Exploring The Two Types Of Religion

Today, you will see and hear many comments about religion. Almost all of them will be negative.

    One of the most popular of these has been around a long time. It goes, “Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship.” That statement is true. Christianity is NOT a religion. It is a relationship.

    At the Tulsa Family Prayer Center, we have a similar saying that is more narrowly focused. The Prayer Center saying is, “Christianity is not a religion; it is a FAMILY!”

That statement is more narrowly focused because it defines what kind of a relationship Christianity is. Christianity is not just a friendship; it is not a business or work relationship; it is not an acquaintance. It is a family relationship. I like how Alan Taylor described it: Jesus made a way for His Father to become our Father.

    But the saying that Christianity is a family increases the range of the relationship. All born again believers are related to God through the rebirth, and so they are also related to each other.

    Those statements are mild examples of the negative comments you will encounter about religion. Some portray religion as some nasty, even dangerous stuff.

    Because almost all the comments that people make about religion are negative, and some are very negative, you could easily assume that ALL religion is bad, or that religion is bad by nature.

But what does God say?

    “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
    (James 1:26-27 NASV)

Wait a minute here.... On the one hand we have all these negative comments about religion by people, and sure enough, God does talk about a bad religion in verse 26, but He shows us a different kind of religion in verse 27. This religion is pure, undefiled, charitable, and marked by holy living. That's got to be good religion!

    So, what is going on here? Why all the negative comments about religion that portray it as a bad thing?

    Well, religion does come in two types, kinds, forms, varieties, whatever: bad and good. And bad religion is more abundant that the good kind.

    Whenever someone makes a negative comment about religion, they are talking about the bad type. They are just not saying the word “bad” in front of the word “religion.”

    Why don't they identify bad religion as the kind of religion they are talking about?

    Maybe they are ignorant about the two types of religion. They haven't read these verses.

    Maybe they have read these verses, but forgot them.

   Maybe – and I hope this isn't true of anyone I know personally – maybe they don't believe these verses.

Before I begin to explore each of these two types of religion, I have a couple of items to cover.

The statement that Christianity is a family relationship seems to indicate that some kind of connection exists between Christianity and good religion. What could that connection be? Well, I'll answer that question towards the end.

Now, consider that we are talking about two kinds of the same stuff, not two different things. So, we need to see: What is religion?

You could look up definitions in the various dictionaries, both online and hard copy types, and you will find a variety of definitions. Many will be very similar, because many of these dictionaries are updates to older editions.

But what is God talking about when He talks about religion? He is talking about the out-ward expression of inward belief. This definition applies to good as well as bad religion.

I will look at bad religion first. Why look at the bad stuff first? God did, and aren't we supposed to imitate Him? Also, I believe He looked at bad religion first because seeing things about bad religion will help us see things about good religion.

Verse 26 is a single sentence that has four segments. I will start with the third and fourth segments first.

    “... but deceives his own heart,”

    This segment tells us that bad religion is false religion because deception has taken place.

    Deception takes place, not only when a lie or falsehood is presented, but when it is believed and acted upon.

    Sometimes local news will feature a report warning people about a scam going on in the area. Many times the report will look at the case of a victim who fell for the scam, and they lost money. But sometimes the report will focus on someone who didn't believe the scammer's claims, and they investigated themselves, or they informed law enforcement, and now the police have informed the media so they can warn the public. The difference between the victim and the other person is one believed the lie and acted on it, and the other didn't. One was deceived, the other one wasn't.

    The ultimate example of someone who was not deceived when lied to is Jesus in the wilderness. Even though Satan quoted Scripture, he tried to lie by twisting verses to alter their meaning. But Jesus never accepted what the devil had to say.

    The man in verse 26 deceived himself, and he built a religion based on a lie. So, bad religion is false religion.

    Now let's look at the last segment.

    “...this man's religion is worthless.”

    Notice that part “man's religion.” False religion is man made. A man can lie to himself, or he can listen to Satan's lies, but man creates false religion.

    I know the King James version uses the word, “vain” instead of “worthless,” and that's not a bad translation. However, “worthless” is more descriptive.

    In modern usage, we usually associate the word “vain” with egotism or failure.

If you are old enough, or if you grew up listening to 70's music, you might remember the song, “You're So Vain.” In general, it was about egotistical people. The songwriter has said she had three men in mind when she wrote it. The first two lines sum up the entire song:

           You're so vain,

           You probably think this song is about you.

    Now, I'm not saying that egotism isn't a part of false religion. It is, but it doesn't account for everything in false religion.

    When someone has been fighting for a cause, or working towards a goal, and they come up short, they will sometimes say that their efforts were in vain.

    So, we associate “vain” with egotism or failure. What definition would include both of these concepts? “Empty.”

    In the case of an egotistical person, they have a high opinion of themselves, but they lack the substance to back it up. So their opinion is empty of substance.

    In the case of someone who failed, their efforts were empty of results.

