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Overcoming the Religious Spirit

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Many sincere believers love God, pray and serve, and still feel tired, judged and far from Him. Often the problem is not too little effort but the wrong kind. Scripture and many deliverance teachers call this the religious spirit: religion without relationship.

The Root of the Religious Spirit

Where the religious spirit began: two trees

The story of religion begins in a garden. "The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:9, NKJV). God's invitation was generous, with one warning: "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17, NKJV).

The tree of life pictures living from God: trust, dependence and a life received as a gift. The tree of knowledge pictures living from ourselves: judging good and evil by our own measure and trying to be "like God" without God (Genesis 3:5, NKJV). When Adam and Eve ate, they did more than break a rule. They changed the way humanity relates to God, to itself and to one another.

The change was immediate. "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings" (Genesis 3:7, NKJV). That was the first attempt to cover shame by human effort. Fear and hiding followed: "I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10, NKJV). Then came blame: "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12, NKJV). Self-covering, hiding from God and pointing the finger at others: the whole pattern of religion was there from the start.

This is why the tree of knowledge can be called the blueprint, even the operating system, of the religious spirit. The same ancient system is still running in human hearts and religious institutions: earning acceptance by performance, measuring ourselves and others by the law, and stitching together our own fig leaves. Paul asked believers who had slipped back into it, "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3, NKJV). Law-based living cannot give life, for "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV).

The good news is that in Christ the way to the tree of life is open again. "To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7, NKJV). Grace does not hand us better fig leaves. It invites us to stop striving and to live from Him again.

A counterfeit that divides: the "us vs. them" mindset

The Holy Spirit draws people together; the religious spirit is a counterfeit that drives them apart. Jesus told a parable "to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others" (Luke 18:9, NKJV). The Pharisee prayed, "God, I thank You that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11, NKJV), while the tax collector could only say, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" (Luke 18:13, NKJV). It was the humble man who went home justified.

True connection is built on humility and a shared humanity, because we all need the same mercy. The religious spirit thrives on exclusivity instead. It draws hard lines between "insiders", who agree with every viewpoint, practice and interpretation, and "outsiders", who do not. That tribalism breeds suspicion, exclusion and a fractured community. It is the fruit of the tree of knowledge all over again: judging, comparing and blaming.

God's answer is oneness. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, NKJV). Jesus prayed "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:21, NKJV). Unity does not come from everyone agreeing on everything. It flows from sharing the same life in Christ. Sons and daughters who know they are one with the Father have nothing to prove and no one to shut out.

Tearing down strongholds, building new ones

A stronghold is a place of defence: a well-fortified position, ready to defend its right to stay and rule. Strongholds form in the mind as well, and they defend whatever beliefs live inside them, healthy or unhealthy. A religious mindset is that kind of fortress, guarding thoughts such as "I am never good enough," "God is disappointed in me," or "those people are not really one of us."

Scripture shows how such fortresses fall: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, NKJV). Taking a thought captive means noticing it, refusing to let it rule, and replacing it with what God says is true: you are loved, forgiven, accepted and one with Him.

Here is a key: if you have lived under a religious mindset, what governs your emotions has to change. Guilt, fear and striving were once ruled by the law and by the opinions of others; let them now be ruled by God's Word. Scripture says, "do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2, NKJV). As you meditate on "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report" (Philippians 4:8, NKJV), new strongholds are built: strongholds of truth, grace and reassurance that defend your freedom as firmly as the old ones once defended your bondage.

What Is the Religious Spirit?

The religious spirit keeps the outward shape of faith but loses its life. Paul warned of people "having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5, NKJV). Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. A little religion can turn a living faith into a formula.

Its marks include:

  • Legalism: rules matter more than relationship.
  • Pride and self-righteousness: a quiet sense of being better than others.
  • Performance: trying to earn God's love and acceptance.
  • Form without power: believing God moved once, but not today.
  • Criticism and judging: a know-it-all spirit, like the Pharisees finding fault with Jesus.
  • Control: laying "heavy burdens, hard to bear" on others (Matthew 23:4, NKJV).

Derek Prince taught that legalism is one of the greatest threats to God's purposes for His people. Rick Joyner describes the religious spirit as a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit, built on fear and pride rather than love. Mike Connell, teaching on the Good Samaritan, points out that the priest and the Levite knew the Scriptures and kept the rules, yet walked past the wounded man. The religious spirit is devoid of compassion.

Riaan Swiegelaar, a former Satanist leader who now ministers deliverance, goes further: "it's time we start calling the religious spirit what it is. It's a demon." In his view it is not merely an attitude but a real spirit to be cast out, one that keeps people from Christ by making them doubt that God can love them or that they are welcome in His body.

It often enters through hurt: unhealed wounds build walls, and behind them we become quick to judge. Legalism also dulls the gifts of the Spirit. Paul asked the Galatians, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2, NKJV).

