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Pure Religion
April 13, 2013

The new commandment given by Jesus before his death is the very essence of pure religion, and in a time of financial hardships, wars, and rumors of wars we can become so focused on prophecy that we confuse this with pure religion. In last week's study, I showed how I feel different from virtually all other Christians. Those who observe the weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days, which I believe must kept, are distantly far from this new commandment. On the other hand, those who tend to be nearer to this new commandment have done away the weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days, and Christianity is not an either/or religion, but one of a deeper commitment and this concept is explained by Jesus in an example given his disciples during his earthly ministry. For those who observe Sunday, Easter, and Christmas it may be easier to understand this new commandment as a commandment in addition to rather than instead of.

Matthew 5:17-48
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

I am convinced that those who read these words take away different meanings, because Christianity is so incredibly varied. Growing up in a first century apostolic church, I can't begin to count the number of times I heard the sentence of verse 48 quoted, and perfection as taught came across as being super-legalistic. There is probably somebody reading this who keeps Sunday and Easter and Christmas and is thinking that the church succeeded with me. Many from a first century apostolic church would read this and other studies and consider me to be a big liberal. Liberalism and Conservatism are relative terms, and I know somebody who almost didn't vote for John Kerry in 2004 because he was too conservative. For those of us who sit on the right of the political aisle, it is hard to conceptualize that some would see John Kerry as too conservative. While many were taught that perfection was something that required superb and ultra obedience, the earliest writings of the Christian era show perfection to be something entirely different. As hard as it may seem, one of the last books of the New Testament, the Book of James, was the first to be written and James wrote about perfection.

James 2:14-22
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

James, writing in closest proximity to the earthly ministry of Jesus wrote that it is works that bring perfection. Interestingly, among the first century apostolic Christians are those who will say works is obedience, only obedience. These verses and surrounding verses show that works is obedience and much, much more. The Greek word for works is transliterated as ergon. It can mean business and employment, anything done through effort, an act or deed. The root erg may remind you of ergonomics, the science of how to match the demands of the workplace to the physical capabilities of the workers. It may also remind you of the term erg, a unit of mechanical energy. So what is the something beyond obedience we are to do? Again we can read verses from James to arrive at an answer.

James 1:19-27
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 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.

James shows we have to be doers of the word if we wish to blessed and then explains what pure religion is to God and shows those who practice pure religion not only keep themselves unspotted from the world, meaning they have obedience, they also visit the widows and orphans in their trouble, and way back then if you were a widow or orphan, you were in a really bad place. Today we not only must obey God we have to do something beyond such as helping those who are in a really bad place, and help could mean financial help, worldly goods help, spiritual help and simply giving them a place to belong by including them. If we want to avoid Malachi's curse, we must move beyond obedience into perfection through works, and as we do this we overcome evil and do so because we celebrate what is good, embrace what is good, and do what is good.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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