It was Satan's plan from the beginning to make Adam and Eve sinful and guilty so that they would become religious. After Adam and Eve had sinned the scripture says that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked, Genesis 3:7. When they discovered that they were naked they sewed fig leaves together to hide their nakedness and themselves from the Lord. Religion does not brings people closer to the Lord, it actually drives them away from the Lord. After Adam and Eve had sinned they should have gone to the Lord and confessed that they had sinned, instead they tried to cover up their sinful condition with fig leaves and hiding themselves (religion).
Satan had successfully established the first church of the "Fig Leaves", a covering for sin. religion is a covering for sin. It does not really deal with man's sin problem, it just hides it with works and piety, which are fig leaves.
Later we have Adam and Eves two grown sons Cain and Abel. The Lord apparently required an offering from them. Cain's offering consisted of vegetables that he had grown in his garden. Abel's offering was a blood offering, one of the firstlings from his flock. The scripture says that the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering, but had no respect for Cain's offering. Abel's offering pointed to Christ and his atonement for our sins and the sins of the world. Cain's offering came from the work of his hands, something that he had done (religion).
Men have been trying to return to the garden through religion, the way of Cain. No sooner had Adam sinned and God promised him a savior, Genesis 3:15. The promise of a savior is a thread that goes through the Old Testament and becomes a reality in the New Testament. In the Old Testament era people were justified by faith in God's promise of a savior, Romans 4:3, They looked forward to when the savior would arrive. Today, we look back to when he was here. We are much more fortunate than the Old Testament saints because we have a written record of him and what he accomplished. We also are justified by faith. We believe that God has fulfilled his promise in sending Jesus to be our savior, Acts 2:39.
Justification by faith, means that we have been justified by Christ. To be justified by Christ means that there is no need for religion. We that are justified by faith have discarded our fig leaves and stand before God as naked and sinful confessing that Christ and Christ alone is our savior and that we have no confidence in the flesh (religion).
Satan had successfully established the first church of the "Fig Leaves", a covering for sin. religion is a covering for sin. It does not really deal with man's sin problem, it just hides it with works and piety, which are fig leaves.
Later we have Adam and Eves two grown sons Cain and Abel. The Lord apparently required an offering from them. Cain's offering consisted of vegetables that he had grown in his garden. Abel's offering was a blood offering, one of the firstlings from his flock. The scripture says that the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering, but had no respect for Cain's offering. Abel's offering pointed to Christ and his atonement for our sins and the sins of the world. Cain's offering came from the work of his hands, something that he had done (religion).
Men have been trying to return to the garden through religion, the way of Cain. No sooner had Adam sinned and God promised him a savior, Genesis 3:15. The promise of a savior is a thread that goes through the Old Testament and becomes a reality in the New Testament. In the Old Testament era people were justified by faith in God's promise of a savior, Romans 4:3, They looked forward to when the savior would arrive. Today, we look back to when he was here. We are much more fortunate than the Old Testament saints because we have a written record of him and what he accomplished. We also are justified by faith. We believe that God has fulfilled his promise in sending Jesus to be our savior, Acts 2:39.
Justification by faith, means that we have been justified by Christ. To be justified by Christ means that there is no need for religion. We that are justified by faith have discarded our fig leaves and stand before God as naked and sinful confessing that Christ and Christ alone is our savior and that we have no confidence in the flesh (religion).