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James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
(NIV)


Pure - (1)free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt (2) free from every admixture of what is false, sincere genuine (3) blameless, innocent (4) unstained with the guilt of anything

Faultless - free from that by which the nature of a thing is deformed and debased, or its force and vigor impaired

I added these definitions in here to help in understanding the type of religion we are shooting for. We want the religion that God (THE God), our Father accepts. The religion that is clean and pure. The religion that is not deformed or debased. The religion that has its full power and vigor.

What is this religion? It is a two fold religion. It is both outward and inward. This is a theme that you will see throughout the book of James. You can't neglect one without affecting the other. They go hand in hand. Jesus tells us that all of our actions come from the heart. That is actually a great study, if you have the time. Look up all of the verses on the word heart. You will be amazed at what the Bible tells us about the role of the heart.
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