… with their self-imposed worship …
Summary: In this passage, Paul provides us with another clue to the difference between true and false religion.
The Greek word Paul used for “self-imposed worship” is “ethelothrēskia.”* (Pronounced “eth-el-oth-race-ki’-ah,” the word is a mouthful in Greek and English.) It is a composite of two other words that describe a kind of worship ceremonial in nature and that originates in the human will. An example of this kind of worship is given in Acts, chapter nineteen.
In the story told in Acts, the people of Ephesus traditionally worshipped a statue of a goddess named Artemis. At one point in the story, the city clerk describes the religion this way:
“Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?” (Acts 19:35)
Like many ancient religions, the focus of the religion is a man-made image carved out of wood or stone and placed in a temple made by human hands. In this case, “self-imposed worship” doesn’t mean that the people of Paul’s day invented Artemis worship on their own. Instead, it was invented by earlier generations and handed down in one form or another over the years.
So, what does the true religion of the One True God have to do with Artemis?
There are many kinds of law in the Old Testament writings, but the two types we are concerned with here are those that come from God and those made by man (ethelothrēskia).
The laws of God are always about two things. The first is loving God above all else, and the second is loving our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22: 37-40). In addition to the collection of Jewish writings we call the Old Testament, there are a number of writings and traditions that date back to ancient times.
There is an invisible line between the laws that are important to God and the laws devised by men. Not everyone agrees on where this line is. When Paul was known as Saul, in the days when he believed himself to be a Pharisee, Paul would have considered every tradition and rule of the Pharisees to be “law.”
As a believer in Jesus Christ, Paul sees the rules of the Pharisees very differently. Suddenly, the only thing that matters is Jesus Christ. Anything that doesn’t honor Jesus and claims to be necessary for salvation is “self-imposed worship.”
Application: Use the wisdom from God to spot the difference between true worship and “self-imposed worship.”
Food for Thought: Why do people accept “self-imposed worship”?
*”G1479 – ethelothrēskia – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (niv).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 19 Jan, 2025. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1479/niv/mgnt/0-1/>.
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