The Religious Spirit vs The Holy Spirit

The religious spirit is one of the most hurtful and deceiving spirit operating in the Kingdom of God since the days of Jesus Christ even until today. And people need to know the difference between what is religious spirit and the Holy Spirit so that God will be able to give us the wisdom and the power to disempower the work of Satan among the believers in the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Matthew 23:25-28, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

During the time of Jesus Christ, he majorly battled with religious spirit when he encountered oppositions from the Pharisees and teachers of the religious law. These people were filled with the knowledge of God’s law and the Scriptures but they failed to see the very presence of God that was right in front of them, which is in Jesus Christ.

He said in Matthew 23:25-28, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

These are some of the marks of a religious spirit. A religious church is one that is dead because the Holy Spirit is not part of their church. A church that does not rely on the Holy Spirit is merely religion. In prayer, we must fight against this spirit in the Kingdom of God and rebuke it in our Christian walk. The religious spirit seek to make people have “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:5). When a Christian focuses on developing spiritual gifting more but fails to walk in humility, it is the working of religious spirit. When the beautification of the church building becomes more important than the spiritual growth of its people, it is the working of religious spirit. We must pray to God to protect us from such spirit.

The Holy Spirit on the other hand works individually, internally and its transformation brings about powerful changes that could influence a family, a church, a community, a nation and even the world. For the Holy Spirit seeks to give life to the believer through the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. A church that is Spirit-filled blesses all people that go in it and experience the love and power of God in their lives. And Christians who are Spirit-filled inspires and influences you to walk in your God given calling through obedience of God’s Word and without conforming to the patterns of the world. You feel the heat and fire of God that even the unbelievers fall on their knees and say “God is real!” That’s the difference between a religious spirit and the Holy Spirit.

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