For the past few posts we’ve been looking at the advantage of religion. That is, the advantage of having a basic knowledge of what the Bible says. But is that enough?
Are you a better person in God’s eyes by being religious?
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
Romans 3:9-11
Here’s the problem. Even though a religious person may appear to be better on the outside, without a relationship with Christ, they’re still lost. Unfortunately, because they’re doing good things, they think that everything’s okay.
The fact remains that even though they may read the Bible, they have no understanding of God’s plan of salvation. They’ve never laid hold of Christ’s forgiveness. They think they’re headed in the right direction, but they’re outside the family of God.
Paul has some strong words for these people.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:12-18
In my experience, I’ve found that religious people are the hardest ones to witness to. They see all of their good works and think that’s enough to save them.
What they fail to understand is that sin is not an external problem. It needs to be dealt with on the inside of all of us.
When we stand before God’s Judgment Seat, there’s no set of scales. He will not see if our good works outweigh our evil deeds. The only question at that time will be; did you bow your knees to Christ as Lord and Savior?
That being said, there’s another thing that we need to realize. Not all religious people are unsaved. I know this may come as a shock to some Christians.
There are many believers in so called religious denominations. Yes, I’m talking about Roman Catholic and Orthodox type denominations.
Those of us in less religious groups should spend more time talking with them instead of judging them. I have personally shared with hundreds in these religions. I’ve found that many have the same precious faith that I do.
Please understand, they don’t have the same religious vocabulary that I have. In spite of that, I’ve found that during their lives, they’ve prayed for Jesus Christ to enter their lives and change them. They pray, in Jesus’ name, for God’s blessing upon their lives.
No, they may not use terms like “sinner’s prayer”, “born again”, or “getting saved.” But I could tell by their heart-felt words that they have a deep rooted faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
We can’t just assume that because someone doesn’t worship like us, they’re not saved. We need to evangelize those who are truly lost, without Christ.
Question: How did you first come to know about Christ?
© 2020 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 