How Does the Religious Spirit (Legalism) Affect Us? The A-B-C Series on Ancestral Influences

Healing Ancestral Wounds

By Gena Barnhill @BarnhillGena

The religious spirit is a lying/deceptive spirit that keeps us from an intimate relationship with Father God. It robs us of the joy we were meant to have in our relationship with God—abiding in the Lord. Its focus on rituals leads us to become legalistic in our thinking and believe we need to cross one more “t” and dot one more “i” to get it right and be acceptable to the Lord. We operate from a work-based mindset instead of a relationship-with-the-Lord mindset.

Ouch! Was I partnering with a religious spirit? We were created to be in a relationship with the Lord and to rest in Him. Yet, I sometimes slipped into a performance-based mindset and found it challenging to abide in the Lord.

Patterns of Behaviors Characteristic of a Religious Spirit:

  • Feeling overwhelming guilt because we can’t measure up to what we mistakenly think the Lord expects
  • Comparing our spiritual life with others and keeping score
  • Focusing on outward forms of godliness, including performing rituals for others to see
  • Policing others using the law like the Pharisees did, instead of extending grace
  • Directing our efforts to tear down all we perceive to be wrong with others, churches, and church leaders
  • Being unteachable because we are convinced we are right
How Does the Religious Spirit (Legalism) Affect Us? The A-B-C Series on Ancestral Influences #legalism #healing Share on X

Warning Against the Religious Spirit

Paul warns us to stay away from people who act religiously only for show and reject the power of the Holy Spirit. Second Timothy 3:5 (NLT) says, They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

Jesus repeatedly accused the Pharisees of using the religious spirit against people. He called them whitewashed tombs that appeared outwardly beautiful but were filled with impurity on the inside. (See Matthew 23:27.)

The religious spirit is dangerous because it: 

  • causes us to miss intimacy with God when we find it easier to do things for God than spend time with
  • leads to division among God’s people.
  • traps us in self-righteousness, deception, and performing good works.
  • distracts us from the truth and deceives us into thinking we are okay.
  • causes us to become zealous in the wrong places.
  • partners with our feelings of rejection, guilt, and fear, causing us to judge others and become prideful of our spirituality.
  • leads us to believe we can make ourselves righteous when righteousness only comes from Jesus.

How to Have a Relationship with God 

The battle against the religious spirit is won by living our lives focused on Jesus, the Word of God, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. Jesus already won the battle at the cross. We need to lean into Him and accept what He did for us.

Knowing who I am in Christ is critical to being in a relationship with Him.

We are the Lord’s beloved children. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more or stop loving us. He dearly loves us and wants us to ABIDE in Him.

We Abide by:

  • Asking the Lord if we are believing any lies that are keeping us at a distance from Him. If He reveals lies, ask for His forgiveness and help to change our behavior and thoughts. Ask for His truth.
  • Basking in the Lord’s presence. He will reveal Himself to us when we draw near to Him.
  • Inviting the Lord into our lives. He’s waiting for an invitation.
  • Deciding to dedicate or rededicate our lives to the Lord.
  • Emphasizing grace over judgment, humility over pride, relationship over good works, and unity over division.

Before I share a prayer, I’d love for you to have the opportunity to share your thoughts. What new insights have you gained from this post?

Please share your thoughts in our Facebook Group Healing Prayer Discussion.

We are all stronger when we learn from each other. Looking forward to your input.

Blessings,
Gena

Prayer for Freedom from Captivity 

Lord, I want to be in a close relationship with You. I admit that I have found it easier to do things for You than spend time with You. I have been zealous in the wrong places trying to make myself righteous so You would accept me. I used good works to try to gain your attention when I had it all along. Forgive me for believing the enemy’s lie that I had to strive to please You. Help me to focus on the truth of Your word. I repent for my pride in thinking good works made me more holy than others. I repent for judging others and allowing the religious spirit to negatively impact my relationship with You. Lord, help me to stay steadfast in knowing my spiritual identity in You. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to rest and abide in You. Amen

In case you missed the rest of the Ancestral Influences Series, here is the link to the Archives:

https://simpleeffectiveprayer.com/category/healing-ancestral-wounds/