Our salvation is not by works of righteousness that we have done but by His grace He saved us.

Once we come to grips with the wonderful truth that salvation is not of works, it is easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that a person can be saved without his salvation experience ever effecting his life. Nothing could be father from the truth. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. But verse 10 tells us, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We are not saved by our good works but we are saved for the purpose of good works.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. The evidence that a man is truly become a child of God is by the way it changes his life. A believer will bear the fruit of being a Christian.

In Galatians 5 we are told what the fruit of the Christian life will be. Beginning in verse 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Paul is saying that you can tell an apple tree because it bears apples, a pear tree bears pears and a Christian will bear love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, and temperance.

In Ephesians 5:9 we are told "(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)"

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Or 1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

One of the devil's favorite lies it to try to get us to believe that since the grace of God is such a wonderful thing, we out to sin so we can experience the grace of God more. But Romans 6:1 tells us, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? A man who is saved will evidence that he is saved by the testimony of his life. Again we go back to the analogy of the fruit tree. The apple tree doesn't work really hard to produce apples so it will be called an apple tree. It bears apples and so we call it an apple tree. It bears apples because that is its nature.

It would be absurd to think that a pine tree would suddenly one day begin to try to bear apples. No matter what the pine tree would ever do, it could never be an apple tree, and it will never produce apples. In like manner, when the lost man tries to produce the fruit of the believer without the new birth, he is trying to do something he cannot do. And what the lost man will do in order to look like a saved man, is he will develop some sort of a code of conduct or religious ritual that will make him look like he has Christ on the inside and he is often successful in fooling those around him.

The Pharisees were the masters at this. Remember, God called them "whited sepulchres" and "a generation of vipers" among other things, but the people around them had a really difficult time understanding why God would be so harsh to them. The common folk would say, "What hope do we have if the Pharisees are nothing more than a generation of vipers and whited sepulchres.?

Well, Christ told the common people that not only were the Pharisees not good enough, but in Matthew 5:20 He told them, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. This leaves a pretty dim and dark picture. The Pharisees, who had a system of over 600 religious laws and ceremonies that they kept were not good enough, and these people had to be better than that?

Ah, but John 1:12 promises, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name. That which we could never accomplish, no matter how hard we tried, no matter how much we did, God provides without cost, absolutely free to as many as received him.

The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. When we reach the point that we realize that all of our works of righteousness mean nothing and that Christ paid the whole price on Calvary, then, and only then can we have everlasting life.

Friend, there are just two religions in the world. One that says we can get to heaven by our own merit, and one that says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Which are you trusting today?