God’s True Religion
Question: If God created man, for what
purpose did He do so? Now I ask: Has He
communicated with man and told man the purpose of man’s existence?
There are hundreds of “sacred” writings
scattered throughout the world that claim, to some degree, to explain the
purpose of man. Some attempt to explain
the purpose of man’s existence and some claim a divine origin.
While I don’t claim to have read them
all I do profess to have read many with the most honest and open mind possible
for me. Much of this reading was done
when I was at odds with Christianity and the Bible and some was done in
university studies.
One trait of all these books convinced
me that they were not of divine
origin. By recognizing that trait I was
able to separate them into several categories – myth, enlightened thinking,
works for the purpose of gaining power over others and science-fiction for the
age in which they were written (books of imagination). None of these books should be considered
worthless and many of them contain great philosophic, political and religious
concepts and ideas that should be considered when searching for truth.
That trait was the offering of excuses
for mankind to remain in his present state – whatever that is – and do nothing
to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Some of them encourage such growth but all eventually offer the excuse
to remain as you are. They are often
pictures of mankind in a fallen or lower state with little hope of
improvement. The “gods” of these books
are often anthropomorphic (having human characteristics) but having great power
and authority over man.
Only one book contains the knowledge
that allows for true human freedom – the ability to choose right from wrong,
good from bad and the necessity of
suffering the consequences of those choices.
That book is the Bible.
In that book, God’s greatest gift to
mankind is freedom. God made (and makes) each human being with
the ability to become something; each
of us is unique to some degree. Each of
us has talents and abilities that we can strive to develop and each of us is
really good at something or even
several things.
It is up to us to choose whether we will develop those talents and abilities – that
is true freedom.
The course of Biblical history from
the time of Abraham – about 4,000 years ago – when coupled with secular history
demonstrates that God has been directing the path of Abraham’s descendants and
through Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, continues to direct the path of those
descendants down to the present time and through them affecting the entire
world.
God has been moving us toward freedom.
Human nature never changes but
individuals can change their nature.
Changing that nature by striving to achieve our individual potential –
becoming what God made us capable of becoming – is capable of changing the
culture in which we live. When enough
individuals change their nature there is massive improvement in the amount of
freedom that culture allows.
That can only happen when mankind
practices God’s true religion.
The Bible teaches us true religion: that religion is a way of
life that necessitates our striving to develop those talents and abilities with
the understanding that they are a gift from God. It also mandates that we have love or at
least compassion for our fellow man and to do all that we can to make our area
of the world a little better for our having lived in it. It is not based on dogma and doctrine nor is
it based on rituals that some declare are necessary to please God.
My source of authority to describe
that true religion comes from the Bible.
There are three very important principles that one seeking to know
God and His will for mankind should always keep in mind:
1.
God never changes.
Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever. NIV Hebrews 13:8
2.
Everything that God does is perfect. Therefore God never changes nor does anything
He created, including His laws.
He is the Rock, his works
are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he. NIV Deuteronomy 32:4
"Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until
everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven." NIV Matthew 5:17-19
3.
God’s will for mankind cannot be thwarted by anything mankind does.
I
make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to
come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the
east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.
NIV Isaiah 46:10-11
"For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and
the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the
earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and
bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not
return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose
for which I sent it." NIV Isaiah 55:8-1
We can state without reservation that God’s requirements for
mankind have not changed from the day God created him.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day asked Him a very important
question:
34
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the
Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested
him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment
in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the
second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the
Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
Do you understand what Jesus said?
The “Law and Prophets” are the total writings of the scriptures we
call the “Old Testament”. Jesus did not
mention animal sacrifices or the Levitical priesthood nor did He mention any
rituals or religious observances.
Instead, He gave us the two principles upon which all those
scriptures are based.
When Jesus was asked how a person obtains eternal life (our
eventual salvation), He had the following conversation:
16
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good
thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why
do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the
commandments.”