Ten Signs of the Religious Spirit

Evangelist Daniel Adams of The Supernatural Life teaches ten signs that a religious spirit may be at work. He adds a warning first: these are possible signs, not a checklist for labelling people. Seeing one or two of them in someone does not mean that person has a religious spirit, because people are still growing, and in the end judging the heart belongs to God. In his words, "don't be looking for a religious spirit and then you become the religious spirit."

1. Outward appearance over inner change. The religious spirit cares about how things look and wants everyone to look, dress and act the same, and it shows little interest in what is happening in the heart. Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence" (Matthew 23:25, NKJV), and "first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matthew 23:26, NKJV).

2. Judgment and condemnation of others. It condemns, and when people stumble it condemns them more. Adams says it uses "the law as a beating tool to hold you down." "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself" (Romans 2:1, NKJV).

3. Seeking gain or recognition through religious activity. Good works are done to be seen, so that people praise the doer rather than Christ, or to bring in money. "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:1, NKJV). Faith that is real is selfless, and it asks what it can do for the least, not what can be done for it.

4. Rigidity and legalism. Every interpretation is treated as absolute, with no room for grace. Adams warns that such people will "send you to hell 15,000 different ways." No one can keep the law in their own strength. Christ fulfilled it, and we now live by faith and by the Spirit. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1, NKJV).

5. A lack of love and mercy. The religious spirit is harsh, and it would rather pick up stones than show mercy, like the accusers of the woman caught in adultery. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8, NKJV). Jesus said, "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you" (Matthew 5:44, NKJV).

6. Division and exclusivity. It builds walls instead of bridges, telling people they may not listen to another teacher or visit another church. It also resists anything new that God is doing and lives on what He did in the past. (Adams is careful to say that a shepherd warning the flock about a real wolf is not the same as control.) Jesus prayed "that they may be made perfect in one" (John 17:23, NKJV), and God says, "Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?" (Isaiah 43:19, NKJV).

7. Ritual and ceremony over relationship. It performs the forms of worship without a sincere heart. The Lord said of His people, "these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13, NKJV). Those who are free of religion love prayer, time with God and meditating on His Word, because they are in love with Him.

8. Fear and anxiety about God's judgment. There is a healthy fear of the Lord, which is reverence. The religious spirit goes further and leaves believers feeling they can never be good enough and are always on the edge of hell. Adams says that legalism "will put a heavy yoke on you and make anxiety and fear become your portion." "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment" (1 John 4:18, NKJV).

9. Pride and self-righteousness. It is sure of what it has right and of what everyone else has wrong. "There's no humility when it comes to a religious spirit," Adams says. "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18, NKJV).

10. A lack of joy and real peace. Being around the religious spirit feels heavy. No one can please it, and joy drains away. The Holy Spirit brings joy and "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7, NKJV), and that peace does not depend on circumstances.

Adams adds two marks that run through all ten. The religious spirit "can only see wrong" and will "never pull the gold out of you": it points out faults and offers no solution. It also gives no time to repent and shows no patience.

The Way Out: Love, Mercy, Humility, Grace, Rest and Sonship

The religious spirit is not overcome by more rules but by the heart of the Father.

Love over performance

Paul says that even with great gifts and great faith, "but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2, NKJV). What counts is "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6, NKJV), because "love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10, NKJV). Methods and disciplines can become religious works; God simply wants a loving relationship with us.

Mercy over sacrifice

Jesus told the Pharisees, "Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'" (Matthew 9:13, NKJV, quoting Hosea 6:6). God asks us "to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8, NKJV).

Humility

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6, NKJV). Pride feeds the religious spirit; humility starves it.

Daniel Adams teaches that a religious spirit can be cast out, but "the person has to humble themselves and recognize that they have a religious spirit." "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10, NKJV).

Grace and rest, not dead works

We are saved "by grace... through faith... not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV). Dead works feel like striving and pressure; faith feels like rest and peace. "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:10, NKJV).

Holiness itself can be preached two ways: through condemnation or through faith and grace. "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16, NKJV) is not a demand to earn God's approval but the result of His work in us. As Adams puts it, "I don't wake up every day trying to be holy. I'm holy because he's holy." He also counsels reading the Bible "through the lens of grace," not through the lens of condemnation, and choosing teachers with a healthy balance, because "grace and truth is Jesus." "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17, NKJV).

Sonship, not bondage, rooted in oneness

The religious spirit says we are servants who must earn our place. The truth is that sonship grows out of oneness with the Father. Jesus said, "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30, NKJV), and He promised that we would share that union: "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20, NKJV). He prayed "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us" (John 17:21, NKJV).

Because we are one with Him, we are sons and daughters, not slaves. "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15, NKJV). "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17, NKJV). "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:7, NKJV).

