The spirit of religiosity among God's people.

Some will call it a demon like Pastor Jasinski, while others will call it a state of mind like Christopher Dubis. Although despite doctrinal differences (K. Dubis supports Israel) I value both Christians in their own way, probably both believers would agree with me that there is such a thing as a spirit of religiosity.

 

This text is the result of my experiences, the studied texts of others, and the experiences of brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

"Religious man" is not just a patch for people focused on rituals. It is very strong doctrinal beliefs that blind the spiritual eyes of faith.

 

I would not want anyone to treat this text as a mere feeding of his pride with knowledge, but to look within himself and secondly to see if there are not such people around him.

Anyway, there is a section of people who don't respect me but come here to further their education. That is not the way. There is no point in that attitude. An unconverted heart will not accept the whole truth.

 

What is behind the spirit of religiosity?

I once made a video like this called Satan Gives a Quarter of the Truth.

 

 

Let's look at the Catholics. They are a deceived people by Rome. Faith in this religion is reduced to rituals, religious activities, paraphernalia such as images, rosaries, etc. superstition.

There are believers in God there, often much better than many evangelicals.

But they are stuck in something so strong that no logical arguments can pull them out of this religion. In my estimation, this is demonic, or spiritual.

A religious spirit is a demon that wages war against God's grace in our lives and acceptance of the work of Jesus as the true fulfillment of God's covenant between God and man.

 

According to this understanding, the demon of religiosity is perfectly fine not only in Protestantism but also in biblical Christianity.

Some, for example, regard speaking in tongues as a necessary element of salvation, while others constantly roll out the Sabbath and pork.

The religious man exalts above Jesus rituals (eucharist, Sabbath) and doctrines and even the Bible itself, yet the core is Jesus Christ. His character.

 

 "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and they testify of me". John 5

 

 

The Pharisees were obvious examples of people who have religious spirits, but often those of us who have religious spirits are not far from their behavior.

 

Well, what are the criteria when identifying the demon of religiosity?

First of all LEGALISM  and it is not typical only of Messianic Christianity.

Secondly, it is PERFECTIONISM. Often found paradoxically also in churches that reject God's Law. Perfectionism leads into condemnation and..pride, since only Jesus was perfect.

 

Another important criterion is religious pride. We are better and they are worse because they don't do both. Because they don't use the proper name of Jesus. Some will think Isus is the right one, others will think Yeshua and others will think Jehoshua. This is the demon of religiosity. In this group are both those who recognize the Law of God as valid and those who oppose the validity of the Law.

 

False holiness Also known as sanctimony.

 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead bones and all manner of filth. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (Matthew 23:27-28)

 

The fifth criterion is: salvation by works!

No one can earn salvation by their own efforts. Salvation is by grace and the fruit is works. Did the Israelites earn it in Egypt that they were not touched by the angel of death, or were they not killed because they smeared the doorway with the blood of a lamb? Not their own, but the blood of the lamb that foreshadowed Jesus' sacrifice on the cross?

 

Hypocrisy This is a characteristic pointed out by Jesus:

 

23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give tithes of mint, dill and cumin⁸but you leave out what is more important in the Law: justice, mercy and faith. These things must be done, and these things must not be left out. 24 Blind guides who strain the mosquito but swallow the camel!

 

 

Another perhaps minor feature of the demon of religiosity is intolerance. 

 

At the end of the enumeration we can add condemnation.

A religious man must condemn other believers and in public. Such a man is devoid of mercy.

 

You overlook what is more important in the Law: justice, mercy, and faith.

 

Such a person though following the law of Jesus, either will not say face to face about potential sin as Jesus commanded, but must elevate personal sin to a pedestal.

Even if it is alone you will definitely feel inferior around such an individual.

I once had a man upholding God's Law at a convention, but he declared that 100% Protestants will not be saved. Because they have not entered into the covenant and do not celebrate the Sabbath. This is the demon of religiosity.

 

The words of our King come to mind here:

 

Then Jesus said to them: "Truly, I say to you, tax collectors and harlots are entering the kingdom of heaven before you.

 

 

Religion from the Latin means to bind. Viewed this way, the demon of religiosity obviously does not bind to God but to doctrine.

In doing so, he deprives himself of a relationship with God.

 

 

Religious spirits can manifest in different ways for different people, depending on Satan's plan for a person's life. For example, one person may be plagued with feelings of never being good enough for God, while another may be infected with hypocrisy and false holiness.

 

We should run away from people with the demon of religiosity because they are very strongly convinced or rather bound in their religious notions and can only do us harm.

 

 

 

Often people who have religious spirits will find it hard to believe that the savede comes by the grace of God, regardless of the works of the law. They can easily judge others or criticize them for trivial matters. There is usually a sense of "earning" their status or good standing with God. Legalism is a popular bondage today in which a person feels he must follow a strict set of rules (laws) before he can be made right with God.

We have already been saved and the rest is our work and the work of the Sanctifying Spirit.

 

 

People who never feel good enough to connect with God, but are constantly condemned or have guilt hovering over them, may have a religious spirit working in their mind. The feeling that "it's never good enough" is a dead beliefbecause it shows that man is trying to make things right with God himself, rather than relying on the work of Christ, who has already paid his debt in full.

 

If you think you're more important than others, you almost certainly have a complacent or false holier-than-thou spirit within you. Other things you may be looking for are feelings that you are always right and everyone else is wrong, or a weakness related to openness. Someone who appears all-knowing may have religious spirits.

Thinking that you can do some things without God is another dead giveaway. Jesus made it clear that without Him you can do nothing:

John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing ".

 

Where there is no grace, there is no Jesus. Why would someone need Jesus if he does not ask his King to take away some sin, some weakness? After all, such a person does everything himself.

 

9) He also said to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others, this parable: (10) Two men came to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) The Pharisee stood and so in his soul he prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like other people, rip-offs, cheaters, adulterers, or like that tax collector too. (12) I keep a fast twice a week, I give a tithe of everything I acquire. (13) Whereas The tax collector stood at a distance and did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast and said: God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (14) I tell you, he has gone home justified, not that one. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 19

 

Pride, superiority, legalism, hypocrisy are all traits of a man demonized by the spirit of religiosity.

 

Someone with religious spirits will often be more interested in making someone "pay" or be punished for their evil deedsthan for that person to repent and receive forgiveness and grace from God. A good example of this can be found in John chapter 8:

John 8:3-11: "And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery at the same time. And Moses in the law commanded us to stone such; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as if He had not heard them. So when they continued to ask Him, He rose up and said to them: Whoever is among you without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. And those who heard this, convinced by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest until the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus rose up and saw only the woman, he said to her: Woman, where are these your accusers? has no one condemned you? She said: There is no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her: Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.

 

Of course we Bible believers are thirsty for righteousness:

 

Matt. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled

 

Note 11:18 The ungodly earns illusory wages, but he who sows righteousness has a sure reward.

 

But it is for God to avenge.

We should start with ourselves to seek justice:

 

Note 21:21 He who follows righteousness and goodness finds life, justice, and honor.

 

We are the ones to be fair.

 

Spirits of religiosity seek revenge because they have no forgiveness in them.

The demons of religiosity are more interested in justice and punishment than mercy and forgiveness.

 

So if after this text you realized that you have a spirit of religiosity, then ask God in the name of Jesus to remove such a spirit. And this is grace, God's grace, this is reliance on Jesus, whose name we translate from the Hebrew as God saves, or God sets free.

 

To conclude. The photo below is not elsewhere but on a CHURCH and thus represents a religion and depicts a Gargoyle (demon).