How many times do Christians say, “We don’t have a religion but a relation. We are freed from religion and don’t have to anymore.” They are proud that they don’t adhere to a religion like previous generations and must do things and be bound by rules, but that they have been made free through Jesus Christ and have a relationship with God. Religion is related to legalism; keeping the law, having to, takot, condemnation, and punishment, and they are freed from that. They don’t ‘have to’ anymore but are redeemed and live in freedom. It all sounds so pious and wonderful and of course, we have a relationship with God by faith and regeneration in Christ instead of a dead religion. But to many, these words of having a relationship instead of religion is a disguised form of pride and rebellion against God, because they are not willing to submit to God and His Word and His commandments and don’t want to be told what to do, but they want to live their own lives and make their own decisions, without God and His Word being part of it. They say they have a relationship with God, but from their daily lives, their relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is hard to find. Because what does their relationship look like and consist of?
Flesh vs spirit
Ito ang sinasabi ko pagkatapos, Lumakad sa Espiritu, at hindi ninyo tutuparin ang pita ng laman. Sapagka't ang laman ay nagnanasa laban sa Espiritu, at ang Espiritu laban sa laman: at ang mga ito ay salungat sa isa't isa: upang hindi ninyo magawa ang mga bagay na inyong naisin. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law (Mga taga-Galacia 5:16-18).
“We don’t have to do anything anymore. We don’t have to keep the commandments of God, we don’t have to pray, we don’t have to fast, we don’t have to study the Bible, we don’t have to tithe, we don’t have to … (fill out the blanks)”.
Hindi, you don’t have to do all these things to be saved. You can’t earn your salvation by your works and/or by keeping the law of Moses.
Sapagka't sa biyaya kayo ay naligtas sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya; at hindi iyon sa inyong sarili: ito ay kaloob ng Diyos: Hindi sa mga gawa, baka may sinumang magyabang. Sapagkat tayo ay Kanyang gawa, nilikha kay Cristo Jesus para sa mabubuting gawa, na itinalaga noon ng Diyos na dapat nating lakaran sa kanila (Mga Taga-Efeso 2:8-10)
Salvation is the gift of grace of God, which He has given, first to the Jewish people (His carnal covenant people) and then to the heathen.
God has given everyone the ability to be saved and be redeemed from the power of the devil and the kingdom of darkness and to become a new creation; isang anak ng Diyos (naaangkop ito sa kapwa lalaki at babae). Everyone makes their own decision to believe in Jesus Christ, ang Anak ng Diyos, and be saved by Him or not.
The new man shall establish the law
But the secret of regeneration is, that if you are born of God and have become a new creation, isang anak ng Diyos, and have received a new nature, Gods nature, and Christ abides in you by the Holy Spirit and the law of His Kingdom reigns in your heart, you shall fulfill the law of the Kingdom of God, tulad ni Hesus, Who walked after the Spirit and fulfilled the law (Basahin din: ‘How do you establish the law?').
You shall fulfill the law, because you love God with all your heart, kaluluwa, isip, and strength and yield yourself to Him and live after His will.
From your love to God, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, which doesn’t mean that you accept the sins and idolatry of your neighbor, but that you, Halimbawa, don’t covet the things of your neighbor and therefore don’t commit fornication and adultery and divorce, don’t cheat, don’t steal from your neighbor, don’t lie against your neighbor, don’t kill your neighbor, but forgive your neighbor and be faithful and so on.
If you are born of God and have received God’s nature and the Holy Spirit abides in you, then the law of God, which represents the will of God is written in your heart. And if you love God with all your heart, kaluluwa, isip, and strength and the law of the Spirit is in you, you shall yield to God and His Word and do His will (Oh. Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:26-27, mga Romano 2:14-16, Hebrew 8:8-13).
