Franklin Camp
Jude speaks of “contending for the faith”—that is, objective faith—the written revelation, upon which personal faith must rest: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
Any “religious experience” not based upon what God has said is false. One’s “religious experience” must be tested by what God said, not by what one thinks God “says” through an alleged “religious experience.” Testing what God wills by one’s “religious experience” today is the basis of false religion. Abraham had a “religious experience,” but it was based upon what God said (Gen. 22:1-13). Salvation is a “religious experience” when it is based upon what God said. Worship is a “religious experience,” but it must be based upon what God said (Acts 17).
The Athenians were having a “religious experience,” but it was not acceptable unto God, because it was not based upon revelation. One can find people gathered everywhere in worship engaging in some kind of “religious experience,” but this does not mean that their experience is acceptable to God. Every “religious experience” one has must be in harmony with what the Bible teaches and must rest upon what God said. When one has some kind of experience unknown to the Bible, it is false and deceptive—and is not accepted by God.
It is time for men to turn back to the Bible, find out what it teaches, and then act upon it. The action then will be a “religious experience” that harmonizes with what God said. This will be acceptable unto God. Nothing else is or can be.
