The Coming War against the Religious Spirit

The Coming War against the Religious Spirit

Below are excerpts from:  THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION OR THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS - Cheryl McGrath

…. This war will personally involve every born-again believer, and ultimately each and every believer will find themselves having to choose sides. In this war, we will find the enemy among us, up close and personal, in our midst, and even living inside of us. The Holy Spirit is even now leading the church into the conflict of the ages, the war against the spirit of false religion. The Holy Spirit and the religious spirit have constantly been at war since the creation of man, but as the time for the return of the Son of God draws nearer, this war is set to escalate dramatically.

One thing is for certain in this particular war - if we don't learn to recognize and resist the influence of false religion in ourselves first, we will not be able to stand against it manifested in the world. To overcome in this war, it is absolutely imperative to firstly acknowledge that in the flesh nature of each one of us dwells a measure of false religion.

…The religious spirit focuses on the power of sin, rather than the power of God.

… The religious spirit is often overly concerned about defending God's honor, (Matt 9:3). In fact it's usually more concerned about God's honor than God is.

…The religious spirit leans to exclusivism and isolation, and satisfies itself with good works. It separates itself with the attitude - "I am good, you are bad, therefore you will contaminate my goodness."

…Notice that the religious spirit often gives the devil too much attention and God too little glory. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, tells us to discern the holy from the demonic by the fruit that's manifested (Matthew 12:33).

…The religious spirit loves to accuse by quoting scriptures but has no love of the truth. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, utilizes God's word to convict and to free, rather than to condemn.

…The religious spirit confuses traditions of man with the holiness of God. This is utter deception.

…Having failed to destroy the work of God by argument and accusation, the religious spirit will try to use confrontation and disdain.

… The religious spirit is often so convinced of its own righteousness it is unteachable. It is divisive and factional.

… The religious spirit will also embrace compromise in order to avoid persecution.

… False religion will cause us to walk in the "goodness" of the flesh, rather than the righteousness of Christ. It was a different spirit.

"But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now." (Gal 4:29)

Those who are coming into freedom from the religion of the flesh will always be persecuted by the religious spirit. The religious spirit displays a counterfeit holiness and a fleshly fear of God. The Holy Spirit, however, brings forth in us a genuine, scriptural fear of God, the fruit of which is a deep desire for holiness (2 Cor. 7:1) You cannot truly walk in holiness without an increasingly deep fear of God. Fear of God is more than reverence for Him. It is knowledge of Him, Who He is, and the holiness of His character. As the Holy Spirit progressively reveals in us a growing knowledge of God we become increasingly aware of His absolute sovereignty and authority, which in turn brings us to a place of awe that He should be so merciful to us. We cannot become aware of our need for redemption apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and we cannot fear God apart from the ongoing sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

When we submit to false religion, we are proclaiming that Christ died for nothing. It's time to war against the spirit of religion, within ourselves, and wherever else we find it in the world or in the church.  [end quote]

The religious spirit is the most deceptive spirit in Satan’s arsenal.  Why?  Because it is so good at appearing ‘godlike.’  It’s one goal is to impede the progress of the seeker.  It offers an appealing, reasonable, even scriptural substitute for the crucified life, convincing the believer that they are doing or have done all that God requires.  The primary goal of the enemy of our souls is to prevent us from coming into an intimate relationship with God; from ever reaching full spiritual maturity.  It will use any and every avenue available to try and thwart the fulfillment of our calling to come out and ‘follow me.’   There is nothing off-limits to the religious spirit… not our families, not our ministries, not our friendships.  Every single part of our life that God has touched and is working a change in us… is fair game.

This spirit is so successful in its efforts for several reasons.  One being because we as a people do not believe that we can be deceived.  Two being we fail to make an ongoing practice of honestly examining our own hearts.

