Part Three of Four

Recap: This is the third part of a four-part study on Yoga and Christianity (I know, shocking…the title didn’t give that away…)

In Part 1, I attempted to lay the groundwork, or foundations, from which I was approaching this topic. I seek not to condemn a fellow brother or sister in Christ, nor do I seek to turn away those who have not yet found Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. As Scripture states in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned…” I am rather, trying to live by 1 Timothy 4:2 by preaching the word; preparing to give a reason for why I believe what I believe, and to correct, rebuke and encourage with patience and careful instruction.

So, I am speaking more to my brothers and sisters in Christ, not an unbeliever.

During the second part series of this study, we dove in to the spiritual conflict between yoga and God’s Holy Scripture. We looked at the demonic counterfeit of yoga’s practices to God’s Word and His Holy Spirit.

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Now, we’re going to get in to the nitty gritty of comparing the practices of yoga and its philosophies to God’s irrefutable, perfect Holy Word.

Join me, let dive in…

Context is Imperative

Let’s begin by looking at Deuteronomy 30:15-18.

Go ahead, click on the link and read it. I’ll wait.

Context of this scripture: This is an interaction between Moses and God. It comes after God delivered His people of Israel out of Egypt, under the power of Pharoah. Moses was giving instruction to the Israel people as the Lord God gave him utterance for He was reestablishing the expectations of His people who were lost in sin and faithlessness.

The scripture begins with, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.”

God is giving heed to His people, through Moses, that whatever choice they make, they will have consequences- life-giving or death-giving.

God is giving heed to His people, through Moses, that whatever choice they make, they will have consequences- life-giving or death-giving.

Reference: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Seems really harsh, I know. But even still, God is so gracious to give us free choice; and is constantly pursuing us, offering us opportunities to repent and turn away from death-giving choices we make.

“God is so gracious to give us free choice; offering us opportunities to repent and turn away from all the death-giving choices we make.”

Now, the passage above takes place in history when sacrifices were still being made as atonement for sins. However, 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born, God incarnate, to live, die, and raise from the dead as our ultimate sacrifice, or atonement, so that by faith in Him, we will be saved and redeemed to a new creation; no longer living by the futile flesh but in spirit, by the Spirit of Christ in us.

Jesus’ resurrected life gives us who believe in Him life, and no longer do we have to make sacrifices for our sins because Christ was it for us [Romans 8:1-17]. We must still repent when we do wrong, but there is no longer a barrier for us to be with God our Father- Jesus is the mediator.

Ancestors & Idol Worship

It is known that our ancestors behaved in detestable ways, worshipping idols and engaging in detestable acts. Deuteronomy 18:9-13 tells the people of Israel (which under the New Covenant is the current body of believers- you and me included), “when you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there…” continuing by identifying practices such as divination, sorcery, witchcraft, etc.

Continuing in verses 16-20, God warns His people, through Moses, to “not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars- all the heavenly array- do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshipping things the Lord your God has appointed to all the nations under heaven.”

Are you beginning to see how the practices of yoga are not aligning with God’s instruction in His Word for believers?

For those who are in Christ, we did not receive a spirit that makes us slaves again to fear, but of power, love, and a peaceful mind. Therefore, we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- THIS is our act of worship, reverence, and adoration.

We are not to conform, modify, or try to dissociate that which is sinful or demonic to be less sinful or demonic in the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Real Renewing of the Mind

What does “renewing of the mind” mean?

It means a complete change or renovation of our mind. Our renewal of mind doesn’t come from an inner being, nor by works of our own to cleanse that which holds us down. Our mind is not renewed by sequential visualizations or chants that channel or manifest some unknowable, disassociative power.

Christ renews our mind through his Spirit and the Holy Spirit!

Everything is Permissible, but Not Beneficial

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-33, Apostle Paul writes about the warnings we, as children of God, must remember from Israel’s history. “For we do not want you to be ignorant… everything is permissible- but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible-but not everything is constructive.”

Let’s take a moment and go back to Deuteronomy, Chapter 12. This passage of scripture, again, is God speaking to Israel through Moses. God, through Moses, set them free from Pharoah’s rule. God provided food, water, and protection during their wandering years; and was now communicating His expectations for the ways of living as God’s people. He was telling them the how for transforming their minds and lifestyles to God’s.

God said, “destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go…”

“You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.”

Deuteronomy 12:4

Now, through faith is Jesus Christ, all who believe in Him are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus. “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice…”

Therefore we are no longer bound by the Law, rather, through the law we became conscious of sin. The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in us. We now become a temple of God, worshipping Him in mind, body and spirit.

We are to be transformed by the renewing, or renovation, of our mind in Christ, no longer giving in to the evil and idolatrous desires we had when we lived in ignorance [1 Peter 1:13-16].

We are His temple, his dwelling place now. We must pursue holiness because He is holy.

Authentic Christ-Followers Look Different

Yoga is not just exercise; it is not permissible, and it is not constructive, according to scripture.

The Bible clearly states that we must not worship the Lord our God the way others worship their gods.

Slapping “Jesus” or “Holy” in front of Yoga, or switching the traditional mantras of yoga to meditations of God’s Word doesn’t change the fact it is a replica of the way Hindu’s worship their pantheon of gods.

The western culture has snuck yoga in as some neutral calisthenics in an attempt to justify it as exercise, and remove any spiritual ties to ancient practices. But while our nation finds it trendy, the rest of the world knows it to be a form of worship. You will not see a follower of Christ practicing any form of yoga in India.

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Join me next week for our last part of this study.

With the Spirit’s help, we are going to look at the spiritual warfare we open ourselves, and our lives, up to by participating in yoga and other pagan practices.

But, praise God, that’s not it! We also look at someOne who makes himself known and walks with us every moment of every day, that can save us from spiritual attacks; equipping us with tools and power that gives us victory over every battle of warfare.