The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen
(2 Corinthians 13:14).
Communion derives from the Greek word
“koinonia,” which means companionship, company, partnership, friendship, oneness or association. It refers to the state of being a fellow or associate; the quality or state of being comradely. It connotes an activity that takes place between two people on the same level.
The apostle Paul had this in mind in his epistle to the Romans, unveiling how we’ve been brought into a legal union, and are contractually associated as joint principals with divinity: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Our partnership with Christ means we’re in Him, and He’s in us, as one indivisible entity! Everything He owns belongs to you as much as they belong to Him. Ours is an inseparable union that has brought us into oneness with divinity.
Not only was your spirit recreated when you were born again, you were also immersed into Christ; you became one with Him! The Bible says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). You’ve been made to drink into one Spirit; you’ve become inter-mingled with the Spirit of God as one divine creation.
God has brought us to His level by bringing us into union with Himself, and with His Son (1 John 1:3). He brought you into this glorious union by His grace, not of your works! We didn’t ask for it; it was God’s choice: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:.

Prayer
Blessed be God, whose faithfulness endures forever, and by whom I’ve been called into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ! I declare that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit rests and abides with me today, and forever, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Christianity without the annointing is religion! Pst Chris!

Theotempo:

Christianity without the annointing is religion! Pst Chris!

Hi Theotempo.

I notice that some Christians are always very quick to distance themselves from religion. Is there something wrong with practising religion?

Na grammar dey confuse people. Everyone practices one religion or the other.

E pass me; even the Bible itself speaks of pure religion acceptable to God!

Enigma
No mind our greek loving friends and their obsession for something from Mars Hill.

Christianity is a relationship with sweet Jesus.  It is not a religion.  Religion is of the Devil.  Satan loves religion.  he has used religion to man's detriment. Jesus did not found any religion while he was on earth.  Bible believing and practicing Christians are different from religions parading as christian, for example the Mormon Church, the Roman Catholic Church and a host of other homosexual permitting organizations.  Christ came to show us the way to God by obeying His commandments, not to form a religion.  You don't need religion to be a Christian.  They are poles apart.  They are not synonymous as some might think. 

Evolution is a religion, so is Hollyweird (Nollyweird) and Education.  Islam and Buddhism are religions including masonry.  In Hollyweird religion, the cinema is the house of worship.  The offering is the admission fee, the sermon or the message is the plot or theme of the movie.  The producers are the priests.  The actors are exactly that--actors, or the deceivers and pretenders.  Beware of the doctrines of Hollywood and Nollywood.  Their main goal is to downplay God and destroy Christianity and promote Satanism via Nature worship which is a facade for Satanism. They promote societal decadence by glorifying it in the name of entertainment. The United Nation is sponsoring and promoting Witchcraft as the World only religion.  The groundwork is the current craze about GREEN sweeping the earth.  Next step may be the schools.  It is a gradual process. In the United States for example, witches are already actively recruiting in schools.  Christians are being muzzled in the US with the Homosexual propaganda.  They call it hate crime.  It is designed to start the persecution of Christians in the US and the rest of the world.  Many true pastors have been arrested or sued for preaching against homosexuality.  See. 

You have to believe evolution by faith.  Its doctrines are absolute nonsense and totally unscientific. It is so vague its crazy.  Nothing in evolution can be scientifically proven.  It is all based on speculations.  Evolution is for fools and was started by God haters and satanists.  Beware of the doctrine of evolution.  It is straight from the pits of hell. Evolution is the very reason Hitler killed 6 million Jews (holocaust) and Pol Pot of Cambodia slaughtered millions of his people in the "killing fields."  God help us.  Religions are synonymous with human tradition filled with rituals and what nots.  Christianity is about obeying the laws and commandments of God and living it.   No rituals are included or needed.  You don't need special identifying regalia, artifacts, incantations etc to be a Christian.

^^^ Well the apostle James did not think that "religion" is of the devil; I think he knew much better than those teaching that "religion" is of the devil!

James 1:27

KJV
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.

NIV
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

@gbagura thanks!theres a clear cut btw Christianity and religion. Christianity is the pulsating life of God in a man.

gbagudara:

Christianity is a relationship with sweet Jesus.  It is not a religion.  Religion is of the Devil.

Now this is remarkable!

Please help me here, Gbagudara and Theotempo. Define these two things as well as you can:

1. What/who is the Devil?
2. What is Religion?

Religion to a great extent has has to do with man search for God. but christ is Gods way of bringing man to himself. religion has to do with conducts but christianity is a life .You can join a religion and pull out . but you are born into christ , it is a life, a nature . God living through a man.