Sons do not stand outside the house, hoping to be let in. God "raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6, NKJV), and there He "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3, NKJV). That seat is with Christ, whom the Father "seated... at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion" (Ephesians 1:20-21, NKJV). Someone who is seated is not striving to arrive. From that place sons rest rather than strive, and the religious spirit, with its rules and its demands to earn our place, has no authority over us. So "seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3, NKJV).

In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son was welcomed home with a running embrace (Luke 15:20), while the elder son stayed home and worked hard, yet lived like a hired servant. The father's answer to him is the answer to every religious heart: "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours" (Luke 15:31, NKJV). The cure for religion is knowing the Father's love, and living from oneness rather than striving toward it.

Walking in the Spirit

"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16, NKJV). The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV). Frank and Ida Mae Hammond teach that a cleaned house must be filled, and the fruit of the Spirit fills it.

Love Overcomes the Religious Spirit

All of this comes together in one place: Christ in us. Paul calls it "the riches of the glory of this mystery... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27, NKJV). As we grow in awareness of our oneness with Christ, love begins to flow, because "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16, NKJV). This love is not something we work up. "The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5, NKJV).

When we live from that love, we live in the fruit of the Spirit, and we begin to see people as God sees them. "Love suffers long and is kind... does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil" (1 Corinthians 13:4-5, NKJV). A heart that thinks no evil has no room for the religious spirit to rise up. That spirit is legalistic and Pharisaical. It goes "by the book," measures, keeps score and judges. Love and grace look past the fault to the person.

Love is also how we help others who are bound by religion. Asked how to pray for a family member, Adams answered: pray for an opportunity to bless them, and show them love, because "that religious spirit hates love." Arguing rarely frees anyone. Grace is best taught to a religious family by example: "Let them see the fruit of what you're doing."

So we do not defeat the religious spirit by becoming stricter, but by abiding in love. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21, NKJV). Where Christ in us is known, love flows; and where love flows, religion loses its grip.

Put God First

Freedom is kept by putting God first. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33, NKJV). This is not another rule but a turning of the heart. Start each day with Him: a few quiet minutes of thanks, resting in His love and remembering you are one with Him. Religion starts the day with a list; sonship starts it with the Father.

Prayer Steps for Freedom

Teachers differ in emphasis. Riaan Swiegelaar and John Eckhardt treat the religious spirit as a demon to be confronted and cast out, while Rick Joyner treats it mainly as a heart attitude we resist every day. Paul Cox of Aslan's Place looks at the family line, and Derek Prince and the Hammonds stress humility and forgiveness. These steps hold both together:

  1. Repent of self-righteousness. Turn from "seeking to establish their own righteousness" (Romans 10:3, NKJV).
  2. Renounce religion and tradition, including vows in the family line. Reject "the tradition of men... and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8, NKJV).
  3. Forgive and release judgments. "If you have anything against anyone, forgive him" (Mark 11:25, NKJV).
  4. Stand in Christ's finished work. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1, NKJV). "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free" (Galatians 5:1, NKJV).
  5. Bind the religious spirit and command it to go; receive liberty and adoption. "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7, NKJV).
  6. Be filled. "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18, NKJV).

A Sample Prayer

Father, I come to You as Your child. Thank You that You see the best in me, even when I do not. I confess that I have tried to earn Your love, and that I have judged others. I repent of pride, self-righteousness and dead works. I renounce legalism, religion, and every tradition or vow in my family line that has put rules above Christ. I forgive those who laid heavy burdens on me, and I release my judgments of them. I stand in the finished work of Jesus, free from condemnation. Religious spirit, in the name of Jesus I bind you and command you to leave me now. I receive the Spirit of adoption and the liberty Christ has won for me. Thank You, Father, that I am one with You. I am in You, and You are in me. Thank You that I am Your son, Your daughter, and Your heir. Holy Spirit, fill me with love, mercy and humility, and teach me to rest and walk in You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This thanksgiving rests on John 14:20 and John 17:21 (NKJV).

Living from the Finished Work

After prayer, the old voice may return saying, "Try harder." The answer is to rest in what Christ has already done.

  • You are made complete. "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14, NKJV).
  • The old self was crucified. "Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin" (Romans 6:6, NKJV).
  • Count it as true. "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:11, NKJV).
  • You live under grace. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14, NKJV).
  • You are already seated. You do not work your way up to God; you live from where He has placed you, seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Rest there, and answer the religious spirit from that seat, not from beneath it.

One mark of true freedom is joy. Adams tells of a man who came to a meeting hostile, heard the gospel of grace, and asked for prayer. Afterwards he said he felt light and free: "I told him the truth and the truth set him free." "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32, NKJV). When Philip preached Christ in Samaria and people were delivered and healed, "there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8, NKJV). Condemnation leaves people heavier; the good news leaves them lighter.

Religion says, "Do, and then you will be." The finished work says, "It is done; now live from it." When old patterns return, do not condemn yourself. Come back to the Father, give thanks that you are one with Him, and walk on in His rest.

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Sources

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.