A compa

1. The Difference between Religion and the Gospel
Tim Keller
Acceptance
• Religion: “I obey; therefore, I’m accepted.”
• Gospel: “I’m accepted; therefore, I obey.”
Motivation
• Religion: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.
• Gospel: Motivation is based on grateful joy.
Obedience
• Religion: I obey God in order to get things from God.
• Gospel: I obey God to get God – to delight in and resemble him.
Circumstances
• Religion: 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.
• Gospel: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle, but I know my punishment fell
on Jesus and that while God may allow this for my training, He will exercise his Fatherly
love within my trial.
Criticism
• Religion: When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of
myself as a “good person”. Threats to self-image must be destroyed at all costs.
• Gospel: 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.
Prayer
• Religion: My prayer life consists largely of petition, and it only heats up when I am in a time
of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.
• Gospel: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main
purpose is fellowship with God.
Confidence
• Religion: My self-view swings things between two poles. If and when I am living up to my
standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud 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.

2. • Gospel: My self-view is not based on my moral achievement. In Christ I am simul lustus et
peccator –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.
Identity
• Religion: 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.
• Gospel: My identity and self worth are centered on the One who died for me. I am saved by
sheer grace and I can’t look down on those who believe or practices something different
from me. Only by grace am I what I am.
Authors Unknown
Religion is man-made. The Gospel is God-given.
Religion is what man does for God. The Gospel is what God does for man.
Religion is man's search for God. The Gospel is God's search for man.
Religion is adherence to a system. The Gospel is devotion to a person.
Religion is after membership. The Gospel is after a relationship.
Religion places emphasis upon doing. The Gospel places emphasis on being.
Religion says attain. The Gospel says obtain.
Religion says try. The Gospel says trust.
Religion says do right to get right. The Gospel says, "righteousness without works”.
Religion strives for outer transformation. The Gospel gives an inner transformation.
Religion is good views. The Gospel is good news.
Religion whitewashes. The Gospel washes white.
Religion changes with the times. The Gospel changes the times.
Religion says "If I work hard enough, I might be with God." The Gospel says "if I trust Christ, I will
be with God".
Religion brings dread and uncertainty. The Gospel brings hope and security.
Religion says "I trust (believe) in myself and my works". The Gospel says "I trust (believe) in
Christ and His work".
Religion never worked. The Gospel always works.
Religion says “do”. The Gospel says “done”.
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3. MarkDriscoll & Gerry Breshears
I’ve been reading Death by Love: Letters From The Cross by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears,
in chapter 4 Driscoll contrasts the Gospel with religion in 10 different ways.
1. Religion says that God will not love me until I obey his rules enough to earn his love… The
Gospel says that because God has already loved me and expressed this through the personal
and work of Jesus on the cross, I am now free from sin to live a new obedient life by the power of
his love given to me as a free gift.
2. Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people…. The Gospel says that
the world is not filled with good people and bad people but rather with sinners who are either
repentant and trust in Jesus’ death for their life, or sinners who are unrepentant and remain
spiritually dead and separated from God under his wrath.
3. Religion is about what you do… The Gospel is about what Jesus has done – for you, in you,
and through you – by grace.
4. Religion is about getting from God… The goal of the Gospel is to get God himself, who is our
greatest treasure, highest joy, and source of life, whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, living
or dying, happy or sad.
5. Religion sees hardship as unloving punishment rather than sanctifying discipline… for the
follower of Christ – God will use suffering to sanctify us through affliction and make us more like
Jesus.
6. Religion is about you… The Gospel is in contrast because Jesus has lovingly served us, and
we love him, we are to lovingly serve people as Jesus has us.
7. Religion focuses almost entirely on the external, visible life of a person and over looks the
internal, invisible life of the heart where motives lie… The Gospel is concerned first with the state
of our internal self.
8. Religion is about what we do, the end result is that we lack assurance regarding our standing
with God… The Gospel tells us that because our standing before God is contingent on Jesus
alone, we can know with assurance that we are secure as redeemed people.
9. Religion simply does not work because it results in either pride or despair… The Gospel alone
leads to a humbly confident, joyous obedience because it teaches us that our righteousness is not
our own, but rather a gift from Jesus because of his work on the cross.
10. Religion pursues righteousness through the power of our self-righteousness… The good
news of the Gospel is that Jesus gifted his righteousness to us who are unrighteous if we believe,
or have faith, in his person and work alone.
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