Religion Vain or Pure?

Rev Dr Das Koshy

Religion is primarily a matter of the heart. It is loving and serving God with all our heart and with all our soul (Deut 11:13; Josh 22:5; 1 Sam 7:3; 12:24; Jer 29:13; Joel 2:12; Eph 3:17; 1 Pet 3:15). But it cannot be kept as a secret from others’ notice. The inner experience of religion will result in outward practice of it. One’s devotion of heart will manifest itself externally. Religion affects our whole conduct.

Such outward expressions will provide evidence to the real nature of one’s religiosity. In his epistle, James wrote about certain outward expressions of religious men in the church, which either proves or disproves their religiosity. He wrote, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:26-27).

Vain Religion

James’s major concern in verse 26 is about churchgoers whose “religion is vain”.

Vain religion is found within the church. Hence, the statement, “If any man among you”. By putting the matter thus, James also expects every man to deal with himself so that he might evaluate his religion. An individual inquiry ought to be done by everyone who “seem to be religious”.

James’s caution to his readers was against what “seem to be religious”. There is a need to guard against every kind of simulation in the religious life. There may be much zeal, as in the case of the Pharisees. There may be much apparent charity and benevolence towards fellow church members. There may be apparent love for God’s Word and commitment to God’s service. Each and all of these things may exist in the life of a man in whose heart there is no true religion.

People who feign to be religious are many in these last days. Hence, we need to examine ourselves to see whether we walk in true piety before the Lord. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor 13:5a).

James specifies the sin that proves the vainness of all apparent piety of churchgoers. It is that of not bridling the tongue. According to verse 26, the apparently religious man who “bridleth not his tongue” is a man who “deceiveth his own heart” concerning his piety. This single uncontrolled sinful propensity cancels all appearances of religiosity, and shows that there is no true religion.

The person who speaks uncharitably, maliciously, slanderously, who gives ready utterance and free circulation to misrepresentations, suspicions, insinuations—who propagates false charges, or true ones in a bitter, envious or malignant spirit—assuredly bridles not his tongue. The reviler, the backbiter, the whisperer, the reckless, the instigator, the provocateur and the publisher of bad names and injurious rumours about fellow brethren are all guilty of not bridling their tongues. An unbridled tongue would also engage in swearing, cursing, jesting, perjury, frivolous talking and blasphemy.

Why does James make so much of the bridling of the tongue? It indicates a rooted deception of the heart. The man with an unbridled tongue may think he is right and just in saying what he says against others, though in reality his aggressive words are a manifestation of his insubordination, rebellion, jealousy, unforgiveness, pride and all such evil of heart. The tongue, let it be remembered, is regulated and ruled by the heart; for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt 12:34, 35).

Proverbs 26 gives a clear description of the corrupt and heinous nature of the unbridled tongue. Here we are forewarned that seven abominations are found in the heart of the one who engages in malicious spreading of rumours. “He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; when he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin” (Prov 26:24-28).

Let us remember that religion is designed to bring the whole man under control, and to subdue every faculty of the body and mind to its demands. If the tongue is not restrained, and if there is any uncontrolled propensity to sin with the tongue, it proves that there is no true religion. So make the subduing and controlling of your tongue the subject of your daily prayer.

Pure Religion

James then spoke of “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father”. This can be false piety, as no simulation can impress the all-knowing God. He is the Father of lights (Jas 1:17), and nothing is hidden from Him. Moreover, He is the source of “every good gift and every perfect gift”. Nothing impure and defiled will be acceptable to Him. Hence, only that which is consistent with His purity and goodness can be considered as pure religion.

There is a twofold expression of pure religion. The first, according to James, is “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (Jas 1:27a). Not all orphans and widows are in affliction. It is such who are in dire need and trouble that James is referring to. Every true Christian must be compassionate as his Father is, especially towards children and women who are in a peculiarly desolate and distressing condition. The duty specified is that of visiting these afflicted ones, which includes every kind of friendly, compassionate help that can be rendered—counsel, aid, defence, soothing their sorrows, supplying their wants, vindicating their rights, etc. We are to come into contact with them—to go to them in person—to minister to their needs.

The second is “to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27b). Here strict purity is enjoined. The world is corrupt and hence a very defiling thing. And, mind you, we are not even to be spotted by it, we are to guard against the slightest stain, avoiding all its vanities as well as its vices. From every kind of worldliness we are to “keep ourselves”. Be pure and kind, as your Father in heaven is.

To Equip and Reach Out

(Samuel Eio’s Testimony of 18 May 2009 in Application to Study Full-Time at Far Eastern Bible College, Commencing 4 January 2010)

I am a fourth-generation Christian, as my mother’s grandfather was a preacher of the gospel in China. From an early age, I have been exposed to biblical teachings and Bible stories as I grew up in Life Bible-Presbyterian Church at Gilstead Road. There I was also baptised as an infant. I reaffirmed my faith in Christ at the age of 14. Despite all these outward forms of religion, I must confess that the journey toward true repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ did not come easy for me.

I find it strange when people ask me if I remember being converted. I cannot quite remember when, but it must have been when I was about six years old, when I did ask the Lord Jesus to come into my heart. There was no dramatic conversion – life remained pretty much the same, largely because of the fact that church-going and Sunday school was still very much a weekly habit for me. Singing Christian songs in the Children’s Choir and memorising 50 verses every year in Sunday School were some of the activities I remember as a child.

However, every time I heard a thought provoking message about examining my faith and whether I was truly saved, I would begin to feel uneasy. At that time, I was also attending Anglo-Chinese School, a Methodist institution, where they had an annual Religious Emphasis Week, during which we would be encouraged to pray the sinner’s prayer. I almost always prayed that prayer, year after year, for I feared condemnation and God’s wrath and hellfire. I suppose I wanted to be saved, but not for the right reasons.

As a teenager, I spent many days in doubt about my salvation, which is ironic, since I had undergone reaffirmation of faith. I found myself struggling with many old ways, and felt guilty for my repeated sinning. Finally, after reading a book by H A Ironside (the title I cannot recall fully but it was something like “Assurance – to know you’re truly saved”), I realised that there is no other name under heaven given among men that I could be saved, except by our Lord Jesus’ Name. His Person, His works and His Righteousness are the bedrock of my faith, and God sees me as righteous through what His Son has done for me at Calvary, 2000 years ago. I know I can never fully comprehend the extent of His great love toward sinners like me. Humbly, I accepted the grace and salvation He so freely gives me; no amount of works done can be sufficient to repay. Today, if I find the Tempter casting doubts in my mind about salvation whenever I stray, I will look back to the Cross and what Jesus has accomplished –not at my ability, not at my own works, but HIS and claim His shed blood as the oncefor-all perfect payment for my sins. My salvation is a product of His grace and –thanks be to God – through faith, I have received it.

In my present church, True Life BPC, I am serving in the Young People’s Fellowship (YPF). Serving in the YPF gives me opportunities to share His grace to those who have yet to believe and to reach out to the younger Christians who may be struggling just as I was in their spiritual walk. I also play the organ at Calvary Pandan BPC’s Sunset Gospel Bible Fellowship once a month, as an expression of thanksgiving for His goodness and for blessing me with the musical gift, that I may bless others as well. I believe one should constantly develop oneself and multiply the talents that God has given us, as good stewards of His manifold grace.

If God wills, in the next stage of my life, after spending about four to five years in a boys’ school as a science teacher, I should like to equip myself that I might reach out to more souls, even my children’s and to take the Great Commission even more seriously than I have ever done in my life up till now. May God help me to see that day! Amen.