Christianity and Confusion.
CEC redefining Christianity.

It is very easy.

Religion is of the Devil.

Pure religion undefiled before God means that there are some things from the devil that are undefiled and acceptable towards God.

This includes helping widows and Orphans. However since it is from the devil then it is better that every good christian abstains from such activities. It is better to give your money to the Pastor.

Joagbaje:

Religion to a great extent has has to do with man search for God. but christ is Gods way of bringing man to himself.

Does this mean when a man who does not know Christ searches for God, God does not bring the man to himself? Do you have examples, because I have contrary examples?

religion has to do with conducts but christianity is a life .You can join a religion and pull out . but you are born into christ , it is a life, a nature  . God living through a man.

Does this mean there are no Christians who have ever pulled out?

---

Religion is of the Devil.

Pastor AIO:

It is very easy.

Pure religion undefiled before God means that there are some things from the devil that are undefiled and acceptable towards God.

This includes helping widows and Orphans.  However since it is from the devil then it is better that every good christian abstains from such activities.  It is better to give your money to the Pastor. 

Now this is hilarious! Check out Pastor AIO's risible sarcasm. As Enigma said, the Bible clearly states that religion can be pure and undefiled. I don't see how that can intersect with evil.

I just can't find a way to reconcile
1. Devil: (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
and
2. Religion: A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

and conclude that Religion is of the Devil. I have tried, and I can't!! 

Does this mean that all of man's pursuit of the divine ends up in the "evil arms of the devil"? How will this relationship with God begin if religion is of the devil? 

What do you have to say, Joagbaje et al?

gbagudara:

Evolution is a religion, so is Hollyweird (Nollyweird) [size=15pt]and Education[/size]. 

I didn't even see this at first. Education is also a religion?

Pray explain how?

Enigma you said it right.  It must be spotless, devoid of contamination.  But are religions like that today?  Satan has taken over a vast majority of them.  They are no longer spotless.  They are mostly imitations of the original.  Though Paul and James meant right and what they said is correct, satan has corrupted religion to give it a bad PR.  Religion should be undefiled, pure, faultless and acceptable unto God.  This is exactly what Jesus expounded on during His brief stay on earth.  If you could recall my comment about the person who wants to take his pastor to bed.  He is desperate to do this to the point he brought it nairaland for advice on how to accomplish this sinful adventure.  You see my point.  Satan has polluted religion.  Islam is a religion.  Is it pure?  If it is, why do they slaughter Christians.  Masons can kill a member who mentions Jesus's name.  Evolution adherent denies the deity or the existence of Jesus, Catholics have the Jesuits who would stop at nothing to get their way including murder.  Read the story of Alberto and many others who has been hunted down and destroyed because of their faith.  Buddhism is anti-christian.  They all have rituals and traditions that have made the word of God ineffective.  Satanism is anti-Christian and they have "churches" all over the place.  One of them is the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints known worldwide as the mormons.  It is a front for witches and all sorts of vile humans.  They kill members who convert.  They believe Jesus blood is not enough to atone for one's sins.  That person's blood must be shed also.  So they kill.  Is that Christianity?  No! that is religion.  Hare Krishna is religion.  Roman Catholicism is not Christian anymore than the Mormons, because they are Masons (Ogboni or Lodge) at the top level.  This is the end time deceit Jesus warned us about.  People like Goerge Bush, Benny Hinn, Billy Graham, the Pope etc are not Christians.  They are fronts.  Jesus knew this would happen, that is why he forewarned us.  The method they choose to deceive would not be very obvious.  It will be very subtle (secret) and very convincing.  You have to be very vigilant, studious and be a Christian detective to find out some of this hidden stuff.  
Remember in 1986, the deceased pope John Paul II invited all religious leaders to Assissi in Italy and allowed them all to perform and practice their religion.  Even voodoo a d fetish priest were invited from Africa.  They all worshiped with the Pope who claim all religions lead to God and everyone has Christ in them regardless of faith.  Is this what the Bible teaches.  Even the catholics were amazed, confused, astounded, stunned, alarmed and divided over this very strange conduct and behavior from the pope.  You see, that is religion for you.  The priestess of Shiva from India performed a ritual in which she put some potion on the pope's forehead trying to open his "third eye."  Are these acts from those who profess to be Christian denoting of pure, faultless and undefiled worship?  No, it doesn't.  But the world called them Christians, whereas they actually are not.  Bible believing true Christians would not stoop that low.  Those are religions.  Real Christians shun the world and all that is in it.  Christian Rock music is of satan.  Hollywood is of satan.  Religion is of satan.  Christianity in its pure form has shifted from and has dropped the veil "religion" for distinction.  Instead, the term relationship seem a better term.  Judaism (Kabbala) is religion.  Witchcraft (Wicca) and Islam are the fastest growing religions in America in particular and the world in general today.  They are religions because they are full of rituals and the traditions of men.  Christians don't have rituals.  Christians don't have to face a particular direction, wear certain clothes and burn incense at 12 midnight or sacrifice animals to pray or approach God.  Christians approach God in any respectful manner, in any position, at any time and anywhere.  We don't have to wait for the full moon or certain days because of numerology.  Christianity is a lifestyle that copies after Jesus.  He is our examplar.  He did not get involve in rituals and ceremonies.  He lived just as we are supposed to live.    
The reason why James made that statement is because people who believed they were righteous and clean and spotless were still doing things like the world around them.  To make their claim to righteousness exactly what it should be, they have to visit fatherless children and widows and help them, because they weren't doing it.  Most importantly, they have to keep separate from the world.  That is the key.  Don't be polluted by the world.  Be ye separate.  People that watch Hollywood movies that engage in relegating Christianity to the background, people that listens to Rock music, heavy metal and rap are still part of the world.  They are not separate.  This is part of grand deceit plan of satan in the end times. I hope I have made a clear point here.  Christians that parade themselves with Halloween celebrants on the night of October 31st (satan's birthday) are in error.  All these activities make inpure, defiled, spotty Christians today, unacceptable to God, just like neglecting fatherless children and widows in the era of James.

