Religion and the Gospel

The basis for this post comes out of Tim Keller's book, The Reason for God. If you haven't read it, you need to. The first half of his book talks about people's issues and problems with faith and Christianity. The second half, where this chapter resides, speaks to the reasons and ways we can see God.

There are two types of sin for this argument, religion and irreligion. Irreligion is easy to see. It's the world as it is outwardly broken: wars, violence, theft, etc. Religion is the "nice" world. It's the world of the nice and virtuous people. It's where people try to earn their salvation.

Keller uses the example of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jekyll tried to seperate his evil and good self by means of a potion, hoping to supress his evil side. Eventually, the evil become more dispicable than he could ever imagine. Mr Hyde was a self-seeking, destructive beast that didn't care who he hurt as long as his desires are satisfied. Eventually, Dr. Jekyll decided to make up for the evil of Mr. Hyde by doing remarkable amounts of good works. He became prideful of this and eventually turned into Mr. Hyde without the potion.

The name Mr. Hyde is symbollic because, while Dr. Jekyll is a nice guy, Mr. Hyde is the evil within him, within all of us. Even the most respectable Dr. Jekyll has a hideous Mr. Hyde beneath the surface. Egotism, self-absorption, self-love, greed, pride. We all have it. And religion is when the nice people try to cover it up and make up for it. Their...my...salvation is based on how good I am on the outside, embarrassed by what's on the inside. What's worse, all my good works do not make up or shrink the evil inside me. All they do is grow my pride and ego, making the sitution worse. It's like trying to put out a fire by smothering it with gasoline. May look like water, but it's only making it worse.

For so long, I struggled with this, and still do. I see how a Christian is supposed to be and I try to act like that. "That, ironically, is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus" because I am basing my salvation and identity of my works instead of the grace of Christ. I'm trying to cover my evil deeds up but all it does it make my situation worse. "[I] cannot...deal with [my] hideousness and self-absorption...by trying to be a good person through an act of the will. [I] need a complete transformation of the very motives of [my] heart."

My religion tells me I need obey so I'll be accepted by God. However, Christ says I am already accepted. Therefore, I obey. My motivation, when understanding the grace offered through Christ, is that of gratitude, not fear. "The Christian gospel is tha tI am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yest I am so loved and valued and that Jesus was glad to die for me...A Christian's worth and value are not created by excluding anyone, but through the Lord who was excluded for me. His grace both humbles me more deeply than religion can (since I am too flawed to ever save myself through my own effort), yet it also affirms me more powerfully than religion can (since I can be absolutely certain of God's unconditional acceptance." I no longer have to be unsure of my salvation or work as if I have to earn it. I am a complete sinner but saved by complete grace so I operate out of gratitude of what I've been freely given, not out of fear of what I may get in the end.

This grace is incredibly troubling though. If I earned my salvation, I would have certian rights or there would be a limit to what Christ could ask of me. "But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace--then there's nothing he cannot ask of me....From the outside that might sound coercive...[but] from the inside the motivation is joy." When you love someone, you do things for them that you know they will enjoy. There is no forced hands or guns to your head, you do it becuase you love them.

So Christ gives us freedom and in return we must give up our lives. "The most liberating act of free, unconditional grace demands that the recipient give up control of his or her life." Seems like a contradiction, but we are never really in control ourselves. We're always serving something. "It is only grace that frees us from the slavery of self that lurks even in the middle of morality and religion. Grace is only a threat to the illusion that we are free, autonomous selves, living life as we choose."

Boom.

Good book.