It’s not a matter of ‘have to’ but ‘want to‘
Sumagot si Jesus at sinabi sa kanya, if a man love Me, tutuparin niya ang Aking mga salita: at mamahalin siya ng Aking Ama, at Kami ay lalapit sa kanya, at gawin ang aming tirahan sa kanya. Ang hindi umiibig sa Akin ay hindi tumutupad sa Aking mga salita: at ang salita na inyong naririnig ay hindi akin, kundi ang Ama na nagsugo sa Akin (John 14:23-24)
If you are born again and walk after the Spirit, then it’s not a matter of ‘have to’ but ‘want to’. You are reconciled with God and united with Him and don’t do things concerning God and the Kingdom of God out of legalism and an obligation, but out of your love for God.
Jesus Christ has redeemed you and your love for Him and your gratitude towards Him should become visible in your life through your faith and your works.
Your life as the new creation; son of God, should be different than your previous life as the old creation, when you belonged to the devil and the devil was your father.
You are no longer an enemy of God and you shall not exalt yourself above God anymore and walk in pride and rebellion towards God in obedience to the will of the flesh, which has the nature of the devil and in which sin and death reign.
But through the death of the flesh and the resurrection of the spirit from the dead, you are delivered from the power of the devil and sin and death and you are reconciled with God and have become a son of God and therefore you shall live in obedience to your new Father and from your relationship with Him after His will.
Your life no longer revolves around yourself and pleasing your flesh, but around Jesus Christ and pleasing, honoring, and exalting Him and God the Father.
The spirit wants to spend time with God, the flesh doesn’t want to spend time with God
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: sapagkat ang mga ito ay kamangmangan sa kanya: ni hindi niya makikilala ang mga ito, sapagkat sila ay nakikilala sa espirituwal. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Mga taga-Corinto 2:13-16)
If you have become a new creation, isang anak ng Diyos, then you love God and want to spend time with Him. Not because you have to, but because you want to.
Your spirit wants to pray to the Father and study His Word and be taught, naitama, at chastised by the Holy Spirit, not for selfish reasons and selfish gain, but to get to know God and His will and spiritually mature into the image of Christ, so that you please, honor and exalt God through your life.
But the flesh doesn’t want to isolate and spend time with God. The flesh loves itself and wants to feed its lusts and desires and wants to be entertained by (the things of) the world and have fun with friends.
The flesh doesn’t want to be alone and can’t be alone and abhors reading the Bible let alone studying the Bible, since the words of God are foolishness to him and the Word reveals and condemns the works of the flesh and the flesh doesn’t want that.
The flesh wants to be pleased, entertained, and fed by the world and receive what the flesh wants. And so the flesh reigns as king and the flesh keeps reigning as king in people’s lives.
What defines a relationship?
Sa kasamaang palad, in this day and age, the definition of a relationship has been distorted and taken on a path of its own. How many people claim to have a relationship, without spending time with a person.
How many times do sons and/or daughters say, that they have a good relationship with their parent(s), while the parent(s) think otherwise, because sometimes there are weeks in between that they speak and/or visit their parents. And if they contact or visit their parents it’s many times out of obligation or because they have problems and/or need something, but not because they long for their parents and want to be with their parents and spend time with their parents.
In their mind, they think they have a good relationship without visiting the parent(s) and without spending time with the parent(s) and think they treat their parent(s) well, but the reality and their works say something else.
Their works say and prove that don’t really have a relationship and don’t love their parents, because if they would truly love their parents they would want to spend time with them and do what pleases them and not leave them to their fate.
They would be interested and would listen to their parents and don’t do things that hurt them or make them sad. And the same goes for the faith.
Many say, they have a relationship with Jesus Christ, samantalang sa realidad, they don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ; ang salita, but have a relationship with an imaginary Jesus, who they have created in their minds and who thinks, speaks, and acts like them (Basahin din: ‘A counterfeit Jesus produces counterfeit Christians’).
They think that they walk after the spirit and love God and know Him, while they spend their time to the things of the world and find that more important than spending time with The Father in prayer and reading and studying the Word.
