Lesson 7: Faith’s pure religion
James 1:26-27
 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
27 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.

There are countless religions in this world. Nearly every country has something of its own culture mixed with what the leaders think are good practices (at least good for themselves) for people to follow. Most people are able, at least to a small extent, to follow religious practices in their own abilities – at least enough to make others think they are following all the rules.

 But religion alone is not good enough to impress God. No religion is good enough to bring us to God for one specific reason – all man’s religions have at their heart one single purpose: we want to make ourselves acceptable to God.

To demonstrate that no religion can ever make this possible, James gives us one example in our verses today: we must control what we say. This is impossible for us because to control what we say we would first have to control what we think. This we cannot do!

In Romans 3:10-18 we read the reality of ourselves: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”


 When James wrote these words, he was speaking to people who were deeply religious – their religious practices were part of their national and cultural identity. These people prided themselves in how well they kept their rituals and all the other pieces of their religion. And yet, James says they would not help the helpless.

All through this book of James we find Jesus’ dislike for any system which thinks some people are more important than others. Since families without a man who was able to work were the poorest in the country, these were also those most ignored by others.

Pure religion – religion based on our relationship with God rather than trying to please Him – is never about us. It is always about caring for others as Jesus would have cared for them if He were here on earth. It is a caring that has the purpose of bringing those people to Jesus so He can heal them spiritually forever, so they can become useful members of His kingdom to do the same for others.

Memorize Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.