May I ask:

1. What is Christianity?

2. How would we know that a person is a Christian?

3. If a person complies with what James said in 1:27 do you not think that person would indeed be a Christian?

4. (3 above in other words) Is a person who practises this pure and undefiled religion not therefore a Christian?

Hello Gbagudara

You said "Christians have no rituals?" Is this really true, considering the definition of a ritual?

Meanwhile, are you saying that because some religions involve wrong practices and falsehood and wickedness therefore ALL religions are (i.e. Religion in general, is) of the devil?

Hi Dulcet.  You asked well.
Satan always maneuver things to serve his purpose.  The problem with human is they think so low of satan (which is exactly his plan) so they don't observe his plan unfold.  No man is cleverer than satan.  His intelligence surpasses that of any human that ever lived except Jesus.  No man can compete with him in knowledge, wisdom and intelligence.  Remember, spirits don't die.  The same disobedient spirits of the past are still in operation today.  Satan is a master planner.  He is an intelligent strategist who has the ability to see a little bit into the future.  He plans ahead of time.  He corrupts the world one or two generations at a time.  When he introduces a (worm) or sinful behavior, he does so in stages or levels.  He first makes it beneficial to mankind until it becomes part and parcel of everyone's life and we can't seem to do without it.  This may take a whole generation or two.  That is the bait.  Then he moves to the next stage. He makes it very imperceptible, seamless and very hard for humans to detect.  The good part you have to know is that satan has a well organized structured agencies of human activists doing his work and carrying out his assignments on a daily basis.  To make disseminating his messages faster and easier - to reach masses at the same time - he developed technology.  One of his main technological toys is the television.  The aeroplane, telephone, internet, electricity etc (the list is endless) are all geared towards the same goal.  To corrupt man.  Each one of those inventions has its role to play in the grand plan of satan.  Satan is real.  He is not just a myth.  He attends meetings and his demon give directions and instructions on how to develop technology.  In short, they teach.  Satan controls the world system of things.  When education became organized and was made available to mankind, satan has an endgame already in place.  He needed weapons he would use at the end of age to fight his (already lost) battle. He is a hopeless megalomaniac.  These would be very sophisticated weapons that is capable of mass destruction such as we have today.  To make those kind of weapons, man needs education.  No matter the field of education, the endpoint is to create conflict with God using humans.  If you look around you, you will begin to see that the more educated we are the worse human society and behavior have become.  That is exactly satan's goal.  For example, where do most people lose their faith today?  In college.  You see.  That is where satan's doctrine is the most effective.  Satanists are taking over many areas of education and gradually changing the way people think one generation at a time.  According to pastor Ivor Myers, he (satan) creates an atmosphere and afterwards forces people to adapt to that atmosphere.  I have heard and seen people that I know had a staunch christian upbringing today arguing that there is no right or wrong.  You see, that is education today.  That is what satanists believe.  Now it is being introduced into our classrooms.  Now they say there are no absolutes and that truth is relative.  Evolution is now being taught in public schools that God did not create the world and that it resulted from the "big bang" theory.  Two world wars have resulted from this belief.  Suicide rate has dramatically increased since evolution was introduced into the school system.  Hitler was an evolutionist.  People still choose to "believe" evolution over creation despite its flaws and inconsistencies because that is the way their master satan wants it. Period.  Darwin was a satanist and God hater.  Most acclaimed and renown inventors of old and now are secret satan worshipers who got their ideas straight from satan.  Pythagoras the mathematician was an occultist who went to Egypt to become an adept to be able to study sacred geometry.  The triangle has more, deeper and special meanings to it than ordinary people know.  Spirits write their names and addresses in triangles interlaced.  In the United States the education system is against private schools that are trying to teach good morals.  The system has made it more difficult for private pupils to get admission into public higher institutions because they claim they can't fit in.  Stephen Dollins, a former satanist stated that the board of education is filled with satanists who are secretly indoctrinating our children with satanic values commanded by satan himself.  Kindergarten  children in the US are being taught sex education by teaching them how to apply comdoms.  I am talking about 4-5 years old.  Schools are teaching that homosexuality is just an alternative lifestyle and not a sin like the Christians and Bible teach.  