Rays of Living Light on the One Way of SalvationPenrose, Charles W. (Charles William)
Religion
Rays of Living Light on the One Way of Salvation
Penrose, Charles W. (Charles William)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
One of the great errors into which people have fallen in reference
to religion is that God must accept any mode of worship, any sort of
ordinances, and any kind of church that men may establish, so long
as they are sincere in their intentions and devout in their desires.
God must be worshipped not only in spirit but in truth. His word is
truth. His Spirit is the spirit of truth. God's religion, then, will
be the truth, and nothing but the truth, and he will accept of
nothing short of this. The inventions of men, whatever may be their
motives, are not of God and therefore are vain. The precepts and
opinions and vagaries of man-appointed preachers and teachers, not
being authorized or inspired of God, cannot be relied upon and are
not acknowledged in heaven. Christendom as well as heathendom is in
a ferment with human conceptions and conflicting theories in
relation to God, his will, his purposes, and his requirements. The
result is spiritual Babylon, which is confusion. God is not with it,
for he is the author of peace, and order and harmony.
"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it;" so said the great Teacher whom
professing Christians regard as the Savior of the world (Matthew
7:14). He also declared: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). Also, "But
in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men" (Matthew 15:9). And further, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
(Matthew 4:4).
The nations that are called heathen are, no doubt, as sincere in
their idolatrous worship as are the Christian nations in their
opposing creeds and devotional exercises. If mere sincerity and
devout motives are sufficient for God's acceptance, then heathendom
is on a par with Christendom in the sight of heaven. But the
objector will no doubt reply, "Heathen religions lack the one
essential feature of acceptance with God, faith in Jesus Christ.
Having that, doctrinal differences do not matter; faith alone is
sufficient for salvation." "Christ is the way, the truth, and the
light, and whosoever believeth in him shall have eternal life." That
is another of the astonishing errors of modern religious people and
teachers. Seizing upon a few isolated texts from the New Testament,
relying upon the letter of the word alone, regardless of the spirit
and meaning thereof, they altogether ignore numerous other texts in
the same volume, which make plain the intent and signification of
those which they select. Their eyes are blinded to the pure truth,
they stumble in the way, and the blind leading the blind, they are
in danger of falling into the ditch together.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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