“The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.”
- Timothy Keller
(HT: Tim Keller Wiki)
[...] (HT: Of First Importance) [...]
Great quote!
[...] Quoted at “Of First Importance” [...]
[...] As quoted in “Of First Importance” [...]
A lot of people have been misguided in believing Christianity as a religion. Not it isn’t. It’s relationship with Christ and living and dying for him everyday!
I love Tim Keller, his mind, and his great work. But I have a great problem with the popular trend of trying to divorce our faith from “religion.” Religion in the Bible is a good word, that calls us to care for those in need, the marginalized, the oppressed, the powerless. Also, I don’t think anyone outside the church is buying the argument that Christianity is “not a religion, but a relationship.” Our relationship with God in Christ calls us to be part of the community of faith. Communities of humans necessarily have systems and structures- all off our churches, small groups, programs, etc. do. My humble opinion is that we would be far better off to stop pretending that we’re not involved in organized religion, and pay attention to how we practice our religion. The real question is whether the religion we practice is defiled or not. Telling people it’s not a religion to get them in the door and then initiating them into our systems (we call this assimilation- again, a good thing) is something of a bait and switch.
[...] The purpose of the Bible [...]
[...] “The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome … Religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted,’ but the gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey.’ Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.” – Timothy Keller (Quoted at “Of First Importance”) [...]