They teach our children that Christianity is the poison that they need to avoid because it is ruining and destroying them.  The children are being taught in our schools that they should not suppress their sexual urge and should express it freely.  Failure to do that will make them sick or have mental problems.  Do you wonder why sexual promiscuity and abortion have increased among our youth.  Because they teach no-sin, abortion is considered normal and OK.  They teach that if anything feels good to you, just do it.  Serial killers learn all this stuff from education through demons, TV and movies. All serial killers confess to one denominator-addiction to pornography. They teach children in our schools that masturbation is harmless. They call it jerking off. The bible has a contrary view. Rock musicians like Ozzy Osbourne encourage the youth to commit suicide as the only solution to their ever present problems. Most top Rock Musicians like Prince, Michael Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne have confessed that many of their lyrics were given to them by spirit guides or demons. They in turn just sang it. No wonder most of their lyrics are out of this world.
High level officials in any nation are mostly satanists.  Judges, lawyers, bankers, scientists, educationists, politicians, presidents, prophets, priests, you mention it, are satanists who meet regularly secretly to move us to the next level of satan's plan.  The youth are his target.  He wants them young.  That is why he removed prayers and bible from American schools.  He replaced those with witchcraft.  Little wonder why the movie screens are filled with horrors today.  Movies targeted towards the children and youth are Harry Potter, Buffy the vampire slayer, Sabrina the teenage witch etc etc.  From classroom to entertainment, the indoctrination continues with a steady stream.  In short satan needs technology to spread his doctrines fast since his time is getting shorter and shorter.  The last hundred years have seen more advancement in technology than from the beginning of creation.  Every good technology end up not being so good after a while when most or all of the stages or levels are completed and /or in place.  That is always satan's end goal - to hurt and destroy humans.  He is a master of organized confusion.  He is a master of dialetics.  He introduced the humanist subjects into the school system. These are university courses that "place" human over God.  Example are philosophy, psychology, sociology, hypnosis, TM, Yoga, etc.  The aim of modern education is to divert everyone's attention away from the Bible and the ways of salvation into destruction.  Every invented human gadget is a toy from satan to keep our attention away from the bible.  People spend more time with those gadgets than with anything else.  To be able to create those diversionary tactics, satan needs to educate the world.  Bible believing Christians know better than to use those gadgets to promote God's kingdom and not as satan intended.  Unless education is used to promote the gospel, it is a [b]RELIGION [/b]in the hands of satan.  Through education he has been able to sway the masses through subtle indoctrination.   All the false religions of today like the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Scientology, etc were planted by satan in the 19th century.  We are reaping the fruits today.  The ones he is planting today will be reaped in the nearest future.  Genetics is going towards producing humans with three strand DNA (super humans).  This will be terrible.  They are already cloning animals.  They will end up with humans, which is satan's original plan.  They are now producing crosses between different animals in preparations for the same experiment on humans.  They are already genetically modifying our crops and agricultural products giving all kinds of nefarious reasons to fool the people as to their intentions.  Satan needs special education to do all that.  To track everyone on earth (which they are already doing) satan needs the RFID technology to do this.  Xerox is the name of the demon that gave the inventor of the first copy machine the idea. Sirius is the name of the dog star which has a bad PR with the Egyptians.  Now it is used for a product name. Lucy's Trust, Lucent tech., are all variations of Lucifer.  So many of these stuff exist that I can't mention all in this space. The list goes on and on.  Satan is preparing for the final battle with Christ and he needs education to get humans to the point where he can spiritually, materially, mentally and physically manipulate and use them to bring about the tools and mindset he will need for the battle.  Humans are being used as pawns that is.  Satan needs to turn man against God to achieve his purpose.  First, he needs to change the way humans think through education.  He then enrages humans and provide the weapons for war through education.  Each war produces more and more terrible weapons which are being currently tested and may be used in the final battle.  Now do you see the game plan?  He makes some inventions come with some benefits to buy human confidence thereby creating confusion, argument, debate and division.  Smart, intelligent, wise, crafty, but evil.  That is satan.

