The word 'religious' makes many think of the Pharisees in scripture who sought to become righteous in their own power; or the classic 'conservative christian', who lives a compromised life while having a aggressive disposition towards immorality. Both of these 'classic cases' can reveal some truth about the RS, but it is usually much more subtle than that. You might be surprised by the drastic ways you yourself have been influenced!
The RS will always move our focus from what Jesus has done to what we need to do. It loves to make us feel inadequate, unworthy, and condemned, so that we start striving under our own power to change the way God relates with us. Rather than demanding faith in us, the RS demands that we take responsibility for not manifesting the fullness of the Kingdom. Many people, both believers and non, see Christianity as a set of rules, laws, and religious practices that shape our behavior around a set of morals. This being the case, the purpose of the Christian life becomes a striving upward call to live a principled life where we attempt to change our character to be more like Jesus. This tactic of the RS reveals a true dichotomy between our experience and what Jesus actually paid for us to live in, but it falsely causes us to rely on our own effort to bridge this experience gap.
The good news promises us freedom from sin and a life led by the Spirit, but, as many of you have experienced, as soon as one 'accepts' Jesus a whole new set of laws are put in place. You need to read the bible everyday, pray all the time, worship with others, confess all your sins, love God, love your neighbor, and don't forget to increase your faith! These rules are the same as the old ones, equally inefficient, and cause us to fail rather than producing a victorious lifestyle.
The RS is the same as the spirit of suicide, it tries to convince you that you need to kill yourself. It tells you that it is your job to become introspective, discerning what thoughts and activities are not in alignment with God's nature, once you identify this lie or bad behavior you must stop it. This is not freedom, Jesus came to give us an existence where we no longer live in accordance with the law, we do not need to struggle with sin any longer. We aren't transformed from the outside in, but from the inside out. Many Churches and leaders may have a language of grace, but inevitably preach the law because they want to control behavior. They continually instruct that one need to add to their salvation, to purify themselves, and regulate their lives in order to attain to the full measure of Christ. That message is demonic.
There are even more ways that the RS affects us. The following include a few insights from other teachers that I find very convicting. Someone with a religious spirit sees more negative than positive things in a church, individual or situation. Someone with a RS think that they are on the 'cutting edge', believing that they have attained to a level on their own power that is above and beyond other Christians. People with a religious spirit validate their ministry and lifestyle by comparing it to those they deem 'inferior'. Those with a RS cannot take rebuke or correction, but attack and despise those who bring that message to them. Those with a RS do not have honor for those they find fault in. Those with a RS have a fondness for religious activity but not for God Himself; they care more about 'activity' and behavior than about encountering His presence. Those with a RS try to make other see them as superior, having more insight or wisdom than the 'normal' christian. And finally, those with a RS are quick to identify a RS in others. The more you recognize it the more you are influenced by it.
So, what is the solution, what is the antidote for the influence of the RS. The Gospel is the answer, the RS only has a foothold where there is unbelief in what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Jesus didn't come to condemn the world but to save the world, He didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. You are righteous, Jesus made you that way, He purified you completely. Your sinful nature was crucified with Him, you are no longer predisposed to sin but to righteousness. He has given you a new heart, and a new mind. He did what we could not, taking on what we deserved so that we could have what He deserves. There is no room for performance because there is nothing more to achieve, the medal has already been won, the curtains have closed.
There is no room for comparison in the Gospel because we had no part in it; it is a free gift so that no one can boast. We do not get to change God's perspective on us, Jesus came to change our perspective on God. He is always for you, never against you. He works in and through you both to will and to work His good pleasure. God has unified His church, and built it on the revelation of His son Jesus. He forgave everyone, and gave everyone direct access to the throne of grace. We no longer view anyone according to the flesh because Christ took the sin of the world upon Himself. You are loved, forgiven, accepted, empowered, even sanctified. His truth is true even if we don't believe it. We experience this reality as we behold Him, and are transformed into His likeness as we are given faith in who He already is in us. Your authority, confidence, victory, humility, and drive are gifts from our good Father, who lavishes His love on us. Our sin struggles, shame, pride, and passivity only exist because we do not see Him in truth.
Those who do not experience Him are those who do not know Him. They do not know the good news, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. We have access to God because of what Jesus did, not what we strive to do. We cannot get closer to God, for Jesus has already melded us together on the cross. When we see from God's perspective we preach the fullness of His work to those who do not believe it, thereby providing an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to touch them. There is only one distinction between all people, believers and unbelievers, we have the glorious opportunity of revealing the truth that has been revealed to us.
When we live a life based on what He has done, we continually behold heavenly things, and are transformed from the inside out. We manifest God's goodness out of the revelation of Jesus. The apostle Paul claimed to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. For he was crucified to the world and the world to him.
The Gospel, the good news of what Jesus accomplished, is so complete that it doesn't even give us room to give our lives to God, but takes it from us; He died for us while we were still sinners! Jesus didn't leave room for us to slowly surrender, piece by piece; but in one fell swoop He remade us, taking away the old and putting on the new.
We don't have the religious privilege of getting closer to God by slowly killing ourselves off, straining to become more holy by our own effort and self-sacrifice. There is only one sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing, and that doesn't include ours. "For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever, those who have been sanctified (Hebrews 10:14)." When we hear the good news, we have the opportunity for faith in it, this is what enables us to live a Godly lifestyle.
We do go through an experiential process, but it is only a process of our minds being renewed; of being transformed from Glory to Glory as we come to a knowledge of the reality that was brought about through the cross. The Gospel produces joy, hope, excitement, and peace. It provides faith, and inspires effort.
So come to a conclusion of your salvation, when you do so you will experience fear and a trembling self distrust, realizing that you had nothing to do with where you now stand, but that Christ worked salvation on your behalf. This revelation takes away comparison, complacency, pride, and false humility. When you are given the revelation of the Gospel, you know that God did what you could not, you tremble knowing you couldn't trust yourself to attain to the standard. In that self-distrust you learn to rely more on more on God, you become dependent on the Holy Spirit in all things, learning to walk in Him. For He not only gives you the desire, but the ability, to carry out His good pleasure. Trust in God negates self-dependence; faith in Jesus equals experiential transformation. Therefore, when you boast, and you should, boast in the Lord.
I'm getting ready to share communion tomorrow evening. What does the Lord's Supper mean to you?
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