Mark 3:20-35
If you were or were a religious leader intent on
protecting your religious system, who would you protect it from?
The thinking may be the enemy would be the one seeking to
bring down your power-base, but that would be untrue.
The enemy is just fine with religion. Again, the thinking
may be that Satan’s territory would be unbelief – and it is – but he is quite
content with the nominalism toward God religious systems produce. And even the fervent
forms of religion we see in the world today are not fervent for God, they are fervent
for the religious system of the practitioner.
The appearance of moral piety merely serves to build up
the flesh, and to enhance the standing of men among men. God thinks nothing of
the appearance of moral piety, because he knows it isn’t true. He knows the
heart, and He knows why we seek to appear pious. Every religious system has in
common this building up of the flesh. (The exultation of the self even if it
means by suffering, or self-flagellation, or self-immolation, or even by suicide-bomb.)
Who is behind this kind of self-destructive behavior?
Less obviously, who is therefore behind every behavior
which builds up the flesh to the point it believes itself worthy of God’s favor
– perhaps through the burning of incense, or endless repetitions of prayers, or
marvelous architecture, or performance of outward moral superiority?
And so, we wind up with religious leaders in opposition
to Jesus Christ Himself. Whose position is furthered by opposition to Jesus
Christ? What can be learned by the constant friction, discomfort, and contention
the religious leaders had with Jesus? (That they would accuse HIM of being in
league with Satan?)
When is Satan’s kingdom divided EXCEPT in the person of
Jesus Christ? How sad it is the strongest-appearing form of unbelief - the
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - comes by flesh-enhancing religion which makes
even Jesus Himself to be a liar about how men must be saved.
-Pastor Bill
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