3 Things That Are Above Personal Religious Opinion

It seems like everyone has an opinion these days about anything and everything. I don’t know why our opinions seem to matter so much more than they used to, but I think it has something to do with this sense of entitlement everyone has about loving themselves and doing whatever they want to do. When I was younger, I don’t remember hearing so much about tolerance and self-love. I do recall being told much more about love for God and pleasing Him and being obedient to His word.

I do believe that opinions are important and that people have a right to them individually. We will always do ourselves a disservice if we feel like as a religious body we are to obligate people to render service to the Lord. The God of heaven has never forced His creation into obedience, but rather by His goodness and love and sacrifice He has appealed to us. He wants a relationship with us and so it was His choice to display this to us in such a way through the cross that we would want to respond to Him with a measure of the same type of love. Love for God is the only sustaining and genuine motivation for obedience to His will.

Now, back to this discussion about opinions. When it comes to what we believe or what we practice religiously it occurs to me that there are some things that stand on their own, far above any room for individual opinion. For a moment, pause with me while I introduce 3 of these things that certainly fit into that category, although there are definitely more:

1. The Identity of God.

God is who He is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The great “I Am” has existed from eternity and is the Creator of the material universe. His identity cannot be argued with. His nature cannot be changed. His will cannot be overthrown or altered. His power cannot be contended with. People want to make God out to be who they want Him to be, but they will attempt such without any type of success. God is who He is whether man decides to know Him or not. He is the One who is sovereign and He is Love and the only hope for His creation.

2. Worship to God.

I have always found it very ironic that people who claim belief in God want to worship however they want to worship. If God is Lord and he is the object of worship, doesn’t that take human opinions about worship out of the equation? One might be able to worship God as they pleased if God did not care about worship, command worship, or instruct His people on how He wanted to be worshiped. But an honest investigation of God’s word is going to lead every individual to the same conclusion concerning worship. In every instance in Scripture where worship has ever been rendered to God, it was God who was worshiped and it was God who either accepted or rejected the worship. This clearly implies that worship today is not up to human opinion but, instead, it either satisfies or violates the divine will of God.

3. Morality.

When it comes to what is right or wrong there are going to be moments in life in which we will all have to make choices based on what we have been taught or what we have come to understand about morality. When these choices are being made it is important to recognize that morality is not subjective but rather objective and our responsibility with regard to doing what is right is going to be based on both our knowledge and attitude. Today, with regard to morality, it is obvious that both knowledge and attitude are severely lacking. How can one do what is right without knowing what God has deemed to be right? And how can one follow through with doing what is right when, even though a knowledge of it may exist, the individual would rather do things as they pleased?

At the end of time each person is going to be judged according to what he or she has done, whether it be good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10; Eccl. 12:14). It should be noted that good and evil both stand here as absolutes. The problem that arises for mankind is that we often do not distinguish between the two and we often don’t follow the path that God has already chosen for us even before the world began.

So there you have it. God is who He is. He is to be worshiped as He has commanded. And right will always be right and wrong will always be wrong. These 3 things are–and always will–remain far above individual human opinion. 

“For I am the Lord, I do not change” – Malachi 3:6

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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum