Is religion a tool to control people???

The Bible says that there is none good but one, that is, God. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is good.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 - For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Romans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Most people think that they are pretty good, when in reality all are bad. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

The Bible way to Heaven:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." - 1 John 5:13

1. Admit you are sinner

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Every single person in the world has committed sin and none of us are righteous. God desires perfection and we come short of that, therefore we can not do anything by our works or deeds to get to heaven, since Isaiah clearly says that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

2. Realize the punishment for sin

Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death; ……..

Our penalty for sin is death, but not just a physical death, also a spiritual death in hell.

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

In the next chapter, Jesus explains who will take part in the second death.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

There are a lot of really bad things mentioned in this verse but notice it says all liars. Everyone has told a lie before in their life, so that would make us All liars.

Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Therefore we can see from this verse that every person in the world deserves hell and is destined to go there unless they have a Saviour.

3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again the third day

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This verse very clearly shows that God does not want us to go to hell, since he loved us and sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our sins. Also, note here that someone must believe that Jesus is God. God is the only Saviour so Jesus must be God. Jesus is the Word of God in John 1:1 and John 1:14.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

God is three in one (the trinity) and Jesus is part of that Godhead.

1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

The gospel explains how Jesus paid for our sins and the bible says that the salvation that Jesus purchased is given to us as a gift.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Salvation is a gift. For example if I gave you a present and asked you for a dollar, would that be a gift? The answer would be no. Same thing with God, God doesn’t give you eternal life and say to you that you have to go to church or do good deeds or live a good life. If you had to do any of those things it would not be a gift. The question is, Since Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world (1John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world) do you believe that everyone will go to heaven? The answer to that question is No. There is something you have to do to be saved or in other words to receive the gift of eternal life. A person in the bible asked this same question “what must I do to be saved?” and here is the answer:

Acts 16:30-31 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

The only thing someone has to do to go to heaven is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and here are some other verses to prove that:

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.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We can clearly see here that believing is the only requirement to go to heaven and not believing is the only thing that will send you to hell. It didn’t say anything about changing your life or giving up sin or going to church to be saved, it just says believe.

John3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

These three verses in John show that as soon as you believe on Jesus Christ, You immediately have everlasting life right now, in this life. This is how we can know for sure right now that we are going to heaven. The word “hath” in these verses simply means “has” in modern day English. If someone thinks they can lose their salvation then they are not saved! If God said that you have everlasting life and that you will never die spiritually, could he take back your salvation or send you to hell for any reason? God can Not take back everlasting life, for one it wasn’t really everlasting if it ended and second of all that would make God a liar, since he promised a never ending life. This next verse proves that if someone thinks they can lose their salvation than they are not saved and never were saved. People will say that they believe in Jesus but what does it mean to believe and what do you have to believe? Believing isn’t hard, it’s as easy as believing that I have a black truck even though you never saw it before. You are taking my word for it and have put your faith in me. This applies with God and salvation. 1John5:10-11 states that you have to believe that God (Jesus) gives you eternal life.

1John 5:10-11 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

4. Call on the name of the Lord for Salvation

If you believe what the bible says it takes to go to heaven, then you can be saved right now if you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Praying to God/calling upon his name is the way we express our faith in him for salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Let me help you form a prayer. Realize that it is not just words that save you but your faith in Jesus Christ.

“Dear Jesus, I believe that I am a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell, but I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again the third day. I’m putting my trust in you to take me to heaven when I die. Please save me Jesus. Amen.”

Why do you say "surely there's a god" , unless you, yourself either doubt or know deep down there isn't one. I would agree though that religion is used to control people.

The Christian faith says that no one passes the good versus bad test because we are all sinners. Salvation only comes through God’s plan and he sent his son our Lord Jesus Christ to be that savior.

So no being a good and loving person will not get you saved. That’s a personal opinion, but it is not an informed one. The Bible will tell you otherwise.

Yes. That’s about it.

