I think most religions teach that anyone without the "spirit" of God [if the Spirit, as previously asserted, isn't a spirit that literally dwells in human flesh] within them are bereft of knowledge.
Man is composed of spirit, soul, and body. The soul is the mind, will and the emotions. The body needs no explanation. When you become Christian, God in dwells within your inmost man (your spirit) which is also in your body. It is the spirit through which God created so that we might have fellowship with him. We are all born into this world spiritually dead, in enmity towards God, with sin nature, a natural inclination to do that which is wrong. When you accept Christ, you become spiritually alive (and this is in fact the only way that you can become spiritually alive) and you can begin to live a supernatural life. It is natural to live a life a slave to sin, it is supernatural to be able to live above it.
I reckon it makes sense to you that pious and righteous Muslims, Jews, Buddhists etc are people who are still 'in their sins'? The most faithful religious scholars and devotees from over the world who pray, worship and commit to a good lifestyle are still in sin? The only sin left in this context is the sin of not embracing Christ in the Christian sense, which brings me back to my original point.
Yes, this is how it is. Religion is man's attempt to live a spiritual life in the wholly corrupted flesh. This is a fallen world, and we are all born fallen creatures. The Bible says that without Christ our 'good works' before God are like filthy rags. Simply put, you cannot live the Christian life apart from Christ.
Good works are only those things which God has commanded, just as sin is that which God has forbidden.
Have you perfectly obeyed all that God has commanded?
Have you ever lied? Have you ever lusted in your heart or desired what God has forbidden?
Have you ever put anything above and before God?
If so, then what you call a good work is nothing more than an imperfect work that a perfect and holy God will never accept. No person, except Christ, can keep God’s commandments perfectly; and therefore, all our good works fall short of what God requires. (Rom.3:23)
It's sort of difficult to imagine a saintly person the likes of, say the Dalai Lama, doesn't comprehend things due to his sins. The fella' is morally clean and neither does he worship idols. Regardless, he may study the Bible and intellectually reject it.
Well, I haven't done any extensive research on Buddhism. But I don't have to know the Dali Lama to know that if he hasn't accepted Jesus Christ as his savior that he is still in his sins.
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