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In the Bible, God’s inspired Word, He has revealed everything anyone can know about His nature, mind, and will. Either He means what He says in His Word, or He doesn’t. If He doesn’t, the Bible is merely advice that we may follow or ignore with impunity. However, if He means what He says, our eternal destiny depends upon giving His Word “the more earnest heed” (Heb. 2:1).
While God is the God of grace and mercy (Tit. 2:11–3:7), He no less expects His creation to respect and obey His will, to which each one will be called to account (2 Cor. 5:10). Men have no right to presume upon God’s grace by thinking He will “understand” our blatant failures to obey such edicts as to love others as ourselves (Mat. 22:39), treat others as we desire to be treated (7:12), help the helpless (Gal. 6: 10), and to fulfill many other duties toward our fellow men. While many seem to make this application in matters relating to social obligations, these same folk often go no further (if they even go that far). The attitude of most (including many religious leaders) toward the Bible seems to be that we should honor its social precepts, but its “religious” doctrines are quite elastic.
In other words, although God has given clear instructions and specified the things that please Him in “religious” doctrine (as well as in human relationships), He will excuse our ignoring His “religious” dictates. Men thus dare to turn God’s grace into a pretext to fulfill their own wills and desires in “religious” matters. With these premises before us, what are some of the things in religion God does not/will not at all “understand” (i.e., excuse)?
- The creation of thousands of religious bodies professing to follow/belong to Jesus (He envisioned and established only one church [Mat. 16:18; Eph. 1:22–23; 4:4]; et al.).
- The creation of humanly originated “gospels,” whether written or unwritten, that perpetuate religious division (there is only one true Gospel/one faith—the New Testament [Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:1– 4; Gal. 1:6–9;Eph. 4:5; et al.]).
- The many inventions of men in “worship,” more often apparently designed for their entertainment and pleasure rather than for the praise of God and His Son (worship must be “in spirit and truth” and as authorized by Christ [John 4:23–24; Col. 3:17]).
- The many “plans of salvation” that alter what the Scriptures teach men must do to be saved and become a Christian (believe in and confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, repent and be baptized to be saved [Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37–38; et al.]).
- The denial that “truth” exists, or if it does, we can never be sure we know it (Jesus said God’s Word is Truth and we can—and must—know it to enjoy the freedom that spiritual Truth brings [John 8:31–32; 17:17;]).
God’s saving grace is for those who obey Him—not for those who suppose He will “understand” if we don’t (John 12:48; Heb. 5:9).
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, TX, June 12, 2015.]
Attribution: From www.thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, proprietor, curator, and administrator.
