Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them publicly, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME [you are banished from My presence], YOU WHO ACT WICKEDLY [disregarding My commands].' [Ps 6:8] |
Bible Question: I know there are many man made religions in the world. But if we all believe slightly different, and if our heart is right, and with good intentions, then who are we to say it's wrong?? Doesn't God look at the heart?? If the heart is right, who's to say??? Doesn't God only look at the heart, and it's intentions, and make His decision??? Isn't all religions man made??? |
Bible Answer: Hello, Serenetime; Everything Tim said in his reply is true - Jesus said he was the only way and I'm not about to argue with him. I'd like to address your last question. If by "religion" you mean denominations or particular congregations, yes, they are man made. In the case of Christians, they are the result of groups of people trying to create the kinds of fellowship and church governance that Acts and Paul's letters describe. But if you mean "religions" in the larger sense - Judaism, Christianity, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, etc., the answer is no, not all. Two of them were created by God - Judaism and Christianity. Now you may reply that while the Bible says that, there are other holy books that make similar claims. So why take the Bible's word for it? There are many reasons to believe that the Bible is truthful and therefore reliable. For me, a helpful reason is to ask of each holy book, "who wrote it?" The Qur'an was written by Muhammad, claiming that the message was from God. The Book of Mormon was produced by Joseph Smith, claiming that the message was from God. And so on. The Bible was written by ... lots of people over a period of many centuries. Some of them were historians, recording what happened when God intervened in the lives of people and nations that they knew about. Some of them were leaders who recorded their own experiences. Some were indeed prophets who claimed that their message was from God. But there were so many of them over such a long period of time speaking to different audiences who all described the same God with the same attributes and the same will. How could so many people, separated by such great distances of time and geography come up with a consistent message if it were not inspired by God? How could Isaiah (chapter 53) describe Jesus in such detail - in manuscripts that are known to predate Jesus - if God didn't tell him? I believe the Bible because I believe in Jesus Christ, but there are many who believe in Jesus in part because the Bible by itself is just plain believable. Peace and grace, Steve |