Is being spiritual enough?

Responding to New Age Teachings

Have you ever asked someone if they believe in God and had them reply: “Yes, I am very spiritual.”

What does that mean anyways?

All men and women know instinctively that they are spiritual creatures - not just a physical body and brain and if they take some time to consider it, they all begin to wonder what this spiritual side means for their life.

In addition to this, the Bible says that all know intuitively that there is a God.

Romans 1:20: “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.”

If we’re raised in a Christian home, we are introduced to God at a young age and hopefully grow up knowing, loving and serving Him. It’s not a steadfast rule - lots of young adults raised in Christian homes have rejected what they see as their parent’s faith for one reason or another.

If we’re not raised up to know God personally - or if we have rejected Him along the way - there is an unmet spiritual hunger that exists inside of us. Whether we like to admit it or not, we hunger for a relationship with God.

This is true for every single man, woman and child on the earth. There are no exceptions. Even those who would claim that there is no God - deep down, their spirits hunger for Him.

A quick history lesson…

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, mankind went into a state of separation from God. (Sin separates us from a Holy God.) God pronounced a way through animal sacrifices and man’s repentance for his people to maintain a relationship with Him. (There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.) But even as He did so, He promised a better solution. He promised a Savior.

And that promised Savior is Jesus Christ who was born on the earth about 2000 years ago. Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross with the sins of the world upon him - paying the price for sin once and for all. God proclaimed that through his death and resurrection, anyone who calls upon his name will be saved.

That’s good news for us! It means that the spiritual hunger that we feel can be satisfied in a relationship with God through calling upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9 says “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

But some don’t ever call on his name….

Over thousands of years, people groups and cultures have given birth to many different belief systems. Some have a loose connection to biblical beginnings but stray far from the truth about God.

Millions of people ascribe to these different beliefs - each absolutely certain that they believe the truth - and each being terribly deceived.

Some belief systems accept that Jesus Christ existed and that he was a great profit of God - but they reject his position as Son of God, fully man and fully God.

The Bible makes it clear that it is not enough to believe that there is a God. Our sin separates us from Him and desire for a relationship is not enough to create that relationship. God made the way clear and simple for men and women to come back into covenant relationship with Him and that way is Jesus Christ.

Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Believing something doesn’t make it true.

All the false religions of the world, as heart felt and earnest as they may be - are simply that - false. They have no basis in truth. They are not instituted by God and He won’t be honoring their promises. God chose one pathway to salvation.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16

False spiritual teachings continue to abound.

It is mind boggling to look back over 6000 years of human history and wonder where all of the different religions came from. This mystery alone is enough to confuse many people who feel it wrong to call one belief system right and another wrong. They ask, how can we know which is right? Don’t all paths lead to God in the end?

If you wonder how false teachings came to be - just look around you. New false teachings continue to pop up in the world every day.

New Age teachers range wildly from those who embrace pagan witchcraft to those who prefer a softer spiritual ‘love walk’ that focuses on positive energy or psychic abilities.

New books are being written every day presenting some new enlightenment. New levels of spirituality are being taught via yoga, meditation, special breathing techniques, readings, etc.

There is no requirement that any of these teachings be based on any particular truth. If it ‘warms your soul’ and leaves you feeling temporarily happier, it must be spiritual and is accepted.

When you consider how quickly new teachings are accepted and spread, you realize how easy it has been over the centuries for false teachings to come about.

Simply said, being spiritual is not enough.

The hundreds of religions and flavors of spirituality that abound across the earth today are like spiritual junk food to the human spirit. They provide a temporary feeling of fullness but are in truth causing spiritual decay in the inner man.

At the end of one’s life, it won’t matter if you believed you were worshiping a true God or that you have believed you were part of God in some mystical way - if you have not called upon the name of Jesus Christ you will face the wrath of God without him.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.”

Eternal life and relationship with your Creator God through Jesus Christ is the spiritual relationship you’ve been searching for. Don’t accept anything else in it’s place one moment longer.

God, I have chased many spiritual teachings and followed many spiritual teachers in my effort to fulfill the deep hunger in my soul. I realize today that what I hunger for is You. I believe that you are reaching out to me, calling me into a personal relationship with You. I accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Please teach me the truth and deliver me from everything that is false. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

About the Author: Kelly McCausey co-hosts Women By Grace Internet Radio. Powerful encouragement for Christian Women.