Alright Dulcet,
Rituals have certain meanings in the occult.  The meanings are known to the adept.  For instance in satanism, during a sexual sacrifice, a girl is spread upon an altar in the nude, in the form of a pentagram.  Male members of the coven will take turns brutally raping the girl.  The more brutal the better. This is a ritual. They have so many others in that fashion, including but not limited to orgies. Female high priests initiate males while male high priests initiate females. It is done cross gender. They sacrifice animals and humans to satan in specialized ceremonies.  An org.y is sexual sacrifice unto satan.  During initiation, they obtain blood from initiates and everyone drinks.  Names are logged in blood.  There are so many rituals that have to be performed on certain days, time, under certain conditions with certain people requiring certain sacrifices.  Christian are not supposed to be doing all that.  As long as you repent of your sins and forsake them and give your life to Christ and acknowledge Him as your Lord and Saviour, you are saved.  But you have to separate your self from the world, otherwise you will be performing rituals before you know it. 
Satan is a good copy cat who likes to ruin everything for everybody.  He is the one that turns good things into bad and vice versa.  Satan has given religion a bad PR, because he now controls most of them. He has really tried to pulverize all religions into one, that it is no longer safe to say you are in the religion of Christianity.  He has sown so many tares among the crop that there is almost no discernible distinction between them any longer.  Christian women dress like satanic (world women).  Christian youth talk, behave, eat, dance, make friends and listen to the world music.  They even play the world music in the church.  The church has become like the world we are specifically instructed to separate ourselves from.  If any group of people do anything contrary to the admonitions in the Bible, they have strayed.  It is not at all too difficult to stray these days.  The trappings of satan are too numerous and everywhere and extremely active.  One false unguided move and Whammo!!   In as much as believing in any higher power is an important tenet of any religion, many do not have a relationship with their higher power.  Muslims do not have any relationship with Allah, because they claim he is unreachable and unknowable.  But our own God wants a lasting relationship with us.  Allah shows no feelings, our God can be grieved, pleased or angered.  Our God is approachable, Allah is not.  You see, there is a difference between a religion per se and a relationship.  Though Christianity is both a religion and a relationship, it comes out better distinctively when it is described as a relationship rather than the world view and definition of religion.  Mind you Roman Catholicism is not Christian but a religion parading as Christianity.  Mormonism is not Christian.  Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Confusionism, Hinduism and a host of other Eastern beliefs are religions in the world sense and definition.  I hope I answered your question.

Hello again Gbagudara,

Rituals are stereotyped behaviours recommended and employed in standard spiritual practices.

As for your submission on education, once again I say Education is not a religion. Education is not evil either.

Some things can be put to good use or evil use without necessarily being on either side of the divide, and Education is one of them even though it leans more on the good end.

There is nothing wrong with religion in a christians life,that is religion that is pure and undefilef before God as some has best put it above.Christianity though is more than religion.There is religion as being part of being a christian.
I like the above scripture in defining religion James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God a and the Father is this,to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. This as religion is part of christianity but it is not everything about christianity.

The Apostle Paul in Galat 2:20 puts it easier in understanding the broader life of being a christian by stating
20. I am crucified with Christ,never the less I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.
The christian life is now lived by faith in the Son of God which I believe develops one to obey the will of God in their lives.

The life we now live in the body as christians we live it by faith.By our faith in Christ,our faith is his word.Bringing us into awareness that we can trust God and trust that he will bring his word to pass in our lives.
Hebr 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith.

