The spirit of Religion and the spirit of Mammon are Both Self-Centred, Seeking what One Wants for Oneself and Justifying it
The spirit of religion and the spirit of mammon are both manifest in the idea that earthly goods are a reward for one's righteousness, and that one is entitled to seek all that one wants for oneself Many religious people think that they have all that they have, because of their righteousness. They are exactly like the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18:18-24:
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Such people think that they deserve anything they have in their hearts. Despite claiming that everything comes from God by grace, they think that what they have is deserved by them because of their righteousness, to make themselves feel pride in their own works, while those who have less are 'less blessed' than them because they have less.
Owing to their law-orientated mindset which thinks that everything is a matter of being lawful and unlawful, they think that by reason of the law, more specifically adherence to it, what people have or not have, is determined by such. This is not simply a convenient explanation for religious people, although it certainly does provide such a function.
It is a ultimately a manifestation of the wickedness of their hearts itself, for the law and the ability for people to break it, gives them a justification to look down on others who have less, and to feel superior for having more. Such a heart is manifest in words like "I am so blessed!" or "How good is the Lord" in expressing happiness in how one has attained, whether legitimately, what one has. The law indeed a weapon to use against others, and such is a way in such the law can and is weaponised - by saying that they blessed because of their own adherence to the law.
The spirit of religion is always trying to justify its own wickedness, including its own pride, hatred, covetousness, envy and arrogance, and it is the law gives it the basis to do so because of how the law can be used, not because the law is wicked (Romans 7:7). This is because the law judges and condemns, and rightly demands punishment for sin. So, according to the law, being cursed is the right punishment for sin, while being blessed is the right reward for sin (Romans 7:7-25; Galatians 3:19-21). Under the law, indeed, those who fail to keep it will not be entitled to the promises of blessings from God, but rather, be liable to a curse. Only those who keep it should be entitled to such blessings from God.
However, this idea of law-keeping and the rewards of doing so, and the curses for failing to do so, only applied under the Old Covenant. Yet, even under the Old Covenant, being 'blessed' does not mean that one receives more earthly goods. Job is the most obvious example. Job was righteous before God and yet he lost everything. He by no means fell out of favour with God for having lost everything (See the book of Job). Hence, the idea of earthly things being 'blessings' or a sign of blessing is false, even under the Old Covenant. Rather, such things were only symbolic of what is to come in the future, foreshadowing the Heavenly Kingdom. Yet, what makes Heaven what it is is the presence of God, and not the heavenly treasure as the Holy Scriptures makes clear:
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
(Revelation 21:1-4)
For it is God Himself one must pursue by doing His Will, not any treasure, be it earthly or heavenly. Jesus said "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Only by keeping the Commandments of Christ, not simply outwardly, but also inwardly, can one truly claim to love Jesus. For those who do not love Jesus will not truly keep His Commandments, which is His Will. They may keep the outworking of the law as did the Rich Young Ruler, such as by not outwardly lying, stealing, or committing adultery, but they will not keep the Commandments of Jesus which can only be kept if one truly loves God:
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”'
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
(John 14:19-24)
For indeed, the Commandments of Jesus are to love God with all one's heart, soul and mind, and to love one's neighbours as oneself, for on this hangs the law and the prophets. As the Holy Scriptures says:
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:34-40).
Some may point to Matthew 22:40 and argue that the law therefore still applies, and further point out that Jesus will tell those who are "lawless" to depart from Him on the Day of Judgement (Matthew 7:21-23). This however, completely ignores all those verses in the New Covenant which make it very clear that a person cannot be saved at all in any way by keeping the Law, but that the law condemns: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This demonstrates that that all rewards the the Servant of Christ gains is not only by his works and totally undeserved. It also demonstrates that one is not to serve God with the motive of seeking such rewards, for God is the Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM, who is to be feared and obeyed, irrespective of the consequences. One is to obey God even if it meant to still end up in Hell because God is God.
The spirit of religion only seeks to serve God because of what one can gain as a reward or to escape from Hell. Though it may outwardly obey God, it does not love God at all, which is no obedience at all. The Holy Scriptures describes such people:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
(Matthew 15:8-9)
Apart from utterly denying the work of grace under the New Covenant (Ephesians 2:8-9), the false doctrine of earthly blessings as a sign of righteousness also perverts the idea of what it means to be favoured by God. To be favoured by God is to be righteous before Him, not be to rich in earthly things (Matthew 5:6; Psalm 15:1-2, 112:1). Neither is having abundant earthly riches a sign of blessing, for God does not necessarily give those who are righteous such abundance.
The vast majority of Servants of God throughout church history have faced the most intense persecution, affliction, poverty, imprisonment and all kinds of suffering. They gave up all things for Christ, even their very lives out of their deep and zealous love for Jesus. So, are you telling me that they are less blessed by God because they have less earthly things? Those of you who say so are insulting such saints!
The idea that whether one is more or less blessed, that is, favoured by God, is determined by how many earthly goods one has or does not have is the ultimate manifestation of the spirit of religion and the spirit of mammon working together. It is not only wrong, but also utter selfishness to think such a thing. For it is not only a means of justifying oneself for one's works. It is also a means of justifying one's own self-centredness in seeking only one's own interests, and disregarding that of others, in thinking oneself as so blessed because of one's earthly goods, and others who have less to be less holy and righteous because they have less, by which one uses the law to justify such thinking.
The spirit of religion and the spirit of mammon both seek the best only for oneself, so that one can satisfy one's own carnal pleasures and desires. The spirit of mammon tempts people to seek all treasure and pleasure of this world, and to indulge in them. The spirit of religion works to justify such a mindset on the basis of the law. It uses the precept that the righteous will be blessed and wicked will be cursed, and twists it to mean that having more or less earthly things is determines whether one is more or less blessed.
