Could You Be Wrong about Your Religion?
Saul was wrong about Christianity. Peter was wrong about the Gentiles. James and John were wrong about discipleship. Thomas was wrong about faith. We could go on and on but the point is that even sincerely religious people are going to be wrong about what they believe and practice sometimes. This is why we have the Bible. This is why it is the supreme authority on all religious matters.
Some people believe in the wrong God. There is only one God, Jehovah (Deut. 6:4). Yet we have Allah, Buddha, the gods of Hinduism, or the other various false gods created by man. People believe in these gods and stake their eternal souls on their very existence.
Some people disciple the wrong master. Jesus is our only teacher and Lord (Matt. 23:10). Yet people follow men such as Luther, Calvin, Smith, Wesley, Graham, Osteen, and women such as Eddy and White. Literally hundreds more could be listed. Just google famous religious leaders and understand how many doctrines and practices have originated from people other than Christ.
Some people are wrong about salvation. What constitutes a person being saved or lost? Is it grace? Is it faith? Is it a prayer or a confession? Is it some mode of entry like sprinkling or baptism? The fact that people have various thoughts about how a person comes into a saved relationship with God is the perfect example of how many people have to be wrong about their religion! It makes no sense that everyone can disagree and be right at the same time.
Some people are wrong about worship. Jesus once talked to a Samaritan woman about worship (John 4). She asked Him a sincere question about the difference between Jewish and Samaritan worship. She recognized that these two peoples worshiped differently and she wanted to know from Jesus who was right. There has never been an example anywhere and Scripture that has supported the idea that God has to accept whatever worship we choose to offer Him. Yet many people treat worship this way.
Some people are wrong about the church. They don’t organize it scripturally. They don’t name it Biblically. They don’t carry out the daily practices of the church according to the doctrine of the New Testament. They make their own creed. They attempt to make the church a denomination when the only true church is the Lord’s.
We could continue for hours to discuss all of the things that are done in the name of religion that in a purely biblical sense are just incorrect. But only one observation concerning this truth needs to be made:
When a person examines their religion in the light of all of the teachings of the Bible, they are going to find out they are wrong about some things.
The question is, will we, like Saul, be willing to leave our old religion for the correct one? Will we, like Peter, repent of our sometimes hypocritical practices? Will we, like James and John, stop making it about us and start making it about Jesus? Will we, like Thomas, learn how to believe in things we cannot see?
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
——————————
