“Religion operates on the principle of ‘I obey – therefore I am accepted by God.’ The basic operating principle of the gospel is ‘I am accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ – therefore I obey.” (Pg. 114)
I wonder how much we distort the beauty and wonder of the Gospel and diminish its power when we confuse it with religion. I know there are many times when I have caught myself being the champion for religion instead of the Gospel. It's during those times that some rule or some tradition, no matter how well intentioned, subtly or not so subtly takes precedence over the message and values of the Gospel.
- The Gospel always values grace and mercy when religion seems to be out to win an argument.
- The Gospel always accepts people just as they are, trusting God to change them and religion tells them they need to perform first before they merit God's acceptance.
- The Gospel always seeks love and religion seeks compliance.
- The Gospel challenges, comforts and encourages while religion judges and condemns.
- The Gospel always brings out expressions of humility and forgiveness and religion often causes us to be prideful and self-righteous.
- The Gospel transforms and religion, at best, conforms.
Do you agree? Do you see any other differences between Gospel and religion?
If "religion" is the primary motivator for getting the word out, i.e., the distribution of the "good news" then what better liaison could be ask for? While there may be a dissimilar definition of the two, their co-effort should be rewarding.
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