The spirit wants to pray, the flesh doesn’t want to pray
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Katotohanang sinasabi ko sa iyo, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly (Mattheüs 6:5-6)
At sa umaga, bumangon nang matagal bago ang araw, He (Hesus) went out, at umalis sa isang lugar na nag-iisa, at doon nanalangin (marka 1:35)
And He (Hesus) withdrew Himself into the wilderness, at nanalangin (Luke 5:16)
At nangyari sa mga araw na iyon, that He went out into a mountain to pray, at nagpatuloy buong gabi sa pananalangin sa Diyos (Luke 6:12)
How much time, do believers spend in prayer daily? Of course you are connected in the spirit by the Holy Spirit with Jesus Christ and God the Father and you communicate through the spirit with God, but you will also set time apart for prayer and isolate yourself. That’s not legalism, but that’s because you love God and because you want to spend time with Him in prayer.
Look at Jesus, Jesus was connected by the Spirit with the Father, but Jesus withdrew Himself often from the people to spend time in prayer with the Father.
Praying is essential in the life of every son of God. A son of God can’t live without prayer and if someone truly walks after the Spirit, the person shall spend a lot of time in prayer. Not because the person has to, but because the person wants to and desires to be together with the Father, since the person has a relationship with the Father.
As long as someone doesn’t want to pray or can’t spend time in prayer, this proves that the flesh is still alive and reigns, because the flesh can’t pray and won’t pray (Read also ‘Ang laman ay hindi maaaring manalangin”).
The spirit wants to fast, but the flesh doesn’t want to fast
But the days will come, when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days (Luke 5:35)
The flesh doesn’t want to fast, because if people fast the flesh is not being fed and the flesh doesn’t get what it wants. There are believers, who love food and try to avoid fasting by coming up with all kinds of excuses and pious alternatives.
Halimbawa, they say that the new creation is not required to fast. But if Jesus, Who was the New Creation, did fast shouldn’t we follow His example and fast also?
Some also come up with pious alternatives, which they have devised and set up themselves, and say that they fast by not watching television, or by not gaming, or putting away their cell phone for a few hours. But that’s not fasting! Because the flesh still gets what it wants, namely food.
Fasting is also not meant for (personal) material breakthroughs in the world and provisions for the flesh. But when you fast, the flesh becomes weaker and your spirit stronger and therefore it’s no wonder that the flesh is not willing to fast (Basahin din: 'Ano ang pag-aayuno?')
The spirit wants to give, but the flesh doesn’t want to give
Mga masasamang pagtatalo ng mga taong may tiwaling pag-iisip, at nawalan ng katotohanan, sa pag-aakalang ang pakinabang ay kabanalan: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. Sapagkat wala tayong dinala sa mundong ito, at tiyak na wala tayong mailalabas. At ang pagkakaroon ng pagkain at pananamit ay maging kontento na tayo. Ngunit silang yumaman ay nahuhulog sa tukso at sa silo, at sa maraming hangal at masasakit na pagnanasa, na lumulunod sa mga tao sa pagkawasak at kapahamakan. Sapagkat ang pag-ibig sa salapi ang ugat ng lahat ng kasamaan: na habang pinagnanasaan ng ilan, sila ay lumihis sa pananampalataya, at tinusok ang kanilang mga sarili sa pamamagitan ng maraming kalungkutan (1 Timothy 6:5-10)
You’ll be amazed, at how money is a stumbling block for many. They say that money is not evil, but that the love for money is evil. Gayunpaman, if people don’t want to give, it proves that they have a love for money. They can’t and won’t give their money to God, but want to keep it for themselves, and again, come up with all kinds of pious excuses.
Some say, we don’t have to tithe, because tithing is part of the law and the Old Covenant and we don’t live in the Old Covenant under the law but in the New Covenant under grace. Because they believe in this lie, they don’t tithe to the church, but keep their money in their own pockets and spent it on their own kingdom instead of God’s Kingdom.
But before the institution of the law, the people already gave a part of their income to God and Abraham tithed to Melchizedek.
Others say, we don’t have to tithe because everything we possess belongs to God. Again, this sounds so pious, but unfortunately, it only stays with these words, and these words are not turned into actions. Because if they would do what they confess, they would give their whole monthly income to the church. But we don’t see that happen.
There are many more pious lies, that are used to not tithe to God (Basahin din: ‘Pera, pera, and money')
The spirit of greed reigns in the flesh
All these pious lies have one thing in common and that is that the spirit of greed, who reigns in the flesh is obeyed and fed and therefore believers don’t tithe to the church, but keep their money in their own pockets.
