The Philosophy of the World

Mark 7:7 BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,  TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ ”Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 

Religious institutions and its esteemed men of honor have almost always gotten the things of God wrong.  The Pharisees missed the coming of the Messiah.  They missed it in the Scriptures and they missed it when Jesus stood right before them in the flesh.  They were blind as bats and that is what God says He does to those who are proud of heart.  

Believe you me,  I ponder this truth often as I understand that we can be deceived and be led into egregious error all in the name of God.  Just thinking about the Apostle Paul (formerly called Saul) and his experience of thinking he was serving God in his flesh, when he was actually tearing down the true church of God.  Recall the words of Jesus to the disciples.

John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God

I guess Al Qaeda and radical Islam never got this memo from the true living God either!

These religious men of old had become wise in their own eyes and had departed from the truth in order to justify themselves and build earthly kingdoms all the while thinking they were serving God in their flesh.  That is what Babylon did originally in building their own tower into heaven and it is the same repeatable error man continues to do today with increasing practice. 

Luke 16:15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God

Outside of what God calls His pure religion in James,  man’s religion is always based on pride and selfish ambition at its core. It will likely accomplish many good deeds as otherwise it would not be successful in snaring people away from the true gospel.  But the way to spot the fake religion is to test it to see if it does Part B of what James defined as God’s pure religion.  Is it preaching that we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world?

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, AND to keep oneself unstained from the world (Part B)

Man’s religion is more interested in gaining the honor of men on the earth then they are in bringing honor and glory to the God of the Universe.  Many men and women of God have started out on the right path but are then led astray by our enemy who uses pride and selfish ambition to entice them into works of the flesh to justify themselves before God.  This is a global deception that has overtaken the vast majority of what we call religion and Christianity today.

Jesus came against and exposed the religious traditions of the Pharisees pointing out the hypocrisy and the pride and selfishness behind their heretical teaching.  The Pharisees had grown to hate the things of God despite their outward appearances.  They said their ministry was all about God, but it was really all about them.  They simply pretended obedience to the LORD and created wrappings of religion and godliness to fool men and build their earthly followings.  But they never fooled God who looks to the hearts of men and knows the intentions of their hearts.

Many outwardly religious types may intellectually love God.  But secretly they are out to draw followers unto themselves to boast in their pride.  This was a warning Paul gave us when speaking about the savage wolves that would come looking like lambs after he died.

ACTS 20:30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!

Like has been said many times,  the true gospel does not please flesh nor can it ever.  The words Jesus spoke “woe to you when all men speak well of you” is a litmus test to measure the soundness of doctrine and truth being taught.

The truth Jesus spoke came directly against the religious establishment and earthly kingdoms of the Pharisees.  This truth bruised their egos, it offended them greatly as it threatened their earthly kingdoms and reputations.  The Pharisees got so offended that ultimately they killed Jesus on the cross.  Glory be to God that Jesus took our punishment,  He bore our judgment and suffering and in all glory was raised anew to eternal life by the Spirit of God.  We are promised the same newness of eternal life, IF we follow in His footsteps and walk as He walked.   But we must cling to sound doctrine to save ourselves and those that hear our testimony.

1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

My friends, the same cycle of history has repeated itself.  The false teachers and fallen church proclaim peace and safety just as in the days of the Pharisees.  Just follow our rules and belong to our organizations and everything is going to be okay they tell us.  Yet there is no real peace and there is no safety as the Holy One, our righteous Judge stands at our very doorstep.  Those proclaiming a true message or repentance from sin and a walk of holiness are the tiny minority in pulpits and blogosphere of today.   Jesus had crowds that followed Him as His miracles and authority in teaching drew them in, but most ended up rejecting the truth and their hearts were hardened by the deceitfulness of their love of sin.  

The wisdom of this world is indeed foolishness before God.  Sadly man’s religion and the institutions of Babylon have mixed in modern-day psycology and earthly wisdom to make church a more attractive and pleasurable experience.  Professing to be wise,  many of our  modern-day religious gurus and Christian rock stars have become fools in God’s eyes.  These men are blind and leading many to the pit of hell with their mixture of truth and worldly wisdom and philosophy.  

Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became  futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools

This mixing of worldly wisdom and carnal logic — the philosophy of men with the things of God  is actually demonic in its origin.  This is why we cannot pour water on the gospel to make it attracting to ears.  If we are tickling ears, we are killing people seeking to know the truth about God and His ways.

 James 3:15 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 

The spirits of antiChrist bring this philisophy to the people of God as a flesh pleasing attention grabbing religious package to entice those that are escaping the corruption of the world back into bondage to their lusts.  Many of these false teachers have never overcome sin, they walk after the flesh, as harlots and double minded men and teach others to do the same.  They never find the freedom promised for those in Christ so the law of liberty is therefore turned into freedom to sin rather than freedom from the power of sin.  This justifies and reinforces their traditions that are contrary to the commandments of the LORD.  

2 Peter 2  - For speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

 If we are truly listening to God and being led by His spirit, we will need no man to teach us.  The Spirit of God will train us and lead us into all righteousness.  We don’t need a church, we don’t need a pastor, we don’t need large quantities of fellowship.  Fellowship is very good thing to pursue and not neglect.  It is the communion of the saints by where we give praise and glory to God and share in remembrance together of His sacrifice on our behalf.   But we cannot put  fellowship above the clear calling and warnings to come out and be separate from the world.  This exaltation of fellowship is a prime example of demonic wisdom that perverts the things of God.

1 Cor 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”

The following is a definition of the word “philosophy” from our mainstream dictionaries. 

The word “philosophy” comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means “love of wisdom”.

The gospel is really simple.  We are to love God first and foremost.  By doing so we will obey His commandments and will love others and our neighbor as ourselves.  When we place the love of anything, fellowship and wisdom included — above loving God with all our heart;  we are easy prey for the powers of darkness to plant their religious deceit into our hearts.  This is how doctrines and traditions that are contrary to godliness have been established and sustained for the past 2,000 years.  Many have been taken captive by the enemy through the swelling and empty words of vanity spoken from Christian religious assemblies. 

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ

All deception is the work of our enemy.  Did God really say says the enemy and he is quick to quote the words of the LORD with some skilful addition or subtraction that alters the truth and broadens the road that leads to eternal life.  Of course the devil picks vessels that look good on a stage, have charisma and charm who can garner maximum attention and draw disciples after them.  This is how these mega churches and mega TV ministries are created and sustained.   I think many are beginning to wake up to this as the their lives are unchanged and barren of much fruit.

My friends, all true wisdom comes from the LORD.  Knowledge of the things of God are only given to us by God when we approach Him in reverent fear and obedience.  Most professing Christians are in rebellion to God.  They have made Jesus an idol.  They have become captives held in bondage by their religious philosophy.   Until we turn to God with pure hearts and motives, we will be ever learning but never able to come to knowledge of the truth.

We have exalted men and the assembly houses called church above God.  We have brought the philosophy of the world into our churches.  We have elevated entertainment, bigger buildings and larger assemblies above the truth of the real gospel and the commandments of God.  We have mixed with the world and continue to pass down traditions that are contrary to the gospel once entrusted to the saints.  We need to contend earnestly for this faith. 

May God Bless You Richly!