    So, “vain” could mean empty of substance, empty of results, or empty of value, or worth. Now do you see why “worthless” is more descriptive than “vain” when speaking of false religion?

    The Greek language bears this out. The word translated “vain” or “worthless” comes from a root word that means “empty.”

    Now, let's consider together the two aspects of false religion that we have already seen. What do you have when you combine deception and worthlessness? You have a counterfeit!

FALSE RELIGION IS A COUNTERFEIT

Actually, the best way to describe bad religion is to call it counterfeit religion. On the other hand, the best way to describe good religion is to call it true religion.

    What is a counterfeit? A counterfeit is a copy of an object that has value, and the counterfeiter tries to exploit that value by presenting the copy as the original object.

This already tells us something about true religion. This tells us that true religion MUST exist! We have plenty of evidence that counterfeit religion exists. In case anyone still thinks that true religion does not, or can not exist, consider this: No one will produce a counterfeit unless the true, original, genuine article exists, and it has enough value to make it worth exploiting through deception.

Now, not all copies are counterfeits. An honest copy is just that, an honest copy. An honest copy can have value of its own; but obviously it will not have the same value as the original.

    Consider the case of an artist who produces a copy of a masterpiece painting. He meticulously replicates the original artist's brush strokes, type of paint, type and age of canvas, etc. His copy is good enough to fool all but the best experts. But, this artist is not out to fool anyone. He is honest about his copy being a copy.

    Of course, when he puts it up for sale, he won't get as much as what the masterpiece is worth. But he could still get a good price, and he has other advantages from being honest.

    First, he avoids all chance of persecution for counterfeiting. That alone makes honesty worthwhile.

    Let's say he makes a series of honest copies of masterpieces, and they are all high quality. He then builds a reputation for himself as a skilled artist. Then, when he starts producing original paintings, they are more likely to sell and at a better price, just because of his reputation.

    Let's say he fits the stereotype of a “starving artist.” He will be glad to get whatever he can for his honest copy because, now he can eat! He can pay rent! He can buy more art supplies!

    Now consider the case of another artist who produces another copy of the same master-piece. But he presents his copy as the original. He claims that the original was stolen from a museum, but the museum didn't want the word of the theft to get out, so they have

displayed a copy instead. Someone believes his lie, and he makes a sale. But the buyer shows it to a top expert, and the expert reveals it is a counterfeit. The artist soon finds himself teaching art classes in prison to other inmates.

    What made the difference between the two copies? Deception!

Sometimes a counterfeit can have some functional value, but you cannot rely on it. We see this mostly with counterfeit fashion items.

    The counterfeiting of designer clothes and accessories has become big business, and a major headache for law enforcement. You can find these “knockoffs” openly sold on the streets of some big city neighborhoods. Booth after booth, rack after rack, table after table will hold dresses, blouses, skirts, jackets, handbags, etc., that have designer names on them, but for prices that are very low. You can also find these things for sale online.

Now a dress is a dress. A knockoff of a designer dress will still do what a dress is made to do – cover your body. But the stitching on the counterfeit dress won't be as good as the stitching on the original.

    Consider the case of a woman who has a chance to attend a formal banquet, but she has no formal wear of her own. She shops around and finds a designer dress that she likes, and she knows she will look good in it. But the price is well beyond her budget, or her credit card limit. She keeps looking, and then finds the dress online for about a tenth of the cost.

    She shows up looking like a million bucks. She visits the powder room before she sits down, and a couple more times during the meal. After one of those visits, when she sits down, she hears RRRRIIIPPPPPP! One of the seams now has a big gap in it. So, the dress wasn't worth what she paid for it. No matter how much she “saved” on it, it has cost her so much more in embarrassment.

The type of item we see counterfeited the most gives us the best picture of counterfeit religion. Counterfeit money has no value as money.

    Counterfeit money does have value, but not as money. It only has value as evidence in a criminal investigation.

    When someone produces counterfeit money, all their bills have characteristics that are common to each other, but those characteristics distinguish the fake bills from real ones.

Investigators will use those characteristics to build a profile of the counterfeiter that will help them catch him. After he gets out of prison, if he starts counterfeiting again, the new bills will match the old ones, so law enforcement officials can know right away who they are looking for.

    As counterfeit money is worthless as money, counterfeit religion has no value as religion.

Let's take a closer look at how this man-made religion worked as a counterfeit.

    “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue...”

This man thinks he is properly expressing his belief in God, but he has a problem that indicates he is not. He has an unbridled tongue. His words are out of control, but he can't see that.

    Why can't he see that his tongue is out of control? Because he is judging himself by an external standard.

    Remember that the Holy Spirit used James to write this letter. James was the pastor of the church at Jerusalem.

This church was predominately Jewish. These believers still identified themselves as Jews, and lived as Jews. They ate a kosher diet. The continued to attend synagogue and

the Temple. The continued to observe the Sabbath and the Jewish feasts.

