There are many religious teachings and practices, popularly accepted, that are completely without Scriptural support! Many assume what they’ve heard or been told is right, but ideas assumed to be true can be entirely false. Many religious concepts and thoughts, assumed to be Biblical, are completely wrong, and actually un-Biblical and anti-Biblical! Some examples:

1. “Join the church of your choice.” No one in New Testament times “joined” the one church, let alone the church of their “choice.” First, the Lord added to the church, men didn’t “join” it (Acts 2:47). Second, there were no choices! The Lord built His church (Matthew 16:16-18), and it was, and is, one (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:4; Colossians 1:18). There were no competing denominations in the first century, nor should there be any today!
2. “One church is as good as another.” Where does the Bible say anything like this? Nowhere! If one is talking about the “churches of men,” I suppose one is about as good as another. But if one is talking about the church the Lord promised and purchased, built and bought, it was and is, one, and nothing that man can invent, design, or establish is anything like it!
3. “Infants should be baptized.” At no place in the New Testament record is there an example or a command for any infant to be baptized. And those who practice such, do so by “sprinkling” or “pouring,” neither of which is Bible baptism, anyway. Baptism is for those who believe (Mark 16:16), repent (Acts 2:38), and confess Christ (Acts 8:37), none of which an infant can do. And the Bible teaches that baptism is “for the remission of sins,” something an infant doesn’t possess! Infants are not sinners needing salvation, for they are safe – they haven’t sinned. But Bible baptism is for those in need of salvation (Acts 22:16).
4. “Our preacher is a wonderful reverend and a great pastor.” Never in the Bible is the word “reverend” used to describe any man, including preachers – it only describes God (see Psalm 111:9 for the only use of that word in Scripture). And the word “pastor” is a synonym for “elder” – each congregation is to have a plurality of “elders” or “pastors.” While men may use the word “reverend” and mean nothing but respect by it, if we are determined to speak as the Bible speaks, we will avoid any such unscriptural terminology or flattering titles.
5. “It doesn’t matter what you do in religion, as long as you are sincere.” This idea is not found anywhere in God’s Word! Sincerity is essential to pleasing God; but there are some who are sincere – and sincerely wrong! Think about Paul before his conversion: was he religious? Zealous? Sincere? Dedicated? Committed? Conscientious? Yes, he was all that, yet he was wrong – dead wrong – in persecuting Christians and fighting against the cause of Christ. He had a clear conscience and pure sincerity, yet his actions were completely against God!
6. “Man is saved by faith only – just believe.” The Bible uses the expression “faith only” but one time, when it says “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). Not only does the Bible not teach we are justified by “faith only,” it says the very opposite! Not “faith only,” but it is obedient and active faith that save (Galatians 2:26-27; Hebrews 5:8-9; Matthew 7:21-23).

There are many other examples we could cite of men and women acting religiously without Divine authority of sanction. Let us approach any religious concept and practice with one thought: what does the Word of God say about it? Let us, in our desire to please the living God, be driven to the Scripture to know God’s will. Anything else is insufficient!

-John M. Brown