Such thinking leads to oppression and spiritual abuse as it sadly prevalent in the Church today. It is a doctrine of demons.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
(Philippians 2:4)
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Such people think that they deserve anything they have in their hearts. Despite claiming that everything comes from God by grace, they think that what they have is deserved by them because of their righteousness, to make themselves feel pride in their own works, while those who have less are 'less blessed' than them because they have less.
Owing to their law-orientated mindset which thinks that everything is a matter of being lawful and unlawful, they think that by reason of the law, more specifically adherence to it, what people have or not have, is determined by such. This is not simply a convenient explanation for religious people, although it certainly does provide such a function.
It is a ultimately a manifestation of the wickedness of their hearts itself, for the law and the ability for people to break it, gives them a justification to look down on others who have less, and to feel superior for having more. Such a heart is manifest in words like "I am so blessed!" or "How good is the Lord" in expressing happiness in how one has attained, whether legitimately, what one has. The law indeed a weapon to use against others, and such is a way in such the law can and is weaponised - by saying that they blessed because of their own adherence to the law.
The spirit of religion is always trying to justify its own wickedness, including its own pride, hatred, covetousness, envy and arrogance, and it is the law gives it the basis to do so because of how the law can be used, not because the law is wicked (Romans 7:7). This is because the law judges and condemns, and rightly demands punishment for sin. So, according to the law, being cursed is the right punishment for sin, while being blessed is the right reward for sin (Romans 7:7-25; Galatians 3:19-21). Under the law, indeed, those who fail to keep it will not be entitled to the promises of blessings from God, but rather, be liable to a curse. Only those who keep it should be entitled to such blessings from God.
However, this idea of law-keeping and the rewards of doing so, and the curses for failing to do so, only applied under the Old Covenant. Yet, even under the Old Covenant, being 'blessed' does not mean that one receives more earthly goods. Job is the most obvious example. Job was righteous before God and yet he lost everything. He by no means fell out of favour with God for having lost everything (See the book of Job). Hence, the idea of earthly things being 'blessings' or a sign of blessing is false, even under the Old Covenant. Rather, such things were only symbolic of what is to come in the future, foreshadowing the Heavenly Kingdom. Yet, what makes Heaven what it is is the presence of God, and not the heavenly treasure as the Holy Scriptures makes clear:
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
(Revelation 21:1-4)
For it is God Himself one must pursue by doing His Will, not any treasure, be it earthly or heavenly. Jesus said "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Only by keeping the Commandments of Christ, not simply outwardly, but also inwardly, can one truly claim to love Jesus. For those who do not love Jesus will not truly keep His Commandments, which is His Will. They may keep the outworking of the law as did the Rich Young Ruler, such as by not outwardly lying, stealing, or committing adultery, but they will not keep the Commandments of Jesus which can only be kept if one truly loves God:
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”'
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
(John 14:19-24)
For indeed, the Commandments of Jesus are to love God with all one's heart, soul and mind, and to love one's neighbours as oneself, for on this hangs the law and the prophets. As the Holy Scriptures says:
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:34-40).
Some may point to Matthew 22:40 and argue that the law therefore still applies, and further point out that Jesus will tell those who are "lawless" to depart from Him on the Day of Judgement (Matthew 7:21-23). This however, completely ignores all those verses in the New Covenant which make it very clear that a person cannot be saved at all in any way by keeping the Law, but that the law condemns: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This demonstrates that that all rewards the the Servant of Christ gains is not only by his works and totally undeserved. It also demonstrates that one is not to serve God with the motive of seeking such rewards, for God is the Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM, who is to be feared and obeyed, irrespective of the consequences. One is to obey God even if it meant to still end up in Hell because God is God.
The spirit of religion only seeks to serve God because of what one can gain as a reward or to escape from Hell. Though it may outwardly obey God, it does not love God at all, which is no obedience at all. The Holy Scriptures describes such people:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
(Matthew 15:8-9)
Apart from utterly denying the work of grace under the New Covenant (Ephesians 2:8-9), the false doctrine of earthly blessings as a sign of righteousness also perverts the idea of what it means to be favoured by God. To be favoured by God is to be righteous before Him, not be to rich in earthly things (Matthew 5:6; Psalm 15:1-2, 112:1). Neither is having abundant earthly riches a sign of blessing, for God does not necessarily give those who are righteous such abundance.
The vast majority of Servants of God throughout church history have faced the most intense persecution, affliction, poverty, imprisonment and all kinds of suffering. They gave up all things for Christ, even their very lives out of their deep and zealous love for Jesus. So, are you telling me that they are less blessed by God because they have less earthly things? Those of you who say so are insulting such saints!
The idea that whether one is more or less blessed, that is, favoured by God, is determined by how many earthly goods one has or does not have is the ultimate manifestation of the spirit of religion and the spirit of mammon working together. It is not only wrong, but also utter selfishness to think such a thing. For it is not only a means of justifying oneself for one's works. It is also a means of justifying one's own self-centredness in seeking only one's own interests, and disregarding that of others, in thinking oneself as so blessed because of one's earthly goods, and others who have less to be less holy and righteous because they have less, by which one uses the law to justify such thinking.
The spirit of religion and the spirit of mammon both seek the best only for oneself, so that one can satisfy one's own carnal pleasures and desires. The spirit of mammon tempts people to seek all treasure and pleasure of this world, and to indulge in them. The spirit of religion works to justify such a mindset on the basis of the law. It uses the precept that the righteous will be blessed and wicked will be cursed, and twists it to mean that having more or less earthly things is determines whether one is more or less blessed.
Such thinking leads to oppression and spiritual abuse as it sadly prevalent in the Church today. It is a doctrine of demons.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
(Philippians 2:4)
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