“How could anyone believe such absurdities?” is a question that has echoed over and over during our Sunday night study of world religions. We have all been flabbergasted by the enormous followings amassed by men and women who claimed to see visions, took it upon themselves to rewrite or revise scriptures, or declared they had received new revelations from God. How could people believe in teachings that were in clear contrast to the written Word of God, which has survived for thousands of years under intense scrutiny? Every religion we have studied rejects the blood of Jesus Christ as the only means to be saved from sin and receive eternal life. Some don’t believe in sin at all. All rely on performance. None depend on grace.
It’s easy to be critical. And dangerous to be arrogant.
I can identify with Paul’s words:
I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry-- one who was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. Since it was out of ignorance that I had acted in unbelief, I received mercy, and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"--and I am the worst of them. (1Timothy 1:12-15)
Had God not pursued me, and had His Holy Spirit not convicted me of my need for a Savior; had Christ not given His life for all mankind, including me; and had the Lord not been merciful and forgiven all my sin, I would be as hopeless and lost as any believer in a false religion.
Our study has made me more eager than ever to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone who does not yet know the Truth that will set them free. People are in bondage to the lies of false teachings all around us. They are at work. They are in our
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