    The central feature of Jewish practice is the Law of Moses.

    Now, we call it the Law of Moses, but God authored that law. Moses was just the delivery guy. Because the Law came from God, it is His Word. By nature, then, the Law is good.

    We often see the Law the same as criminal law – a system of defining good and bad behavior, and the punishment for bad behavior. But the Law contains three types of law – moral law, ceremonial law, and government law.

    Moral law is represented by the Ten Commandments, and other commandments. Because spiritually dead have a problem keeping the moral law, God gave the other two types of law.

    Ceremonial law applies to the priesthood, the sanctuary (first the Tabernacle, then the Temple), the sacrifices, and the festivals. These were all designed to deal with the guilt of sin.

    Government law covers the handling of disputes, containment of disease, investigation of crimes and their punishment. God intended for government to keep society safe.

    The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection dealt with the moral and ceremonial laws. The moral law is now written on the believer's heart, and the ceremonial system is no longer needed.

    The government law remains as a pattern for the institutions of human government.

    Actually, the Law, especially the moral law, was God's best instruction to spiritually dead people on how to walk in love. We see this from the New Testament, and the fact that the Hebrew word for Law, Torah, also means “instruction.”

    “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,' and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

    (Rom. 13: 8-10 NASV)

    If love is the fulfillment of the Law, then the Law must be instruction on how to walk in love.

    The Law was not the problem. As a standard from God, it has no faults. The problem was how the man in verse 26 applied it, as an external standard.

    The Law has two commandments that apply to the tongue: You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain; and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

    The man in verse 26 thought he was okay with God because he didn't cuss or lie. What he did not see, or could not see, is that he could have been violating those commandments and not known it, or he could have been sinning with his tongue in other ways.

    He could have taken God's name in vain, and lied about God through false doctrine. False doctrines are lies. They are false statements about God, or His Word, or His people.

    Here is an example, based on a story from Gary Carpenter's life.

Let's say a child dies in a terrible accident, or from a horrible disease, either one involving great pain. At the funeral, the preacher wants to comfort the mourners and make sense of the death. So he says something like, “God needed another flower for His garden in Heaven, so he took little Jimmy home.”

    With that statement, he has lied about God. He has said that God killed that child. God doesn't kill children. The accident or the disease did the killing.

    By naming God a child killer, the preacher has also taken His name is vain.

    How could someone sin with his tongue besides violating the two commandments mentioned? Here's a quick list:

           Cussing – obscenity, profanity, vulgarity.

           Cursing – verbal condemnation.

           Criticism / complaining – expressing displeasure or disapproval.

           Blasphemy – contradiction, rejection, or degradation of sanctity.

           Slander – comments to make someone look bad through insults, devaluation of  worth.

           Boasting – expressions of self-pride or self-exaltation.

           Gossip – combination of boasting and slander by making comments to make someone look bad to make yourself look good.

           Doubt – disbelief, worry, the contradiction of God's Word.

    Excuse me, but I see a need to get on my soapbox for a while.

    Most times, gossip is based on rumors or speculation. But sometimes people will try to justify their gossip by claiming that they are only telling the truth about so-and-so. What makes gossip what it is is your reason for telling it. The implication is always “I'm not as bad as that person!”

    Also, most of what passes as political discussion is nothing but gossip. Conspiracy theories are nothing but political gossip.

    By using the Law as only an external standard, the Verse 26 Man focused on appearances. As long as he looked like he was doing what he thought God wanted, he thought he was okay with God.

    One thing I must add concerning those caught in counterfeit religion: Most are not aware they are deceived or their religion is a counterfeit. Very few are aware that they have created a false religion. Usually, they will repent when they do become aware, but some will continue on the path they have chosen, and will persist in their deception because of pride or greed.

If you encounter someone caught in counterfeit religion, pray for them.

We have already seen several characteristics of counterfeits that distinguish them from the originals. Let me list them, and then give an example that illustrates them.

    Counterfeits differ from the true, original, genuine articles four ways:

          1. Their source.

          2. Their substance.

          3. Their standard.

          4. Their emphasis.

    I have a nephew who travels often for his job in advertising. He's smart.

    This job is the only one he has had since college. When he was about to graduate, he gave them his resume, and they said they didn't have any openings. He checked back a few weeks later and they said that they still didn't have any openings, but they would create one for him! Now, this company is not a small, local, or regional company. But they are located in Dallas, not New York. They are big enough that they don't have to be in New York to compete with the big New York advertising firms. If a company like that hires someone even when they don't have any openings, that person must have something going on between the ears.

    Also, in 13 years with the company, he went from rookie to principal. That means they treat him like a partner. On top of that, he works on one client's account exclusively for one month a year, and he leads a team of 100 people when he does.

    I guess I've established his mental capabilities.

    Yet, this smart guy visited one of those big city neighborhoods I mentioned earlier, and he bought a Rolex watch... for $8.00.

