James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
I've wondered for some time how it's possible, as some people seem to think, to use "religion" as sort of a Bad Word while taking these scriptures seriously.
To me, it's like reading "Rescuing Precious Souls from the Bondage of Hope" or "Rescuing Precious Souls from the Bondage of Humility." Of course, not everything labeled with a Good Word is a good thing. As the example of "hope" well illustrates, an abusive twist on a good thing may be sadly easy and even popular. In such a case, though, why throw out the good thing in response?
I am not advocating any religion and indeed would love to see all come to saving faith in Christ.
The term used here, IIRC, refers to devotion which FOLLOWS from faith. It also appears as “godliness” in the verse sometimes rendered “The mystery of godliness is great.”
What Gendron is warning about, and unfortunately his style can get over-polemic and serve more as a red herring than to illuminate, is systems of devotion where there is no saving faith to root it in. In that case it’s just our own busy work in which we hope to impress God.
Maybe because the Greek word used in verse 26 is different than the Greek word used in verse 27? The first Greek word used in verse 26 does mean religion but the second Greek word used in verse 26 and the Greek word used in verse 27 means worship more so than “religion”. If you translate those words correctly you get a little better picture of what is being said.
James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion worship is vain.
James 1:27 Pure religion worship and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.