“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ...Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Matthew 23:23, 24 God had given laws to Israel, but the religious leaders had added multitudes of laws of their own. Then they concentrated on teaching the people to practice the laws they had established, leaving the laws of God aside. When I was in Israel, it was amazing to me that the Jews judged whether a person was righteous or not on the basis of whether he kept the Sabbath. You'd oftentimes hear, "Oh he's a good man, he keeps the Sabbath." Or "Oh he's not a good person, someone saw him smoke a cigarette on the Sabbath." One Sabbath day I was out for a walk and it was raining off and on so I took my umbrella. I stopped to rest a minute, sitting in a roadside bus stop, and I noticed children in the street glaring at me. I had no idea why they were so annoyed. Later I asked someone about it, and he asked, "did you have the umbrella opened or closed?" I said, "when I sat to rest I closed it." He said, "see, you broke the Sabbath. You cannot open and close an umbrella on the Sabbath. If you had wanted to use the umbrella, you would have had to open it Friday night before the Sabbath began, and keep it opened until Saturday night when the Sabbath ended." Yet these same people, like all religious people, steal, commit adultery, and slander each other. Sometimes you'd see the orthodox peering into a porn magazine in the back of a store. They would NOT, however, even think to open an umbrella on the Sabbath. This is what is meant by the Scripture, "who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." A gnat is a tiny bug, smaller than a fly. This they pay close attention to, yet they swallow a huge camel, not concentrating on the things that really matter. Does that surprise you? It shouldn't. Isn't it the same with us? With all human beings? We all grow up with a history which determines what is important to us based on how things have affected us. A man might think he's doing a good deed by helping an old woman carry her packages across the street. Makes him feel good. Yet the same man will steep himself in pornography, live in lust, slander those he disapproves of, and violate the law of God. But he's compassionate to the elderly, and that's how he judges himself, he judges himself according to his own standards. When something in his life contradicts the Word of God, he finds a way to justify it to himself. As long as he does a good deed here and there, he considers himself a good person. This is what Jesus called hypocrisy in the Scripture above. Straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. Believers, the Word of God and the Word of God ALONE is God's standard. It is not for us to develop our own standards so we can feel good about what we do. Jesus would certainly help an old lady across the street, he would certainly give to charity - but you wouldn't find him in the back of a store looking at porn magazines. You wouldn't find him cheating on his taxes or lying to people. He walked in all the counsel of the Word of God. Period. Nothing added, nothing taken away. And this example is what we must follow. Let us not major on the minors, let us not scrutinize a gnat and put our focus there. No, let us turn to the Word of God and measure ourselves by that standard alone, for he alone reserves the right to define standards.
"Jesus said to him:
'I am the way, the truth, and the life.
NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT through me.'"
John 14:6
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is different from all religions and is rejected by man on the basis of its exclusivity. It's different from all religions in its purpose. Most of the religions of the world have their goals in common, which are to be "good" and to appease God with good works. That is NOT the purpose or goal of following Jesus Christ.
Some say all roads lead to heaven. That is NOT true. The claim of Jesus Christ is that there is only ONE way.
"Jesus said to him, “I AM the way…"
And the Scripture makes it clear that there is NO OTHER way.
"Nor is there salvation in any other,
for there is NO OTHER name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:12
Why is that?
The Scriptures show us that we are innately sinful, born into sin, born into a fallen human nature, and that sin prevents man from entering heaven. All sin carries a sentence of judgment on it - and herein is the purpose of Christ's coming to this earth: Jesus came to bear the judgment for man's sin in his place, and offers his atonement to anyone who will believe in him and surrender their lives to him.
The founder of no other religion dies for his people. The founder of no other religion atones for the sins of his followers. And that's where the deficiency lies. They tell you that goodness and charity are the way to salvation. It simply is not true, in fact, it's heresy. If people could be saved by goodness, then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would have been unnecessary.
The most righteous person in the world is still a sinner and the sin needs to be judged, but none of these religions can provide someone to take that judgment for sin. That's exactly what Jesus Christ came to this earth to do.
