Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican (Luke 18:10, KJV) Jesus told His disciples an interesting parable to explain the terrible spirit I often refer to as “the religious spirit.” It is one of the worst enemies of God’s grace in your life, and Read More
Religious Spirit
One of the worst prayer requests in the Bible
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke 5:8, KJV) We have all had experiences with the Lord, where we probably asked for something we did not even know what we were asking for. We asked, and then realized Read More
Not by works of righteousness which we have done
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5, KJV) We are saved by God’s grace, and not by our works. This is the heart and soul of the Gospel. Paul reminded Titus that Read More
Why Trouble Ye the Woman?
When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me (Matthew 26:10 KJV) A woman walked up to Jesus one day and poured expensive oil on His head from an alabaster box. The disciples could not believe what they were seeing—how could this Read More
When Religion Erodes Our Relationship with God
And thou Beth-lehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel (Matthew 2:6, KJV) There is a monster that seeks to erode our relationship with God called the religious spirit amongst us, the believers. I Read More
The Religious Spirit Hardens the Heart
And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus (Lk. 6:11 KJV) Jesus met a man who had a paralyzed arm and healed him with a complete restoration of his arm. We would think such a glorious miracle would make everyone in Jerusalem go ecstatic, right? Well, Read More
They Tried to Destroy the Evidence
So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (Jn. 12:10-11 ESV) Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead through a fantastic display of God’s power and glory. Lazarus had been dead and buried.Jesus was not in Read More
The dangers of the religious spirit
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him (Matt. 2:2 KJV) When Jesus was born, wise men from the east read the stars and knew that a King had been born in Israel. They traveled miles from Read More