Sikhism in Light of the Bible

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world. Like Buddhism, Sikhism comes from Hinduism, which is older. Spin-off Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Sikhism teach many of the same things we see in Hinduism, including reincarnation, karma, and meditation. Although Sikhs claim to believe in one god, Sikhism affirms all of the Hindu gods and teaches that all roads lead to heaven. Over 90 percent of the people who practice Sikhism are from the Punjab region of India/Pakistan, and people who believe in Sikhism don’t even claim that it is for everyone. Instead, they will say things like, “We have our own god.”

In contrast, there are Bible-believing Christians in every country and language group. You can’t even associate Christianity with a certain ethnicity since people of so many nationalities embrace it. The Bible makes it clear that all people have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved and that his name is Jesus.

The Sikh religion is shrouded in mystery. One of the tenets of Sikhism is the significance of the name of their god or the “Nam” as they call it, yet they cannot even tell you what that name is. Their holy book, which is treated as a person, often gets its own dedicated room of the house. Some of them also say that each of the “gurus” were God, so a good thing to point out to them is that none of the gurus rose from the dead.

In the Bible, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an example of humility. In stark contrast, the first guru of Sikhism, who founded the religion around 500 years ago, instituted a ritual where Sikhs were required to drink the dirty water he washed his feet in. This practice continued until the tenth guru did away with it. Interestingly, the Bible condemns this strange practice:

“Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.” Ezekiel 34:18-19

Eastern mysticism is becoming more and more popular, with people in the Western world adopting many of its traditions. Yoga instructors will often teach people to open their mind to demonic influence under the guise of relaxation techniques. The only thing we should be meditating on is God and the Bible. God is the one who makes sure that we reap what we sow—we should not be attributing this fact to “karma.” Cremation of the dead is yet another Eastern practice that has crept into even Baptist churches.

The bottom line is that Eastern religions including Sikhism teach salvation by works, and they are not worshiping the God of the Bible. We need to reach Sikhs and other unsaved people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We love the Indian people, but we hate the false religions that are sending them to Hell.

“Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:104

Here’s a link to a gospel presentation in Punjabi, and here is a sermon on Sikhism in Light of the Bible.