“Spiritual or Spirit-Filled?”
Luke 11:29-54
And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. – Luke 11:37-38
Jesus went on to say, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.”
These were the spiritual elite of the day. But they certainly were not Spirit-filled. Jesus had His harshest words for such as these. The latter verses in Chapter 11 are a scathing rebuke of the Scribes and Pharisees, and the application is for the religious elite in general.
They have a form of religion [on the outside] but no work of the Spirit [on the inside]. It was [and is] a fundamental problem in Church. The tendency is to be religious, but religion does not change a person on the inside, even though it looks good on the outside. A change from within can only be rendered by the Spirit of God.
True religion is a result of a relationship with God, and this was something that the Scribes and Pharisees did not understand. Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus [a Pharisee], you must be born again of the Spirit to see and to enter the Kingdom [ref. John 3:1-21].
Oftentimes we read passages like this and look past them on a personal level. However, we need to look in the mirror because we, too, can make the same mistake. As we spend hours upon hours debating “spiritual” controversies, is it possible that we can forget the goal? Remember, our Great Commission is to “go out” and make disciples of all nations, not debate amongst each other.
Overt spirituality [like the Scribes and Pharisees] repels; however, Spirit-filled believers attract; they attract the lost to Christ.
Therefore, as we seek to draw people to Christ, may we be less spiritual and more “Spirit filled.” There is a great difference.
It is “not by might nor by power but by His Spirit” that makes the difference.
