Religious superstition is a huge industry. Who knows how many billions of dollars are spent every year on amulets, statues, candles, medallions, icons, relics, special foods, holy water, special breathing techniques, anointed oil, prayer cloths, grave soaking, and pilgrimages?
I’ve been watching Leah Remini’s documentary on Scientology, and I was shocked to find out how expensive it is to be a Scientologist. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact, recruiters are trained to get Scientologists to max-out their credit cards and to take out mortgages on their homes to pay for these courses and books.
People will spend thousands for special techniques to be spiritual.
And it’s all useless.
It adds nothing to your spiritual life.
If anything, it detracts from your spiritual life by making you focus on and trust in the wrong things: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything” (Gal 5:6a). If God-given circumcision doesn’t help, the man-made stuff certainly won’t.
If anything could help, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. God would have told people to buy this or that special trinket. God would have given a better law: “For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law” (Gal 3:21b).
So what does Christian spirituality look like?
It’s so simple: love your neighbor.
This is not sentimentalism or emotionalism but get-your-hands-dirty service:
Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal 5:13b-14).
God would much rather you help an elderly neighbor clean her gutters, or babysit for a frazzled family, or cook a meal for a shut-in, or shovel a driveway for an invalid, or help someone fill out some job applications, or give your parents or grandparents a regular phone call than spend any money, time, or thoughts on a special breathing technique, prayer-beads, or holy oil.
God gave you His Son and gave you eternal life as a free gift, so you don’t have to waste your time being “spiritual” in the worldly sense. You are free…to serve. You are freed by Jesus not to worry about your eternal destiny, so you can concentrate on making a difference in the lives of the people around you.
It’s as though Paul was ribbing the Galatians for spending all their energies on keeping religious rituals (e.g., Gal 4:10-11) while neglecting one of the most obvious and important things about Christian living (if not the most important)—helping the people around you in real and tangible ways.
Where’s your focus—on yourself or your neighbor?
Leo Z
God’s moral laws all wrapped up in the New Covenant Law of Christ. “Love God with all your being and love you neighbor as yourself, Luke 10:27. Abiding in it will make your faith profitable James 2:14-17. 1 John 3:16, practical spirituality God’s way and the biblical way.
Thanks Pastor Shawn for another exhortation on the practical outworking of faith.
Praying for you and GES.
EternallySaved
Amen Shawn my brother. Man, I love you and Bob Wilkin and everyone on here in Christ so much. Thank you for this article. I want to do two main things as a result: 1 Spread the Gospel of the grace of God to more and more people with Biblical love, and, 2 Increase my service to Jesus and others with love. Thank you!
Alvin
Romans page 212,213 Zane
As Paul has already asserted, the Christian is “not under the law but under grace” (6:14). Thus Paul does not mean here that a Christian can operate UNDER the law and carry out its “requirements,” but rather that THE RIGHTEOUS ACTION which the law stipulated.
The singular occurs because Paul’s statement is a statement of principle. What Paul is affirming is that THE THING THAT COULDN’T BE DONE BY LIVING UNDER THE LAW CAN IN FACT BE ACHIEVED BY WALKING IN RELATION TO THE SPIRIT. The law addresses our sinful flesh and cannot deliver us from walking IN RELATION TO THE FLESH (see v 2). Now, however, we have died to the law (7:6) in order that we might walk in newness of life that comes to us because we are IN Christ Jesus (see 6:4). THE RIGHTEOUS ACTION can be realized (FULFILLED, plērōthē)through the power of the Spirit. End quote.
One of the fruits of the Spirit is love, if we are walking by the Spirit, the Spirit will produce love in us (Gal 5:22-25).
Leo Z
Church Age believers are no longer under the Law, that is the Law of Moses (the law of sin and death) but under Grace (Romans 6:14; 10:4; Galatians 2:19). However, the believer is still under law, a different Law, the Law of Christ (Romans 8:2); the Royal Law, the Law of Liberty (James 2:8; 12).
Of course, NO ONE is saved under the law, any law. The believer in the New Covenant is under Christ’s law NOT for regeneration/justification but for sanctification. Under Christ’s Law, He summed up the old Law as “Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). The Decalogue minus “Keeping the Sabbath Day. This was His response when asked about what one should do to “inherit” eternal life. NOT “gain” or “receive” eternal life. Inheriting is a connotation to “fullness”, the fullness of one’s everlasting life received only by believing in Jesus for it.
Under the Law of Christ we focus on Christ and abide in Him to be able to have power to do the things He commanded and the apostles exhorted. If we focus strictly on the commands in order to live godly lives, grow spiritually and be in harmonious fellowship with God and Christ, there will be no Holy Spirit power. Then we will surely fail. When we fail, he gave us a provision. We claim the promise of 1 John 1:9.