Now, you are probably wondering, “Why would such a smart guy like him buy such an obvious knockoff?” Well, like most smart people, he has a somewhat warped sense of

humor. He bought it as a novelty item! And he could definitely afford eight bucks for a novelty.

    This watch looked like a Rolex. It even kept good time... until one of the hands fell off.

    Now why did that hand fall off?

          1. It didn't come from Rolex. If it was a genuine Rolex, that hand would still be where it's supposed to be. Rolex makes their products to last. So, the phoney watch didn't come from the same source as a genuine Rolex.

           2. It wasn't made from the same stuff as a genuine Rolex. I'm sure Rolex is picky is about the material they use in their products. The hand could have been made from a metal that was too soft to maintain a tight fit on the stem. So, the knockoff wasn't made of the right stuff.

         3. It wasn't made to the same standard as a Rolex. As a drafter, I am aware of the kinds of standards that companies use in the design of their products. I've had to show those specifications on drawings. They are usually called tolerances. Tolerances specify how much variation is allowed in the size or placement of a feature. The fake hand could have had a mounting hole that was too big, or the stem might have been made too narrow to maintain a tight fit.

            4. The counterfeiter's emphasis was not the same as Rolex's. His emphasis was to make a product as cheaply as possible, and make it look as much like a Rolex as possible. On the other hand, Rolex emphasizes quality and value.

    Now, to complete the picture, I must move on to examine true religion.

INTRODUCING TRUE RELIGION

Verse 27 describes true religion pretty well, but our understanding might be lacking. The keys to fuller understanding are two clauses that I believer most people just skip by.

James describes true religion as and pure and undefiled. If you think those are the same, they are not.

“Pure” means clean from the source. It refers to the original status of the substance or, item, and indicates that it comes with no contamination, or foreign substances or objects within.

“Undefiled” means that the object or substance remains pure. No one adds any foreign substances or objects to it.

What we often miss is that true religion is pure and undefiled IN GOD'S SIGHT.

Why is this distinction important? Because God sees not as man sees.

    “Now the LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.'

    “But Samuel said, 'How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.'

    “And the LORD said, 'Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you.'

    “So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, 'Do you come in peace?'

    “He said, 'In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.'

    “He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him.'

    “But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' “

    (1Sam. 16:1-7 NASV)

To understand this passage, we have to go all the way back to the death of Moses.

    When Moses died, Joshua took over as leader of Israel, because God already designated him for the position. But when Joshua died, no one was named as his successor as leader.

    Without a leader, the people drifted off into into idolatry and other forms of sin. This weakened them to the point where one of their enemy nations came in, took over and oppressed Israel.

    The people then cried out to God for deliverance. He sent them a leader who got them back on the right path and led them to victory over their enemy. But when that leader died, they drifted away from God again, and right back into the same mess they were in before.

    They repeated this cycle several times, and each time, God provided a leader. These leaders were called judges, and you can read their stories in the Book of Judges.

    Samuel was the last judge of Israel.

    When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over the people, but his sons did not follow his path. The people saw this, and considering their previous pattern of idolatry, oppression, and deliverance, they also saw danger in letting Samuel's sons take over after his death.

    So, they asked Samuel to to appoint a king to rule over them. They assumed that a king would keep them on the right path,or he would lead them to victory over their enemies. (1 Sam. 8: 4-5, 19-20)

    God finally spoke to Samuel, and led him to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel. (1 Sam. 8 & 9)

    Saul was okay at first. He did his job as king, leading the people to victory over their enemies. (1 Sam. 10; 13: 1 – 4) But he soon got off into disobedience, first concerning an appointed time for sacrifice, and then concerning the eradication of the Amalekites.

(1 Sam. 13: 5 – 12; ch. 15)

    God had to reject Saul as king for his disobedience. Samuel grieved over Saul, and might have hoped for Saul to be restored. But Saul had set himself on a course that he would not repent from. We see this from the monument he erected to himself. (1 Sam. 15: 12)

    That brings us to 1 Samuel 16.

    When Samuel went to Bethlehem, he knew only that he was to anoint one of Jesse's sons as God's king. Saul was the people's king, because the people wouldn't accept God as their King (1 Sam. 8:7). God was now going to choose a king for Himself (1 Sam. 16:1), a man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13: 14).

    Because Samuel didn't know beforehand which one of Jesse's sons was God's choice, he simply reacted to Eliab's appearance and stature. (1 Sam. 16:7)

    Let's consider why Eliab impressed Samuel.

    We can presume that Eliab was good-looking, maybe even handsome.

    He was probably tall because the passage specifically mentions his stature. This could also mean that he was muscular as well.

    How did he develop those muscles? By working on his father Jesse's estate. So, he was a hard worker.

    As the oldest son, he learned to handle responsibility. We know from later passages that

he was a soldier in Saul's army. From having learned responsibility at home, he was most likely put in command at some level in the army.

