Religion vs Gospel

A few weeks ago at Doxology (my Sunday morning church home), Pastor Pete preached about the difference in believing Religion versus Gospel.  Let's just say I was challenged by the message! I was raised in a Southern Baptist church and looking back, it seems to have created more of a "religious" person. I need more than one hand to count the areas here where I am struggling hard to see myself as a "gospel believer" and less of a "religious person". I guess that is why we are always a work in progress.

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
ACCEPTANCE	I obey; therefore, I am	I’m accepted therefore, I obey

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
MOTIVATION	Motivation is based on fear and insecurity	Motivation is based on grateful joy

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
OBEDIENCE	I obey God in order to get things from God	I obey God to get God – to delight in and resemble him

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
CIRCUMSTANCES	When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself since I believe that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life	When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle, but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while God may allow this for my training, he will exercise his fatherly love within my trial.

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
CRITICISM	When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person.’ Threats to that self image must be destroyed at all costs.	When I am criticized, I struggle but it is not essential for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ.

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
PRAYER	My prayer life consists largely on petition, and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is to control my environment	My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with God.

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
SELF VIEW	My self view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident but then I am prone and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel humble but not confident – I feel like a failure.	My self view is not based on my moral achievements. In Christ I am simultaneously sinful and lost yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad that he had to die for me and I am so loved that he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deep humility and confidence at the same time.

	RELIGION	GOSPEL
IDENTITY	My identity and self worth are based mainly on how hard I work or how moral I am – and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral.	My identity and self worth are centered on the one who died for me. I am saved by sheer grace so I cant look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace am I what I am.

Note: This chart is adapted from Gospel in Life by Timothy Keller.