18 “Which
ones?” the man inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder,
do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor
your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All
these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus
answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When
the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Matthew 19:16-22 NIV
Jesus told the man and us through the recording of His words, that
keeping the 10 commandments was the way to eternal life. He specified the 6th, 7th,
8th, 5th and “love your neighbor as yourself” but it’s
quite obvious that He was referring to the 10 Commandments.
What may not be understood is that the 10 Commandments are nothing
more than a longer version of what He told the Pharisees and Sadducees above.
You may be familiar with the 10 Commandments but I will quote them
here for you to show you exactly what I mean.
1 And
God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land
of slavery.
3 “You
shall have no other gods before me. (1)
4
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall
not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for
the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me
and keep my commandments. (2)
7 “You
shall not misuse the name of the Lord
your God, for the Lord will not
hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (3)
8 “Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do
any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For
in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and made it holy. (4)
12 “Honor
your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (5)
13 “You
shall not murder. (6)
14 “You
shall not commit adultery. (7)
15 “You
shall not steal. (8)
16 “You
shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (9)
17 “You
shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s
wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor.” (10) Exodus 20:1-17 NIV
The first four pertain to our relationship with God and fall under
the category of “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind.”
The other six pertain to our relationship with our fellow man and
fall under the category of “love your neighbor as yourself”.
Though the scriptures including the teaching of Jesus expound,
explain and expand these commandments, according to Jesus these contain all
that we need to know to have a good relationship with God and with our fellow
man.
In other words, these are the principles that, if followed, bring
mankind into harmony with God and bring peace, harmony and happiness to
mankind.
What you may not know is that the Ten Commandments are the only
recorded words of God spoken directly to a large group of people at the same
time. Moses reiterated the Commandments not long
before he died and he said of them:
These are the commandments the
LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain
from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing
more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. NIV
Deuteronomy 5:22
Following these principles is the essence of God’s “true
religion”.
That is no easy task.
Though they are deceptively simple, each one carries great depth and
meaning. As an example, consider the 6th
Commandment and how Jesus explained and expanded its meaning.
21 “You have heard that it was
said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment.'
22 But I tell you that anyone
who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who
says to his brother, `Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who
says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are
offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has
something against you,
24 leave your gift there in
front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and
offer your gift. NIV Matthew 5:21-24
God’s true religion does not speak so much to behavior as it does
to the “heart” – the true inner thoughts and feelings that are not always
apparent in one’s actions. We may go
through life and never take another person’s life without just cause and still
violate the 6th Commandment.
We should specify that the KJV’s translation of the 6th
Commandment has led some people into a gross misunderstanding of this
Commandment.
Thou shalt not kill. KJV Exodus
20:13
The Hebrew word ratsach is not the Hebrew word normally
translated as “kill” but specifically means “to dash to pieces” and is used
only with reference to human beings.
Exodus 20:13 is the first time it is used in the Bible.
The Hebrew word harag
means “to smite with deadly intent” and it is used for both humans [Genesis
4:8, 14, 15, 25 et al] and animals [Exodus 17:3;
29:11, 16 et al]. There are seven other
Hebrew words that are translated as “kill” but only ratsach means specifically to murder – to kill a human being
without just cause.
The point of this exercise of examining the original language of
the Old Testament is that God does not
forbid the killing of human beings per se
but only “murder”. Murder – as Jesus
pointed out clearly – is the result of anger against our fellow man. It is an act that begins with our hearts and
our minds and not necessarily determined by the conditions under which the
action is taken.
God’s true
religion does not require perfect keeping of the law.
The Ten Commandments (as expanded and explained by Jesus and
others whom He inspired over the millennia since they were given to God’s
people) provide guidelines that we should all aspire to follow. Yet we know that no human other than Jesus
has ever kept these commandments perfectly.
In fact, until our human nature changes permanently, the apostle Paul
states clearly that it is impossible for us to obey God’s laws perfectly.
