The testimony of how this former Hindu priest came to Christ is absolutely fascinating. ( Click here ) He explains how he came to enter the Hindu priesthood, how he became disillusioned with it, and how he finally came to know Christ as his Savior and his Lord.
What played a large part in his disillusionment with Hinduism is that despite the ritualistic practices of his fellow Swamis and no matter how much time they spend meditating and studying their sacred texts, he saw no meaningful change in any of them and felt no meaningful change in himself no matter what he did:
All around me, I saw swamis who had worshiped and studied for decades without experiencing any meaningful change in their lives. Why, I wondered, after all this fasting, reading, and meditating, were they still given to anger, jealousy, or spite? I didn’t feel like I was changing, either.
A few years later, I was ordained into the Hindu priesthood and began wearing the saffron robes of sacrifice. With my shaved head and holy appearance, I embarked on a pilgrimage to sacred Hindu sites across India. I bathed in the Ganges and other rivers invested with spiritual significance, hoping to cleanse my sins and gain a sense of renewal. But again, nothing in my inner nature changed. [1]
What sets Christianity apart from other religions is that adherents of other religions rely on one’s own merit, the keeping of certain laws and ordinances, and the performing of a certain set of rituals on a regular basis to obtain and retain the favor of God or whatever power they credit for their existence and before whom they believe they will have to stand and give an account for the lives that they have lived but Christianity, unlike other religions, addresses not just the outward performance, but also the inward condition of our very nature.
All the theistic religions of the world may agree that there is a higher authority greater than that of any man that demands that we all abide within a certain set of moral standards and must be approached with utmost reverence, but what sets them apart from Christianity is that while adherents of every other religion believe and teach that they will only be judged by their outward performance, Christianity teaches that even the very thoughts, motives, and attitude of the heart will also be taken into account which is why unlike what other religions teach, we cannot rely on ritualistic practices and that adherence to certain ordinances and moral standards to obtain the favor of the Lord and escape judgment.
The law of God was given for the purpose of restraining wickedness, establishing order in our lives, and for revealing sin which is the inherent inward corruption of our very nature which produces within us the very things that lead to the outward acts conduct that are identified as sinful or wicked behavior but the keeping of the law can never obtain the favor of God or grant us entry into His Kingdom because we are not able to keep it perfectly due to sin within us. In order to keep the law perfectly, we would have to keep it perfectly not just in our actions or speech, but we also must be able to keep it perfectly within our minds and within our hearts and if we fail at this even once, then we are guilty of sin and stand condemned before a Holy and Righteous God who is without sin. Even the least of all sins is subject to punishment and is enough to keep a man out of the Kingdom of Heaven and condemned to an eternity of unrelenting punishment and there are no amount of good works that will ever be able to atone for that sin and since God is perfect in every way, then so is His justice and perfect justice demands that a penalty be paid for any sin committed and no matter how good or pious of a person you think yourself to be, if you have failed to keep the law and commandments of God in any way, not even your best performance is going to be enough to obtain His favor or save from eternal damnation.
If God allows those who fall short of moral perfection into the Kingdom of Heaven, Heaven would then be as defiled as the earth has been defiled because sin affects more than we can comprehend and before it defiled the earth, it first defiled man but before sin entered into the world, the world was created to be a place of life, life, happiness, peace, joy and contentment and in which existed a perfect and uninterrupted harmony between God, man, and nature and in which man experienced an unhindered relationship with His Creator, and there was nothing withheld from man except for one thing and that was a fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned that in the day that they ate thereof, they would surely die, (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) but sadly, that warning was not heeded and the first man Adam and his wife Eve being the first woman and from whom we all descend disobeyed that one command and ate of that forbidden fruit and it was in that moment that sin entered into them and when sin entered into them, the sentence of death came upon them (Gen. 3:19) to which they eventually succumbed but the sentence of death did not stop with them. It was then passed down to all of us because we are descended from them and in being descended from them, we have also inherited that inward corruption in ourselves that the Bible calls sin (Rom. 5:12) which is why we all sin and as a consequence, we all die because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) and not only are the wages of sin death, but its wages also are estrangement from our Creator and eternal damnation and since we are all born into sin and since sin lives within all of us, we all fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) which is moral perfection and if we are to be morally perfect, it isn’t just our outward performance that has to be made perfect, but our inward person also needs to be made perfect as well, for as it is written “cleanse first that which is within the cup and of the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Mt. 23:26), for as it is also written that man is not defiled by that which is from without but that which is from within (Mt. 15:11, 17-20) which is why the Creator demands not cleanliness outwardly, but an inward cleanliness to; a cleanliness within the heart and within the mind and how many who have trusted in their own goodness find themselves shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven because they were still in their sin in spite of all of the good things they might have done and how religious they may have been as the righteousness that they trusted in was not enough to redeem them of their sins because the righteousness in which they trusted was also tainted by the sin within them and if men cannot be redeemed and cleansed of all sin by his own goodness and righteousness which falls short of what is demanded of our Creator, then by what means can we escape judgment except by a goodness and righteousness that is perfect and without sin and if our own righteousness falls short of perfection then how can we be reconciled to our Creator but by a righteousness that is perfect and sinless, which is not our own righteousness but the righteousness of another who is without sin and willing to take upon Himself the penalty of all of our sins so that we might be rescued from eternal damnation and reconciled to our Creator? And yet there is no man who has ever possessed or ever possesses such righteousness to be able to take the demanded penalty for all sins on all of our behalf. The only one that can do this is the one whose righteousness is without sin and there is not one who is without sin but God alone and just as He is perfect