Its an ancient form of controlling society.

I absolutely believe that there is a god. But I doubt any current religion is correct. And the part of humans is over played.

Why would someone who created the universe care about who you love? They just wouldn’t.

Humm let me think 🤔🤔
Controls what you eat
Controls what you wear
Controls who you sleep with
Controls what you say
Controls what you food eat
"And depending on the religion" controls what pets you are allowed to own.

It can be. I just want to point out that Christianity is not a religion though, its a faith. Jesus never wanted the church to be what it is today. When Jesus walked the Earth he condemned all the religious zealots who were essentially controlling people using the law of Moses. Jesus' very teachings were against the law, and thats why the Pharisees wanted to kill him. Instead of following thousands of rules, Jesus brought a new message that God loves you and that all you have to do to be saved is believe in him, admit that you sin, and love other people. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of crap.

The atheist religion seeks to control people and their thinking. It postulates that everything is getting better all the time. Therefore change for the sake of change is always good. The result of this idea is social breakdown and societal collapse. Buddhism is a religion of the fates. If it happens to you it is because you screwed up if not in this life then in some life before. Islam is the religion of power. The strong man who is the tyrant is there because Allah willed him to be. Judaism is a closed club based on arcane rules and traditions. Christianity is based on the idea that we humans are failures but not forsaken. Yes we all sin and we sin continuously but God is on our side and wants to help us over come our problems. No God does not simply overrule us rather He gives us an option. We can accept His help or we can reject it. Should we reject His help we will be prone to believing in the atheist or Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish ideals which do not help mankind at all.

Thinking about it (not always the best option!) surely we have to ask ourselves if our mind is free. So much around us is seeking to control us, make us puppets dancing to a particular tune.

Easy to see "religion" as a tool of control, congratulate ourselves that we have not succumbed to that particular brand of control and thus, think ourselves "free".

Freedom of thought demands much of us.

Religion says "Be not conformed to this world" (New Testament) Such is not a command that seeks to control, but rather is one that calls us to true freedom - or at least, to seek it.

I'd say that religious "control" comes in when groups come together and then seek to dictate exactly what such non conforming to the world consists of! Just another set of rules, beliefs and allegiances that divide people. Freedom is found elsewhere.

“So this holy life.....does not have gain, honour, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakeable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood, and its end.”


(Majjhima Nikaya, Theravada Buddhist text)

I once heard a quote but I’m not sure who from, it went -“religion was deemed by the people as true, the wise as false and the rulers as useful”

Religions have been used fot that (controlling people), but your attempt to bring the "can't we all just get along?", 30,000-ft view as the "solution" ignores the fact that different religions make different claims about the fundamental nature of things, and even the nature of what else might be.

They have similarities in morals--and it was developmental biologists & sociologists who pointed out that much of this could be explained by asking what sorts of values would form a stable society--but they are not "therefore" all the same or even equivalent.

It's probably more like an evolutionary adaptation to cope with knowledge of our mortality. That and it lends the ultimate moral authority. A lot of people can't tell right from wrong by observing simple consequences. They need a man up in the sky somewhere to tell them which way to go. The system works in some ways, it does provide moral guidance. That is until bombs start going off in the name of some god or other.

It certainly was. Its become less central to life. it helped ppl survive for 100s of years. Community support socializaton etc. But since roughly vietnam war its been an impediment. Especially, Since the internet its effect is minimal

That would be nice 🙂, it does not work that way . Religion can be good based on one persons view or another view very negative. At least for me growing up I learn about self control on my sexual desires and not doing drugs .

the bible is very confusing, i used ot beliv ein god, sort of, but didnt understand the ibble at all, now i just look at it like a psychedelic record,

Clearly, you haven't met my brother-in-law.

He's a fundamentalist and when he was married to my sister, he was very controlling of her.

People dont follow a religion because they feel they have to its just what they believe which is why im s Christian

I think they quickly become that...

Yup. Control through fear.