Sermon Illustrations

THE UNRELIGION

When Jesus hung on the cross, He cried out, “It is finished!” Jesus did all the work. All that remains for us to do is depend on Him. You see, not only our salvation, but our success in this life is all up to Him.

I like the way Dane Ortlund put it in his book, Defiant Grace. Ortlund says, “Christianity is the unreligion. It turns all our religious instincts on their heads… The ancient Greeks told us to be moderate by knowing our inclinations. The Romans told us to be strong by ordering our lives. Buddhism tells us to be disillusioned by annihilating our consciousness. Hinduism tells us to be absorbed by merging our souls. Islam tells us to be submissive by subjecting our wills. Agnosticism tells us to be at peace by ignoring our doubts. Moralism tells us to be good by discharging our obligations. Only the gospel tells us to be free by acknowledging our failure. Christianity is the unreligion because it is the one faith whose founder tells us to bring not our doing, but our need.” (Dane Ortlund, Defiant Grace, EP Books, 2011, p. 38; www.PreachingToday.com)

From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Cure For Weariness, 8/17/2012

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