Think of it this way: when a man accused of murder or rape stands before a judge in court, it will do him no good to tell the judge what acts of kindness and charity he has done. The judge is not interested in his good deeds, the man has committed a crime and that is the only subject dealt with in the court. And it's the same with our lives, we are not judged on our goodness or lack thereof, the elephant in the room is our sin. We cannot escape judgment on the basis of whatever good we've done. The subject is our sin. Our sin must be judged. The one thing that makes the Gospel different from all religions is that Jesus Christ comes into that courtroom and takes the judgment FOR the believer. In place of that believer.
That's what the Cross is all about. When the sinless Savior hung on that Cross, he was not being judged because of any sin he committed - because he was sinless. No, he took OUR judgment upon himself. And anyone who believes that, receives that, and surrenders to him - the judgment on their sins has been paid. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses all who come to him.
The "many" and the "few"...
"Enter by the narrow gate;
for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction,
and there are MANY who go in by it.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult the way
which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it."
Matthew 7:13-14
The Scriptures are very clear in teaching that the atonement Jesus Christ provided for sinful man is the ONLY way to salvation, and that is the point where "the many" stumble. The world demands that we believe all religions lead to God, but that is a lie. That is the broad gate that the "MANY" take. The gate leading to eternal life is truly narrow, it is exclusive, it is the only way, and it's difficult for mankind to acknowledge the truth of that. That's why "there are FEW who find it."
If there were other ways, the Son of God would not have had to die. That would have been unnecessary. There must be something terrible to be avoided, that the Son of God would have to pay such a terrible price.
Come to the Savior. Confess your sinfulness before him no matter how evil, no matter how many; if you humble yourself before him and ask him to become your Lord and your Savior he will.
MORE:
Who Is God?
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
with my mouth will I make known
your faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 89:1
This could only be written by someone who has known God personally. He is so moved by the faithfulness of God that he bursts forth singing of his tender mercies.
This is not "religion," this is personal relationship, the "born again" life, and it is what all true believers experience. "Religion" is a system commanding what we must do for God. On the other hand, relationship or covenant, is what God does for us. God is not pleased with religious rituals, in fact they are a stench in his nostrils. Man seeks to please God, or to impress God, or to appease God with something "religious," but God calls this profane. Religious rituals make man FEEL holy, but true holiness is the man bowed before the Lord in repentance, waiting on his mercy and seeking his will.
When God reveals his will to a believer, it will never consist of some religious ritual. It will not consist of lighting a candle or trusting in a statue or a medal, no, when God reveals his will to a believer it will consist of repentance - and then the man or woman whose life is surrendered to God will experience the touch of God in his life in such a way that it will cause him to sing of God's mercies forever and make known his faithfulness as he testifies to all of what God has done.
"Let no one cheat you of your reward,
taking delight in FALSE HUMILITY...:
Colossians 2:18
Religious ritual is false humility. Priests wearing silks and satins and parading with a cross or a statue is the picture of false religion. The next time you observe such "holy" occasions, look at the priests and bishops parading in their regalia and know you are looking at false religion; many or even most of those parading as such are not even saved.
vs 23:
"These things indeed have an APPEARANCE of wisdom
in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body,
but are of NO VALUE against the indulgence of the flesh."
The Lord is not impressed with man's religion, he is looking for a surrendered heart. Rosaries and statues and candles and processions - these are worthless because by doing these things man assures himself that he's doing something "holy." ...But it's FAR from holiness, in fact it's profane. Man has sanctified the profane and profaned the sacred.
If you want to please God, bow your heart before him. Bring down your pride. Confess your sin. Open your heart to whatever he will say to you. And above all, immerse yourself in his Word, the Bible.
“But on this one will I look:
on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and who trembles at my Word."
Isaiah 66:2
Put away the profane religious rituals, flee from them. God doesn't want a rosary, he wants a heart. You can't replace repentance with statues or candles or rituals or confessionals. You can't bring your offering to God YOUR WAY, that is the sin of Cain who did not come to God with the lamb sacrifice, but with the works of his hands - and he was rejected. You have to come to God HIS way.
To know his way you have to know his Word.
He is looking for those who will know the TRUTH, and who will worship him in spirit, and in truth.
"God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and TRUTH."
John 4:24