As christians like Paul said the lives we now live in the body we live that life by our faith in Christ.Having full knowledge that when we live our lives by being fully dependent on the word of God,we are infact being fully dependent on Christ himself because we know Christ and his word are one.As it is written in John 1:1
1. In the begining was the Word,and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And when we let our faith in word of God take dominance over our lives,where we are fully dependent on the Gods word and we are able to trust God in causing his word to come to pass in our lives.When we are able to do that our lives are crucified together with Christ yet we continue to live in the body but we only continue to live in the body only by faith.And as christians without faith it impossible to please God.

Dear Dulcet7
The devil is a spirit being.  We cannot see him but he is alive and evil.  He was originally not that way.  He was created perfect by God.  He was the covering cherub. He held a very high position in heaven.  You see up in heaven, God has His own system of government.  You have Archangels, angels, cherubims, seraphims and a host of all other heavenly spirit beings including regular angels.  They were created one by one.  They do not procreate like we do. There are zillions of them.  Lucifer was one of the top few.  He is extremely powerful.  He was very beautiful (few matched his beauty) and a great musician.  He led the choir and worship in heaven.  He was made from many precious jewels.  He has musical instruments "factory-built" into him.  During worship, he plays himself as he supplied "instruments" to the music.  He is extremely intelligent, wise, and very "street wise."  He was the light bearer.  He shines with exceedingly bright light.  He was the top angel in the presence of God.  His name was Lucifer, the light bearer.  
Every angel in heaven have[b] free will[/b] like we have.  They are free to make choices.  But something began to happen to Lucifer.  He began to slowly develop and nurse pride in his heart.  He began to covet God's position.  The more he thought about it the stronger the feelings and the more he wanted it.  He began to question the way God did things in his mind.  He slowly began to share his thoughts with other unsuspecting angels who thought Lucifer was really about something good.  They had never experienced evil.  So they began to agree with him believing Lucifer must know what he is talking about.  It is like a football captain who slowly turn one third of the players against the coach, teaching them a different thing other than the coach would have taught.  Remember the reason why he is the captain is because he is better than the rest of the team members and knows a few tricks the rest don't know.  In the same manner Lucifer began changing the minds of the other angels in a very convincing manner about how he will probably offer them a better position is they follow his plan.  Eventually he began making the five- point plan to overthrow God.   He pronounced the five "I wills" in the book of Isaiah which led to the break out of an all out war in heaven, the result of which led to his being cast out of heaven.  There is zero tolerance for sin in heaven.  There is no forgiveness because the angels know better.  The same reason murderers don't go free.  They know better than to kill.  This defeat enraged Lucifer.  He was sentenced to death and demoted.  Then hell was prepared for him and the angels that cooperated with him in his rebellion.  A time was set for his destruction.  He is now like a killer on death row who decided to kill every prisoner that ends in his cell because he has nothing else to lose.  He can't be killed twice.  So satan's plan crumbled under his his nose like a pack of cards. He became enraged. He redirected his anger towards humans because we are less powerful, easy to trick and are more or less sitting ducks.  He hated all other God's creation especially the ones made in God's image which happen to be us.  Why should we have good life when he was sentenced to death.  He has nothing to lose if he can get humans to join him in the same rebellion and be destroyed with him.  So he made his quick move towards Adam and Eve before they could have offspring and changed their way of thinking and attitude through education and doctrine to match his own.  Satan never challenged the power of God, just His administration.  He subjected Adam and Eve to his own way thinking and of doing things, which was a direct violation of God's laid down instruction for both humans.  From then he gained control of humans and destroyed the relationship between man and God.  As humans begin to multiply more of the fallen spirits began to invade the earth and began to rape and marry earthly women.  They produce children who are half human and half spirit.  They were huge and possess tremendous power.  They take whatever they wanted.  They began to teach humans magic, sorcery, incantations, wars, and how to make weapons.  Those knowledge are not for us.  They are secret knowledge meant only for the heavenly realm.  That was a serious crime and a major violation.  It is like giving a five year old child a hand grenade to play with.  Also for the spirits (often referred to as the sons of God), mating with humans is tantamount to humans mating with animals.  It is a serious crime.  But do they care?  No.  They want us all destroyed along with them.  They have nothing to lose.  They have individual names and their areas of specialty which I don't have time to get into here.  So in a nutshell, that is how Lucifer became a devil (which means an adversary) and satan (which means a slanderer).  Because of this error, God planned a redemption strategy for humans which was fulfilled when Jesus came.  This is why satan hates Jesus and Christians so much and has spent much time and energy trying (through humans that cooperate with him) to bring an end to Christianity (which is obstructing his way and plans) and concentrate on the impending fight-to-finish war when his time to die comes.  He doesn't want to go down alone (including his angels). He wants all humans to go with him.  That is why Jesus tells us to separate ourselves from the world to avoid going down to hell with satan. That place was originally prepared for him, but as they say misery loves company.  To get people's attention, he uses money, positions, power, fame, music (which he is very good at) and the most effective se.x to get humans to transgress God's commandments so that the unrepentant ones can go to hell with him.  He makes sin very attractive today to accomplish that objective.

