{"id":87257,"date":"2011-11-09T21:26:24","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T21:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=87257"},"modified":"2011-11-09T23:15:26","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T23:15:26","slug":"true-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=87257","title":{"rendered":"True Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0True Christianity is not merely affiliating with a certain church or denomination. It’s really about what God has done in your heart through faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

James talks about “pure religion” in James 1:26-27. Belief shows itself in action.<\/p>\n

True religion is a matter of the heart toward God, not a rigorous adherence to external rules and codes and traditions. Being truly righteous without pride is winsome; it attracts other people. But arrogant legalism that condemns and confronts at every opportunity to aggrandize one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self, is an abomination in the sight of God.<\/p>\n

Spurgeon said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If your religion doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make you holy it will damn you. It is simply pageantry in which to go to hell.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In that sense, external religion is like an empty husk. It may have an appearance of godliness on the outside, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hollow on the inside.<\/p>\n

The word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchusk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is defined as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an empty shell; a remnant.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But living faith in Christ is the true kernel that alone can satisfy the empty heart. A kernel is defined as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The central or essential part of something.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The husk of religion may resemble the true kernel of Christianity at certain points, but unlike a Spirit-filled heart set aflame with a passion for the supremacy of Christ, external, self-righteous religion is empty at the core.<\/p>\n

In James 1:26-27, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking about the difference between worthless religion and true religion (which is a life of joyful obedience to God). You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll notice that he uses the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153religious\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the positive sense of one who is devoted to God.<\/p>\n

And instead of being theoretical, James remains very practical. It all boils down to a unity between the inner and the outer man in submission to God. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s look at these two verses in James, 1:26-27.<\/p>\n

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. [ESV]<\/p>\n

These two verses describe two different types of relgion. One is true, one is false.<\/p>\n

James is assuming that God-centered religion in its most altruistic form can be a good thing, but only under God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dominion.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The worthless husk of external religion manifests a lack of self-control and a deceived heart (1:26).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00ef\u00bb\u00bfThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what verse 26 is all about. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion is worthless.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0In our modern usage we would say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153that person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion is a joke.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Without personal holiness exhibited by self-control, especially control of the tongue, religious conformity is just a worthless husk. External acts and deeds may resemble<\/em> the true kernel of life-changing Christianity, but that resemblance is only superficial.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

In verse 26, James addresses the whole church in his audience: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If anyone<\/em> thinks\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The Bible is open about the fact that many of the people who associate with the visible church are not really devoted to Jesus Christ.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

They may be devoted to religion<\/em> or a tradition<\/em> or a denomination<\/em> or a system of theology<\/em> and nothing more. You can do all of that and still not know Jesus Christ.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

For some, church is a social outlet. For others, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to network and market yourself. For others, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a family tradition. But none of this is about Jesus. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are many people who \u00e2\u20ac\u0153think they are religious\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and indeed they may be externally religious.<\/p>\n

The problem this religious person has, according to James, is that he \u00e2\u20ac\u0153does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Hebrew mindset, to deceive your heart is to be morally<\/em> wrong and not just intellectually wrong. Worse than mental deception is heart deception.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

This self-deceit is manifested in the inability to bridle the tongue. They talk and talk and talk when their greatest need is to be quiet and listen. The more they talk, the more deceived they become. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the big deal about bridling one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tongue? What does that have to do with religion? Well James says a lot about the tongue in this letter. The tongue refers to our speech in general\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the words that come out of our mouth.<\/p>\n

To control your tongue is really to have a heart controlled by God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Spirit under any circumstances. The heart is the foundation of the tongue.<\/em> The first 12 verses of chapter three are all about the natural difficulty of controlling the tongue.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons this is important is because controlling our tongue is an indicator of self-control in general. The tongue is a little microcosm of your ability to discipline every other part of your life.<\/p>\n

Where the tongue is critical, divisive, self-righteous, or angry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c James indicates that there is usually great sin hidden in that person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart.<\/p>\n

When I go to the doctor for a check-up, my doctor is always wanting me to have my eyes examined by an ophthalmologist. The reason for this is that the circulatory health of the eyes is an early indicator of the circulatory system of the whole body.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a microcosm. The eyes are the first place where problems usually show up. If the eyes are good, then the rule of thumb is that the rest of the body is probably good too.<\/p>\n

James applies this same concept to the tongue. If the tongue<\/em> is under control, then the heart<\/em> is probably under the restraint of God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Spirit as well.<\/p>\n

When your tongue is bridled, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re revealing that the strongest impulses of the human nature have been mastered by God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Spirit.<\/p>\n

But the tongue is extremely difficult to control. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the easiest place for sin to occur.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been estimated that the average<\/em> person will speak about 18-thousand words in a day; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough for a fifty-four-page book every day.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a year that amounts to sixty-six 800-page volumes! Many people, of course, speak much more than average. Up to one-fifth of the average person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entire life is spent talking. James and Jesus both say that our mouths display our hearts.<\/p>\n

We need to set a guard over our thoughts and words as Christians.<\/p>\n

Guarding with you,
\nPastor Kevin\u00ef\u00bb\u00bf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0True Christianity is not merely affiliating with a certain church or denomination. It’s really about what God has done in your heart through faith in Jesus Christ. James talks about “pure religion” in James 1:26-27. Belief shows itself in action. True religion is a matter of the heart toward God, not a rigorous adherence to … <\/p>\n

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