Paul bluntly called these ministers who preach adherence to the Law
“servants of Satan”. Paul said, speaking of the religious false prophets that infiltrated the early churches: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! FOR SATAN HIMSELF TRANSFORMS HIMSELF INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Today we have many such “apostles of righteousness” who are no more than ministers of Satan.
Religion, such as described above, gives birth to rituals, laws and attitudes that attempt to please God. However God is only pleased with love, obedience and faith as we learned from Abraham. Man didn’t develop just one religion but thousands, all trying to please God with their works. They use human ideas and their corrupted consciences (Hebrews 10:22) to try to do what was right in the hopes God will be pleased. Ancient civilizations built giant edifices, monuments to and temples to whatever false god they were worshipping. Civilizations like Sumeria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt, Rome, Greece, Maya, Islam, Catholics, and yes even some of today’s great mega-churches have constructed magnificent architectural wonders on earth in honor of their gods who do not exist, except in the form of Satan. Churches organize great works, missionary projects, missions to feed the poor all trying to please God with their great works. We are not saying such projects are bad or evil but God is looking for something else to fulfill His will n the earth.
All of this is religion, which has nothing to do with the God. God is only one God, one faith, not thousands of faiths each interpreting God according to their fallen human understanding. Great books and commentaries are written by men to try and explain God by men who do not know Him but are writing according to their intellect and human understanding. Paul clearly defines the fruit of the human intellect: “For the mind set on the flesh [the soul, emotions intellect] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the MIND SET ON THE FLESH IS HOSTILE TOWARD GOD; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Romans 8:6-7). All our intellectual attempts to explain God are skewed because they originate from a mind that is actually hostile to God. This fallen nature is the direct result of Satan who does not want mankind to know the truth.
Religion actually gives people a false sense of security that originates directly from Satan. Karl Marx said: “Religion is the opiate of the people”. We are not advocating communism but religion blinds man from the truth of Jesus Christ. As Paul said: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the GOD OF THIS WORLD [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Co 4:3-4). As Paul said: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully” (2 Co 11:3-4). This type of activity was common in the first century. As Jesus warned: “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many” (Mt 24:11, 7:15; Mark 13:22). False prophets are those who do not teach the truth and they are numerous in this and past ages.
Revelation warns: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon”. This is the religious beast that comes with horns as a lamb yet speaks like the dragon (Satan)….He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast” (Rev 11, 13-14). This religious beast was the false prophet (Satan) (Rev 19:20).
Satan’s Angelic name is Lucifer which means “light bearer” and he is referred to as "the bright star of the morning”. He is the father of religion according to Christ. In Matthew 23:13-36 Jesus was speaking to the most religious sect of its day the Pharisees. The Pharisees’ system of religion was a form and nothing more. Theirs was a very lax morality (Matt. 5:20; 15:4, 8; 23:3, 14, 23, 25; John 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (Matt. 3:7), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a “generation of vipers.” They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Matt. 9:11; Luke 7:39; 18:11, 12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (Matt. 12:39; 16:1–4). From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear his doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy his influence among the people.
Jesus said to them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness”. So in one sweeping accusation, Jesus accuses them of robbery, self indulgence, uncleanness, hypocrisy, lawlessness and being full of dead men’s bones. He is describing religion which seems to obey the laws outwardly but with sin in their hearts.
At one point Jesus even accused the Pharisees, the preeminent religious leaders of the time, that they originated from their true Father the devil. The leaders clung to the fact that they were Abraham’s children by lineage and so justified in their religion. Jesus said:“If you were Abraham’s [the Father of faith] children, you would do the works of Abraham. Abraham was found to be righteous by faith, not legalistic works to earn salvation. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; to My word. You are OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:39-44). The Pharisees were murderous on two fronts. One, they kept the people in bondage to the Law essentially killing the freedom that was theirs. Second, they murdered the prophets that were sent to them speaking the truth.
Jesus said further of them: “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. ‘but in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men [Quoting Isaiah 29:13] “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6-9; Matthew 15:9). This evaluation applies to many ministers of today no matter the enticing words that come from their mouths or the size of their churches. Religion and its leaders is the most effective tool Satan has in keeping millions in bondage and away from the truth. We see this as religion after religion and leader after leader is exposed for corruption and immortality while preaching lies to the people. Revelation pleads: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in