There are many deceptions in the professing Church today. One of the most insidious deceptions, if not the most insidious is that of religion. Religion deceives far more people than any secular ideology. Religious people recoil at secular thinking and its materialism, carnality and worldliness, but yet they think that materialism, carnality and worldliness wrapped under the guise of religion is not only justified, but right.
The spirit of religion is real. The spirit of religion is a person, not an event, phenomenon or abstract idea. He is a demon. He has deceived so many people and is continuing to do so. Religion is not spiritual. True Christianity is not religion. It is a real and living intimate relationship with God. Most professing Christians are under the spirit of religion, all without realising it. For he or she who is under a spirit cannot see it. One must be delivered from it to be able to see it.
The spirit of religion is extremely dangerous, far more dangerous than the spirit of jezebel. The spirit of religion appears very holy and righteous, and convinces people that as long as they follows the 'rules' of Christianity. He uses legalism to hold people to bondage to false holiness and righteousness, deceive them into self-righteousness, and eventually bring them into a state of spiritual delusion.
The Word of God itself speaks of such religious hypocrites "as having a form of godliness but denying its power" and warns us to "turn away" from such people (2 Timothy 3:5). This refers to the false holiness and righteousness espoused by religious people who claim to be followers of Jesus but who are anything but spiritual, holy or righteous.
Religious people are carnal, unholy and unrighteous, despite all their professions of faith in Jesus, their church work and efforts to be holy and righteous. Their mindset about how to be holy and righteous are absolutely wrong. They do not even know how to be holy and righteous. They may even know that Christianity is not a religion or about following rules, but their mindset is one that views Christian as a religion where one is to adhere to such rules. Hence, why they are active in church work and ministry work, while still being extremely carnal people who are full of pride, arrogance, materialism, disobedience, worldliness, carnality, self-centredness, and self-righteousness.
They replace following Jesus with rules because following rules enables them to feel righteous in their own strength. They cannot accept the doctrine of grace, despising it to the core. So, they seek to follow rules instead to feel righteous, moral and upright about themselves. However, the Law of God cannot save. It only condemns. This is the condemnation religious people feel, precisely because they are trying follow the Law. Galatians 3:10-14 makes it clear:
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Owing to their bondage to their attempt to follow the Law that condemns, they are filled with the spirit of condemnation of others, especially those who do not follow their own standards about what it means to be holy and righteous, as opposed to God's standards. They seek to be holy and righteous in their own strength, in the flesh, making them all the more carnal and fleshly. This manifests in their imposition of human rules that God never intended to be made, geared towards making others conform to their own human conception of how the world should work.
This explains why those who are under the spirit of religion tend to be very political and extremely anxious about political agendas in the world that are anti-Christian. They become anxious, not because of their holiness, for anxiety is not of God and is not holy. They become anxious because it goes against their view about how the world should work which they seek to control and dominate. The conservative evangelicals in America are a classic example of those who are very political and full of anxiety about the politics of the world, not because of holiness, but because of their own carnality. Their idolatry of conservative politics is just sickening and vile.
The spirit of religion, as opposed to the Holy Spirit, is of the spirit of fear, powerlessness, hatred and an unsound mind. He is the diametric opposite of the Holy Spirit who is the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). This is evident in the so-called 'christian' fundamentalists who are full of fear about the state of the world, unable to overcome such fear, full of hatred and bitterness towards those who they perceive as their enemies, and develop a unsound mind that is full of false theological doctrines owing to extremely poor exegesis.
They are unstable and ignorant people as 2 Peter 3:16-17 describes, evident of their unsound mind. Many such people are not the uneducated and unintellectual, but the educated and intellectual theologically-oriented people who are full of pride and arrogance, full of false intellect and false wisdom, and who love to show-off their false intellect and knowledge. Their unsound mind is the result of their prideful self-righteousness. In their wisdom, they have become fools (Romans 1:22)!
Owing to their carnality, they operate in their flesh. As a result, they can but only be carnal. They may not practise gross immorality, like drunkeness and sexual immorality (at least outwardly), but they are totally and utterly unspiritual.Their minds are focused on the things of this world, not on God. Their minds are preoccupied about their financial security, relationships, status and so-called "rights". The idea pushed by conservative evangelicals in America that one of the 'benefits' of marriage is financial security and that one will more likely be able to own a home of one's own is of the spirit of mammon. It is carnal! It is not of God! Such is a mammonised mindset that one must disavow, and eradicate from one's mind. One must be set free from such a mindset.
