Jeff Baker concludes our teaching series, Why Religion Doesn’t Work, by explaining that true Christianity doesn’t condemn; rather, it cares, protects and respects.
Religion Is Condemning
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Monthly Archives: June 2010
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Wrap Up
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Wrap Up
Looking back over these past six weeks in the study of the book of Galatians, what stands out to me is the absolute need within me for the Law. I need and want to have a concrete set of do’s and don’ts through which I can see the world and guide my behavior; I want to be able to come to God with my list of ‘good works’ to present to Him so that I might please Him. This way of thinking is so embedded within me that it is difficult to think about the Gospel in any other way, it colors absolutely every aspect of my relationship with God and the world around me. But I don’t necessarily want to see what a legalist I can be. The proof of how flawed my thinking is came when faced with Paul’s saying ‘Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial’ (1Corinthians 10:23). My immediate reaction was one of acceptance of what I already knew, but as I continued to think about it, the ‘Surely not that…’ came. And the kicker was the immediate desire to run after what my Law had denied me.
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:17-18
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:17-18
We occasionally run across faux products, items which are designed to look like something very expensive but are really cheap imitations, such as a Rolex watch. Often the cheap knock-offs have a slight misspelling such as Rollex. They attempt to be the real thing but a closer look will reveal them as fake. In the same way, there are many people who go about trying to look like they are super-spiritual. They point out how they are spiritual and how we all need to bear the same marks. But they are invariably false. The real marks of Christianity are not always those that we associate with the spiritual although they should be. Paul has already mentioned earlier in his letter the fruit of the Spirit. Those are the true marks of the followers of Christ.
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:11-16
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:11-16
A cultural icon since the late 1800′s is the Easter parade, especially on Fifth Avenue in New York City. It is a time to show off your new clothes striving to impress others. At times people get extravagant with their apparel to the point of silliness. This parade mentality has spilled over into the church as well. As a child, I remember Easter Sunday as a time when all the ladies of the church tried to out do each other in their new clothes and not a few men in new expensive suits or fancy ties. Although this is a somewhat benign example, the concept can creep into our religious attitudes. We parade our spirituality before others trying to impress them with how “good” we are. And of course, so we don’t feel silly, we try to get others to emulate our spirituality as well.
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:7-10
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:7-10
Your values dictate how you live your life; what you do to please yourself, what you do to make yourself feel good. Sometimes our hearts are not in the right place and the result is that we please our sinful nature. On the outside we can still keep up the appearance that everything is fine, but on the inside, something has gone awry. When we try to follow the Law, using our own works to be a good and “Godly” person, it is a small step onto that easy and slippery slope of pretending before God as well as people that we are living by the Spirit while continuing to gratify the desires of the flesh. We can fall into this trap almost without being aware of it. There are multitudes of reasons for slipping into this mode of thinking and behavior. It is natural to avoid suffering, to take the easy route. Peer pressure can bring you to do things you would not do otherwise. People can be deceived, and you can even deceive yourself, corrupting your thinking and making your own excuses. But God is not mocked; a man will reap what he sows. (6:7).
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:6
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:6
At first glance, this verse seems to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. How does this idea of sharing ‘all good things’ with those who teach fit in with the rest of these verses talking about the life of the Spirit? How do we go from bearing one’s load to sharing with those who teach? I would suggest two things here; 1) that our life in the Spirit has practical application that touches and includes all the ‘good things’ that we have and 2) teaching and being taught is a witness to the Spirit at work.
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:1-5
Why Religion Doesn’t Work: Galatians 6:1-5
What does living and walking by the Spirit look like in the real world? This is essentially the question that Paul begins to answer in these first five verses of chapter six. I see two main ideas here that we need to understand if we want to successfully follow and fulfill the ‘law’ of Christ. The first is the idea of bearing one another’s burdens and the second is the load that we have been given to carry.
Religion Is Powerless
Even though religion is powerless, we’re not without hope. Bart Wilkins explains that true power for life comes not through religion, but through the Holy Spirit.