in His righteousness and in His justice and goodness, so is He also perfect in His love and in His mercy and it is because of His love for all of mankind that He offers mercy and reconciliation and it is because of His love that He is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) and escape what would otherwise be an unrelenting and unimaginable eternity of torment and punishment beyond comprehension and it is out of His love for us that He came to us in the flesh (Jn. 1:1-14) and as a man who being God was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) and because He was without sin He, being God the Son, was able to present Himself before God the Father as a perfect sacrifice; (Heb. 7:25-27) the sinless God offering Himself up on behalf of sinful man, which He did through the shedding of His own blood and the sinless man who did this on our behalf was none other than Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, King, and God who, on our behalf, offered Himself up to be put to death for our sins which He did when he surrendered Himself to be crucified upon a cross and by the shedding of His blood was redemption on our behalf purchased and after having purchased in His death our redemption, was raised again from the dead so that we by faith would be justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but by faith call upon His name for the forgiveness of all sins (Rom. 10:9, 13) and it is by calling upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins that we are reconciled to our Creator (2 Cor. 5:18) and with the cleansing of our souls from sin and reconciliation to our Creator comes an inward transformation and it is this inward cleansing of the soul and this regeneration which cause all who are willing to call upon Christ for it, submit to it, and embrace it to no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven, (Mt. 6:33)
to no longer take pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt. 6:25-33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
to no longer fear what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
And it is this inward reformation and transformation that is missing from other religions for while the fear of eternal damnation and offending what they believe to be God may drive them away from doing evil or what is perceived to be evil, for those of us who follow Christ, it is not just the fear of God that drives us to avoid that which is evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord but it is also our love for Him and our gratitude and appreciation for the forgiveness of sins that we receive in Him that not only causes us to avoid that which is evil and displeasing in His eyes but to also do that which is right and good in His sight and to faithfully obey and honor Him in all that we do and so this is what sets apart Christianity from all other faiths.
The other religions of the world demand that men earn the favor of God or what they believe to be a god or even a multitude of gods through the keeping of laws, ordinances, and the performance of certain rituals.
But Christianity preaches a God who has done for man what man could never do for himself and that is the offer of a redemption purchased on our behalf through the death of one who was without sin and then was made alive again so that, by our faith in Him will be justified in Him and by Him and the redemption that we receive in Him is offered to us and given to us by an act of grace, being a favor unmerited and unearned, but offered and given out of love for us, which is why it is written that by grace are we saved and not of ourselves lest any should boast (Eph. 2:8-9)
And just as we are made spiritually alive in Christ, so also we will one day be delivered from bodily death itself when our present bodies are changed from that which was born into corruption into that which is without corruption (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) but not only will we also see our bodies redeemed from death, just as our souls have been redeemed from eternal damnation, we will also witness creation itself, which presently groans and travails in pain to this day because of sin (Rom. 8:19-22) being delivered from the curse of sin when it is made anew and in that new creation, there will be no sin, no evil, no darkness, nor any curse. There will be no death, no decay, nor any pain, nor any hardship, no oppression, no misery, no cruelty, no despair, or any grief for all of these things will have passed away with the old corrupted creation but instead, there will only be life, light, happiness, peace, and harmony before the Lord God Almighty.
If you reader, no matter how religious or spiritual you might consider yourself and no matter how good of a person you try to be should find yourself wondering whether or not your goodness and even piety may be enough to escape eternal damnation and still find yourself dreading the possibility that, despite your best efforts to live a life of godliness, holiness, and righteousness, that you still may find yourself falling short of what is required of you and may still find yourself standing condemned then I urge you reader, that if you have not done so already, call upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all sins so that you will have peace concerning your eternity. It is just a simple sincere prayer of repentance away:
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
End notes:
1. Rahil Patel, “I Wanted a Bigger God Than My Hindu Guru Offered,” Christianity Today, April, 2024 Issue
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/03/rahil-patel-testimony-hindu-priest/
H O L Y B I B L E
Scripture references:
1. Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
2. Genesis 3:19 . By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
3. Romans 5:12, Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned —
4. Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5. Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
6. Matthew 23:26, Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
7. Matthew 15:11, What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
Matthew 15:17-20, ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
8. John 1:1-14, The Word Became Flesh
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
9. 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him (Jesus Christ ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Hebrews 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
10. Hebrews 7:25-27, ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
11. Romans 4:25, He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
12. Romans 10:9, 13 ⁹If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹³for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
13. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
14. 2 Corinthians 5:18, All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
15. Matthew 6:33, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
16. John 14:6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
17. Revelation 21-22,
Chapter 21 here A New Heaven And A New Earth,
Chapter 22 here Water of Life, Tree of Life, Book of Life
18. Matthew 6:25-33, Do Not Worry
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
19. Matthew 10:28, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
20. Ephesians 2:8-9, ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.
21. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Believers Who Have Died
¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.
22. Romans 8:19-22, ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
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