RELIGION/GOSPEL

RELIGION: Is to obey the rules and regulations of the institution therefore I am accepted as a member in good standing by the institution. It is an outward conformation without an inward transformation!


THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted as I am, forgiven and loved because of grace and because of Jesus, therefore He works through me as I work with Him and because of Him I am become a member of His Church without any doing of my own efforts! It is an outward conformation because of an inward transformation!

RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear of not being accepted and the insecurity of not being spiritual enough for God to speak directly to you so you need a mediator.


THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on God accepting you by His grace and not of works therefore you are motivated because of grateful joy because of God’s gracefulness.

RELIGION: Is to partner with God in order to get things from God and to escape hell.


THE GOSPEL: Is to partner with God to get to know God through relationship and delight and in manifesting His Love to people and escape the bondage of religion.

RELIGION: When circumstances in life are difficult and overwhelming, anger is directed at God or self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life therefore, my suffering is due to my wrongdoing.


THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in life go wrong, I struggle and hurt but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training it will turn out for His good and therefore, for my good. God will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial and He will never leave me of forsake me.

RELIGION: When criticized people are furious or devastated because it is critical to think that “I am a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs because it is a threat to my performance and how I am view by the hierarchy.


THE GOSPEL: When criticized I struggle, but it is not critical 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: 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.


THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose to fulfill His purpose in the earth while having fellowship with Him.

RELIGION: People’s self-view swings between two poles. If and when they are living up to my standards, They feel confident, but then they am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when they are not living up to standards, they feel insecure and inadequate. They are not confident. They feel like a failure.


THE GOSPEL: People’s self-view is not based on a view of their self as a moral achiever. In and of themselves they are nothing and can do nothing to gain His acceptance. In Christ they are accepted and can do all things He requires because of Him.  There is nothing man can do to gain salvation, He had to die for me and I am so loved He was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.

RELIGION: A person’s identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard they work. Or how moral they are, and so they must look down on those they perceive as lazy or immoral. They disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’

THE GOSPEL: Identity and self-worth are centered on the One who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for them. People are counted worthy by grace and grace alone. So no one can look down on people who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.