Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10
Yesterday, we began our new sermon series, "Christianity and World Religions." We began our series by exploring the religion of Hinduism. HInduism shares common ground with Christianity and also has many differences. The major difference, however, centers around the idea of karma. Hindus believe that good thoughts and good actions create good karma. If a person builds up enough good karma in their lifetime, they are reincarnated in the next life a little higher up on the spiritual chain. This pattern is repeated hundreds, even thousands of times, until this person's soul (Atman) becomes one with the universal soul (Brahman) and the cycle ends with nirvana. In Christianity, it is not our merit or our good thoughts or deeds that earn our salvation. We believe that it is Jesus Christ that has accomplished this. And in response to what Christ has done, we seek to live lives that reflect values of the kingdom of God. One of the things that I appreciated in my study of Hinduism is that it really forced me to think about the Christian doctrine of grace. Like the U2 song says about grace, "it travels outside of karma." But, if I accept that truth (which I do), than logic would tell me that that understanding should make me very humble. Christians claim and proclaim that God is the author of their salvation. But, all too often, we act as if we have done everything ourselves. We are arrogant and even judgmental. But, if we are truly going to accept the Christian doctrine of "saved by grace through faith," the first change in our lives should be to our attitude. That is just something to think about.
If you would like to know more about Hinduism, you can follow these links.
Hinduism - Wikipedia
Hinduism - Religionfacts.com
Christianity and World Religions by Adam Hamilton
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