In Galatians 4:19 Paul says, “My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.” Christ is formed in us. In 5:4 Paul says, “You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” If we return to religion, we are separated from Christ. Christ will never go along with religion. Christ is always versus religion, and religion is always against Christ. If we care for religion, we are through with Christ. If we care for Christ, we will have nothing to do with religion. However, we all have preoccupying religious concepts. Any Christian in a new kind of meeting will criticize the meeting according to his or her religious concepts. We should measure a meeting only according to how much Christ is expressed. We need a vision to see that God does not want any religion. God wants only Christ.
The Gospels show that while the Lord was on the earth, He did not keep any forms. He ministered in every place—the mountaintop, the seashore, homes, and streets. We need such a Christ today. Christ is more real and practical to us than He was to His disciples, for He is within us, but He could only be among them. We should not add religious forms or concepts to Christ. To decide to function in a meeting without being led by the Lord is to bring in a form. To avoid bringing in religion, we should simply come to the meeting full of Christ. We need to tell the Lord every day, “Lord Jesus, I love You. The disciples followed You outwardly, but today I follow You inwardly. Lord, I will never leave You. I want to be with You always.”
I have been a Christian for many years. At the very beginning of my Christian life I picked up many religious concepts. I thought that since I was a Christian, I needed to always be gentle and submissive and never lose my temper. Such concepts are religious. I read many books to try to learn how to overcome sin and be kind, gentle, humble, and pleasant. However, I eventually realized that these books were religious. Now I see that I do not need to strive to overcome sin or to be kind, gentle, humble, and pleasant. My only responsibility is to love Christ, follow Him, and remain in His presence. We should not be conscious of anything but Christ. We should always be Christ-conscious.
We should not consider whether or not the elders in our church are good. This kind of question comes from a religious mind. If we are Christ-conscious, we will not have such a question. We should care only for Christ. Being Christ-conscious takes care of everything else. All the saints in a local church should be Christ-conscious.
Many saints today are still more religion-conscious than Christ-conscious. When someone speaks in the meetings, others may have opinions about the speaking. This is religion. Recently, I was asked how a brother should deal with someone who is bothering him. This question is in the realm of religion. Because Christ lives within us, we do not need to ask this kind of question. If we are Christ-conscious, we will not be bothered by something in our environment such as a troublesome roommate. Saints have expressed opinions to me about certain brothers or sisters being good or bad. This kind of thinking is also in the realm of religion. The Lord does not categorize persons or situations according to good and bad. If we are Christ-conscious, we will see that all the saints are lovable. To someone who is Christ-conscious, every person and situation is about the same.
Questions from a religious mind are endless. A sister may ask what style of glasses she should wear. This is religion. Instead of being conscious of glasses, we need to be Christ-conscious and care only for Christ. A brother may ask what kind of diet he should have. This question too is of religion. Everything is religion when Christ is neglected. Apparently, my wife controls my eating, but actually, it is Christ. It is only because I have Christ within me that I am able to accept my wife’s control of my diet. Even asking how to live by Christ is in the realm of religion. Living by Christ is like breathing. We do not first study it and then try to apply it; instead, we learn by doing.
Anything that we do to please God apart from Christ is religion. Christ is real and practical. He should not be limited to the realm of doctrine. The answer to every question is the indwelling Christ. Questions concerning relationships, dress, and diet are all answered by Christ within. If we are Christ-conscious, Christ will be everything to us.
Christianity today has become a religion of doing things for God apart from Christ. Many Christians serve and worship God but neglect Christ. We should decide on a hairstyle not according to current fashions but according to Christ’s speaking within. We need to see the principle of living by the indwelling Christ. If I am about to become impatient with someone, Christ within me will trouble me about this, and I simply need to say, “Amen, Lord.” In this way I gain the victory. The Christian life is not a matter of teaching, form, regulation, or instruction. We simply need to follow Christ within.
We need a vision and a revelation to see that God desires nothing but Christ and that Christ today is living, real, and practical. Galatians 6:15 says, “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.” The new creation is the mingling of Christ with us. Christ lives within us, we are one with Christ, and we are living Christ. While we are living Christ, we are Christ, because He is expressed through us. When we see this vision, the entire Bible will become light, life, and food to us. In today’s recovery God wants a group of people who are Christ-conscious—living by Christ, walking with Christ, loving Christ, dealing with Christ, and remaining in Christ’s presence all the time.
I believe that the Lord will prepare a good number of saints to send out to Europe and Israel to raise up churches. He will come back when He can tell the enemy, “You have set up many religious things, but look at My church, My bride. They all live by Me and are one with Me. They are no longer religious, and they have no tradition, superstition, or falsehood. They have only Christ. They are a group of people who are fully Christ-conscious, and they are My testimony.”