I am still prayerfully considering Gal. 1:4 where Paul said that Jesus Christ gave Himself so that we may be rescued, delivered, and plucked out of the present evil age, from the present degraded religious system in Christianity. The present evil age for Paul was Judaism, which was a religion based on the holy word of God – to which man has added a system and many forms that others had to keep in order to please God.
Today, the present evil age is the religious system in Christianity; the Lord Jesus died not only to redeem us, reconcile us to God, and cleanse us of our sins, but He died to rescue us from this present religious system in Christianity!
Even though in Christianity they have the Bible – the holy word of God containing His eternal plan, His economy, and His heart’s desire, what we see in the many denominations, sects, groups, and “churches” is not a living relationship with Christ, growing in the Lord, and building up the Body of Christ but something else that distracts us from Christ and the exercise of our spirit.
We need to have a discernment of what the present evil age is and what is the Lord’s recovery; on His side, God has an economy, and on our side, we need to be recovered back to God’s economy, back to God’s original intention to dispense Himself into man so that man may be built up into His corporate expression, the church as the Body of Christ.
Even though Judaism was based on God’s word, His holy revelation in the Scriptures, those who kept it killed the Lord Jesus, persecuted the believers, and tried to destroy the church. In a similar way, even though Christianity is based on the word of God (with many other things, forms, practices, opinions, traditions, etc added to it), it persecutes, destroys, and criticizes the genuine seeking ones of the Lord and does not build up the Body of Christ, the church.
Oh, may the Lord unveil us to see the present religious system instigated by Satan and may we ask the Lord to rescue us out of this present evil age so that we may live a life for the fulfillment of His purpose in the church life on the ground of oneness for the building up of the Body of Christ!
The Good Shepherd Laid down His Life for us to be Rescued from any Religious Fold
In John 10 the Lord Jesus introduced Himself as the Good Shepherd who comes to His sheep, takes care of them, and even lays down His life so that they may have life and may have it abundantly. In this chapter the Lord said that He came to bring His sheep – those who hear His voice – out of the fold and into the pasture, and He also has “other sheep” which He will bring together with all His sheep, and they all shall be one flock with one Shepherd (John 10:16).
The “fold” the Lord speaks of here is religion, more specifically in this case the Jewish religion where His sheep were held until Christ came; Christ as the good Shepherd came to call His sheep out from the fold of religion and into Himself as the good pasture, and He wants that all His sheep would be His one flock, the church.
But the Judaizers, the zealous law-keepers among the Jews, crucified the Lord and put Him to death; through His death on the cross, the Lord gave Himself for our sins in order to rescue us out of the religious fold (Gal. 1:4).
Today there are many “folds” in which God’s people are held, and the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd is still calling His sheep to come out of any fold and into the full enjoyment of Himself as the good pasture so that all His sheep, all His believers, would be one flock – one church.
We need to pray that many of the Lord’s genuine seekers would hear the Lord’s voice calling them out of the religious fold, see the present evil age, and be willing to be rescued from any religion, denomination, free group, sect, or “church” to be brought together with the Lord’s sheep into the good land to build God’s house, the church, in oneness with the saints and with Christ.
Much prayer is needed that the Lord would enlighten the eyes of His believers all throughout the earth to realize that the Lord is outside the religion, outside any denomination, and He as the good Shepherd is calling His seeking ones to follow Him “outside the camp” to bear His reproach, be His church (which takes no other name but His), and enjoy life abundantly.
Lord Jesus, shine on so many of Your seeking ones to see the present evil age and be willing to be rescued out of it! Lord, may many of Your genuine believers hear Your voice and follow You as the good Shepherd outside of any religious fold to be part of the one flock, one church, one Body of Christ! Lord Jesus, rescue many out of the present evil age and bring them into the genuine church life that is for the building up of Your Body! May many believers find You as the door to get out of the fold and enter into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the good pasture in the church life!
Religion is Something for God and for the Benefit of People yet Without Christ!
What the entire Bible reveals is that God created the heavens for the earth, He laid the foundations of the earth and made earth for man’s existence, and He created man in His image with a human spirit so that man may contact God, receive God, contain God, and assimilate God so that man may be His living corporate expression.
From the beginning to the end of the Bible, throughout all the generations and dispensations, God wants to dispense Himself into man and be man’s life and everything so that man may be built up in God and become God’s corporate expression. However, even though God’s intention is in the Bible, because of the lack of vision, most people don’t see it. Rather, the Bible is translated and fully available in Christianity, but very few see God’s eternal plan.
This is mainly because Satan, God’s enemy, came in and utilized the points in the Holy Book to instigate man to exercise his mentality and form religion. Religion is something formed by the human mentality, something good and “for God”; religion is something made by man’s mentality under the instigation and inspiration of Satan in order to oppose God’s economy.
