The spirit of religion permeates far and widely everywhere there is man. Self-righteousness is the down fall of their faith, for their critical attitudes. There is no mercy in their ways of judgment when they speak against those of different ways of believing. YAHSHUA condemned such people with a parable He told His disciples about two men who went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: “God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men, swindlers, adulteress- or even like this tax collector here… but the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, , be favorable to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified, rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14). Religion is a wall that separates and destroys the faith of many. It is in another word, tradition. It establishes the do’s and don’ts not found in the word of God, as if in the time of the Law. Christians go as far as only to consider one translation of the Bible to be right, not knowing the true background history of that version. Tradition is good in some ways, when it comes to family’s customs. It connects us to our long- gone forefathers, keeping alive the family tradition, that which made them unique. The spirit of religion is the spirit of self-righteousness. There is great difference between the true religion and that of self-righteousness. The true religion is shown through action of love; it does not judge ones weak in the faith, it does not elevate self, but submit to the authority of YAHSHUA, Who is the source of man’s righteousness. “True religion is that pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world” (James 1:27). It is nothing to do with the outlook and pretension to be that which we are not.
Paul said, “As for the man who is a weak believer, welcome him; but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions. Who are you to pass judgment on and censure another’s household servant? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he shall stand and be upheld, for the Master is mighty to support him and make him stand. Why do you criticize and pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon or despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. And so, each of us shall give an account of himself to God.” (Rom. 14:1,4,10). Standing in one’s idea to be the only right one, independent from what the Word of God teaches, is certainly a spirit of religion, a man- made belief. YAHSHUA fought the religious Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes of His days on earth. He was strong in His definitions of whom they were- hypocrites, double-minded people, hiding their own identity by their self-righteousness, performing deeds of appearance of good, when their inner was full of foul smells. One certain day when scribes and Pharisees came to YAHSHUA complaining about His disciples for not washing their hands before eating. He then replied to them saying, “And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers?… So, for the sake of your tradition, you have set aside the Word of God… You pretenders! Admirable and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, “These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men” (Matt.15:3-30). With these words, YAHSHUA shone the bright light of truth, exposing whom they were. These blind guides were the authorities of the people in those days, leading the people to destruction. YAHSHUA uttered a series of woes to those religious authorities, condemning them to eternity.
Light from the Word 