    To sum it up, tall, handsome, muscular, hard-working, responsible, leader-of-men Eliab looked like king material! Except to God.

    Why? Because God looked at Eliab's heart and saw something that disqualified him.

    I don't know for sure what disqualified Eliab from kingship in God's eyes, but I believe it might have been pride.

    You see, Saul was also tall, handsome, hard-working, and a leader of men (1 Sam. 9: 2). Characteristics like these can lead to pride. Pride led to Saul's downfall. God saw the same potential for pride in Eliab that was already operating in Saul.

    Just as Eliab was disqualified to be king, David was qualified for kingship – because of what God saw in their hearts.

    Because God looks upon the heart, true religion is pure and undefiled in God's sight, and not man's. The religion created by Verse 26 Man was pure and undefiled in his own eyes.

The conclusion, then, is that true religion comes from the heart.

Now, let's look at the next characteristic of true religion: the visiting of orphans and widows.

    But wait a minute... Verse 27 adds something here: “...in their distress.” Why add that phrase? Aren't all orphans and widows in distress?

    Not necessarily.

    An older orphan who is big enough and strong enough can get a job or go into slavery. Slavery wasn't necessarily bad under the Law of Moses. Remember the Jubilee? Slaves were set free in the year of Jubilee.

    Adoption was another option. In a similar fashion, orphaned children could be inherited by the parents' surviving relatives, or by a covenant partner if the father had made such a covenant.

    But in the case of war, famine, or disaster, the entire community has been affected, so no one would be available to take in orphans. Also consider orphans that are too young to work, or they are sick or crippled. Orphans in these conditions would be in distress.

    In a similar manner, a widow could not be in distress just because she is a widow.

    Provisions for widows were written into the Law of Moses.

    First was the provision that if a married man died without children, but he had a surviving brother, the surviving brother would marry the widow and raise up children for the dead brother. Even though this was for the dead man's sake, his widow would benefit.

    Second, the Law made provision for widows through the tithe. God primarily intended the tithe to provide for the priests and Levites while they served at the sanctuary. At other times, they would live in cities spread throughout the land of Israel. In those cities, they could own property, raise crops or livestock, run businesses, or apply a trade. But when they went to serve at the sanctuary, they would leave those provisions behind. The tithe consisted of crops, livestock, wine, or olive oil. But because the tithe would often amount to more than what the priests and Levites needed, any excess would be available to the poor, including widows.

    Widows had other options: remarriage, getting a job, or being taken in by family.

    For example, consider the case of Peter's mother-in-law, the woman Jesus healed by rebuking her fever.

    Where was she when Jesus healed her? In Peter's house.

    Why was she in Peter's house? She lived there. We see this by what she did after Jesus 

healed her – she got up and waited on Him and His disciples.

    That means she went directly to the kitchen, pantry, or hearth to search for food and drink. I'm sure Peter's wife wouldn't let just any woman into her kitchen, unless she was part of the family. After all, if anything came from HER kitchen, it had to be kosher! So, she wouldn't let just any woman use HER kitchen!

    How did Peter's mother-in-law come to live in his house? She was a widow, and Peter took her in because she was family.

    Now consider a widow who is too old or too sick, with no chance of remarriage or of going to work, and she has no family to take her in. Also consider a young widow with young children who are totally dependent on her. She also has little chance of remarriage or work. Such widows would be widows in distress.

    Why would taking care of such orphans and widows be part of true religion? Because that reflects the Father's heart.

    God cares about every human need, especially the most desperate, even physical needs. If he didn't, Jesus would not have healed anyone, or fed the thousands.

The final characteristic of true religion we need to explore is holiness, or holy living. God describes it as remaining unstained by the world. James also states in chapter 4, verse 4, that friendship with the world is the same as hostility against God, and being a friend of the world makes you an enemy of God. That sounds very similar to another New Testament passage, doesn't it?

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

(1 John 2: 15-17 NASV)

John goes into more detail about how the world can stain us. He identifies three factors he calls the things of the world. They are the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. These things are based on our five physical senses.

    The physical realm contains objects that have a pleasant effect on our senses. This in itself is not evil, for that is often part of part of God's design of creation.

    What is evil is when we develop intense desires, lusts, that dominate our thoughts, emotions, plans, and actions. Paul describes this in Romans as “worshiping the creature more than the Creator.” Jesus described it as “lusting in the heart.”

    Now, God designed our physical senses to serve us. But when we develop these lusts we become slaves to our senses. In our lusts, we seek out these objects that appeal to our senses, based on pleasure.

    Before I go into the breakdown of of the things of the world, let me review what the five physical senses are. They are sight, feeling, hearing, smell and taste.

    Years ago, the Holy Spirit gave me the breakdown of how the things of the world relate to the five physical senses.

    The lusts of the flesh are the things that feel good, sound good, smell good, and taste good.

