by Gary L. Evans
(revised 8/4/2023)
True Religion
Jas 1:26 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.
We must constantly remain on guard concerning other people who appear “religious” in this world, who appear on the surface to be Christian believers. James, who was one of our Lord’s brothers, warns us not to be deceived by certain people. And Jesus taught us The First Seal, that “many would come in His Name deceiving many,” meaning that many would come claiming to be Christians but instead would deceive the people with falsehood.
So in these verses, James is teaching about The First Seal and how to protect ourselves. He says we should pay attention to what they say, to what words come out of their mouths, because if their words are not consistent with the teaching of Christ Jesus and The Word of God then their hearts are deceived, and their so-called “religion” is empty of The Truth.
Jas 1:27 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.
The word “visit” is from the Greek, “ep-ee-skep’-tom-ahee” which means “to inspect, that is, (by implication) to select; by extension to go to see, relieve.”
So we should “inspect” those who are the “fatherless and widows” in this world. Who are they? Note that this Greek word is where we get the term “skepticism.” So we should tend to remain skeptical of other people who claim to be Christians. And what’s implied is that then we should “select” them, but for what and on what basis? And we should “relieve” them of their troubles. Just how should we relieve them?
The word “unspotted” is from “as’-pee-los” which means “unblemished (physically or morally).”
Christians must strive to remain unblemished, both physically and morally, from the influences of this world. Thus we are to remain on guard from allowing the things in this world to deceive us into becoming physically or morally defiled in our service to Christ Jesus.
Mat 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
Our Lord’s mother, Mary, and His step-brothers wanted to speak with Him. Recall that God Most High was our Lord’s Father, but Joseph, Mary’s husband, sired children by Mary also.
Mat 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Jesus used this event as an opportunity to teach a higher precept.
Mat 12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Jesus motioned to His students, His disciples, who were devoted to learning His teachings, and said, “Look here at My mother and My brothers!”
Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
So Jesus taught that the very persons who were His “mothers” and His “sisters” and His “brothers” were in fact those people in this world who obey God’s Laws, those who obey God’s Will. So when we look to see who are of our Lord’s family, we must look for those people in this world who obey The Will of God, and not people in the flesh according to some fleshy family lineage. Our Lord’s family members are thus to be identified by their minds, and by the thoughts of their minds, and by their actual behavior in this world. Indeed, this is a much higher precept than any earthly notion, because it is Heavenly in scope and importance to how we as Christians should think when we look at other people.
Note that one thing our Lord did not expound upon in the spiritual sense in His teaching here was Who was His Father. So a Christian may honestly say that he is our Lord’s brother, or sister, or mother in this world. But let no man claim to be His “father,” because Jesus never suggested that any man on earth was His Father. And any man who claims to be His “father” must then be a liar, a deceiver, a contradictor of our Lord’s teaching by addition, by adding to what our Lord taught in these verses. We know that our Lord’s Father was God. Therefore, let no man claim to be the Father of Jesus.
In fact, our Lord taught us not to even dare call some man our own father. Of course, He was teaching on the spiritual or Heavenly level in this precept. The notion of “father” is so critical to the Christian mind, that we must be very careful when thinking about it.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Jesus taught us not to call some fleshy man on earth our Father (upper case), because God is our Father in Heaven. Of course, a flesh man did sire our flesh body here on earth. And we should honor that man as our earthly father according to Commandment. But no flesh man sired our soul, that is to say, created our soul, because that One was God Most High.
Psa 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
So we see then that God is truly our Father in Heaven, the Father of our souls, and no man should be called our Father in that sense. Therefore neither did Jesus call any man on earth His Father. But He did call everyone who obeys The Will of God His mothers, and brothers, and sisters.
Beware of men who claim to be “fathers” of the members of the assembly of Christ. There are entire “religions” that claim to be “Christian” in which the high religious muckadee-ducks call themselves “fathers” and demand the people call them “father.” But they are all liars, and deceivers, and antichrists, because such demands are from false doctrine, and in direct transgression of the teachings of Christ.
Note that Lucifer claimed he would “sit upon the throne of God” and would call himself “The God.” And we know that that one, Satan, will be The Antichrist when he comes into this world. And these imposters claim that they are “fathers” and even claim to be “The Word of God Incarnate” and that the people should bow before them, which is the very same spirit of Lucifer when he declared that he would “be God!” Remember, Jesus commanded us not to call any man on earth our “Father.” Never do any such thing, my friends, or you will be deceived.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Jesus answered Thomas and explained that if he had truly known Him then he would have also known His Father and even have seen Him physically. Now that must have been a mind expanding declaration for Thomas to try to comprehend.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Then Philip chimed in and said, just show us The Father and that will be enough for us to grasp what you are talking about.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
And Jesus answered, “Philip, what’s your problem? If you have seen Me, then you have also seen The Father. So what are you talking about when you ask Me to show you The Father?” I’m sure Jesus probably wanted to give Philip a good head slap, but that was not a common gesture in those days. So we will have to perceive our Lord’s frustration simply through His Words. But Jesus had spoken clearly about this precept before.
Joh 10:30-31 I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus declared that He and The Father are One and the same. We know that this was the sense in which He spoke, because those self-righteous hypocrites standing around who heard Him say this immediately wanted to grab some stones and put Him to death!
Jesus said that He and The Father were One and The Same Person. And that is precisely why He was so frustrated with Philip when he asked Jesus to show him The Father.
Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
And this is what we believe, my friends, that Jesus is The Christ and indeed was God with us when He walked upon this earth. Note also that as believers and followers of Christ, God is our Husband, in the spiritual sense.
Isa 54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
We are those very “widows” that James was talking about. Now a widow is a wife whose husband has died. And a fatherless child is one whose father has died.
Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Christ Jesus is our Redeemer and The Holy One of Israel. Therefore He is our Husband. But we already know this precept well, because we are often taught in The New Testament how we are like virgin brides awaiting the return of our Groom, Who will come back at the end of this flesh world to call us to The Marriage Supper of The Lamb of God. True Christians are indeed those very “widows” that James referred to in his teaching.
Lam 5:1-3 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. Please Lord, have mercy and remember us and our suffering. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We have been robbed of our heritage, because aliens have invaded and robbed us of our lands and our houses. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
Our Father has died and we are like orphans. The Lord’s “mothers” are widows.
Joh 19:28-29 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
Jesus fulfilled all prophesies concerning The Messiah, and the last one was regarding the vinegar given to Him to drink on the cross.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
And thus it is written, our Husband and Father yielded up His Spirit. Therefore now you should fully understand true “religion,” to skeptically consider everyone who claims to be a Christian in this world and search diligently to find those who truly are as “widows and fatherless” in this world, our brothers and sisters in Christ, who along with us wait patiently for the return of our Lord and Savior, Who will come as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.