April 16, 2020 __ I Kings 18:40 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a new religion appeared within the walls of Protestant churches that rejected the inerrancy of Scripture, Christ’s miracles, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross, and the virgin birth.* In the place of the teachings of Scripture were teachings on the brotherhood and goodness of man, including some good but not exclusively biblical principles. Other religions and other gods were no longer viewed as leading souls to hell but expressions of other faiths, which Christianity could praise and learn from. Missionaries no longer sought to make disciples of Jesus Christ in every nation but sought to help pretty good men and women become even better.

Today it is not uncommon for Christians to admire the leaders (i.e. pope, patriarchs, bishops, priests, Dalai lama, etc) of other religions and perversions of Christianity. We sometimes seek to find the good in other religions because of their good works or zeal rather than remembering the truth of Jesus Christ that alone sets free from death and sin. I remember one person saying to me that Muslims are just as zealous as evangelical Christians. There is only one problem: One’s zeal towards a cause does not save. Only Jesus saves. 

If zeal or religious devotion saved or counted for merit with God, Baal’s 450 prophets would have carried the day. I have never seen a minister of the gospel cut himself with knives and run all day out of zeal for Christ. Few Christians have prayed for hours straight, let alone run around in circles and jumped up and down from morning to night. But Baal’s prophets did this. If blind religious zeal merited God’s favor, then the true God would have responded favorably to Baal’s prophets by sending fire on their sacrifice. 

Instead, the fruit of their idolatry was their death (vs. 40). Not one of Baal’s prophets escaped. 

Through their religion’s history, artwork, writings, and elaborate architecture, leaders of false religions seek to persuade people to take their eyes off of the true God and to appreciate the false gods of this world. Liberal theologians in many leading academic institutions teach a Christianity that is difficult to distinguish from secular beliefs or universalism. It is no wonder then that many churches teach the same thing.

In His judgment on the prophets of Baal, God teaches us that He does not find good in false religions and their followers. He  will destroy them. Where is Diana of the Ephesians today? Where are her followers? Where is mighty Dagon of the Philistines? Where are Ashtaroth and Molech? What happened to the great gods of the Romans and the Greeks? They are gone – forgotten, extinct, destroyed. We should pray for the conversion of the lost, witness to them the pure, free, and unchanging gospel and grace of Jesus Christ, and call them to repent and believe; but we should never stand in admiration of their vain zeal and devotion that leads only to death.

The judgment of God can sometimes be difficult to reconcile with our understanding of God’s mercy. I always find Psalm 136:16-21 very helpful. God’s judgment of His enemies is mercy to God’s people. With the destruction of these false prophets, God delivered the Israelites from those who had devoted their lives to leading others into idolatry. Jezebel was still alive at this time, but her power would be decreased and soon her day of judgment would come, for God’s mercy endures forever!

Consider God’s mercy today. He is showing the greatness of His judgment that we might find refuge in Him alone who delivers us from the judgment, even Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Many are the vain imaginations of the world when it comes to the Bible, Christianity, and other religions. None of those imaginations will stand on the great day of the Lord. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ of the Scripture alone. Nothing else is worthy of our trust, for nothing and no one else made us or saves us from our sins.

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*This false religion became known as theological Liberalism or Modernism. You can read more about this false religion, which is alive and well today, in many books, the best of which (in my opinion) being “Christianity and Liberalism” by J. Gresham Machen.

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