But what about the sense of sight? Well, the sense of sight accounts for both the lusts of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.

    Why? Because the sense of sight is so dominant in people that we take in more infor-mation about the about the world around us through our eyes than we do through the other senses. Not only that, we often associate information taken in from the other senses with information we take in with our eyes. I have an illustration of this that I call the Apple Pie Allegory.

     Let's say, just for Illustration purposes, that your #1 most favorite dessert of all time is apple pie, with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Now, this is just for illustration; your actual favorite might be something else. But let's say you love apple pie so much that you would rather have it more than chocolate cake for your birthday! (Remember, this is just an illustration! If any chocolate lovers are reading this, please hold your comments!)

Now, let's say that a restaurant chain runs an advertising campaign promoting a special on apple pie a la mode. They put ads in newspapers and magazines, and on radio, television, and the Internet. These ads feature a slice of apple pie, with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. You can see a few wisps of steam rising up from the pie, along with a trickle of melted ice cream running down the side. The syrupy filling also glistens a little.

    You see one of these ads. Your eyes take in all the details I just gave you. But that is not all!

    In your mind, you can smell the apple, the cinnamon, the crust, maybe even a hint of vanilla. You can taste them too!

    And you can feel the textures as if you had taken a bite: the light, flaky crust, the syrupy apple filling, the smooth ice cream.

    Now, you haven't actually taken a bite of anything. No apple pie or vanilla ice cream is before you, just an image, a picture in an advertisement. But your memory causes you to experience all of those sensations in reaction to seeing the ad.

    One minute you are looking at the ad. The next minute, you grab your wallet and keys, and head out the door because you just gotta getcha some!

    This also works in reverse. Information we take in through our other senses will bring images to our minds.

    Let's say you are in a part of the house away from the kitchen. So, you don't see that someone has slid an apple pie into the oven. Before too long, the aroma of apple pie comes wafting into the room where you are.

    You inhale deeply, and relish the fragrance of apple, crust, and cinnamon. Your mind imagines one of your plates with slice of apple pie on it. You know a fresh half-gallon of vanilla ice cream sits in the freezer. Then you rush down the hall, asking, “When can I have some? When can I have some? When can I have some?”

    I think I've shown just how much the sense of sight dominates our perception of the world around us. Now I can give you the complete breakdown of the things of the world.

    The lust of the flesh is what feels good to me, what sounds good to me, what smells good to me, what tastes good to me.

    The lusts of the eyes is what looks good to me.

    The boastful pride of life is what makes me look good; not what makes you look good, but what makes MEEEEE look good!

    How does true religion keep your unstained by the things of the world?

    By mortification of the flesh through strengthening of the born-again spirit.

    We could also say the source of true religion is the Law written on the believer's heart at the rebirth through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Remember what I said about connecting Christianity and true religion. Christianity is not religion, but it is the source of true religion.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF THE TWO TYPES OF RELIGION

I have prepared a chart to show side by side the characteristic of the two types of religion.

CHARACTERISTIC	COUNTERFEIT RELIGION	TRUE RELIGION
SOURCE	Man acting on lies, either self-told or told by Satan or demons	The Law written on the heart at the rebirth
SUBSTANCE	Works performed by man's strength: rites, rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, offerings, lip service	Acts of charity and holy living performed in obedience to the born-again spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit
STANDARD	External moral and ceremonial codes	The Father's heart
EMPASIS	Adherence to moral and ceremonial codes, or the appearance of moral character	Obedience to the Law written on the heart, or the promptings of the Holy Spirit

KILLING SACRED COWS #1 - PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

With this entry, I am starting a series of blog posts addressing beliefs and doctrines that are widely popular in the Church, but I no longer accept them.  I wanted to wait before putting anything out in the public arena, but I have been challenged by a couple of friends to speak up.  One says the Church needs to let go now of wrong doctrine and come into a clearer view of the Truth.  The other one says that not speaking out can have unwanted consequences, as when someone knows of some danger, but they don’t speak out, and other people are hurt by their silence and inaction.

So the gauntlet has been thrown.  I must respond.

Before I even present the first sacred cow, I have a few comments to make:

People do become attached to doctrines, and they let their doctrines define them.  We must overcome this tendency, because that is one that Jesus and the Apostles had to fight when they encountered resistance from religious people.  Now, I am not calling anyone religious, but even believers who diligently seek after Truth can be deceived by doctrine that sounds good.

So, understand this, I AM NOT ATTACKING YOU!  I am only attacking doctrine that is untrue.  If you are a born-again believer, I care about you.  I want you to know the truth.

If you have difficulty reading my comments, please stop reading and go look at something else for a while.  Give your emotions time to cool down.  Then divorce yourself from your emotional attachment to your doctrine and come back.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first ‘sacred cow’ doctrine up for slaughter:

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT HEAVEN HAS STREETS PAVED WITH GOLD.

Does it really say that?  If so, where?

