Graphic image for general use by churches, missions, Sunday schools, individual believers, and others in the work and ministry of the Christian faith. 

Picture of a silly smiley face showing the joy of Christian faith and life.  Religion alone brings no joy, only the heavy burden of law and rules.  Living faith in Jesus Christ is not like that.  Remember what Jesus said:

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."         — Matthew 11:28-30,  NRSV

If your religion is crushing you under the weight of laws and rules and endless commands, then turn to Jesus Christ for help and peace.  Jesus died because we could not get rid of our own sin.  He took on Himself the sin, the guilt, the endless remorse and sense of failure.  All our sorrows.  And He gives to us eternal life, free of the burden of sin and death. 

How could He do this?  The Bible explains it in many ways, throughout the Old and New Testaments.  One of my favorite passages is this one:

Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.              — 2Corinthians 5:17-21,  RSV

Did you catch that very last phrase?  God made Christ to become sin on the cross for us, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him.  You can read more about this in the first and second chapters of Colossians, and in other places.

God knew we would never rise above sin on our own, so He gave His own Son, so that anyone believing in Him could have eternal life.  And Jesus talked about this even before He was crucified.  For example, He said:  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."  (John 5:24, RSV)

Read these passages in your own Bible and mark them.  Then read all the rest of the New Testament to get the whole story of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  But don't stop there.  The entire Old Testament is also filled with the teaching.  God's grace has truly set us free from the burdens of dead religion when we turn around to follow Jesus Christ.

Trust in Jesus and you will be saved.  It's really that simple.  It really is good news for the people of this world.  It saved my life.

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