Religious Spirit Good Morning! Many think of Christianity as a religion but in actuality it is a relationship with an almighty God. There is a spirit of religion and it is used by our enemy to control our relationships with God and others. It is evil that wages war against the grace of God in our lives and against the acceptance of Jesus’ work as the true fulfillment of God’s covenant between Himself and man. God has always wanted a relationship with man; however, Satan as the counterfeiter, works diligently to hinder true meaningful relationships between God and His children. One of the ways that he does this is through the religious spirit. A person that has a religious spirit uses religious devices to get into works and rules. It is one of the meanest, foulest and most ruthless of all evil that we will confront. It comes as an imposter, masquerading as the real thing, cutting believers off from their relationship with God and blocking the work of the Holy Spirit. It’s assignment is to distract us from the truth by making us think that we are okay, but it actually puts us in a spiritual bondage. A religious spirit will take the fire out of your marriage, it will stop the flow of God in worship, it will make children hate serving God and it corrupts and perverts the truth of God’s word. It sets unrealistic standards that you can never reach, thereby heaping guilt and shame on you. Religious spirits will not let you forgive yourself for your past mistakes. There is a bondage to the law when there is a religious spirit. We may find it hard to believe that salvation comes through the grace of God apart from the works of the law. Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There is little or no room for God’s grace when there is a religious spirit involved. Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Jesus ran up against these religious spirits constantly in His ministry on earth. When Jesus forgave a person’s sins, it set the Pharisees off because of their self righteousness and their religious spirits. This new concept of grace was an abomination to their doctrine of legalism. Mark 2:5-7 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? These guys tried to figure this out themselves by reasoning in their hearts. The laws of God are now written in our hearts, not on tablets of stone; but it didn’t line up with their theology, so it must be of the devil! Jesus certainly had his work cut out for Him in dealing with these religious spirits. But as always, He is our model and we are to do the same things that He did while He was here on this planet. We must discern these evil spirits and cast them out of us to be totally free from the spirit of religion. 2 Cor. 3:6 Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (law), but of the spirit: for the letter (law) kills, but the spirit gives life. Legalism is a bondage that causes a person to believe that they have to adhere to a strict set of rules or laws before they can be made right with God. If you don’t feel good enough for a relationship with God, you may have a religious spirit. If you are trying to make things right with God yourself and not relying on the work of Christ (He paid your debt in full), then that is a dead giveaway that you have a religious spirit. Your relationship with God becomes based on your performance rather than on what Christ did for you on the cross. Whenever we try to live our lives by the dictates of the law, we fail. Religious spirits open the doors to corruption and perversion which are multiplied as men try to serve God by their own guidelines. So far, this is not a pretty picture is it? These spirits are nasty and need to be exposed. Anything that God does, Satan has a counterfeit for and religious spirits are alive and well in us today. We are not immune because we are Christians; we are more susceptible because we are Christians! Much discerning of spirits is needed to track these enemies down and eliminate them from our lives. You know what we always say – it is the truth that you know that makes you free! Much more on this the next couple of weeks. God bless you and stay free in Him! Love, Linda
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 14:52:02 +0000
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