The passage that is usually cited for this is in Revelation 21: 10 - 22: 5.  Let’s take a close look at it.

“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
   “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
   “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
   “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
(Rev 21:9-22:5 KJV)

Now, I normally use the New American Standard version, but I will use the KJV this time.  I quoted the entire passage to show that I am not taking things out of context, but I will be looking at details that we often overlook.

Is this passage talking about heaven?  No.  Look at the first two verses:

Rev 21:9 "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.  (10)  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,"

Notice what the angel said he would show John, and also notice what John said he saw.

The angel said he would show John the Bride, the Lamb’s wife.  No mention of heaven there.

John said he saw the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending OUT OF heaven and coming from God.  Okay, this verse mentions heaven, but it clearly states it is not talking about all of heaven, just the city of Jerusalem.

We often call this the New Jerusalem, but that name is not given in this passage.  However, in Rev. 21:2, John said he saw the city of New Jerusalem coming down OUT OF heaven.  In both verses, 2 and 9, the terms “coming down” and “descending” come from the same Greek word, ‘katabaino.’  This word always carries the idea of downward movement.  In other places, it is rendered as come, go, get, step, or fall down.  What the angel showed John was a city leaving heaven.

But, what is this passage really talking about?  It’s not talking about a place, it’s talking about a people - THE CHURCH!

What is a city without people?  It is just a place that has a lot of unoccupied buildings, or the ruins and remnants of buildings.

I live in Kiefer, Oklahoma.  Despite being a small town, it played a big role in the development of Tulsa from a small city on the Arkansas River into the one-time Oil Capitol of the World.  But Kiefer is not just a place, it is people.  Without people, Kiefer would be a ghost town.  The state of Oklahoma has many such towns.  All you will find of some of them is a road sign that indicates where the town once was, but people may still refer to that area by the name of the town.  Kiefer is not the town it once was, but it is definitely not a ghost town!

Now, when I pay my city utility bill for gas, sewer, and trash service, I take my bill and a check over to city hall, and a PERSON there will take my check, stamp the bill, detach the stub and hand it back to me.  If I were to report a crime in my neighborhood, the Kiefer Police will show up to investigate.  If I report a fire, volunteer firefighters from Kiefer will come to put out the fire.

I guess you get my point by now:  People make a place into a city, and not the place that makes a people.

But who are these people that John is talking about?  They are us, The Church!

For a moment, let us consider these verses:

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
Rom 7:1-4 KJV 

This passage tells us that we are married to Christ.  But is that individually, or collectively?  Or both?  It is both!

Now, we know from Pastor Dave Roberson’s teaching on the Born Again Trail, that Romans 7 is talking about a Jew who is not born again and is still under the Law of Moses.  These verses then show us that Jews who are born again are no longer under, or married, to the Law of Moses.  They are now married to Christ.

But what about Gentile believers?  Aren’t we married to Christ also?  Yes we are!

Now, consider Galatians 3.  I won’t quote the whole chapter here because I need to make you do your own homework anyway, so go read it now, and come back.  I will direct your attention to verses 6 - 9 and 26 - 28.

Paul wrote this letter to Christians in Galatia who had been seduced into subjecting themselves to the Law of Moses.  To free them from this false responsibility, Paul made the following points:

1. Salvation, healing, and the miraculous works of the Spirit come through faith, not Law.

2. Abraham operated in faith before the Law, and those who operate in faith share in Abraham‘s blessings.

3. The Law was temporarily added to Abraham’s covenant because of man’s sin nature, and the Law was a tutor to point people, especially Jews, towards Christ.

4. If you are in Christ, you do not need the Law to obtain or even maintain your relationship with God, no matter who you are, and you are not only God’s child, you are Abraham’s child as well, and a participant in Abraham’s covenant.

Therefore, if God makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile for those who are in Christ, and if born-again Jews are married to Christ, then born-again Gentiles are also married to Him.

(Side note - a marriage is also a covenant.)

Okay, so I’ve talked about us being married to Christ, but what does that have to do with the city of New Jerusalem being the Church?  Look at Eph. 5: 22 - 32:

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.   For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.   Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;   That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

This passage makes quite clear that The Church = The Bride of Christ.  Now, consider that Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians were written BEFORE Revelations.  The Apostle John, having lived in Ephesus towards the end of the first century, must have known what Paul had already written concerning The Church being The Bride of Christ.  So, when the angel told John about the Bride of the Lamb, John immediately knew he would be seeing The Church.

In case you need me to spell it out more clearly:

The Bride = The Wife of The Lamb = The City of New Jerusalem

Jesus Christ = The Lamb

Therefore

The Bride, The Wife of The Lamb = The Bride of Christ = The New Jerusalem = The Church

So, the image of The City of New Jerusalem is a symbolic representation of the Church.  I won’t go into details of what each item represents, except for one, but I need to say one more thing about this in context.

