English

Spirit of religion

 

The spirit of religion is the spirit that perverts the gospel of Christ and makes it far from salvation. After all, the spirit of religion is Satan, and this is what Satan does. The spirit of religion is prevalent in the church today. In particular, the spirit of religion confuses the people of the church between the law and the gospel. The purpose of God giving the Law to the people of Israel is that you are sinners. And to realize sin, discover Christ, repent, and turn to God. But instead of discovering Christ, the Israelites put Jesus Christ to death on the cross. Jews are deceived by the spirit of religion.

Sin in the Bible means greed to become like God. It is the result of sin that greed manifests itself in action. That is, Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thinking that she could become like God.

Most church people today think that because Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world and all people became sinners. People who think this way think that keeping a certain commandment is not a sin, and not keeping it is a sin.

But before eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent (Satan) tempted Eve that if she ate the fruit, she could become like God.  In Genesis 3:6, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat , and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

We can see that before Eve eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she already has a desire to eat the fruit in her heart. This means "before there was sin in the world, there was already sin outside the world." In Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

The place where sin occurred before it entered the world was in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, the events of the Garden of Eden are not what happened in this world, but what the Bible explains in a metaphorical way in the kingdom of God. This is the story of the spirits who have sinned in the kingdom of God who are trapped in the flesh. 『In this way』 means "in this way all evil spirits were born as man."

The Bible tells us that “sin is a desire to become like God in front of the commandments, to deviate from the word of God.” In Deuteronomy 5:21, “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbor's. 』

Covetousness is what the body wants. What the flesh wants is that there is no God. There is no God in human beings who are greedy. Therefore, those who have covetousness have already transgressed the commandments of the law. Jesus said that anyone who has lust has already committed adultery. Because of the law, people realize their sin. Therefore, without the law, sin is dead. To say that sin is dead means that people don't consider it a sin. In Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Even though humans were immersed in sin, they did not realize that they were sinners.

However, those who say "sin is breaking the commandments of God" say that "we must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and keep the law together." This is unbiblical and is based on humanistic thinking. They say that Jesus Christ died to save all mankind in the world, and all sins are forgiven by the blood of everyone who believes in Him. And in order not to commit sins in the future, they are saying that we should live diligently and reverently while looking at the Ten Commandments.

Jesus died to the law. Those who enter into Christ are also dead to the law. Because in order to enter into Christ, we must believe that we are united to Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, and that we died together and that we were resurrected together. Therefore, those who enter into Christ are not compulsory by the law, but are fulfilling the kingdom of God in the words of the Bible according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is not that the saints have to keep the compulsory provisions of the law, but it is entering into the word of God, which is why Jesus Christ had to die for the people of the world in the law. God's will is to turn away from sin and return to God.

God is holy and righteous. Humans are sinners. In 1 Peter 1:16 he said, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Can man be holy like God? Those who are possessed by the spirit of religion become those who strive to become holy like God. No matter how hard a man tries, he will never be able to become holy like God. In Romans 8:3-4, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the impartial of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

There is no way for human beings to become holy except through the death of the physical body and being reborn as a spiritual body. Humans cannot kill their own bodies. So, God predestined Jesus Christ. He said that because Jesus Christ died on the cross, he should die with him and be born again. This is the belief that is born again. To believe in Jesus is to believe in dying with Jesus Christ and being born again.

Those who are possessed by the spirit of religion are trying to mix in something other than the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. Even though the saints believed in Jesus and received salvation, the false pastors are trying to intervene in their actions, such as the saints must achieve sanctification in order to keep their salvation, and how the saved saints should live in the world.

Fake pastors say that believers must live a prayerful life and repent every day to become holy. In addition, although the saints believed in Jesus and the sins of the past were forgiven, the fake pastors emphasize how to live in order not to sin in the future. So, pastors are talking about the church life, working hard, serving, being loyal to church leaders, keeping tithing thoroughly, and so on.

After all, there is a widespread perception in the church that believers must deviate from the commandments and rules in order not to sin.

Sin is not breaking the commandments, but the desire to become like God before the commandments. So greed must die. In Romans 6:6-7, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

We must remember that there is no other way than to die with Jesus Christ to be freed from sin. Those who are not free from the compulsory regulations of the commandments and rules are those who have not been freed from sin. Those who enter into Jesus Christ become free from sin, not from such coercion. To enter into Jesus Christ, you must have died with Jesus Christ. That is why the saints remember that they are the dead every day, and the sacrament meeting becomes a place to confess that they are the dead every day.