Goodbook messages arrive every Monday, Thursday, and Friday with a
Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are
reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can
follow the Advanced Track.Reading: Acts 17:22-23
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship —and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
Application:
Paul identifies an important distinction. Being religious can be very different than knowing God and having a relationship with God. Religions are man-made, and are based on trying to get to God through rules and regulations and works. God’s plan is not based on people’s efforts and good works, but on His precious Son Jesus paying the price and cost for our sins on the cross. We are invited into a relationship with Jesus who loves us, saves us, and leads us in the way of true life.
Here is a way to visualize the difference between religion and relationship:
RELIGION
Goal: earn God’s
favor, work your way to heaven
Means: diligent service & works, with hopes of a reward
Power: good, honest effort through self-determination
Control: self-motivation and self-control
Results: apathy, failure, chronic guilt, eternal separation from God
Means: diligent service & works, with hopes of a reward
Power: good, honest effort through self-determination
Control: self-motivation and self-control
Results: apathy, failure, chronic guilt, eternal separation from God
RELATIONSHIP
Goal: trust fully in
Jesus, then live to please Him
Means: confess sin, repent, yield self to Jesus
Power: the Holy Spirit does God’s work in and through us
Control: allow the Holy Spirit to control and direct our lives
Results: love, joy, peace, freedom, power, eternal life with God
Means: confess sin, repent, yield self to Jesus
Power: the Holy Spirit does God’s work in and through us
Control: allow the Holy Spirit to control and direct our lives
Results: love, joy, peace, freedom, power, eternal life with God
Here are a few ways we can develop a relationship with God:
1) Receive God’s gifts of love, forgiveness, salvation, and
eternal life through Jesus
2) Spend time with God and get to know God better through worship, prayer, Bible reading, and service
2) Spend time with God and get to know God better through worship, prayer, Bible reading, and service
3) Trust and follow God in our daily lives
Share your comments and ideas about how to apply this...
I agree. Religion has an element of outward display. Works and goodness are not absolute. Yet, is perfect faith possible? Do we truly rely 100% on the spirit? I am a work in progress, with perfect faith as my goal. Should we not be mindful of our attempts to imitate Christ? It seems we are all driven by the spirit and our own device, though we'd all like to be 100% of the spirit. I'm no expert, but it seems part of my imperfection that I should integrate my will and beliefs until I can truly give all of my existence to God.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment, a scripture passage came to mind: "12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:12-14
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