II Corinthians 3:5-6 NKJV  ‘who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,’

Sometimes we encounter people in life that appear ‘spiritual’ but something just feels off about it. They claim to be Christians and appear knowledgeable regarding the things of God. They seem disciplined, embodying a spiritual walk that outwardly appears to be upright. They talk big Christian talk but internally something seems deficient. That is because they have given themselves over to religious spirits.

These spirits exemplify certain characteristics that are easily identifiable in people once you are able to recognize them. The religious officials of Jesus’ day provide us with some examples of how this spirit operates. This list below will help you to identify these spirits but it is by no means an exhaustive list.

People who are operating out of a religious spirit:

• Appear highly critical of others, especially other Christians. They seem to fixate on people’s short-comings and weaknesses rather than their strengths.
• Their critical analysis of others usually contains no redemptive quality that would help the listener with self-improvement or overcoming the perceived weakness.
• They portray themselves as being in an elevated spiritual position in order to feel superior to others.
• They take great pleasure in arguing the word of God, the Bible.
• Their memorization of scripture is just enough to argue with you but not enough to help anyone who might approach them with a problem. Some only know the few scriptures they rehearse in their heads for the purpose of debate.
• They seek to entrap you with your own words by means of crafty ways and arguments.
• They may have a lot of ‘book knowledge’ concerning God but they lack a personal relationship and experience with Him.
• They operate out of wrong heart motives. They seek to shame people with the Word rather than to administer it in love to build, empower, and bring proper correction and realignment to their lives.
• They are unable to rightly divide the Word. They adhere staunchly to their own faulty interpretations and don’t allow room for Holy Spirit revelation to interject.
• They spend more time focusing on the ‘letter of the law’ rather than on the liberty and freedom we have obtained through Christ’s sacrifice for mankind at Calvary.
• They seem more focused on appearances and not upon the spiritual well-being of the people they encounter.
• They can come from all walks of life but they often hold positions of authority over others.
• They are actively watching for others to make a mistake or have a moral failure so that they may use it to shame and tarnish them, instead of covering them and praying for their restoration.
• They take pleasure in watching you suffer and may even cause some of it, all the while justifying their actions.
• They are usually hypocrites. Most have secret sins while they are busy pointing out the sins of others. They will chastise you for the very thing that they do.
• They lack proper compassion to draw people towards God instead of driving them away through their rigid, unyielding viewpoints.
• A tree is known by its fruit and they lack good fruit, or positive evidence of their so-called Christian walk.

Among other things, the Bible contains guidelines provided from God for His people by which to conduct their lives, a reference manual. The better you get to know and understand the Word of God, the more easily you will connect yourself to the liberty and freedom we have through Christ because whom the Son makes free is free indeed. (John 8:36) It frees you from constrictive, worldly thinking that is man-approved but contrary to God’s viewpoints. It can help you recognize the destructive ways of this divisive spirit that operates through spiritual people who claim to be fully aligned with God.

Matthew 12:30 NKJV  ‘He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

I Peter 4:8  NKJV  And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”