WHAT’S MY MOTIVATION (5 OF 7)
by Craig Smith
Scripture: Colossians 3:1-8
This content is part of a series.
What’s My Motivation (5 of 7)
Series: The Image of the Invisible
Craig Smith
Colossians 3:1-8
I. introduction
For the last several weeks, we’ve been talking about the difference between a religion and a relationship with God. For those of you who are joining us for the first time...let me get you caught up real quick:
Religion says believing + behaving -> belonging. If you believe what we believe and if you behave like we say you have to behave, then you belong...to God and to us, his people. That’s every religion in the world. That’s Islam, that’s Hinduism, that’s Buddhism. Unfortunately, and let’s just be honest here: that’s what a lot of people have experienced in Christianity, too. I grew up Southern Baptist and let me tell you, I experienced that. Maybe you grew up Catholic or Lutheran or one of the 45,000 Christian denominations around the world. Yeah, you heard that right: there are 45,000 Christian denominations in the world. Which is crazy if you think about it, Because the Bible says: For we were all baptized by one Spirit to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1Co 12:13) How did one body turn into 45,000 denominations? I think it’s because we keep treating the Christian faith like a religion. And it’s not. Religion says believing + behaving -> belonging.
But Jesus taught something very different from that. The Bible teaches something very different than that. Jesus and the Bible say that Christian faith isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. And Relationship says believing -> belonging -> behaving. I’m not married because I wear a ring and I don’t date other women...the behaving didn’t lead to the belonging. I do those things, I behave those ways, because I believed Coletta was the woman for me and we made a commitment to each other. I told her, ‘‘I’m yours. I belong to you’’ and she told me, ‘‘I’m yours. I belong to you.’’ And because we belong to each other, there a ...
Series: The Image of the Invisible
Craig Smith
Colossians 3:1-8
I. introduction
For the last several weeks, we’ve been talking about the difference between a religion and a relationship with God. For those of you who are joining us for the first time...let me get you caught up real quick:
Religion says believing + behaving -> belonging. If you believe what we believe and if you behave like we say you have to behave, then you belong...to God and to us, his people. That’s every religion in the world. That’s Islam, that’s Hinduism, that’s Buddhism. Unfortunately, and let’s just be honest here: that’s what a lot of people have experienced in Christianity, too. I grew up Southern Baptist and let me tell you, I experienced that. Maybe you grew up Catholic or Lutheran or one of the 45,000 Christian denominations around the world. Yeah, you heard that right: there are 45,000 Christian denominations in the world. Which is crazy if you think about it, Because the Bible says: For we were all baptized by one Spirit to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1Co 12:13) How did one body turn into 45,000 denominations? I think it’s because we keep treating the Christian faith like a religion. And it’s not. Religion says believing + behaving -> belonging.
But Jesus taught something very different from that. The Bible teaches something very different than that. Jesus and the Bible say that Christian faith isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. And Relationship says believing -> belonging -> behaving. I’m not married because I wear a ring and I don’t date other women...the behaving didn’t lead to the belonging. I do those things, I behave those ways, because I believed Coletta was the woman for me and we made a commitment to each other. I told her, ‘‘I’m yours. I belong to you’’ and she told me, ‘‘I’m yours. I belong to you.’’ And because we belong to each other, there a ...
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