July 6

The Gospel of Offense

Isaiah 28:10 Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there."

The religious leaders in Isaiah’s time had so structured religion that they had listed of 613 rules – 248 commands and 365 prohibitions – and bolstered these with rules with 1,521 emendations. You talk about do and do, do and do..... Religion was a bunch of rules. To avoid breaking the third commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord,” they refused to pronounce God’s name at all. In Jesus’ day, to avoid sexual temptation they had a practice of lowering their heads and not even looking at women (the most scrupulous of these were known as “bleeding Pharisees” because of frequent collisions with walls and other obstacles). To avoid defiling the Sabbath they outlawed thirty-nine activities that might be construed as “work.”

Here is a summary of the difference between Religion and Relationship:

DO vs DONE

In the end religion is a way for people to earn their salvation. But the gospel teaches us that we can never keep God’s laws. We can never “DO” enough to earn it. The law shows us our complete inability to achieve perfection. This law is something we should always strive for but also realize we will never reach. The recognition of the great distance between God and us can only be made up by grace. Rather than put our efforts into “DOING” we trust in what God has “DONE” on the cross. There is a big difference between the two.
The great tragedy in Stamford in 2009 is that 90% of people in this city are counting on “DOING” religion to get them to heaven. Go out and ask ten people why they expect to get to heaven and nine of them will say, “I am trying to be a good person” Wrong answer. The right answer is, “I am trusting in what Jesus has “DONE” on the cross.”
Ask God to give you an opportunity to talk with someone about religion today. Then ask them, “Why do you think you are going to heaven?” Don’t answer the question unless they ask you what you think. Lord, I pray that you will open doors for us to share the gospel message today.