The spirit of religion does not only hold a person under it in condemnation. Those who are under it emanate condemnation of others through the very imposition of their legalism on others. Such legalism is neither holy nor righteous, but carnal and fleshy. It is against the Spirit, because it seeks to trust in the flesh. That is precisely what legalism is, the trust in the flesh to be holy and righteous. This is extremely dangerous because it leads to all kinds of perversion, even perversion to the point of believing that certain grossly wicked acts that the religious person wants to do are justified by Scripture.
Legalism is not righteousness taken to the extreme, or simply the imposition of rules. It is the carnal use of the Law of God. This includes the not just reliance on the Law to please God, but also the minimisation of the Law, whereby one only seeks to fulfill the minimum requirement of the Law to please God, without any love for God. Importantly, it also includes the perversion of the Law of God by exploiting any loopholes so that one can justify one's carnal desires. Hence, that is why Scriptures say:
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
(Galatians 5:16-18).
The Scriptures tell us that we must walk in the Spirit so that we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The problem is not the Law of God, but the flesh which cannot obey the Law of God. in its disobedience and rebellion against God, it can only use it to justify one's lusts of the flesh. The flesh is the problem. It must be mortified (Romans 8:13). It is only by mortifying the flesh that one can have life. The only way to mortify the flesh is to walk in the Spirit.
Religion including that which professes Christ teaches one to rely on the flesh. Any reliance on the flesh itself will lead to carnality, including all manner of perverse thinking about the Law of God. They are some who use the Law of God to justify sexual immorality not explicitly mentioned in Scripture, such as masturbation and pornography, as well as racism, pride, self-centred anger, and hatred. I have encountered such people. It is such people who the Scriptures describes as having a form of godliness but denying its power and warns people to avoid (2 Timothy 3:5).
Religion, as oppose to true Christianity, always manifests in hypocrisy because of one's attempt to impose rules, yet while failing to be spiritual, which is the true way to become holy and righteous before God, by mortifying the flesh. It is not simply because one seeks to impose rules on others, but yet live according to the carnal desires. It is that the flesh itself does not nor cannot seek righteousness, but yet it is attempting to do so, out of self-preservation, or self-righteousness that is why religion always lead to hypocrisy.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
(Romans 8:1-17).
As Servants of Christ, we must be spiritual, and mortify the flesh. We must seek a fresh unveiling of Jesus each day.
Repent, repent, repent. Turn to Jesus Christ.
The spirit of religion is real. The spirit of religion is a person, not an event, phenomenon or abstract idea. He is a demon. He has deceived so many people and is continuing to do so. Religion is not spiritual. True Christianity is not religion. It is a real and living intimate relationship with God. Most professing Christians are under the spirit of religion, all without realising it. For he or she who is under a spirit cannot see it. One must be delivered from it to be able to see it.
The spirit of religion is extremely dangerous, far more dangerous than the spirit of jezebel. The spirit of religion appears very holy and righteous, and convinces people that as long as they follows the 'rules' of Christianity. He uses legalism to hold people to bondage to false holiness and righteousness, deceive them into self-righteousness, and eventually bring them into a state of spiritual delusion.
The Word of God itself speaks of such religious hypocrites "as having a form of godliness but denying its power" and warns us to "turn away" from such people (2 Timothy 3:5). This refers to the false holiness and righteousness espoused by religious people who claim to be followers of Jesus but who are anything but spiritual, holy or righteous.
Religious people are carnal, unholy and unrighteous, despite all their professions of faith in Jesus, their church work and efforts to be holy and righteous. Their mindset about how to be holy and righteous are absolutely wrong. They do not even know how to be holy and righteous. They may even know that Christianity is not a religion or about following rules, but their mindset is one that views Christian as a religion where one is to adhere to such rules. Hence, why they are active in church work and ministry work, while still being extremely carnal people who are full of pride, arrogance, materialism, disobedience, worldliness, carnality, self-centredness, and self-righteousness.
They replace following Jesus with rules because following rules enables them to feel righteous in their own strength. They cannot accept the doctrine of grace, despising it to the core. So, they seek to follow rules instead to feel righteous, moral and upright about themselves. However, the Law of God cannot save. It only condemns. This is the condemnation religious people feel, precisely because they are trying follow the Law. Galatians 3:10-14 makes it clear:
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Owing to their bondage to their attempt to follow the Law that condemns, they are filled with the spirit of condemnation of others, especially those who do not follow their own standards about what it means to be holy and righteous, as opposed to God's standards. They seek to be holy and righteous in their own strength, in the flesh, making them all the more carnal and fleshly. This manifests in their imposition of human rules that God never intended to be made, geared towards making others conform to their own human conception of how the world should work.
