Burning bright or burning out - abundant life or religious death?

Jesus said that in order to enter the Kingdom of God one had to be born again, or born from above (John 3:7). To be born again means to have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. To be regenerated means, inter alia, that we have been enabled to live effectively in the realm of the spirit.

In John 4:14 Jesus states that God is Spirit. The regenerated individual has now been enabled to interact with God - who exists in a unity of three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in the realm of God, i.e. the spiritual realm.

Religion, the pursuit of the unregenerate, is wholly natural and devoid of the true Spirit of God. It is therefore impossible for those trapped in religious effort, custom, tradition, etc., as a means of pleasing God, to have a living relationship with the God who is spirit. The solely natural has no means to enter the realm of the spirit with a view of forming a relationship with the living God (Romans 14:17).

Religion is any system that demands that individuals change their behaviour in order to please God (Jeremiah 31:33&34; Ezekiel 36:26&27). So, anything that looks like righteousness, peace or joy without the Holy Spirit is merely counterfeit.

It is of paramount importance to remember that Jesus has nothing in common with religion, nothing at all. He did not come to give us the strength to keep the Ten Commandments (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus did not call upon us to modify our behaviour. Quite the contrary in fact, He promised us a new life with which God is already pleased (John 10:10).

The word ‘life’ as employed here is translated from the Koine Greek ‘zōē’ which means, “... life in the absolute sense, life as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself, and which He gave to the Incarnate Son to have in Himself ...” [i] (John 1:4; Acts 3:15).

Life, in this context must not be seen as length of days, so to speak, but as a quality and intensity (cf. I John 1:1&2). This should be considered in connection with the creation of man who, by design, partook of the very life of God (Genesis 2:7).

Adam literally lived and moved in the life of God that indwelt him (cf. Acts 17:28). He and Eve, i.e. mankind, were separated from the Tree of Life and thus had their link with the God, who is spirit, severed. This was evidenced by their loss of eternal life and the darkening of their understanding (Ephesians 4:18). All of this has been reversed in Christ (John 11:25, 14:6; Revelation 22:1-5).

With all of this in mind, we who are believers in Jesus Christ need to take note, afresh, of the following:

John 3:15&16 – “... that whoever believes may in Him have eternal zōē.”

John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal zōē; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see zōē.

John 4:14 - “... but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal zōē.”

John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of zōē.”

Religion will fight tooth and nail to prevent such a truth becoming accessible to those who are in search of it (John 5:40).

So, salvation is a participation in God’s life. There is no law that could produce the nature of God in an individual. This new life flows spontaneously out of the gift of Life given in Christ. Jesus came to begin a new race of people who shared in His life (zōē). How did He achieve this? The answer is found in John 12:24.

Central to all of this is the fact of Jesus’ physical resurrection (John 11:25). His resurrection was proof positive that the sin that stood between man and the ‘zōē’ of God had been dealt with – we were justified. Therefore the following became valid in the life of the believer:

Philippians 1:21 – “For to me, to live is Christ ...”

Colossians 3:4 – “... Christ who is our life (zōē) ...”

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”

II Peter 1:4 – “... that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature ...”.

Religion will call upon us to imitate Christ in our natural ability instead of through the life that indwells the believer (cf. I Corinthians 11:1). The ‘zōē life’ now represents the life that is in those who believe. Christ now lives within thus making the idea of the believer as a puppet a nonsense. In fact, Jesus has restored the believer to true freedom.  The life in Christ is 100% supernatural.

Therefore, the fruits of the spirit as listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22&23 are just that: Fruits sourced in the Holy Spirit dwelling within each believer, not the effort of every believer seeking to grow them. The regenerated child of God cannot be explained outside of the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).

Religion causes people to burn out in their quest to please God. The life of God does not consume that which it indwells (Exodus 3:2).

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[i] Vine, W.E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Old Tappen. Fleming H. Revell. 1966. Pg. 336.