Consider the first 3 verses of Rev. 21 -

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

John saw The New Jerusalem AFTER the creation of The New Heaven and The New Earth.  The New Jerusalem is a picture of The Church in The New Creation, after The Millennium!  In this City of New Jerusalem, God is going to come to live with us!

Now, let’s take a closer look at Rev. 21:21:

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”

Ok, now we are getting around to the “Streets of Gold.”  But did you take a really close look at the second half of that sentence?  It doesn’t say “streets“, it says “STREET!”

And the verse doesn’t even mention pavement.  You can have a street without pavement.  Ever see a Western?, Not many paved streets in the Old West back then.  You can also have a pavement without a street.  Most parking lots are paved.  Modern cities usually require parking lots to have a sealed or paved surface.

So, the STREET of The New Jerusalem is not paved with gold, it is gold!

The Greek word translated “street” is ‘platus’ or ‘plateia.’  It means a wide road, street or place.  I haven’t searched it out yet, but this word might have been adapted into Latin and Spanish, and become the basis for the English word “plaza.”

Now, consider the dimensions of The New Jerusalem.  Here I will refer to the NASV, because it has already converted the dimensions into modern measurements.

Rev 21:15-16 NASV  "The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.  (16)  The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal."

Now, this describes a cube.  The length of each edge of each side of the cube is 1,500 miles long.

Let’s consider what these measurements would mean if this were a physical cube.

The Contiguous 48 States, also known as the Lower 48 by people in Alaska, is about 3,000 miles across.  Placing a 1,500 mile x 1,500 mile x 1,500 mile cube on top of those states would cover half of that area, extend well up into Canada, and reach well into outer space.  For reference, the troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere where weather occurs, is only 12 miles thick at the equator, and 6 miles high at the North and South Poles.

Imagine that, a city that would cover most of North America, it extends well beyond the atmosphere, and it has ONLY ONE STREET?!?

Still think that this passage is describing a physical city?

Like I said, I would describe only one of the symbolic representations in the passage about the City of New Jerusalem.  I’m not going to blast away a false doctrine without bringing out Truth to replace it.

What does this “street of gold” represent?  It represents the divine nature of The Church, or the born again spirits of believers who make up the City of New Jerusalem. 

In the Bible, God set much of the symbolism in the Old Testament, especially in the Tabernacle of Moses.

The Tabernacle of Moses itself was a tent with two chambers, and that was surrounded by an outer court.  The two chambers were the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

The only metals used in the outer court were bronze and silver, and no gold was used or seen in the outer court.  Gold was the only metal used inside the two chambers of the Tabernacle, where the priests would minister in or before God’s presence.  Every piece of furniture there was either made entirely of gold, or completely covered with gold.  Therefore, gold is closely associated with God’s presence, and represents divine nature.

If you want a more in depth explanation of the symbolism incorporated into the Tabernacle of Moses, I can recommend a book, Let Us Draw Near, by Judson Cornwall.

Now, what about the people who died, went to heaven, and then came back, or they had a dream or vision of heaven, and they describe what they had seen as matching the popular doctrine?  I don’t care what they had seen.  I’m not going to deny that they saw what they said they had seen, but I’m not going to base doctrine on what anyone SAYS he has seen if it doesn’t measure up to the Word.

Col 2:18-19 NASV  "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,  (19)  and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God."

Now, I am not dismissing teaching visions and dreams.  These help to explain and clarify Scripture, but not establish doctrine.

I know that many songs have been written about heaven, and they often mention streets of gold, but I remember hearing only one song from long ago that almost got it right.  That song said that heaven will be heaven because Jesus will be there.  Actually, Jesus is already there.  He is also here, and in our hearts as well.

Now, one final issue to examine concerning this doctrine: Just how dangerous is it?  What harm is there in believing that heaven has streets paved with gold?

At the very least, it is a distraction that draws attention away from Jesus.  Ever hear of that accusation made against some believers that they are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good, meaning that they are so focused on heaven that they will neglect even the most basic earthly needs of others?  The appeal of walking on "streets of gold" blinds them to the needs of people around them.   I remember hearing of someone on a missionary trip that tried to hand out Bibles to an impoverished area, but the people refused them saying, “We can’t eat your Bibles.”  That does not measure up to the example of Jesus, Who healed, delivered, and even fed multitudes.

At the worst, this doctrine reflects carnal thinking that allows believers to accept or continue to believe other false doctrine.  Too many believers today have an escapist mentality fed by beliefs like this.  Who wouldn’t want to escape a dreary or dreadful life of poverty, hunger, sickness, injury or violence to go live in a mansion in a city with streets of gold?  No wonder so many people also fall for the false prosperity teachings, for they too are carnal doctrines that offer people an easy escape from their woes.  Acceptance of one carnal doctrine makes acceptance of other carnal doctrines easier.

And speaking of escapism, wait until I get into Sacred Cow Doctrine #2!