What does EGW write about...
Ellen Gould White über: "Religion can become self-deception"
Answer
Religion can become a dangerous self-deception when people confuse the mere form of godliness with its true power and imagine themselves to be pleasing to God while living in contradiction to His will. This deception leads to feeling spiritually rich and righteous, although in reality one is spiritually poor, blind, and exposed. Often one's own judgment of the Word of God is placed above, and sinful inclinations are justified under the guise of piety.
The danger of religious delusion
There is no greater deception that can seduce the human spirit than one that makes people believe they are in the right and that God accepts their works, while they sin against Him. They confuse the form of godliness with its spirit and power. They assume they are rich and need nothing, while they are poor, wretched, blind, and naked and need everything.
Self-righteousness as the greatest deception
Here lies the greatest deception that can affect the human spirit: These persons believe they are right when they are wrong. They think they accomplish a great work in their religious life, but Jesus eventually tears off their self-righteous shell and vividly shows them the true picture of themselves with all their wrongdoing and their distorted religious manner.
Deception under the guise of religion
Much deception is practiced under the guise of religion... These deceived souls flatter themselves that they are spiritually inclined and especially consecrated, while their religious experience consists more of a fragile sentimentalism than of purity, true goodness, and self-humiliation... “A pure and spotless religion before God the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted by the world.”
The deceitful heart and self-flattery
It is difficult for us to understand ourselves and have a correct knowledge of our own character... There is a danger of self-deception and of thinking that the warnings and reproofs [of the Word of God] do not apply to me. “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately evil; who can know it?” Self-flattery can be mistaken for Christian zeal and fervor.
- Self-deception in religious life
- Form of godliness without power
- Danger of self-righteousness
Original Sources (English)
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