Hi Gbagudara. I am all too familiar with the prose above, howbeit in slightly various interpretations or forms on each rendition.

I feel like this is a distraction from the thread's topic so I want you to reflect on these:

1. Education is not evil. There is nothing wrong with increasing in knowledge:
Pro 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out

2. Music is not "the devil's tool". God enjoys music, and it's one of his gifts to man.
Psa 67:4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah
Psa 95:2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

3. None of the above have shown how (a) Religion is of the devil and (b) Christianity is anti-religion.

4. When you choose to do God's will, your "religion" has been defined.
John 7:17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.

4. You are yet to respond to Enigma's last post.

Enigma:

May I ask:

1. What is Christianity?

2. How would we know that a person is a Christian?

3. If a person complies with what James said in 1:27 do you not think that person would indeed be a Christian?

4. (3 above in other words) Is a person who practises this pure and undefiled religion not therefore a Christian?

Peace be unto you.

Dulcet, when I say education is a religion, I mean it in a general sense.  It is more of a doctrine in stricter terms.  But doctrines largely emanate from religious beliefs.  If you look at modern education from the human standpoint, it seems ok.  But when you examine it with Satan's own spectacles, (from his own angle) that is when you see the details more clearly.  His methods are very subtle.  He did not design everything to appear evil for the purpose of gaining human confidence and to establish credibility.  His overall purpose, so to speak, is human destruction and all his combined efforts is geared towards that.  An angry rich man about to die with AIDS would not mind spending time and fortune to sleep with as many unsuspecting women as possible to infect them all with AIDS.  Some of his victims may live longer than others.  Some may even be cured.  But none of them will be aware of his deadly plans until too late or through leakage.  Leakage would have severely damage his plans or totally halt it.  That is why satan does not want his plans leaked.  He needs secrecy for it to work effectively.  Are there humans cooperating with him?  Yes, absolutely yes.  You will always have sellouts who will accept satan's bait (money, fame, position, power, women, men etc) to help him advance and accomplish his deadly plan.  The sad part is he does not love them anymore than he loves his lake of fire.  He wants them all there.  To get them to cooperate, he must first deceive them and then force them.  He is a harsh task master.
For example, Russia and America are forging ahead with the same goal in mind spiritually.  But to the ordinary man and the uninformed, they both seem to embark on different objectives in the physical word.  Their antagonistic stance and dances are just a game.  Remember, Satan has time to his advantage in planning his strategies.  He has been planning for centuries.  It has to be very convincing otherwise it is a complete waste of time. You Dulcet are probably under fifty years old.  Can you compete with an entity or entities who knows your lineage or genealogy all the way to Adam.  They do not have memory lapses.   Their mind is as sharp as razor.  They remember every agreement, covenant, arrangement, dedication that was ever made regarding anything under the sun from Adam era to the present.  That is why they are able to unleash havoc on families and individuals who fail to fulfill their own end of a covenant. The best atmosphere for satan to operate is absolute secrecy.  Exposures hinder his plans greatly and slows them down.  To the general populace, he doesn't exist and there are no evil spirits.  For his followers, he is as real as the next door neighbor.  Any follower who exposes satan and his strategies meets with instant death, and very painful.  Followers are bound by horrible oaths which Jesus already warned us never to take.  Jesus said let your yeah be yeah and no be no.  Anything beyond that Jesus said is from the evil one.  The best trick satan ever played on humans is to convince humans he doesn't exist.  With that in mind he gets a free unhindered atmosphere to operate and carry on his plan.  There is no need to feel guilty about education as long as it is used for the spreading of the good news of Jesus and His salvation plan.  A scientist who spends his entire life time designing, inventing and  building bombs is hardly doing that.  Some professions fall in between with equal outcomes spiritually.  Don't forget for a second the reason humans are created.  It is not to get a Ph.D and stop there.  Your degree or knowledge must be used to spread the gospel and bring multitudes to salvation.  We are created to worship and love God.  Satan changed that mindset.  Mind you, we are not very far from the Garden of Eden where it all started.  God's plan is to restore humans back to the garden of Eden to continue with His original plan.  Satan has been spending time and energy to change humans view and mindset about this entire plan.  He has taken advantage and used the current time lapse- our age (which is actually short) to quickly give humans something else to occupy all their time and thoughts to cancel God out.  He wants God out of human consciousness as fast as he can, hence all the diversionary tactics including education in its different forms.  If you can keep a simple mental rule, you will know that God attracts and satan distracts.   Distraction must appear stronger than attraction to be effective.  A Rolls Royce will distract someone about to receive ten thousand dollars.  The question is why is anyone willing to give up a Rolls Royce to distract anyone about to receive ten thousand dollars? It could be deception.  It could be fake.  It could be 419 to get your attention off the ten thousand dollars long enough for you to lose it. It might be a clever strategy to steal your ten thousand dollars.  Remember, little education takes man away from God, but much education brings him back.  Satan would use anything to distract man from salvation, education included.  Well, my father was a teacher until he retired.  How is that satanic? some may ask.  Remember, when satan tempted Jesus, he was not violent.  He spoke kindly and sympathetically, in an understanding manner. He needs teachers to pass on basic harmless knowledge to others until they reach a level where he requires their attention. That doesn't mean teachers are satanic in any way (some are by choice), it is just part of an overall plan. The same goes for other areas of learning.  He needs some credibility for the trend to continue.  Premature exposure will ruin his plans.  People surely make good use of education to a large extent here and there, but the overall objective for satan is to use it to destroy humans.  Remember the rich man with AIDS analogy, his ultimate aim is not to provide luxury for his victims.  While the AIDS virus in builds up inside the victims, they meanwhile enjoy the luxury. As soon as they realize they have AIDS, everything will come crashing down.

