From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

A famous military conqueror from the past was able to state a truth, without realizing that he had charged right past the real Truth. Napoleon Bonaparte stated, “I would believe in a religion if it existed ever since the beginning of time, but when I consider Socrates, Plato, Muhammad, I no longer believe. All religions have been made by man.”

John Bunyan once said, “Religion is the best armor that a man can have, but it’s the worst cloak.”

When did man invent this maze of religion? It began with a couple of fellows who are rather well known. When Adam and Eve had their sons, we might have thought they would have been able to instill in both of them the importance of a right relationship with God. However, Cain wanted to do it his own way. He approached the first altar with his offering of “the fruit of the ground,” trying to regain “paradise” without accepting God’s plan of redemption. Cain brought what he had grown, the distinctive elements of his own culture. Today we would call Cain’s gift his attempt at salvation by works. But God never said we could work our way to Heaven. His brother Abel obeyed God and humbly offered the first of his flock in a sacrifice of blood. Abel agreed with God that sin deserved death and could be covered before God only through the substitutionary death of a guiltless sacrifice.

The Bible declares, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22, NIV). This is why Christ shed His blood on the cross. Knowing that man would sin is why God sent His Son to pay the penalty for mankind’s redemption. This is what distinguishes Christianity from all the religions of the world.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

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