Freedom From Addiction To Religion Series

Freedom from Addiction to Religion

Galatians 2:11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

. . . . 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? . . . .

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. . .

13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

A young lad was visiting a church for the first time, checking all the announcements and posters along the walls. When he came to a group of pictures of men in uniform, he asked a nearby usher, "Who are all those men in the pictures?" The usher replied, "Why, those are our boys who died in the service".

Dumbfounded, the youngster asked, "Was that the morning service or the evening service?"

Laws:

Some traditions say you have to pray at a particular time

The Bible says pray all the time (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Some traditions say you are to repeat words over when you pray.

Jesus teaches we need to pray based on our relationship with God and with forgiveness in our hearts (Matthew 6:9-15)

Some say “You shall not eat this, you shall not eat that, ” or “you shall eat this, you shall eat that.”

The Bible says food is not the basis of our relationship with God. (God gives dietary restrictions in the Old Testament to save God’s people from diseases associated with improper foods improperly prepared, not to give them religious privilege).

Some say if you go out at particular times you’ll be accosted by demons

The Bible teaches that victory over demons is a given. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Jesus said “do not rejoice that the demons obey you, but that your names are written in heaven”. Luke 10:20

Some traditions teach that you should worship one demon to cast out others. Jesus said if demons fight demons, the powers of darkness are divided against themselves and a house divided cannot stand. Mark 3:23-26

Religion, for some, is like a chain that binds them to dates and times and seasons-some days are holy, some days are not. Others look at each day as holy. The Bible says we must not judge one another on such issues. Romans 14:5-8

7 Things that bring NO ADVANTAGE

1. There is no religious advantage to any diet – including being Veg. or having only fish on Friday, or avoiding chocolate for Lent, or any form of fast, even if it’s called a Daniel fast or a biblical fast

2. There is no religious advantage to race,

You have no spiritual advantage before God simply because you are Indian. Nor is there any advantage to being middle eastern, or African, or Western European.