What about other ways to live a righteous life?

[MarieAntoinette]

Hello,

My boyfriend and I want to become Christians. We have joined a local church, are reading the bible every evening and pray together since a few months. It feels very right and we are determined to keep this up.
However, before we became Christian we were also trying to live a good life in a very different way. But this was not a Christian life: we were doing yoga, meditation, eating vegetarian and trying to help people and being ecologically responsible. Now, we quit yoga and meditation because we think it is bad. But we are still vegetarian etc. as we think this is perfectly compatible with being Christian.
But I am wondering how bad yoga and meditation is, and what you think about it. It is something devilish? Or just something non-Christian? Or is that the same? Are all the people that search for enlightenment and thereby doing yoga running right into the arms of evil? Or is there not much evil to be done, in that respect?
I am very curious about all this. Thank you in advance. I am so glad I have found God. And I don't think I will do yoga ever again. But I did like meditation, as it helped me to calm my thoughts (so many!) and anxiety. Perhaps you have any ideas what I could do instead?

So many thanks for reading this.

 

[fm107]

Hi Marie,

It's great to hear your both enthusiastic about getting to know God, who he is, what he expects of us and living a life for him.

In regard to righteous acts, we all must come to the realisation in our lives that none of us can be righteous in and of ourselves. We do not get into Heaven because the number of good deeds we do outweighs the bad things. We have all broken God's laws and have therefore made ourselves unfit for Heaven. If you take a moment to think about your life, I hope you can realise as I have that I am a sinner, I've lie, stolen, lusted, dishonoured my parents, thought wrong thoughts etc.

It's only what Jesus (the one who knew no sin) has done in taking your punishment upon himself on the cross. In doing this, God can declares all people righteous who, recognise their own failings in life, who can see that they cannot be righteous in and of themselves, who humble themselves before him and ask that God will save him/her only on account of what his son has done.

If you do that and mean it, God will cleanse you of your sins and you will be adopted into his family. You will then truly be a Christian, called righteous only on account that his son has died in your place.

So what then? A Christian is then to go on living for God, trying his best to be pleasing to him. That means constantly analysing your life and removing any sin from it. Yes we do fail at times but thanks to what Jesus has done, we can be forgiven for that.

Is yoga wrong for a Christian? Most definitely if what wikipedia says is true, "specifically, yoga is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy." The bible makes clear in many, many passages that God is a jealous God when it comes to serving other made-up, false, dead God's who don't even exist! Think about it, he valued you enough that he sent his one and only son to die in your place. Would you then go and start studying Hindu philosophy? No, God doesn't want you learning about a philosophy of a false God, he wants you to learn about him so that you can come to know God, his great love for you and the great mercy and grace he has shown you in what he has saved you from, that he has a wonderful eternity marked out for you that none of us can even come close to realising.

If you have any other questions or would like to see scriptures which back up all I have said then feel free to ask.

Here is a short video I'd like to encourage you to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M719cS4LPX0

Acts 17:27
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

 

[Girder of Loins]

A righteous lifestyle is one that gives God glory. There is nothing wrong with yoga until you get into the mysticism and New Age stuff. As long as you are doing it to serve God and give glory to Him, I would think it would be fine. I have no idea about meditation, as I don't know a lot about it. As Christians, we are to meditate on God's Word, and I've always taken that as meaning focusing on certain passages and deciphering what it means and how we can apply it to ourselves.

Anywho, welcome to Cf, and more importantly, welcome to the Family, Sister!!

 

[manitouscott]

Welcome!
If you are giving up yoga, there are so many other forms of calisthenics and stretching that are low impact and just as good for your muscles and joints as yoga. You Tube!
As for meditation to relieve anxiety and stress, I suggest you keep reading the word and praying. I find much relief from having time with God, alone, sharing silence or sharing all my anxieties and stresses in confession with Him. His word teaches me how to bring my will into line with his will, and when I even begin to do this in my daily life I find that the stress and anxiety of this world is turned down in my head, and a lot of times isn't there at all.
I never realized this until I was saved, but a lot of my stress came from knowing deep down that I belonged to God and was missing him in my life, but not having accepted his grace yet and therefore being in a perpetual state of loss and searching, I constantly yearned for him. That is over now! Thank you Jesus!

 

[Peripatetic]

Most of the components of Yoga (stretches, breathing exercises, clearing the mind) can be good for health and compatible with Christianity. Where Yoga becomes dangerous is when a person attempts to use it to gain a higher state of being through self-enlightenment.

In general, the first way to test our actions is to look at how it affects our relationship with God. The second is to see how it affects others. It sounds like you've done well to watch out for the second even before you became a Christian. Now just be sure to keep an eye on the first as well. I'm sure you could take care of your body and meditate in such a way that actually brings you closer to God.

 

[Radagast]

My boyfriend and I want to become Christians. We have joined a local church, are reading the bible every evening and pray together since a few months. It feels very right and we are determined to keep this up. )

Welcome to the family of Christ!

But we are still vegetarian etc. as we think this is perfectly compatible with being Christian.

Vegetarianism is indeed compatible with being Christian.

