Is it possible to be religious, but still be wrong? Some people seem to be
think religion is acceptable regardless of what it is. Is it possible to be religious, but still be wrong? Some people seem to be
think religion is acceptable regardless of what it is. Try to convince some people there is something lacking in their religion, and they may say, "I'm a member of a church. Why don't you go convert a sinner" But is it possible to be religious and still be a sinner?
The Bible is filled with accounts of religious people who were not pleasing to God! The Athenians were very religious, but their religion consisted of worshiping multitudes of idols. Paul taught them to repent and worship the true God - Acts 17:30. Was their religion good enough?
The Jews in the first century had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. As a result, Paul said they refused to submit to God's will and they needed to be saved - Romans 10:1-3. In fact, Paul himself, before his conversion, was a very zealous Jew doing what he sincerely thought he ought to do (Acts 26:9; 23:1). But he was persecuting Jesus. He himself later said he had been the "chief of sinners" - 1 Timothy 1:15. Was his religion good enough?
Cornelius and Apollos are other good examples. Cornelius, in Acts 10, was a good moral man who prayed to God and helped the needy - Acts 10:1,2. Acts 18:24 says that Apollos was an eloquent preacher. But neither of these men knew God's will accurately, and in particular they did not understand true baptism. So, they needed to hear words whereby they might be saved (Acts 11:14; 18:25,26). Surely their religion was not good enough!
Yes, all men need to be religious. But much that is called religion today is false religion. You need more than just religion; you need the truth in religion!
(c) Copyright David E. Pratte, 2017; gospelway.com
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Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. used by permission. All rights reserved.