This explains why those who are under the spirit of religion tend to be very political and extremely anxious about political agendas in the world that are anti-Christian. They become anxious, not because of their holiness, for anxiety is not of God and is not holy. They become anxious because it goes against their view about how the world should work which they seek to control and dominate. The conservative evangelicals in America are a classic example of those who are very political and full of anxiety about the politics of the world, not because of holiness, but because of their own carnality. Their idolatry of conservative politics is just sickening and vile.
The spirit of religion, as opposed to the Holy Spirit, is of the spirit of fear, powerlessness, hatred and an unsound mind. He is the diametric opposite of the Holy Spirit who is the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). This is evident in the so-called 'christian' fundamentalists who are full of fear about the state of the world, unable to overcome such fear, full of hatred and bitterness towards those who they perceive as their enemies, and develop a unsound mind that is full of false theological doctrines owing to extremely poor exegesis.
They are unstable and ignorant people as 2 Peter 3:16-17 describes, evident of their unsound mind. Many such people are not the uneducated and unintellectual, but the educated and intellectual theologically-oriented people who are full of pride and arrogance, full of false intellect and false wisdom, and who love to show-off their false intellect and knowledge. Their unsound mind is the result of their prideful self-righteousness. In their wisdom, they have become fools (Romans 1:22)!
Owing to their carnality, they operate in their flesh. As a result, they can but only be carnal. They may not practise gross immorality, like drunkeness and sexual immorality (at least outwardly), but they are totally and utterly unspiritual.Their minds are focused on the things of this world, not on God. Their minds are preoccupied about their financial security, relationships, status and so-called "rights". The idea pushed by conservative evangelicals in America that one of the 'benefits' of marriage is financial security and that one will more likely be able to own a home of one's own is of the spirit of mammon. It is carnal! It is not of God! Such is a mammonised mindset that one must disavow, and eradicate from one's mind. One must be set free from such a mindset.
The spirit of religion does not only hold a person under it in condemnation. Those who are under it emanate condemnation of others through the very imposition of their legalism on others. Such legalism is neither holy nor righteous, but carnal and fleshy. It is against the Spirit, because it seeks to trust in the flesh. That is precisely what legalism is, the trust in the flesh to be holy and righteous. This is extremely dangerous because it leads to all kinds of perversion, even perversion to the point of believing that certain grossly wicked acts that the religious person wants to do are justified by Scripture.
Legalism is not righteousness taken to the extreme, or simply the imposition of rules. It is the carnal use of the Law of God. This includes the not just reliance on the Law to please God, but also the minimisation of the Law, whereby one only seeks to fulfill the minimum requirement of the Law to please God, without any love for God. Importantly, it also includes the perversion of the Law of God by exploiting any loopholes so that one can justify one's carnal desires. Hence, that is why Scriptures say:
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
(Galatians 5:16-18).
The Scriptures tell us that we must walk in the Spirit so that we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The problem is not the Law of God, but the flesh which cannot obey the Law of God. in its disobedience and rebellion against God, it can only use it to justify one's lusts of the flesh. The flesh is the problem. It must be mortified (Romans 8:13). It is only by mortifying the flesh that one can have life. The only way to mortify the flesh is to walk in the Spirit.
Religion including that which professes Christ teaches one to rely on the flesh. Any reliance on the flesh itself will lead to carnality, including all manner of perverse thinking about the Law of God. They are some who use the Law of God to justify sexual immorality not explicitly mentioned in Scripture, such as masturbation and pornography, as well as racism, pride, self-centred anger, and hatred. I have encountered such people. It is such people who the Scriptures describes as having a form of godliness but denying its power and warns people to avoid (2 Timothy 3:5).
Religion, as oppose to true Christianity, always manifests in hypocrisy because of one's attempt to impose rules, yet while failing to be spiritual, which is the true way to become holy and righteous before God, by mortifying the flesh. It is not simply because one seeks to impose rules on others, but yet live according to the carnal desires. It is that the flesh itself does not nor cannot seek righteousness, but yet it is attempting to do so, out of self-preservation, or self-righteousness that is why religion always lead to hypocrisy.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
(Romans 8:1-17).
As Servants of Christ, we must be spiritual, and mortify the flesh. We must seek a fresh unveiling of Jesus each day.
Repent, repent, repent. Turn to Jesus Christ.
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