As a result of obeying the spirit of greed, many churches fail to maintain the church and can’t pay the bills and churches must be sold.
Many churches are in ruins, both spiritual and natural, because the flesh reigns, and people refuse to submit to God and obey His will, which is written in the Word, and change the situation.
If someone is not willing to tithe, next to the offerings, it only proves that the person is rebellious and not obedient to the Word, and because of that the person is looking for a way out and comes up with all kinds of excuses so that (s)he doesn’t have to tithe.
But if you have become a new creation and have God’s nature and you love God and have a relationship with Him, then you are grateful and thankful to God and you will tithe, and don’t make a fuss out of it. You don’t give because you have to, or in order to receive, but because you love God and you want to.
The spirit acts out of faith, the flesh needs steps and methods
The new man is spiritual and walks after the Spirit and because the new man has a relationship with God and knows the will of God, the new man acts by faith in God and His authority and power.
The new man discerns the spirits and has insights into the spiritual realm and lives from the Spirit and does the works in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Since the new man has an experiential relationship with God, the new man doesn’t need preprinted prayers and/or prayer strategies and doesn’t have to follow steps, paraan, and strategies to get things done or to achieve something.
The new man knows God and believes in God and has faith in the Name of Jesus Christ and the Person behind the Name and acts from his position in Christ and his relationship with Christ and not from the faith in preprinted prayers, steps, paraan, and technics, which derive from the flesh (the human mind).
But the flesh does need these things, since the old man is unspiritual and doesn’t have a relationship with God and because faith is not present in the flesh.
The flesh is sense-ruled and believes in steps, paraan, and strategies in order to get things done and achieve something and needs preprinted prayers and prayers strategies to get the desired result. Just like the world, which uses steps, paraan, technics, and strategies to solve problems, be successful, get things done, and achieve the desired result.
The new man has a relationship with God and relies on God, the old man has a religion and relies on people.
The spirit hears the voice of God, the flesh needs others to hear the voice of God
Kung mahal mo Ako, sundin mo ang Aking mga utos. At magdarasal ako sa Ama, and He shall give you another Comforter, upang Siya ay manatili sa iyo magpakailanman; Maging ang Espiritu ng katotohanan; na hindi matatanggap ng mundo, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: ngunit kilala ninyo Siya; for He dwelleth with you, at magiging sa iyo (John 14:15-17)
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:25-26)
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Gayunpaman kapag Siya, ang Espiritu ng katotohanan, ay dumating, Gagabayan ka niya sa lahat ng katotohanan: sapagkat hindi Siya magsasalita ng tungkol sa Kanyang sarili; ngunit anuman ang Kanyang marinig, iyan ang sasabihin Niya: at ipapakita niya sa iyo ang mga bagay na darating. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you (John 16:12-15)
The new man has a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit and not only hears His voice daily, by spending time in the Word and prayer, but also during the day.
The Word and the Holy Spirit shall teach the new man and make God’s plan known and reveal the future, causing the new man to stay awake and watchful and discern the times.
The old man is unspiritual and needs others to hear and understand the voice of God, just like in the Old Covenant, where God’s people were carnal and needed prophets.
Because many believers are not born again and don’t hear and understand the voice of God, many go to prophets to find out the will of God for their personal lives and what their future will be like, and sometimes they even pay for it. It’s actually the same as the world. They go to fortunetellers and pay them to find out specific things regarding their personal lives and future.
And so there are many more examples to provide, that show that people say that they don’t have a religion but a relation with Jesus Christ and God the Father through the Holy Spirit but their lives prove otherwise. Their walk with God looks more like a religion than a relation.
Do you have a religion or a relation?
Do you have a religion or relation? Are you born again in Christ and do you have received the Holy Spirit and do you know Jesus Christ and the Father experientially or do you know Them by hearsay and by visiting a church? Is God your life and have you yielded yourself unto Him and do you spend time with Him and do you live in His will or is the faith just an addition to your life and do you only serve Him when it’s convenient for you or if you need something?
Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father? What would Jesus answer, if you would ask Him how He sees your relationship with Him?
‘Maging asin ng lupa’
