Thematic Bible: Religion characteristics of
Thematic Bible
FALSE » Religion characteristics of » False profession
They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage. Realize that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. They hear your words, but they do not obey them.
They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven -- only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.
They remembered that God was their protector, and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. But they deceived him with their words, and lied to him.
Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name 'Israel,' and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israel -- but not in an honest and just manner.
He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
FALSE » Religion characteristics of » Legalism
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today.
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.
When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers of the law.
But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?"
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
But some from the religious party of the Pharisees who had believed stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to order them to observe the law of Moses."
So the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?"
But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day."
So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat."
For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.
FALSE » Religion characteristics of » Ceremonialism
But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?
And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.)
So now why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.
If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?
They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.
Related Topics
- Christ Is Lord
- Circumcision, physical
- Complaints
- Deception, Forbidden By God
- Elements Of The Universe
- Fake Friends
- Freedom
- Jesus Healing
- Legalism
- Loving Children
- Mere Talk
- Nominal Religion
- Pharisees Concerned About Christ
- Pharisees, Beliefs Of
- Professing
- Ritual
- Showing Hypocrisy
- Subject To Evil
- Taking The Law To Heart
- The Sabbath And Christ
- Yokes
- Zealots
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- 11 more topics on Characteristics