Religious or Christian?
Being a Christian is not just about living a life that is morally good, but about living in the power of who Jesus is, with God's life in us.
Major Ian Thomas emphasizes the stark contrast between being merely religious and truly being a Christian, arguing that many people confuse rituals and traditions for a genuine relationship with Christ. He illustrates that without the Holy Spirit, individuals are like empty vessels, unable to experience the fullness of life that God intended. Thomas points out that Christ's sacrifice was not just for our salvation but to enable us to live in His power and presence. He urges believers to move beyond gratitude for what Christ did to actively living in the reality of who He is. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a deeper understanding of the Christian life as one filled with the dynamic presence of God.
Text
There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!
Most folks have never discovered the difference between the one and the other, so that there are those who sincerely try to live a life they do not have, substituting religion for
God, Christianity for Christ, and their own noble endeavors for the energy, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit. In the absence of reality, they can only grasp at rituals, stubbornly defending the latter in the absence of the former, lest they be found with neither!
They are lamps without oil, cars without gas, and pens without ink, baffled at their own impotence in the absence of all that alone can make man functional; for man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity. Christ gave Himself for us to give Himself to us! His presence puts God back into the man! He came that we might have life - God's life!
There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is. Between the Jesus who "was" and the Jesus who "will be" they live in a spiritual vacuum, trying with no little zeal to live for Christ a life that only He can live in and through them, perpetually begging for what in Him they already have!
From the foreword of Classic Christianity by Bob George, Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. ©1989.
Sermon Outline
- The Difference Between Being Religious and a Christian
- The Indispensable Presence of God in Man
- The Danger of Living a Life Without God's Life
- The Jesus Who Was
- The Jesus Who Will Be
- Living in a Spiritual Vacuum
Key Quotes
“There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!” — Major Ian Thomas
“Christ gave Himself for us to give Himself to us!” — Major Ian Thomas
“He came that we might have life - God's life!” — Major Ian Thomas
Application Points
- We must recognize the difference between being religious and being a Christian, and make a conscious choice to live in the power of who Jesus is.
- We must not try to live a life without God's life, but instead, seek to live a life that is truly God's life.
- We must surrender to Christ's presence and allow Him to put God back into our lives, giving us the power to live a life that truly matters.