Apparently and outwardly, religion is fully for God, but in actuality, religion is fully against God. Think about it: is the Roman Catholic church and all the denominations, sects, and free groups, are they according to God? They all have the Bible, they base their teaching on the Bible, but they add many human elements, “good teachings”, and traditions and practices which rather distract others from God’s economy!
Religion is something “for God” and “for the benefit of people” but without Christ and apart from the Spirit of Christ (Gal. 5:4-5; 3:1, 5, 14, 24). The Pope, for example, may say some nice things from the Bible, and he shows how much he is for people, yet he’s without Christ and with nothing of the Spirit of Christ.
To be religious is to do something for God and for the benefit of people that will “glorify God” yet without Christ experientially and apart from the Spirit experientially.
Religion is something for God and for the benefit of people, yet it is apart from Christ and without the Spirit of Christ. As long as Christ is not in something, no matter how good it may be, it is only religion. Even if we pray or study the Bible but are not in the spirit and do not have the Spirit of Christ, we are in religion, which does not bring forth the church. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us back to the proper church life, and Christ as the Spirit is the only element that produces the church. As long as we do things in the spirit and with the Spirit of Christ, we have the church life. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1972, vol. 3, “Enjoying Christ as the All-inclusive Spirit for the Practical, Genuine, and Real Church Life,” p. 497)
This germ of religion in Christianity can infect all of us, and we need to be clear concerning it. We may do something “for God” and for the benefit of people, yet without any prayer, exercise of the spirit, or fellowship. We may be in a movement “for God” and to “help others know God”, yet without any contact with God. We may be a good religious man yet not a Christ-man.
To be religious is to worship God and serve God without Christ and without the Spirit; whenever we become religious, we become ensnared in the present evil age. Oh Lord Jesus!
Satan may not have a problem with the believers reading the Bible and even studying it, as long as he systematizes the things in the Bible to keep us away from the Lord and from exercising our spirit to touch the Spirit. We may think that the secular world, the outward aspect of the world, is evil and we should stay away from its snare, but what about the religious aspect of the world?
Satan’s goal is to keep us away from the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, and for this he made a religious world where we can stay, live, and do things; here we are ensnared by Satan to stay away from Christ and God’s eternal purpose.
What keeps Christians away from God and His will more than the teaching concerning “going to heaven”? This really distracts many believers from God’s purpose! May the Lord expose religion as the system formed by Satan to keep us away from God, the will of God, and the eternal purpose of God, and may we be rescued out of this present evil age!
Lord Jesus, save us from doing something for God and for the benefit of people yet without Christ and apart from the Spirit of Christ! We want to exercise our spirit, touch the living Christ, and live in oneness with the Spirit in our spirit, so that we may live a life for the fulfillment of Your purpose. Lord, expose religion: expose the ensnaring of Satan, his instigation, and his inspiration! May we choose to exercise our spirit, do things in spirit, and be filled in spirit so that we may have the church life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1972, vol. 3, “Enjoying Christ as the All-inclusive Spirit for the Practical, Genuine, and Real Church Life,” chs. 1-2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today (ITERO 2015 fall), week 9 / msg 9, The Lord’s Recovery versus the Present Evil Age and the Eschatology of the Church.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Jesus, our wonderful Shepherd / Brought us right out of the fold / Into His pasture so plenteous, / Into His riches untold. / In the divisions He sought us, / Weary and famished for food; / Into the good land He brought us, / Oh, to our spirit how good! (Hymns #1221)
# All the meetings Christ appointed / And attended here on earth / Were apart from all religion, / All its rituals, forms, and dearth. / Resurrection, not religion, / Must be our reality; / Let us meet in resurrection, / From all dead religion free. (Hymns #1281)
# Now in the Lord’s recovery / We’re drawn to Christ alone. / The Spirit as the gentle dove / Has found in us a home. / Let all religion turn away / To movements wide and great; / This testimony of Himself / Our Lord will vindicate! (Hymns #1186)
About aGodMan
At the time of John 10, God’s people, His sheep, were in the fold of Judaism. But as this chapter makes clear, Christ came to bring His sheep out of the fold and to form them with the Gentile believers into one flock, the church (10:16). Hence, the fold is religion, whereas the flock is the church….Christ is seeking to rescue His sheep out of the various religious folds and to bring them together as the one flock.
Christ’s death on the cross to deliver us from the present evil age was according to the will of God, the Father. To rescue the sheep from the fold is thus according to the will of God.
The Lord Jesus came into the fold, opened the door, and led the sheep out of the fold. The Judaizers crucified Him. But through His death on the cross, the Lord gave Himself for our sins in order to rescue us from the religious fold. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Galatians, p. 9)