My last post dealt with counterfeiting and the world’s biggest counterfeiter, the devil. However, I saved this for a separate post as it is particularly angering to me. I would guess it also angers God in that it leads folks away from Him and to death, the counterfeiting of religion.

To the best of my knowledge, the Bible does not mention false religion that much before the flood. The first mention of idols, as near as I can tell, is when Jacob was returning to home with Leah and Rachel. Ever since, it has become a constant subject. It is why Israel was split into two countries. Soloman, in all his wisdom worshiped the idols of some of his wives.

And so it is, ever since, we read about false gods. One of the reasons God destroyed Egypt was because of false gods. One of the primary reasons that God allowed Israel to go into the promised land was the false religions being practiced there. And, finally, it is why Israel was overtaken captive and then Judah.

Repeatedly, the tribes of Israel turned their backs on God and they worshiped false gods, counterfeits. Over and over, that was the main reason for Israel’s sorrows. Oddy, even while Moses was getting The Ten Commandments from God, the Israelites were worshiping counterfeits. I would suspect the devil felt particularly proud of himself for that one.

But today, we don’t have false gods, right? Wrong. In the first place, there are still religions in this world that bow down before pieces of stone and pray to the things not living. They bow down before big likenesses of Buddha. They still worship all manner of gods throughout Asia and the South Pacific. They are all counterfeits and they have not the power…. Let me rephrase that. They have no power other than in the minds of those worshiping them.

God set up a religion for the Israelites. They were to worship him only at the Temple and only Him. They were given strict instructions as to how. They were to bring to Him the tithes and sacrifices to the Temple. They were forbidden to worship any other gods anywhere at anytime. Yet, from time to time, they worshiped the counterfeit gods even to the point of sacrificing their children. Then, after being punished, they repented and turned back to God.

Where did the idea of the counterfeit gods came from? You need to ask? Isn’t it obvious. The devil was behind the false gods. He was behind the false religions, and he was behind the idea of sacrificing children. The end of all of this was great sorrow, even without God’s punishment. The natural result of counterfeit religion is sorrow and grief.

When Jesus rose alive and left an empty tomb, the world changed, I would guess instantly. It is my guess that it changed more than any other time, except for possibly during the fall of Adam and Eve. How did it change. Well, I can make a list but let’s stick to the basics.

First and foremost, it allowed the salvation of man. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, if He is not alive physically, then Christianity is just another empty religion. It is just a way of life that helps one man get along with the other. It is just another nice idea.

The evidence is solid. He did arise so Christianity changed the world. No longer is our relationship with God a religious one. When we are saved, we are instantly and forever the sons and daughters of God. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, and we are left here on earth for primarily one reason, to teach others so they too can be born into the Kingdom of God.

And yet, you look around and the counterfeit religions persist. People worship in churches that say they teach Christianity, but they are counterfeit. As said before, for the counterfeit to succeed, it must look real. And there are many churches that look real but they teach religion. If they teach religion, I submit they are counterfeit because of all the religion they teach.

I would suspect, God is tired of religion. He wants to do away with it in all forms. So, when you want to speak to God, go to him through the name of Jesus. There is no other way. Certainly, God can and does use others to speak to us, but if so, make sure it agrees with the Word of God, the Bible. Make sure that those speaking aren’t speaking of themselves too highly.

The other day, I heard a man speak about how we should go to church on Saturday, not Sunday. Well, that’s religion. It refers back to the commandment to remember the Sabath to keep it holy. That simply carries not a drop of water. Most of those who wrote the New Testament worshiped on Sunday. It is a celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. Moreover, we are encouraged to bring our offerings the first day of the week, Sunday. (I Corr 16: 1&2)

If a church leadership wants to worship on Saturday, fine. I have no problem with that. However, let’s not condemn the first disciples for worshipping on Sunday. That is religious and it is counterfeit.

Also, when we want to confess a sin, which will be good, let’s confess to God. He and he alone can forgive us. It is a power that He reserves to Himself and He does not permit it to even the highest clergy.

Most of all, let’s get the counterfeiting (religion) out of the way of our relationship with Jesus. That will be much better, especially for us.