However, the religious elements of yoga are not. Ultimately everything takes you either towards God or away from Him. Jesus said: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" (Matthew 12:30).

May God bless you, and we hope to see more of you here on CF.

 

[Radagast]

In general, the first way to test our actions is to look at how it affects our relationship with God. The second is to see how it affects others.

While those are good, the best test is "what does the Bible say?"

 

[Harry3142]

Marie-

If yoga and meditation help to keep you 'on an even keel', then I have no problem with them. The problems occur when the people who practise them give them the status of an idol, believing that through the actions themselves they can achieve a form of spiritual perfection.

At its core Christianity is a religion which teaches that we achieve the righteousness necessary for salvation due to our accepting what God has already accomplished on our behalf through his Son, Jesus Christ, rather than its being a righteousness earned by us as a salary (Romans 3:19-5:10). The chasm between what we are capable of doing (and even what we are capable of refraining from doing) and what God would require of us if our salvation were contingent on our own actions is simply too wide for us to cross. That's why it is necessary for us to accept it as a gift. We simply cannot attain it by any other means.

As well, our words and actions as Christians, if those words and actions are to conform to what God wants of us, need to originate with the motivations which God himself gives us freely through his Spirit. It is not enough that we do the right things; we must also do them for the right reasons:

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:16-26,NIV)

Note that many of the 'acts of the sinful nature' aren't actions in-and-of themselves. Instead, they are the motivations which culminate in the commission of sinful acts. However, these same motivations make up the core of our original nature; that's why we need God's help to 'rein them in'. We can no more achieve this than a leopard can exchange his spots for the stripes of a tiger. Fortunately, God is willing, and prepared, to do this.

But not only does he subdue our original nature, but he also implants within us a new nature, namely, 'the fruit of the Spirit'. It is through the motivations which we permit to govern our words and actions being those contained in this new nature that our lives become conformed to what God wants of us. Just as the motivations listed as 'the acts of the sinful nature' can be seen as the origin of all sinful acts committed by us, the motivations listed as 'the fruit of the Spirit' can be seen as the origin of all righteous acts performed by us. That's why the words immediately following their listing are, "Against such things there is no law."

 

[Alive_Again]

Jesus is all you will ever need. You have a spiritual inheritance that blows away any of the "other" methods of finding peace, relaxation, soundness, happiness, etc.

When you were born again (after saying "yes" to Jesus coming into your heart and being the Lord of your lives), you received a brand new (born again) nature that is righteous. If you do the things that make for renewal (partaking of that heavenly yeast), you'll walk in the light of what Jesus provided for us. You'll walk according to your new nature, as a member of "the vine".

Praising and thanking the Lord, reading the Word of God (especially out loud), maintaining a heart of thanksgiving, putting a guard on your lips, and doing what you can do to line up with the Word will "stir up" the gift that is within you.

Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and believe that He will. Ask for grace for today. Believe that He will. Meditate on the things that are spoken under the anointing. The Spirit Word of Jesus imparts life and peace.

While you might do "exercise", the provision of any power other than by God is very dangerous. A verbal renouncing of the practice of yoga and other eastern philosophies is helpful because the enemy moves in to keep believers in bondage when they engage in the practices of deceiving spirits.

You can read up on the origins of yoga and find out that it isn't really of God. Meditation might be "contemplation", but any kind of "mind control" exercise other than submitting to the sound mind of Christ is also not of God. Especially if you're repeating "mantras" or "om" or anything else. You want to strengthen your spirits, not your soul, or even your body. Bodily exercise is profitable, but godliness is profitable unto all things.

You can work out. Just ask God to give you His mind on things (make it a general practice) and then acknowledge that He will. Read the Word often and give Him a chance to give you light and understanding. It's supernatural. Expect Him to manifest in your life. Try the spirits because the enemy would love to deceive you and captivate you in the wrong direction. You'll know by the fruits (the peace or lack of it) as you pursue the things that you do.

Our inheritance is of the Holy Spirit. Becoming familiar with what He does and the covenant of God is a great exercise in joy and renewal. Start finding out what is yours in Christ. Everything else pales in comparison. Collect the promises of God and meditate on them. They often don't "fall" on a believer. Often you need to plant those promises in your heart and meditate on them. They begin to grow within you until it seems like you are "pregnant". You develop the expectation of the fulfillment of that promise. All the while you affirm and believe that it is already yours. One day, you'll get a harvest and faith will come in that promise and you'll rejoice and partake of more of your inheritance.

Suffice it to say that everything that is outside of what God is providing, or even our own seemingly "good" works fall short of what Jesus has already done and provided for us. Salvation is soundness, eternal life, deliverance, healing, etc., and it only entered into by grace through faith.

 

[Forge3]

So many words disecting like swords.

 

[mandelduke]

I see nothing wrong with yoga or meditation. As far as living a righteous life you can forget that. Our faith is counted for righteousness. Since you are new christens let me get you started on the right tract. The best thing to do is talk to God and let him teach you, but if you can’t make that work listen to Joseph Prince, Andrew Warrmack, Charles Stanley, Joel Osteen, and Andy Stanley. Pray to Jesus for understanding, and peace. Being an christen should be as easy as falling off a truck. But everyone tries to make so hard.

