Can religion help?
Man
has been called a religious animal. The
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics lists
hundreds of ways in which men have tried to satisfy their religious
longings and feelings. They have worshipped the sun, moon and stars;
earth, fire and water; idols of wood, stone and metal; fish, birds
and animals. They have worshipped countless gods and spirits which
have been the products of their own perverted imagination.
Others have attempted to worship the true God
through a vast variety of sacrifices,
ceremonies, sacraments and services. But
'religion,' however sincere, can never solve
man's sin problem, for at least three reasons.
Religion can never satisfy God.Religion
is man's attempt to make himself right with God,
but any such attempt is futile because even
man's best efforts are flawed and so are
unacceptable to God. The Bible could not be
clearer: all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6. God demands
perfection; religion fails to meet the demand.
Religion can never remove
sin.
Your virtues can never cancel out your vices.
Good deeds can never remove bad ones. If a
person gets right with God it is not by
works, so that no one can boast Ephesians
2:9. No religious efforts or experiences -
christening, confirmation, baptism, holy
communion, churchgoing, prayers, gifts,
sacrifices of time and effort, Bible reading or
anything else - can cancel out a single sin.
Religion can never
change man's sinful nature.
A person's behavior is not the
problem, only the symptom. The heart of man's
problem is the problem of man's heart, and by
nature man's heart is corrupt and depraved.
Going to church and taking part in religious
ceremonies may make you feel good, but they
cannot make you good.
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No
one! Job 14:4.
Some of the religious activities mentioned above
are obviously 'good' in themselves. For example,
it is right to go to church, to read the Bible
and to pray, because God tells us to do these
things. But you dare not rely on them to make
you right with God. Not only are they powerless
to do so; trusting in them actually adds to your
sin and to your condemnation.
All words in
italic type (other than book titles) are
quotations from the Bible.
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