Pure Gospel Music is not evil.  Rock music, Christian Rock, Heavy metal and most rap artist are purely evil and satanic.  Education is not evil as I have explained. To a bomb manufacturer, it is not evil.  To satan who has been planning the outcome for centuries, it is purely evil.  When you consider your own slice of existence, I can understand why you think that way.  That is all you know.  Fifty years maybe.  I am talking from beginning to the end.  From the time of our progenitor Adam to the end of the age.  In one quick glance.  That will give you the answer.  I am not talking about the last hundred years to the present.  If you look at it that way, you will be easily fooled.  That is why satan makes his moves very subtle so that much of his plans and strategy is not concentrated in one generation or two but span across human existence as we know it.  Any music that does not praise God is evil pure and simple.  No controversy.  You cannot know more than your maker.

Dulcet7:

Does this mean when a man who does not know Christ searches for God, God does not bring the man to himself? Do you have examples, because I have contrary examples?

That's a different thing. If a man search for God genuinely , God creates opportunity to send the word to him. But when a man engages himself in religious activities and expect to be saved by those activities at the neglect of Gods plan of salvation, He is pursuing God where God is not. Cornelius was a religious man. But he would not be saved in that religious life. God had to send the Word to him .he finally came out of religion and embrace the life.

Does this mean there are no Christians who have ever pulled out?

A man can't pull out.because he is born into Christ. The way out of birth is by death. He has to die(spiritually) not to be a christian again. And it takes demonic invasion for that to take place. You don't switch in and out.

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  Now this is hilarious! Check out Pastor AIO's risible sarcasm. As Enigma said, the Bible clearly states that religion can be pure and undefiled. I don't see how that can intersect with evil.

I just can't find a way to reconcile
1. Devil: (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
and
2. Religion: A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

and conclude that Religion is of the Devil. I have tried, and I can't!!  

Does this mean that all of man's pursuit of the divine ends up in the "evil arms of the devil"? How will this relationship with God begin if religion is of the devil?  

What do you have to say, Joagbaje et al?

Remember James has his issues with his choice of words. He is the only one who use such words. He meant well. And I understand his point . The word "spiritual" would rather have been more appropriate than "religious" that's what paul would use. James still had issues with Jewish religion even as a christian.  Religion has to do with outward conducts etc. There of course physical part of Christianity. But chritianity is not the outward decoration. But an inward life which reflects outwardly. A religious man can have good feeling based on some good deed. But it doesn't change the state of the man.

To be a christian is to recieve the nature of God and letting the God life on the inside manifest.  But religion deals with the outward and wants to be accepted by God by it.

@Joagbaje
'Remember James has issues with his choice of words'. You don come again. Have you forgotten you're the most religious poster of the year, and that YOU(according to you, your friend) voted you as well? i assume you're the carnal hypocrite having issues with your choice of ids?

Eat some fruits of the spirit dear .What is your reason for these holy christian abuses?  Mr religious