Religion or Gospel

Some years ago sat on a plane with a colleague and read the book ‘Why I am not religious’ by Ole Hallesby. When he saw the title, he looked at me in amazement because he knew that I believe in God and attend a Christian church. Then I should also be ‘religious’. I would like to show you the difference here.

To get you in the mood, here’s a definition based on my own experiences:

Religion = God is useful
Gospel = God is beautiful

I’m focussing on the Christian faith, because that’s where I know my way around. So when I talk about religion, I mean the Christian religion or the roots of the Christian faith, the Judaism of the Old Testament. And that’s why we start with Jesus.

Jesus and the religious leaders of his time

Time and again, Jesus clashed with the Pharisees and scribes, the religious elite. Let’s take a look at one of these encounters:

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

Mark 7, 1-8 (ESV)

To make a long story short: Jesus was always concerned with a heart relationship with God, and not with merely keeping commandments. This is where I see the first point that marks the difference between religion and the gospel:

A matter of the heart instead of a dead tradition

Wifried Plock, a German evanglist, once said: ‘Religion always lives from doing! The Pharisees listed their religious activities before God: ‘I pray, I fast, I sacrifice, etc.’

Religion basically consists of two letters: DO – do, do, do!

That is why people are shown steep stairs in religions. People have to make an effort. Commandments and regulations must be fulfilled, achievements must be made, prohibitions must be observed. Man’s actions are strongly emphasised. The separation from God through guilt and sin is to be overcome step by step through effort, endeavour and good deeds.

The gospel, on the other hand, is the good news of Jesus Christ: what was impossible for the Old Testament law and man’s effort, God did! He opened the heavens, smashed the dividing wall of guilt and came to us in Jesus Christ. And when Jesus died on the cross, he was able to shout: ‘It is finished!’ That means: ‘It is done!’

The gospel has four letters: DONE !

Because the message of Jesus is the gospel of grace. No one can earn heaven! Heaven – eternal fellowship with a loving God – is a free gift that God gives to everyone who accepts this gift in faith, on God’s terms.

Terms? So there is something to be done? No! Jesus proclaimed: ‘Repent and believe in the gospel!’ This means that you recognise that you have nothing to offer God but a mountain of guilt. And then you can come to the cross where Jesus died. There, God wants to give you a gift, absolve you of your guilt and accept you as his beloved child. This is not an achievement, but rather making contact with the living God by talking to him and accepting the gift of grace. Religion always lives from doing. The gospel, however, is the good news that Jesus has done everything – including for you – to free you from guilt and enable you to have fellowship with God.

Religion knows no certainty

Religion is an eternal search, a questioning, a longing, a stretching out of hands without a handshake; but in no religion is there real certainty about eternal life. Not even in a so-called Christian religion, which is based on one’s own efforts. Being a Christian and being ‘religious’ are therefore actually mutually exclusive. Because religion is all about what a person does, the anxious question always remains: Is it enough? Have I done enough?

But not so with Christians who have understood the gospel! The gospel is full of radiant certainty. Paul, for example, says in his letter to the Romans: ‘I am certain that nothing and no one can separate me from God’s love.’ Or John – he tells the Christians of that time: ‘I have written these things to you to confirm you in the certainty that you have eternal life, because you believe in Jesus as the Son of God.” (1st John 5, 13).

Top Down instead of Bottom Up

By practising religion, you try to somehow get in touch with God by performing rituals, following rules, undergoing sacraments, trying to be a good person. In other words, you try to come bottom up.

With Jesus, this principle is reversed: top down: God himself comes to us, shows himself in the life of Jesus, and Jesus does everything so that we can come into relationship with God again. ‘It is finished’ were his last words on the cross: the way is clear to God. Your promissory note is torn. The gift of grace only needs to be accepted.

Jesus IS

We would like to follow a rule to look good to God and then go our own way again. But:

Jesus is the way. The disciples would have liked Jesus to show them the way, then they could have gone back to their fishing boats. They asked him for directions. But Jesus had the answer: ‘I AM the way’. Jesus is the way. (John 14)

The people would have liked to receive bread from him so that they could go their own way again, provided for life. They said: ‘Lord, give us this bread.’ But Jesus answered them: ‘I AM the bread’. (John 6, 34-35)

The Samaritan woman at the well would have liked to receive living water from him. ‘Lord, give me this water,’ she said. But Jesus replied: ‘I AM the living water. Whoever comes to me will never thirst again’. No more thirst for life. (John 4, 15 and 6, 35)

Conclusion: It is not about a brief encounter. Jesus is more, he IS a source of strength, a source of life, a source of light, a source of hope and much more. Religion cannot offer all these.

Having Jesus, you have everything

If you have Jesus, you are on the path that leads safely to a good destination, you have living bread and living water.

You are on the safe path to eternal security, your hunger for more and your thirst for life is quenched daily with Jesus. That is the gospel.

Religion makes you arrogant or depressed. Arrogant and prideful when you think you have done everything right. Depressed when you realise that your own efforts are absolutely not enough.

The gospel gives life because Jesus lives. He has done everything for you and is waiting for you to accept the gift of salvation by trusting that Jesus died for you on the cross, rose from the dead and can be experienced today. Come to him, try it out. Jesus is alive and well. And he is looking at you right now and is waiting for your reaction.