 

[Alive_Again]

As far as living a righteous life you can forget that. Our faith is counted for righteousness.

Our faith is accounted for righteousness, but we are also expected to fulfill righteousness, not forget it.

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:4

We must become servants of righteousness to fulfill it.

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Romans 6:17-18

It is all about yielding to the Spirit of God.

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Romans 6:13

We must hearken unto the voice of God.

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
Isaiah 48:18

We must sow righteousness, because we will reap according to what we sow. We will be judged by our fruits.

The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

We'll know if we're sound by our fruits.

As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
Prov 11:18-19

We must abide in Him by working righteousness. These are not the works of the law. This is the walk of the Spirit and we are accountable to God for this.

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1 John 3:6-7

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 3:10

Righeousnes is "a way" that must be adhered to.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2 Peter 2:21

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 Peter 2:24

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
James 2:21-24

We are given these scriptures as part of our instruction in righeousness. We need instruction because we need to walk in the righeous ways of God (by grace).

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Tim 3:16-17

 

[Forge3]

God alone is righteous. And when we become Godlike we share in that righteousness.

 

[Alive_Again]

His nature within us is righteous. As we yield to it, we "work" righteousness. Since He is righteous, we must abide "in Him" and "do righteousness". It's impossible without grace.

 

[asiyreh]

Forge careful my brother I get the feeling you're tempted with this god within idea.

I think that might just be the original sin, man's participation in satans secret desire, eat of this fruit and you will become as gods...
Now true Christians are the temple of the living God but our sinful minds can make us think that we should make that final step and taste of that fruit of the Buddha. Not a good idea.

Careful bro.

Anyways back to the subject - do you know the problem I always had with Eastern Mysticism? If we're constantly dying and being reincarnated losing our bad Karma, why o why is the world going to hades in a revelation style boat? Just my personal view of the subject, probably not something you'd want to run a scholarly critique over, simply a musing, as such.

Yoga's all good as an exercise program, I've often contemplated it myself. Also I quite like delta sleep music when I'm tired.

My advise is this emerse yourself in a study of the Word find good lectures on subject matter in the bible that you're interested in. As you become more familiar with God word in the bible the Holy spirit that speaks in that still quiet voice will become more easily identifiable.

If you're doing something that God's spirit finds unacceptable he will chastise you for it. You'll feel that nudge if participation in this practice is unacceptable. If you choose to continue going why not use it as an opportunity to give people the good news of salvation and true inner peace in Christ Jesus.

 

[MarieAntoinette]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for all your warm, open and considerate replies. I am also very happy with all your references to the Bible, so I can read it back myself. It means a lot to me, and I think I am getting it now.

For me, it is definitely a conceptual 'switch': I always thought righteousness was about giving to others and not being egoistic, but as I now learn, accepting Jesus and God into my heart is the first thing to do if I want to be a Christian. However, I am definitely working on that already, and not in doubt about being a Christian, it is more my 'spiritual worldview' which is upside down now, but that will come back to place soon, I am sure.

Actually, it is interesting now I am thinking about it and reading your replies, that people who do a lot of meditation, mantras etc. are trying to be like 'gods' by attempting to go beyond the limits of time and space (open to everything, stopping their thoughts, becoming detached). However, what I love about Christianity is that it, in a way, emphasizes our humanity and attachment to other humans, and that it is okay to be worried or anxious sometimes, but that you can discuss this with God. In a way, I am so happy to have regained a freedom to be human again through Christianity, if you know what I mean.

But I am also glad to learn that I can still meditate on the word of God and that 'stretching' exercises etc. are actually fine.

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

 

[Emmy]

Dear MarieAntoinette. Jesus told a Lawyer in Matthew 22, verses 35-40:
The first and great Commandment is: " Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: Love thy neighbour as thyself." Then Jesus stated a great and true fact: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prohets." God wants our love, freely
given, and no conditions made. How do we do this? We start by treating all
we know and all we meet, as we would love to be treated: with kindness and
always friendly words, helping hands (if needed) and always be a good neighbour. God sees our sincere efforts to love and care, and God will approve and bless us. God will also know that we Love God, because we are following God`s Commandments to Love and care.
Jesus will give us His Love and Joy, and the Holy Spirit will empower us with His Love, also. " Ask and ye shall receive," then we thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. ( all around us) We keep asking and receiving, thanking God and sharing all Love and Joy with our neighbour.
We might stumble and forget often, but then we ask God to forgive us, and
carry on loving and caring.
The Bible tells to " Repent," to change from being selfish and unloving, to
becoming Loving God with all our beings, and loving our neighbour as we love
ourselves. We become " Born Again," being God`s loving sons and daughters.
The world around us will notice and treat us the same, they will know that we
are God`s representatives in this imperfect world. God is Love, and God wants loving men and women to show the world what Love can do. A Christian`s sword is Love, Love will overcome all enmity and wrong behaviour.
Many will want to join us, and Jesus will help and guide us all the way. In fact: Jesus Is The Way. What better way to witness to a world, starving of Love and Compassion, Charity and Hope? I say this with love, MarieAntoinette. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.