Seldom, very seldom, do you find people who have been ensnared by the beliefs of sinning religion who have any real joy.
This makes sense, since their focus on the Holy Spirit is so limited and it is through Him that we experience the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, there is usually an absence, or an extreme limitation of all of the fruit of the Spirit in those who are held captive by the teachings of sinning religion.
Another reason is, sinning religion is totally antagonistic to the work of the HOLY Spirit, Who makes us holy, leads us away from temptation, delivers us from the evil one and causes us to abound in the graces as well as the fruit of the Spirit.
Another viewpoint...
I often meet people who doctrinally espouse a supposed "holiness" position (which is actually legalistic), but their lives are filled with pride, anger and judgmentalism. If there would come a sudden rain, they would drown. Again, like the sinning religionist, this person lacks joy and the other fruit of the Spirit as well. They both belong to the First Church of the Persimmon-ists.
Here is the difference. The SINNING RELIGIONIST is devoid of spiritual depth because he believes his doctrinal stance and the "holiness" LEGALIST is devoid of spiritual depth because he does not believe his doctrinal stance.
The sinning religionist denies that God has provided deliverance from all sin (though some are spiritual enough to seek a life of holiness) and the legalist intellectually agrees with what God says, but does not appropriate the grace he claims to have.
To a degree, people from both stances are victims of carnal intellectual Christianity. The sinning religionist has filled his mind with the false teachings of supposed wise men, who have spent their energies explaining why God's word does not mean what it says. The things they believe then determine their direction and level of spirituality.
Another viewpoint...
I often meet people who doctrinally espouse a supposed "holiness" position (which is actually legalistic), but their lives are filled with pride, anger and judgmentalism. If there would come a sudden rain, they would drown. Again, like the sinning religionist, this person lacks joy and the other fruit of the Spirit as well. They both belong to the First Church of the Persimmon-ists.
Here is the difference. The SINNING RELIGIONIST is devoid of spiritual depth because he believes his doctrinal stance and the "holiness" LEGALIST is devoid of spiritual depth because he does not believe his doctrinal stance.
The sinning religionist denies that God has provided deliverance from all sin (though some are spiritual enough to seek a life of holiness) and the legalist intellectually agrees with what God says, but does not appropriate the grace he claims to have.
To a degree, people from both stances are victims of carnal intellectual Christianity. The sinning religionist has filled his mind with the false teachings of supposed wise men, who have spent their energies explaining why God's word does not mean what it says. The things they believe then determine their direction and level of spirituality.
The legalist, on the other hand, has filled only his mind with the teachings of heart and life purity, but has either refused to surrender to the great truths of perfect love or has lost his first love and needs to repent. In other words, he does not truly believe what he claims to believe and as a result he tries to attain the life through rules and regulation religion.
The sinning religionist chooses not to know the truth, because he holds to a man made theology and the legalist knows the truth intellectually, but does not know the truth experientially.
The sinning religionist chooses not to know the truth, because he holds to a man made theology and the legalist knows the truth intellectually, but does not know the truth experientially.