The sinful [carnal – KJV, literally meaning
“meat” – the normal human mind] mind
is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
NIV Romans 8:7
Even the apostle Paul who saw Jesus both
before and after His resurrection and was taught personally by God and
designated the “apostle to the gentiles” was unable to keep God’s laws
perfectly.
18 I know that nothing good
lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to
do--this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do
what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in
me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is
right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I
delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law
of sin at work within my members.
24 What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus
Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in
my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of
sin. NIV Romans 7:18-25
We should all literally thank God for loving us so much that He
does not require us to keep His laws perfectly because none of us can. But He did teach us His true religion in His
own words as well as inspiring the prophets and apostles and His disciples to
write their descriptions of that religion.
God inspired the Lord’s brother, James, to describe for us God’s
“true religion”:
17 Every good and perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he
created.
19 My dear brothers, take note
of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become
angry, 20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God
desires.
21 Therefore, get rid of all
moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word
planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so
deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the
word but does not do what it says is like a man who
looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the man who looks intently into the
perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what
he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone
considers himself religious and yet does not keep a
tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
27 Religion that God our
Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows
in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
NIV James 1:17-27
We take verse 27 to mean looking after those
who are unable to look after themselves and to remain true to whatever Jesus
taught, both directly in the New Testament scriptures and through His prophets
in the Old Testament – all the principles involved
with serving God and fellow man and not just the Ten Commandments. They teach us how to love God and one
another because the last six of the Ten Commandments were put in place for
humanity’s benefit. If you follow the
first four you will automatically come to love your fellowman because you’ll
know that that is what God wants.
Yet because we are unable to keep those commandments perfectly,
they serve only to bring us into a state in which we have access to the grace,
love and forgiveness of God the Father.
We strive to obey God’s law
because that is the only route to happiness and contentment in this life. We always will fail, but with faith in God
we have the hope of eternal life. With
our love of God and our fellow man, the grace of God will bring us through this
life with His promise of eventual salvation.
That’s where God’s grace and mercy come into play and God is able
to save us from ourselves – the human nature that is within us even after
conversion.
God’s “pure” religion revolves around faith
and love rather than the letter of the law because we are set free from the
death penalty that went with that law and are now under “grace” because it was
said that three things are lasting:
1 If I speak in the tongues of
men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I
am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the
flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will
cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge,
it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked
like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like
a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
12 Now we see but a poor
reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. NIV 1
Corinthians 13:1-13
The Ten
Commandments were given for people who do not know God.
The apostle Paul explained the role of the commandments in his
letter to the churches in Galatia (modern day Turkey):
Consider Abraham: "He
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Understand, then, that those
who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham:
"All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith
are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. NIV Galatians 3:6-9
What I mean is this: The law,
introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established
by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the
law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to
Abraham through a promise.
What, then, was the purpose of
the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the
promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a
mediator. NIV Galatians 3:17-19
Is the law, therefore, opposed
to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could
impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
But the Scripture declares that
the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given
through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Before this faith came, we were
held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law
was put in charge [the
law was our schoolmaster – KJV] to
lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come,
we are no longer under the supervision of the law [we are no longer
under a schoolmaster – KJV]. NIV
Galatians 3:21-25
If you belong to Christ, then
you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV Galatians
3:29
God’s “true religion” could be seen in Abraham. God told Abraham to leave the place where he
was born and his family lived and go into a different country where he would be
told what to do. What did Abraham
do? He believed in God and went to the
different country. God told Abraham to
sacrifice his son – the son in whom all the promises God had made were
vested. What did Abraham do? He went through the process right up to the
moment Abraham was going to take his son’s life when God stopped him.
Abraham embodied God’s true religion. He loved God with all his heart and mind and
his neighbor as himself. You may read of
his good deeds as well as some that were not so good in Genesis chapters 12 –
25.
