The religion of their day prevented many from receiving Christ when He appeared in the flesh. Religion is no different in our day. Religion tends to establish orthodox interpretations about God rather than lead us into a relationship with God. However, the promise is that we will all know the Lord. And we need to honestly deal with that which prevents us from knowing Him, even if it is our own religious thinking.

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Show Notes:

It is important to understand the degree to which our lack of awareness is based on our religious upbringing. Religious orthodoxy encourages us—demands even—to close off to anything new. This makes it difficult for us to develop an awareness of God’s moving in the present because it might fly in the face of doctrines we learned in church, Bible school, or seminary.

Many people rejected Christ because His actions and teachings seemed not to fit the orthodoxy of their day. Orthodoxy today has the same effect of hindering rather than helping our relationship with God. Religion emphasizes doctrines that build walls around concepts about God rather than emphasizing a relationship with Him. Just look at the history of Christianity. Has the process of protecting doctrines and orthodoxy in the Church resulted in people knowing the Lord? It seems like it has resulted in divisions, accusations of heresy, and persecution.

We do not want to reject a true moving of God today because it does not fit our concepts of orthodoxy. The disciples who stayed with Yeshua (Jesus) when His statements challenged their orthodoxy did so because of their relationship with Him. The emphasis of Christianity must be our relationship with Christ. We do not need more teaching that builds denominational walls to protect our understanding of the Bible. We need to be taught a relationship with the Lord so that everyone comes to know Him. Father, bring us out of religion into a relationship with You.

Key Verses:

• John 5:8–16. “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”
• John 5:17–19. “Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
• John 5:39. “You search the Scriptures; … it is these that testify about Me.”
• John 17:20–22. “… that they may be one, just as We are one.”
• John 6:44–52. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
• John 6:63–69. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
• Jeremiah 31:33–34. “They will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”

Quotes:

• “With God nothing is impossible. Yet religion says almost everything is impossible. Everything is wrong that doesn’t line up to the orthodoxy that has been developed.”
• “If all it takes is reading the Bible to have understanding of exactly what God is saying and what He’s wanting, then I don’t think we would be at this place of having all these thousands of denominations surrounding us at this time.”
• “We can read the Bible, and we can have it be totally beyond our ability to grasp what is being spoken. And that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in—in the relationship with the Holy Spirit who comes to us from the Father.”

Takeaways:

1. Yeshua functioned according to a relationship with the Father and not according to religious orthodoxy. Scholars who knew the Scriptures but did not know the Father rejected Yeshua on the basis of orthodoxy and religion as they knew it.
2. Christian scholars have persecuted the Jews as well as other Christians based on their understanding of the Bible. Establishing orthodoxy by the Scriptures has not led to a greater knowledge of God. It has divided Christians into thousands of denominations. The only way we will have the oneness Christ desires will be through a relationship with Him.
3. We do not want the Lord’s coming to be like a thief in the night because we are unaware of Him. We do not want to reject God’s moving today because of our orthodoxy. We need the relationship with God that hears His voice and understands what He is telling us.