Religious Prostitution
By Dr. Ken
Matto
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark 7:7)
No this study is not about a bunch of religious people
turning tricks but it is about the wholesale slaughter of souls by way of false
religions which tend to dress themselves up and portray themselves as the way to
God by means of keeping to their system.
In the times we live in, massive amounts of people are placing their
trust in churches and systems in hopes that they will be able to get to Heaven.
Every religious system however teaches that their particular system is
the true way and therefore if strictly adhered to will guarantee them a placed
in Heaven. With all the different
religions on earth, how can they all be correct?
Prostitution is a counterfeit portraying itself to take
the place of something real.
Prostitution need not only be in the realm of sex but can be partaken of in any
type of discipline from business to religion.
The 1828 Webster’s dictionary gives the following definition of
prostitution:
(2) The act of setting one's
self to sale, or offering one's self to infamous employments; as the
prostitution of talents or abilities.
When someone dedicates
themselves to a religious system they are in essence selling themselves and if
they have talents or abilities, then they will be using them for the purpose of
endorsing a prostitute religion for others to become ensnared.
Religious prostitution has deadly everlasting consequences in that if
anyone tries to get to Heaven outside the biblical way, then they are doomed and
dammed forever.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John
14:6)
In John 14:6, Jesus stated that he is the way, truth,
and life. This verse is quoted so
haphazardly as if it is some kind of good luck charm.
It is the most direct verse in the Bible which states how a person can
get to Heaven yet it is the most overlooked verse.
If you notice Jesus uses the direct article “the” three times in this
verse. The word “the” denotes the
fact there is no second way to Heaven.
No one can go around the Lord Jesus Christ and get to Heaven.
Salvation is in Christ and nothing or no one else.
Many say that Christianity teaches an exclusivity in this area and that
we are arrogant to think that Christ is the only way.
You better believe Christianity is exclusive because the Lord Jesus
Christ made it exclusive. If there
were other ways, then the verse would use “a” instead of “the.”
Any religion which believes they can get to heaven outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ is a prostitute religion, a counterfeit.
False religions are not the only way a person can engage in religious
prostitution, it can be done on a personal level invoking a personal belief
system which can be melded into a larger belief system like a false religion.
So I want to offer four hints which may help you dissect your walk to see
if you are a religious prostitute.
As long as you are still breathing there is hope.
My Church Can
Save
One of the gravest mistakes people make is the belief
that their church can save them. Oh
the hierarchy of the church may not put it in that direct terminology but each
church has rituals and practices that their people adhere to and are very
confident that these things will propel them into glory when they pass on.
Let me give a personal example.
I was born into the Hungarian Reformed Church which is a Reformation
Church dating back to the early 1600’s.
We would take communion once a month and the Minister would ask 4
questions that the congregation would answer in unison.
When the four questions were answered the Minister would raise his hands
and proclaim “I as an ordained Minister of the Lord pronounce to you the
absolution and remission of your sins.”
Both of these means that the person is now acquitted of their sins and
pays no penalty for sins. Do you
see the subtlety of this heretical teaching?
They taught that Communion saves a person’s soul.
That is going outside of Christ for forgiveness of sins making that
religious prostitution. I saw this
for the first 27 years of my life before I became a Christian and even bought
into it when I was a teenager attending the youth group.
Another problem was that the ministers were all unsaved so their sins
were not even forgiven. In the
Roman Catholic Church they too have many rituals and practices which are
unbiblical such as confessing sins to a priest or the Mass which is supposed to
be the physical body and blood of Christ that gives forgiveness of sins when
ingested. Many people have bought
into the rituals of the organized church, both Catholic and Protestant, and over
the years have felt comfortable in those rituals making them a religious
prostitute because they think church ritual will get them to Heaven.
I Grew Up in
the Church
Many people think that because they were born into a
church setting and maybe they were baptized and confirmed in the church that
qualifies them for Heaven. I once
worked with a man who was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church for 46 years.
He was placing his eternity on the fact that he was a member of that
church. I had spoken to him that he
must be born again and that church membership would not get him to Heaven.
He told me that his son or daughter (I forgot who) told him the very same
thing which means my conversation with him was a confirmation of a previous
conversation he had with someone else.
Those who are born into a church setting and believe their church will
get them to Heaven if they remain from womb to tomb are religious prostitutes
because they are seeking their church for salvation and not Christ.
I am a
Spiritual Person
We hear this proclamation from people who are in
Hollywood to those we work with. It
is a defense mechanism which means they go beyond the physical realm but not to
Christ. There is always some type
of diversion in this belief system.
They may be into New Age, ancestor worship, environmentalists who see the earth
as “their mother,” astral projection, ascended masters, channeling, etc.
There are many ways a person can be spiritual but when the word spiritual
stands on its own, it could take on any meaning from the occult to Christianity.
That is why a specific definition is needed when speaking to someone
other than “that’s okay.” No it is
not okay because any involvement with the occult leads to everlasting damnation.
Most people today are occultic in their spiritual affiliations.
When a person claims to be spiritual but against Christ then you know
they are involved in occultic spirituality.
This is one of the worst forms of religious prostitution.
I Believe in Jesus
Which Jesus?
Almost every religion which has acknowledged Jesus has recreated him in
the image of their religion. It
must be understood that false religions will always fashion Jesus after their
belief system because no false religion will ever accept Jesus as he is truly
portrayed in the Bible. They all
have Jesus walking the dusty streets of Palestine as this great teacher who went
about doing good but they never see him as the Great I Am of Sinai who destroyed
the empires of Assyria, Babylon, Rome, etc. and who will be the final Judge on
Judgment Day. WWJD (What Would
Jesus Do?) was a movement which tried to soften the reality of who Jesus is.
They never factor in the real fact that Jesus was the Great I Am.
Without that you only get half a picture of who he is which is what most
false religions want. He is
never seen as the Judge but only as the nice guy who does what we tell him to
do. If you hold any view of Jesus,
less than what the Bible portrays him to be, you are a religious prostitute and
in danger of hell fire.
Summary
The bottom line is that if you believe that you can obtain salvation by any other way then through the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a religious prostitute. These sound like harsh words but they are true. There is only one true salvation and that is in Christ, all other methods are counterfeits and therefore qualify as religious prostitution. Religion only condemns a person to hell with confidence believing that they obeyed all the dictates of a particular religion. Religious people will stand before the Lord on Judgment day and will be heard with the following prelude to their defense, “But I.....” and Jesus will say: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23) That is why religion is eternally dangerous because it comes under the category of “INIQUITY.”