What Is True Religion?

What is true religion according to the Bible?

Widows

Religion isn’t about what you say but about what you do and James defines for us what is the right thing to do. It is what he calls true or pure religion James wrote“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). A few years ago when our church started a nursing home ministry, I asked how many of the residents at the Bible study were orphans and every single hand shot up. Then I asked how many of the nursing home residents were widows or widowers and again, almost every hand was raised except two where a married couple sat together, therefore part of what the Bible calls pure religion would be visiting these orphans and widows in nursing homes, assisted living homes, and shut-ins.

Orphans

Today there are so many single parents that many of these children are at least half-orphaned. This might be why there are so many agencies and churches that seek to help out single parents. Some children have to live with grandparents. They are orphaned in the sense that they’ve been removed from their biological parents for whatever reason and must have certainly endured some painful experiences. Some of these “orphans” might be spiritual orphans. They might be a young teen who is the only Christian in their family. They might be the only Christian, at least professing one, at their job. Some are actual orphans and are wards of the state and are often shifted from foster home to foster home. Any ministry that works with true or spiritual orphans can be said to be participating in pure religion.

Unstained

Another portion of living a life of pure religion would be keeping oneself unstained or unspotted by the world. What does it mean by unstained? Paul wrote to Timothy “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim 6:13-14). The context of being unstained is staying free of things that would bring reproach upon a person. Of Christ it was said that “it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Heb 7:26) so being unstained is refraining from becoming filthy in the sins of humanity. You can do all kinds of good for the widows and orphans but it if your life is stained by reproachful sins, then you cannot be practicing true religion.

True Religion

True or pure religion can be done only by someone who keeps themselves unstained or unblemished from the reproachful sins of the world. That doesn’t mean they’re sinless but it does mean they will sin less! The person who remains unstained from the world can then help those who are being afflicted and can then chose “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). The word for affliction is a word that means severe anguish or suffering but to be afflicted in the Old Testament could also mean to fast and pray due to a painful experience or loss or for deliverance from certain death. If a person really wants to help someone who is a widow or orphan and is living a life that is pleasing to God, He will open doors of opportunities for you to practice true religion.

Conclusion

True religion means genuine religion and not just doing it to be seen by others. Love is a verb; it is what you do and not what you say. The last I heard was only about 40-45% of nursing home and assisted care living centers residents had visitors. That means more than 4 in 10 will not see any visitors and will most likely not see family or relatives until they die, alone. This is what true religion really is; acts of love and acts of service. Part of that service is visiting the orphans and widows in their pain.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.