And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Matthew 17:20 KJV

As has been talked about elsewhere, unbelief is the greater belief in the seen, rather than the unseen.  This is often described as more than simple a lack of faith, is a force that works against true faith as it is a “faith” in the visible, rather than in the invisible.

It must be understood, therefore, that the spirit of religion, that is, the demonic entity bent towards the form and natural rather than the true spiritual relationship with the Lord, that it is empowered directly by the spirit of unbelief.

You see, it is not so much a doubt realm, but a faith in ritual, law, and form as of having an inherent worth or value.  As Hebrews 6:1 says, this is the first foundation block that must be in place, repentance from dead works.

The whole of the religious order, so far as it is not about a real, living relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ as a person who lives inside of us whom we cannot see, is about the structures, rules, organization, and entertaining of the senses and the pride of life rather than it is of God’s Spirit, and the true heart of the man.

What doesn’t bring freedom is not of the Lord, even if that freedom is a greater servitude to the Lord, for it is a servitude governed by love and truth, rather than by imposed order and form.

Religion look at everything man can do, while the Spirit is all of Him.  This is important to realize.  There is no understanding that is any importance without the Spirit.  There is no body that has merit outside of the Spirit.  There is no enduring strength to stand, for it is not Christ’s Kingdom, and that which is born of the flesh is flesh.

It must be understood, then, that the spirit of religion stand entirely upon the spirit of unbelief.  In that, it is further indicated that it is, as an intelligent being (called a demon), directly opposed to the introduction of true, Gospel faith, for the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbeliever (2 Corinthians 4:4).  In this, it will fight for all it is against the true message of the Gospel and true faith, for with the introduction of faith comes its demise.  It therefore, is bound not to lie down and take this willingly, but will fight with all it is, through the lives of unwitting people, against us, who stand in any measure of the Truth.

This goes a step further, as well.  It wants to separate those who have a measure of the truth from the truth.  By overly focusing an intellectual doctrine, rather than on Him who is doctrine, many have left the way of the Spirit of Truth that brought them to right doctrine.  Or, and possibly more unfortunate, they may stay in right doctrine and the way of the Spirit as they have understood it, but those who they raise up fail to see that the doctrine is useless without the man, Jesus Christ.  All the revelation of the book could be expounded, but it is only the revelation of the man that makes the difference.  God will of course stand true to His Word, but His Word is a man named Jesus Christ.

Those that pursue to a point and yet stop at some point become by nature religious.  They function the understanding of yesterday, but do no progress further on to full fruit.  Some of these are entangled by the world, and some, after producing a certain level of fruit, bear no more, and although it was fruitful for a time, the enduring fruit is lessened.

The way of the Gospel is through faith, belief and trust in the Master.

True faith sees the Christ, Jesus, sees the Kingdom (John 3:3), and in that seeing, in that faith of believing, grows continually from strength to strength, and glory to glory.

Those who are in the flow should be ever increasing in knowledge, fruit, revelation, and understanding, even as the path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter until the noon day (Proverbs 4:18).

The Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of the kingdoms of this world fight with each other.  As there can be no compromise, we must learn to recognize (and repent from) every dead work, everything done in ignorance.  Not as a formula, not as a list of forbidden and permitted things, but as springing from true heart of faith desiring to please the Lord.

There will of course be lists made of righteous and unrighteous acts by men, but the true “list” is that written upon the heart, in Spirit and Truth.  As this is where all true worship originates, and is what the Father seeks in worshipers, this is the true test of what is required of the Lord.

Those who do not know should perhaps listen to the wisdom of others, following in the tracks of the flocks by the tents of the shepherds (Song of Songs 1:8).  Those who do know the Word of the Lord should follow Him, nothing more, nothing less.  And, if it is to hell itself, even there, He will be with you.

It is important, also, to begin to have correct language.  As we understand unbelief as used in the Gospels to be the underpinning of religion, we begin to see the system that Jesus came to confront.  He wasn’t against “rules”, as He Himself was the Word.  To break the least command and to teach others to do so is to be least in the Kingdom.  And, as we understand faith, we see that it is the victory that overcomes the world.

As Jesus didn’t disqualify Peter even for his great failure at the denial, He doesn’t disqualify us, for He is our great intercessor.  Yet, Jesus came and personally restored Peter, because Peter needed to be restored.  The broken heart needs mending, and the sins committed needed forgiving, just as a cut or a wound needed healing.  It was Peter’s own measure of unbelief that led him to see himself more than the light of the gospel in that moment, and yet, in the Gospel, forgiveness came to the penitent sinner, as it always does, and always will, so long as there is light of day.