‘BabylonThe Great,’ penned by Isaac Penington in 1659, is incredibly timely and pertinent for this hour.  He lays out how religious spirits operate and deceive those who would follow Christ.  Here is an excerpt:

There are only two spirits: the spirit of God and the spirit of Satan, one of which guides all men in their devotion and religion, and one of which they serve within. He who is led by the spirit of God, he serves God, he worships God; he who is led by the spirit of Satan, he serves not God, but that spirit which appears in the temple of God, like God, and gives such demonstrations that he is God, as no flesh can deny. 2 Thes 2:3-4. Here now is the great deceivableness. In profaneness, in manifest wickedness, Satan is easily seen; and men that are found here, it is granted that they are serving the devil; but that he should sit as king in gathered churches, in duties, in ordinances, in ways of self-denial and mortification, and be worshipped here, this is hard to be seen. Yet any of these, into which the spirit of the Lord does not leads, or which are performed at anytime without his spirit, in these he [Satan] is worshipped in. Consider this, you who are wise in religion, and are diligently reading the scriptures, and gathering knowledge, and rules of worship, and applying promises, etc. Do you do this in the life and spirit of God; or in your own wisdom, and according to your own understanding? Does not the wisdom of that spirit, which is out of the truth, guide you in your searches after truth? Oh, do you serve that spirit, which the Lord hates, but come back to that, from which, in all this, you err, and which, in all this, you cannot serve and worship. And let not your religion any longer consist in mere practicing what the saints formerly practiced, (for that you may do without the same spirit), but in yielding up to that life, power, and pure spirit that they were led by. And when you are joined to this, then do not prescribe the Lamb the way that he should go, but "follow the Lamb, wherever he goes." Do not tell the Shepherd, (by your gathered wisdom), the way that he must lead you in; but know the voice, and follow it; for this I can truly testify, that if once you come in faithfulness and true light to follow the Lamb, he will lead in paths you have not known, and out of the paths you have known.

 

The paths we are most familiar with are those of religion, where the focus is on the outward appearance; what is readily seen with the natural eye, and judged from our knowledge of good and evil.  It takes the discernment of the Holy Spirit to separate the true from the false.  The carnal mind is very adept at judging, but is incapable of doing so righteously. 

As was quoted in the opening… This war will personally involve every born-again believer, and ultimately each and every believer will find themselves having to choose sides. In this war, we will find the enemy among us, up close and personal, in our midst, and even living inside of us.

The religious spirit is not troubled when we see new light in an area, it just adapts itself to maintain its appearance as being that light that we now see.

Jesus gave us a parable in Luke 6:39-46  “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

The religious spirit will assure us that we see clearly, that we are ‘right,’ while our brother is not, that we are obeying all of Christ’s commandments.  The one thing the religious spirit will never do is encourage us to examine our own hearts, or turn the other cheek when we feel we have been injured.  It will only let us follow Jesus’ commandments in a superficial, never a sacrificial, way.   Our Lord tells us in Matthew 5:44  “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” 

May we be made acutely aware of the nature of the war we are engaged in.  It is not a war against flesh and blood, against brothers and sisters, but against spiritual wickedness in high places; a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of people.  We all have need of being purified by the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit.  We all need to have our minds renewed, our thoughts brought into subjection to the mind of Christ, till we seek His Glory alone, and not our own.

 

Thank God, that as we seek Him with an honest heart, He will expose the religious spirit that is striving to maintain a foothold, within us.  We can only be set free…. by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is not a quick, one-time event, but a continuing process, as we daily submit to and grow in the Lord.

We should know that we are always manifesting one spirit or another.  And what others see is not always what we assume we are projecting.  To be set free ties in with the previous posting here on “Humility.”

“Shut up yourself, therefore, in this form of Humility; all good is enclosed in it; it is a water of heaven, that turns the fire of the fallen soul into the meekness of the divine life, and creates that oil, out of which the love to God and man gets its flame.  Be enclosed, therefore, always in it; let it be as a garment wherewith you are always covered, and a girdle with which you are girt; breathe nothing but in and from its spirit; see nothing but with its eyes; hear nothing but with its ears. And then, whether you are in the church or out of the church, hearing the praises of God or receiving wrongs from men and the world, all will be edification, and everything will help forward your growth in the life of God.”

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:34-35.

Amen & Amen,

Cathy Morris