Ke ka makhetlo a makae Bakreste ba buang, “Ha re na bolumeli empa re na le kamano. 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, tshabo, nyatso, 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
Ke bua tjena he, Tsamaya ka Moya, mme le se ke la phetha ditakatso tsa nama. Gonne nama e eletsa tse di tlhabanang le Mowa, le Moya kgahlano le nama: mme tsena di hanana ho tse ding: le tle le sitwe ho etsa tseo le di ratang. Empa haeba u leleketsoe moea, Ha le tlas'a Molao (Bagalata 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 … (tlatsa likheo)”.
Che, 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.
Hobane le bolokehile ka mohau, ka tumelo; mme hoo ha ho tswe ho lona: ke mpho ya Modimo: Eseng ea mesebetsi, hore ho se be motho ya ithorisang. Hobane re mosebetsi oa Hae, ba bopilwe ho Kreste Jesu ho etsa mesebetsi e molemo, tseo Modimo o di laetseng pele, hore re tsamaye ho tsona (Baefese 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; mora wa Modimo (sena se sebetsa ho banna le basali). Everyone makes their own decision to believe in Jesus Christ, Mora Modimo, 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, mora wa Modimo, mme ba amohetse semelo se setjha, 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, joalo ka Jesu, Who walked after the Spirit and fulfilled the law (Bala hape: ‘O thea molao jwang?‘).
You shall fulfill the law, hobane o rata Modimo ka pelo ya hao yohle, moea, kelello, 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, ka mohlala, 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, Ebe molao oa Molimo, which represents the will of God is written in your heart. And if you love God with all your heart, moea, kelello, and strength and the law of the Spirit is in you, you shall yield to God and His Word and do His will (Oh. Jeremia 31:31-34, Ezekiele 36:26-27, Baroma 2:14-16, Seheberu 8:8-13).
It’s not a matter of ‘have to’ but ‘want ho‘
Jesu o ile a araba a re ho eena, if a man love Me, O tla boloka mantsoe a ka: mme ntate oa ka o tla mo rata, re tla tla ho eena, 'me u etse hore re tsamaee le eena. Kea nthata ha ke na mantsoe a ka: le lentsoe leo u le utloang ha se la ka, empa ntate o nthomile (Johanne 14:23-24)
If you are born again and walk after the Spirit, then it’s not a matter of ‘have to’ empa 'batla'. 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; mora wa Modimo, 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; ka ho bapisa lintho tsa moea le tsa moea. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: Hobane ke booatla ho eena: ebile ha a ka a tseba, Hobane ba lemohile moeeng moeeng. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. Hobane ke mang ya tsebileng mohopolo wa Morena, hore a tle a mo rute? Empa rona re na le kelello ya Kreste (1 Korinthe 2:13-16)
Haeba u fetohile popo e ncha, mora wa Modimo, then you love God and want to spend time with Him. Eseng hobane u tlameha, empa hobane o batla.
Your spirit wants to pray to the Father and study His Word and be taught, lokisitsoe, le kotloetsoe Ke Moea o Halalelang, 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 (lintho tsa) 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?
Ka bomalimabe, 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) hantle, 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.
Ba bangata ba rialo, they have a relationship with Jesus Christ, athe bonneteng, they don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ; Lentswe, but have a relationship with an imaginary Jesus, who they have created in their minds and who thinks, bua, and acts like them (Bala hape: ‘Motho ea iqapetsoeng o hlahisang Bakreste ba maiketsetso’).
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
Le ha o rapela, u se ke ua ba joalo ka baikaketsi ke: Hobane ba rata ho rapela ba eme lisynagogeng le likhutlong tsa literata, hore ba ka bonoa ke banna. Ka ho hlakileng ke re ho uena, Ba na le moputso oa bona. Empa uena, ha o rapela, kena ka kobo ea hao, Ha u na ntlo ea hao, Rapela ntate oa hao ea leng lekunutu; le ntate oa hao ea ipatileng sephiring a tla putsa pepenene pepeneneng (Mattheu 6:5-6)
Le hoseng, ho tsoha nako e telele pele ho letsatsi, Eena (Jesu) went out, mme a tloha a ya sebakeng se le seng, mme teng a rapela (Tšoaea 1:35)
Le eena (Jesu) withdrew Himself into the wilderness, mme a rapela (Luka 5:16)
Mme ha etsahala matsatsing ao, hore A tswela thabeng ho ya rapela, mme a hlola bosiu bohle ho rapela Modimo (Luka 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.
