11. Overcoming the Spirit of Bondage

Spirit of Bondage
Manifestations: Fears, Addictions (Drugs, Alcohol, Cigarettes, Food, Etcetera, etc.), Fear of Death, Captivity to Satan, Servant of Corruption, Compulsive Sin, and Bondage to Sin
Scriptures: (Romans 6:16; 7:23; 8:15; 2 Peter 2:19; Hebrews 2:14–15; Luke 8:23; John 8:34; Acts 8:23; Proverbs 5:2; 2 Timothy 2:26)
Roots: "The Works of the Flesh," Galatians 5:19–21.
"By their fruits, you will know all men." Matthew 7:20. According to Matthew 6:10; 11:12; 12:29; 16:18; 18:18; 28:18 Bind: The Spirit of Bondage
Loose: Liberty, Spirit of Adoption, Romans 8:15

The Spirit of Bondage ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage [which leads] to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption (the Holy Spirit), by which we cry out Abba, Father.’ Romans 8:14–15 The spirit of bondage is a satanic spirit that brings people into religious bondage by introducing religious laws, restrictions, and regulations. It ties people to a rigid form of worship or religious cult-like followership. It dictates to the man who is carnally minded that the knowledge or the things of God can only be accessed or approached by subscribing to only one particular [mechanical] mode or system of worship. This spirit is a snare of the devil that every Christian must continually watch out for when walking with Jesus.

The spirit of bondage also brings people into slavery or addiction to sinful and destructive habits such as drugs, alcohol, soul ties caused by sexual sins, addiction to television or social media, and the like. Though people are held responsible for their own actions by God, those who choose to live in the flesh and refuse to crucify their fleshly desires and appetites are more likely to be strongly influenced by this spirit.

Discerning the Spirit of Bondage The spirit of bondage is responsible for the subtle and systematic twist of the [knowledge of] truth. It likes to use the ‘knowledge’ of God or spirituality as its weapon, aiming to cause people to have a wrong impression of the truth of God Himself. It does not physically bind the hands and feet of men, but rather binds and blinds the mind from knowing Jesus. The greatest target of this spirit is the Church of God because it doesn’t want Christians to come into accurate knowledge, understanding, and application of the truth [the person of Jesus Himself].

During the earthly ministry of Jesus, this spirit always sought to attack or undermine whatever it found Jesus doing. It happened that on a Sabbath day, while Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, He healed and made straight a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years of her life. The spirit of bondage, having greatly filled the mind of the ruler of the synagogue, immediately spoke out against the wonderful miracle the Lord just performed:

‘But the ruler of the synagogue answered with great indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’ Luke 13:14

That is the voice of the spirit of bondage. You see, back in the days of Moses, God gave divine laws to Israel, but the devil subtly took advantage and used the spirit of bondage to twist these divine laws to bring God’s people into a dead religion, which is a joyless, lifeless, and mechanical’relationship' with God. It used the scribes and lawyers to twist and misinterpret the Scriptures so much that they could not recognise the Messiah when He walked in their midst!

This spirit [of bondage] does Satan’s dirty work of usurping the place of intimate relationship with Jesus both in the church and in our individual lives.

Bondage leads to fear. ‘For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear.' Romans 8:15 AMP

The spirit of bondage causes those who are under its [religious] influence to be afraid of the'repercussions' of not adhering strictly to its ‘laws’, thus opening them up to the spirit of fear. We see this play out in many religions around the world, where people exalt and fear the teachings of their ‘prophet’ (founder of their religion or sect) rather than the Word of God inspired by the Spirit of God.

Getting Acquainted with the Spirit of Adoption ‘But if you are led by the Spirit (of God), you are not under the law.’ Galatians 5:18

Those who are filled and led by God’s Spirit ought not to have any business with the spirit of bondage because they are contrary to one another. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption by which you were brought into God’s family and made His child, while the Spirit of bondage or slavery is the spirit that seeks to steal your intimate child-to-father relationship with God by imposing hard, difficult, joyless, and lifeless laws as requirements to walk with God!

You have to acquaint yourself with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. This is the only way to get and remain free from the spirit of bondage. ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom].’ 2 Corinthians 3:17 AMP

Wisdom Keys to Effectively Get Rid of the Spirit of Bondage ‘And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage) to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.’ Galatians 2:4-5

i. Depend on the Holy Spirit to teach you. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth, and one of His functions is that He will guide you into the correct knowledge and experience of God. He will show you the things of God, and as you walk closely with Him, He will keep you from the enemy’s deception. He will also help you gain an accurate understanding and application of the Scriptures (see John 16:13–15).

ii. Constantly ask that God enlighten you. There is a prayer taught by the apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians 1:17. Pull out your Bible, meditate on that scripture, and act on it. Pray that God will remove the possible veil cast by the spirit of bondage and expose the works of this spirit. I assure you, the light [revelation] of God’s Word is potent enough to shatter the works of the spirit of [religious] bondage.

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