{"id":3205,"date":"2017-04-09T07:40:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T12:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=3205"},"modified":"2024-02-13T08:35:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T14:35:55","slug":"pride","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride","title":{"rendered":"Pride, Arrogance, Boasting, Power and Humility ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

RELIGION IS ALL ABOUT PRIDE<\/strong>
\nPride is a touchy subject for most people. Because no one wants to be found prideful, few will dare to accuse anyone else of pride because they do not want to be accused of pride in return. For Christians, declining to accuse anyone of pride is an application of “judge not lest you be judged<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, we must be mindful that God is a consuming fire<\/a> and a refining fire.<\/a> What he wants to consume (i.e. burn up, destroy) is our religious pride and all the religious activity (i.e. flesh) in which we take pride. The burning of flesh is represented in Old Testament images of animal flesh burning on altars. Symbolically speaking, religious people are the animals (e.g. goats, bulls, oxen, etc.) that are sacrificed. But it is not the physical body that is sacrificed, it is the pride of their religious hearts that God consumes with fire on the altar (i.e. heart.)<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of the symbolism of altars.<\/a><\/p>\n

That means he is constantly refining (i.e. testing)<\/a> and reshaping<\/a> people to conform them into his image (i.e. write his laws on their hearts through the teaching of his spirit<\/a>). He does this by looking\u00a0 at the heart<\/a>\u00a0to prove what is in the heart of people<\/a> (i.e. are they Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religionists or New Covenant<\/a> disciples). We know this because \u201cheart\u201d is a Biblical code word that points to the New Covenant<\/a>. It is also the place where God puts his name.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See Place Where God Will Place His Name for more about the heart.<\/a><\/p>\n

This testing\/proving of the heart will always be difficult in the short run, but will be good for God\u2019s people in the long run and even leads to faith and salvation<\/a> which also are code words that point to the New Covenant. God calls his kind of testing discipline. Children of God do not escape his discipline if they want to be righteous.<\/a><\/p>\n

Testing of the heart is an inside activity that only God and those he tests knows is happening because only God knows what is in the heart.<\/a>\u00a0This contrasts with religion which anyone can see.<\/p>\n

God looks at our hearts to see which laws we love and obey. If we love religious laws<\/a>, we will obey those laws. If we love God’s spiritual laws<\/a>, those are the laws that we will obey. What we do is a fulfillment of the principle that says what is in our heart reveals the nature of what we treasure.<\/a> In other words, if our heart values (i.e. treasures) religious laws made by men more than spiritual laws created by God, we will obey religious laws. It is a life or death decision: Do we listen to the voices of men (i.e. other gods) or the voice of God?<\/a><\/p>\n

We are free to choose which laws we want to obey because God gives us the desires of our heart<\/a>. Following religious laws is forbidden, but if it is the desire of our heart to be religious, we are free to be religious. This is the application of the story of Adam and Eve in our lives. They were free to eat fruit from the trees of life<\/a> or from the trees of knowledge of good and evil, <\/a>and so are we. But, we must be mindful that we choose to sin when we choose to be religious.<\/a> That means we eat the words of false prophets <\/a>instead of good spiritual food that comes from God’s mouth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See TREES ARE PEOPLE<\/a> for understanding of trees.<\/p>\n

God sees all this when he searches our hearts. He is looking for evidence of pride in our religious beliefs, our religious practices and our status in the religious community to which we belong. These are all religious fat<\/a> that covers our hearts. When he sees this, he hardens our hearts further so that we cannot hear his voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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PRIDE IS THE REWARD FOR BEING RELIGIOUS<\/strong>
\nReligion offers many deceptive,<\/a> intoxicating<\/a> rewards. In addition to the long-term, but false, expectations\u00a0of going to heaven, <\/span>practicing religion has many short-term rewards that religion conveys to men who practice the right kind of religion in the right way: Praise, respect, glory, honor, titles, belonging, acceptance etc. The Bible calls these rewards the praise of men.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIPS: See Praise of Men, <\/a>Making a Name for Yourself, <\/a>and Religious Pride.<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to\u00a0rewards that come from other religionists<\/a>, and the false sense of being spiritually wealthy<\/a>, there are fleshly, emotional, internal, rewards of stimulation that religious people enjoy when they sing, dance and worship with coreligionists<\/a>. Together, these are the emotional, fleshly drivers that intoxicate<\/a> religionists and sustain and perpetuate the world of religion<\/a>. Together, these comprise lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life that are the essence of the world of religion.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All these benefits accrue to people who choose to obey <\/span>religious laws and traditions created by men<\/a>. Looking at pride in particular, the benefits can be summarized in the following list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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