That word has Latin roots: sacer (sacred) and legere (steal). The term has come to mean 'irreverence toward anything related to God'. A notable example can be found in Matthew 21:12-13 ...
Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
Sadly, this type of 'sacrilege' continues today. Many churches have become places of business, rather than sanctuaries of worship. If Christ came now ... how many things that are practised under the 'cloak of religion' would He find abhorrent?
Certain denominations 'steal' that which is meant for God alone and apply it to people, canonizing biblical characters and historical figures. Those who pray to saints and foster reverence toward icons and relics are also guilty of 'sacrilege' ...
For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)
Of course, one of the more blatant (yet shamefully common) forms of sacrilege is the profaning of God’s name, or that of His Son. It is in direct violation of the commandment in Exodus 20:7. When blasphemous words fall upon our ears, it should make us cringe. ...
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
The warning comes ... But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (James 1:22-24)
Refuse to be tainted by those things which come against the holiness of God.
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