You might think you are of this or that religion, or none at all, but you’d be wrong.
You see, what you call religion is actually more of an opinion about what you think you know and believe.
And like any belief or opinion, this can and does change over time, even if you don’t think that it does.
For instance, looking back you cannot say that your beliefs or opinions as an adult are exactly the same as they were when you were a child.
As you grow and mature your opinions and beliefs change, according to your life experiences and what you have learned from them.
Prevailing Religious Environments
Religion is more or less like a coat you put on, or take off, and it can be exchanged for a different color, style or type depending on the “season” of life in which you find yourself, or discarded entirely.
And although you can often tell the nature or character of a person by the type of clothing they wear, this is not always the case, and can change in a heartbeat, depending on the mood or temperament of the individual, or the current trend or style.
Opinions, and those of religious beliefs in particular, are more often formed as a result of peer or relation influences and personal experiences, rather than actual truth.
This is why the majority of the people of one nation may embrace Christianity, while another nation might be predominantly Muslim, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Jewish.
Changeable Religious Beliefs
Inevitably there will be some whose personal experiences will not conform with the majority, and so you will find those who profess a different religion than that of the majority in their country of origin, and yet others who are convinced to switch from one religion to another.
They do this almost as easily as you might change clothing styles, or dress differently depending on the weather or season of the year.
Putting off one religious belief, while embracing another, or none at all, depends entirely on external personal experiences and internal dialogue within the individual, based upon their unique perceptions of “reality” and their background.
Other Influences
Cultural influences, such as “entertainment” and sports can, and often does, influence religious beliefs, opinions and choices.
Religious choices can sometimes lead to surprising, unexpected results, that can seem so upsetting to many.
For instance, most Protestant Christians believe that there are just 66 books to the bible, and that these comprise the entirety and complete revelation of the Creator to mankind in this age, and that there is nothing more, or beyond that, that can be called inspired scripture today.
However, these ideas are based largely upon the Catholic Church canonization process, completed long before the Protestant revolution ever existed.
And this canon contains at least one apocryphal book of historical mythology, never discovered among all the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with all the legitimate Old Testament scriptures (i.e. the pseudo-“historical” book of Esther).
Likewise, the Catholic canon included an additional 14 books in between the “Old” and “New” testaments, some of which were historical treatises, while others were indeed apocryphal or pseudipigraphic in nature (attributed to an individual who did not actually author it).
None of these account for other books considered scriptural and quoted by inspired New Testament authors, and found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (ex: The Book of Enoch), which were entirely omitted by the canonization process, that apparently was not so inspired after all.
Canonized Or Not?
While Protestant Christians, particularly evangelicals, might chaff over this fact, the so-called “inspired” King James Version they so venerate is not the same as that of the 1611 edition, which contained all 14 of the books of the Apocrypha, unlike modern editions!
Some falsely claim the 1611 KJV “separated the Apocrypha from the Bible,” but it actually inserted these books in between the Old and New “testaments” as part of the Bible, just as the ancient Greek Septuagint version of the Old “testament” scriptures included these books as well.
Which means these books were part of the original Ibreyan (ancient "Hebrew") Bible from which the Greek Septuagint was translated. Additionally, many of these books were also found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
So we have some bibles that have 80 books, while other editions of the same bible have just 66, all of which contain at least one or more faux books of “scripture,” and are missing some vital inspired books of scripture.
This is hardly the basis for a consensus on which modern version of organized religion represents the whole pure truth, while in fact none qualify to carry the mantle of this banner, because all fall far short of the mark.
Missing Truth!
It is certain that your religion, whatever it presently is, does not embrace, accept nor believe and teach the prophesied restoration of all things!
To do so, your religion would first need to divest itself of every pretense that the truth was preserved intact and unforgotten down through the centuries, from the first century until today.
If that were true, there would be no need for all things to be restored in the first place!
Whatever your religion, if you fail to acknowledge this basic, vital pure truth -- revealed in such scriptures as “Joel” 3:1, Malachi 4:4-6, “Matthew” 17:11, Mark 9:12, Luke 1:16-17, and Acts 3:21 -- it is something entirely different from that true religion which will exist once the restoration of all things is complete.
For this to happen you must change your religious opinions and beliefs to conform with the renewed revelation of the pure truth to this age, through humble, respectful and tearful repentance, as a righteous king of Yasarel did when the book of Moses was found among the Temple scrolls (II Chronicles 34:14 - 35:19).
Vain Religion?
True religion, in fact, is neither Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or any of the other forms of religion so prevalent on earth in this most rebellious and wicked end age.
So this means that to attain salvation you must change your religion and conform your opinions and beliefs to only the pure truth revealed through the restoration of all things in this age.
Otherwise your religion, whatever it may be, is entirely in vain and will avail you nothing, come Judgment Day!