We become what we behold. If we want to be like Jesus, we must be able to behold Him — to see Him and see Him rightly with our spiritual eyes. That is why it seems as if the enemy works overtime to keep people spiritually blind. In previous posts, we unpacked the role of idols in spiritual blindness. Now I would like to dig a little deeper into another one of the enemy’s favorite blindfolds: a spirt of religion.
Without going into great detail… religion is rules void of relationship. It’s a whole lot of “doing” and not a lot of “being.” It emphasizes outward appearance over the inward condition. Oh, and it can’t stand the works of Holy Spirit and the transformation He brings. It wants to keep people blind and bound and powerless. In the Bible, a spirit of religion is clearly manifested in the Pharisees.
When Jesus was living as a man on the earth, He often encountered the Pharisees who were the religious leaders of that day. On the outside, it looked like the Pharisees had it all together. But Jesus quickly revealed the internal condition of their hearts. Spiritually speaking, the Pharisees were blind. On more than one occasion, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for being spiritually blind. One such instance is found in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus calls them “blind guides” and “blind fools” (Matthew 23:16-17).
Perhaps the most famous Pharisee in Scripture is Saul (who eventually became Paul). We first meet Saul in the book of Acts. Saul is a devoted Pharisee. He is well-studied, highly-trained, very intelligent, and deeply passionate. According to the standard of the Pharisees, he is among the best of the best. But Saul, steeped in religious ideology, is spiritually blind. This becomes clear when he encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9.
Acts 9:1-8, NLT
1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus.
With a sight and a sound, Saul is suddenly surrounded by the supernatural. A light from Heaven and the voice of Jesus announce that Saul’s pursuit to arrest Christ-followers is actually persecuting Jesus Himself.
When Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees, fueled by a spirit of religion (amongst other things), sought the death of Jesus. Now Pharisee Saul, also driven by a spirit of religion, seeks to kill His Body, His Church. Notice the pattern? The enemy doesn’t have many tricks. But going back to Acts 9…
This incredible encounter takes Saul’s hidden spiritual condition and reveals it in the natural — his physical eyes now become blinded. His internal state gets turned inside out and we get a clear picture of what a spirit of religion (or a Pharisee Spirit) does to a person.
Idols. Religion. Pharisee. It all results in spiritual blindness.
Saul is physically blind for three days. Then God speaks to a man named Ananias and sends him to minister to Saul. When Ananias prays, “something like scales” fall from Saul’s eyes and his sight is restored (Acts 9:18). Saul can now see both naturally and spiritually!
This moment in the Bible illustrates what I believe God wants to do for both people and places. As we read earlier in Acts 9, Saul had gotten letters from the high priest (more religion), giving him authority to arrest any Christians in Damascus — a region. The spirit of religion or the Pharisee Spirit doesn’t just want blind people. It wants blind places. It wants to cloud regions in thick spiritual darkness. It wants to hold back revival in the nations.
But I believe God wants to unlock a spiritual battle plan, so we can partner with Him to break the power of darkness off of our regions! I believe He has a prayer strategy for us to see the works of the spirit of religion dismantled, ultimately destroying the Pharisee Spirit. It’s time for the stronghold of the scales to fall! It’s time for spiritual sight to be restored! No more blindness!
As I prayed into this, I felt Holy Spirit give me two phrases from Scripture: “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13) and “His blood speaks a better word” (Hebrews 12:24). While these two verses are powerful declarations of truth without any further explanation, God brought it all together by taking me back to Saul’s story in Acts 9.
The key is found in the one God sent to Saul — Ananias. His name is of Hebrew origin and comes from a root word that means: to show favor, to be gracious; and to show MERCY.
Mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement (James 2:13). In this verse, “mercy” is a Greek word that literally means “loyalty to God’s covenant.” If you keep digging, you’ll find that the word also connects back to a Hebrew word meaning “goodness” or “kindness” and it can also be compared to the same root word that Ananias comes from!
So, what is this mercy? It is embodied in Ananias. It is God’s favor, grace, goodness, and kindness. And, perhaps most importantly, it is loyalty to God’s covenant. What purchased and sealed that covenant? The blood of Jesus. The blood that speaks a better word!
His blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). The word “better” is a Greek word that means to “plant down God’s flag of victory”! Come on! Able’s blood cried out for judgment. But Jesus’ blood, the blood of the New Covenant, announces God’s MERCY… a mercy that triumphs over judgment! Victory! Because of His great mercy, may God’s flag of victory be planted in our regions!
And if that wasn’t enough, back in Matthew 23:35 (when Jesus is calling out the blindness of the Pharisees), Jesus says that the Pharisees will be held accountable for murder of Abel! All the way back in Genesis, a spirit of religion killed Abel by the hand of spiritually blind Cain. But even that death is now swallowed up in victory! Because we have a better Word!
Religion feeds on judgment. It wants to judge and accuse and shame. As mercy is victorious over judgement, the spirit of religion finds itself disarmed. No longer can it blind people with lies. No longer can it hold our regions hostage in spiritual darkness. Mercy shows up in justice, acceptance, and salvation. Mercy shows up and scales fall from people eyes! Mercy shows up scales fall off of regions! Sight is restored! And now we can behold Him! Revival!
It’s time for us to rise up like Ananias in the spirit. Let’s echo what God is saying: Mercy triumphs over judgment. Jesus’ blood speaks a better word. His flag of victory is planted in my city. Scales are falling off people and places. Religion has lost it’s grip and the Pharisee Spirit is destroyed. Spiritual darkness is breaking off my region! And spiritual sight is being restored! People will see Him and see Him rightly. They will behold the Lamb! My region will be an epicenter for revival, filled with the sights and sounds of Heaven!
We can see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!