What Does the Bible Say About Religion?

James 1:26-27

In this sermon we are going to look at the subject of Religion. According to google there are anywhere from 4000 to 10000 different religions in the world. Why so many? It is simply because religions do not work. Here we will look at what the Bible says about religion and why the real answer is not religion but a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The word religion is only found 5 times in a King James Bible. For those who study Bible numbers we know that the number 5 is connected with death, so we are already not off to a good start. Since there are only 5 times the word religion is found in the Bible we will look at each of these below:

What the Bible says about Religion

1)  Paul said he live as a Pharisee in the Jews religion (Acts 26:5)

• Jesus never had anything good to say about the Pharisees.

2)  Paul persecuted the church of God while he was a part of the Jews religion (Galatians 1:13)

• Have you ever known a religion to persecute people?

3)  Paul prospered in the Jews religion (Galatians 1:14)

• Ever known a religion to be prosperous?

4)  A man’s religion is vain if he cannot bridle his tongue (James 1:26)

• It is interesting that religion is said to be vain.

5)  Pure religion is defined in (James 1:27)

• The definition for pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keep yourselves unspotted from the world.

Religion verses A Relationship with Jesus Christ:

When we compare the definition of religion from James 1:27 with Ephesians 2:8-22 we see that having a relationship with Jesus Christ is the real solution, works will not cut it. Jesus says that he is the only way for a man to get to God (John 14:6 ; 1 Timothy 2:5).

Religions are all about do this and do not do that and the sad thing is that what religion will get most people is death. The root word for the word religion means to bind or to be bound. Religions simply bind people to the wrong thing. We must be bound to the Lord Jesus Christ, having a personal relationship with him. This is accomplished by faith (Romans 10:9,10,13).

The final question:

Are you religious but lost?