What is Spiritual Skepticism?

Spirituality is spiritual skepticism and includes both self-made beliefs and formal religious systems outside of Christianity. Spirituality fails as a worldview because it is self-defeating; people trust their own flawed works as the means to reach a state of perfection and perfect peace. People want the freedom to get to heaven their own way. This is the “wide gate” leading to destruction that Jesus warns about (Matt. 7:13-14). The wide gate consists of as many techniques for climbing the stairway to heaven as there are people to imagine them.

But for the freedom gained by climbing toward heaven in one’s own way, there is the unending burden of the climb itself. Natural man would rather saddle himself with trying to live up to spiritual laws instead of believing that a perfect Savior has already done this on his behalf. Spirituality provides a temporary, feel-good sense of accomplishment, but it is a futile, self-serving attempt at salvation. The individual has only himself to thank for his efforts, but also only himself to blame when he realizes they aren’t good enough.

Romans 10:9 offers the liberation spirituality can not: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And in Galatians 3:2-3, Paul criticizes the people for reverting to laws and works to save themselves: “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”

This may sound like easy believism to some, but it is the “narrow gate” that few find. If it is so easy to merely believe, why aren’t more able to do it? Surrendering self-rule is the most difficult thing for mankind to do. Only in Christianity does one get to heaven by grace, not works. Doesn’t that alone make it worth investigating?