Paul says that the promises God made to Abraham still apply to all
of us who have faith in God – we are figuratively if not physically the seed of
Abraham.
Galatians 3:19 tells us the law (the Mt. Sinai covenant – Exodus
chapters 20-23) was “added” because of the sins of the people. Galatians 3:24-26 tells us that covenant was
made with an unbelieving people and that is still its purpose.
The KJV translation is here much more appropriate and meaningful
than the NIV. The law is a teacher
(schoolmaster – Hebrew – paidagogos –
literally, “a trainer, a tutor or an instructor) and is intended for those who
do not know and love God.
One who practices God’s “true religion” does not need to be
concerned with God’s laws – even as embodied in the Ten Commandments. Why?
Because God promised to write those laws “on the hearts” of His people.
The covenant that went into effect with the death of Jesus
incorporates God’s covenant with Abraham and the “true religion” parts of God’s
covenant with the Israelites: it is the covenant made with those who share
God’s true religion.
6 But the ministry Jesus has
received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is
superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. 7 For if there
had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been
sought for another.
8 But God found fault with the
people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will
not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my
covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will
make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my
laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and
they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man
his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will
remember their sins no more."
13 By calling this covenant
"new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and
aging will soon disappear. NIV Hebrews 8:6-13
In God’s “true religion” there is no need for the “schoolmaster”
because those who share that religion have already learned the lessons the law
can teach. They know the law – they are
unable to obey that law perfectly but their faith and love of God allows them
to obtain the grace and forgiveness of God so that in God’s eyes it is as if they did
keep the law perfectly. However, God’s
people never stop striving for perfection.
The writer of Hebrews (most likely Paul) was quoting the prophet
Jeremiah [Jeremiah 31:31-34] who wrote those words more than 500 years before
Jesus was born. This again shows that
God’s true religion has been in effect since the very beginning, even before
the time of Abraham, because God never changes.
The apostle John reminded God’s people of his day:
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of
you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know
the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such
a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one
who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father
also.
24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains
in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And
this is what he promised us—even eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are
trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received
from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his
anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1 John 2:20-27 NIV
Summary
At the time of Jesus’ return to establish His kingdom there will
be many people who have tried to keep God’s laws and who practice various human
forms of religion – Judaism, Christianity and others – who will be excluded at
least from the initial celebration of Jesus’ return because they did not practice God’s true religion.
This is a religion that puts God first – no exceptions in any area
– and one that causes His people to take care of their fellow man to the best
of their ability. Its practitioners are
not under the “curse of the law” (those who violate it must die) but their sins
are covered by the grace and love of God.
They do not necessarily “belong” to some human religious
organization and even if they do, they only support the parts of that
organization that practice God’s true religion.
It’s true that when believers join together and pool their resources and
talent they can often do things that they could not achieve with individual
effort in addition to sharing the friendship and love of fellow believers. But human religious organizations often
become involved in the forms of religions, in building edifices and symbols,
and in the internal politics and strife that seem to become dominant in all
human organizations.
There is no need to join
some human religious organization to practice God’s true religion because it is
the most individual, the most personal religion possible. It is a contract – a covenant – between God
and each one of His people.
It guarantees that each one will lead the happiest, most contented
life they can live; it guarantees that each one of these people will be the
best neighbor, the best friend, the best father or mother or son or daughter,
the best citizen of any community, state or nation that it is possible for that
person to be.
They will strive for the rest of their lives to become what God
made them capable of becoming. They will
use their gifts of the spirit (their talents).
They will be searching the Bible and other sources for understanding of
what they should be doing to show love to their fellow man.
They will be continually learning more about themselves, about
their fellow man, about the complexities of human cultures and striving not
only to keep God’s laws, to become what God made them capable of becoming but
they will also learn the truth that
is inherent in God’s true religion.
This is the truth of which Jesus spoke:
Jesus said, "If you hold
to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free." NIV John 8:31-32