Beginning Bible Studies
01. Are you Religious?
Are You Religious?
Are you religious? Most people probably think of themselves as being religious. Most individuals have some kind of faith. Most of us would say that we believe in God and many of us would even state that we believe in Christ and that we are going to heaven. What is your concept of being “religious”? What does “religion” really mean to you? There is a lot more to being saved then being “religious.”
Being religious is just not good enough because you could be religiously wrong (Acts 17.22). We certainly need to be religious, but we need to be religiously right. Jesus says in Matthew 15:1-20 and Mark 7:1-23 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” It is significant to realize that Jesus was not only describing the sinful condition of the religious world of his day, among his own people, he was also quoting from the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 29:1-24) who was describing the state of Israel’s ancient religion. Both Jesus and Isaiah described man-made religion as “worthless and useless.”
The tragedy is, however, man-made religion is often sold to the unsuspecting masses by “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15-20) who lead the ignorant to their doom (Matthew 15:13-14). Many good moral – even religious – people have been and are being deceived by man-made religions selling a deceptive and defective “gospel.” And all the while they may actually think that they are “saved.” Yet they are in for the surprise of their life because Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. . . . Away from me you evildoers.” (Matthew 7:21-23) It is important to realize that in this passage Jesus is condemning people who were very, very “religious” . . . people who even thought that they were serving the Lord.
The Apostle John warns us to: “Prove the spirits and see whether or not they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (I John 4:1) All too many churches that claim to follow the Lord are guilty of perverting the Gospel of Christ and teaching different doctrines. Those churches and individuals that do not teach the truth are condemned (Galatians 1:6-10); they do not even have God (II John 1:9-11). Those who follow these religious leaders will be held accountable.
Are you religiously right or religiously wrong? Isn’t it time you made sure? Why not come and worship and study with us as we seek to be religiously right. Compare what we say and do with what the Bible teaches (See Acts 17:11) and make sure that we are a church that truly belongs to Christ. If we can be of any spiritual help to you please let us know. If you have any Bible questions please email us here.