Shebang Jesu, 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 (Bala hape 'Nama ha e khone ho rapela”).
The spirit wants to fast, but the flesh doesn’t want to fast
Empa matsatsi a tla tla, mohla Monyadi a tla tloswa ho bona, ke moo ba tla itima dijo matsatsing ao (Luka 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. Ho na le Balumeli, who love food and try to avoid fasting by coming up with all kinds of excuses and pious alternatives.
Ka mohlala, 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 papali, 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 (botho) 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 (Bala hape: ‘Ho itima lijo?')
The spirit wants to give, but the flesh doesn’t want to give
Likhang tse khelohileng tsa batho ba likelello tse bolileng, le ba hlokang nnete, ba lekanya hore leruo ke borapeli: ho ba joalo u ikhule. Empa borapedi bo nang le kgotsofalo ke leruo le leholo. Hobane ha re soetse letho lefatšeng lena, 'me ho na le bonnete ba hore re ka se ke ra khona ho ke ke ha ho letho. Le ho ba le lijo le seaparo seo re se nang sona, re ka ba teng. Empa ba tla ba le ho oa ka moleko le leraba, le ho ba le maoatla a mangata a maoatla le a utloisang bohloko, eo banna ba hanyetsang timetsong le pherekano. Bakeng sa lerato la chelete ke motso oa bobe bohle: eo ba bang ba neng ba rerile ka mor'a moo, Ba entse phoso tumelong, mme a phuthoe ka mesarelo e mengata (1 Timothea 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. Leha ho le joalo, 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.
Ba bang ba rialo, 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 Melkizedeke.
Ba bang ba re, we don’t have to tithe because everything we possess belongs to God. Hape, this sounds so pious, empa ka bomadimabe, 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 (Bala hape: ‘Chelete, chelete, 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, e ngotsweng Lentsweng, 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, Mekhoa, 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, Mehato, Mekhoa, le mekhoa, tse tsoang nameng (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, Mekhoa, and strategies in order to get things done and achieve something and needs preprinted prayers and prayers strategies to get the desired result. Joalo ka lefatše, which uses steps, Mekhoa, botegeniki, 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
Haeba le nthata, boloka litaelo tsa ka. Mme ke tla rapela ntate, mme O tla le nea Motshedisi e mong, hore a ka lula le uena ka mehla; Le Moea oa 'Nete; Eo lefatše le ke keng la e fumana, Hobane ha e mo bona, ha ho tsebe: empa le mo tsebe; Hobane o lula le uena, mme o tla ba ho uena (Johanne 14:15-17)
Ke u buile lintho tsena, Ho ba teng le uena. Empa motšelisi, e leng moea o halalelang, Ntate o tla romella lebitsong la ka, O tla u ruta lintho tsohle, mme o tlisitse dintho tsohle ho khōlong ea hau, eng kapa eng eo ke u boletseng eona (Johanne 14:25-26)
Ke sa na le ditaba tse ngata tseo nka le bolellang tsona, empa le sitwa ho di mamella hona jwale. Hobaneng ha a, Moea oa 'Nete, e tla, O tla u tataisa 'neteng eohle: Hobane a ke ke a bua ka boeena; empa o tla utloa eng, eo a tla bua: o tla u holisa lintho tse tlang. O tla ntlohela: etsoe o tla amohela, mme o tla e joetsa. Lintho tsohle tseo ntate a leng ho tsona ke tsa ka: ka hona a re ke, hore O tla nka ho Nna, mme o tla e joetsa (Johanne 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, joalo ka Selekane sa Khale, 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?
‘E be letsoai la lefatše’
