Here is a quote from Mark Driscoll’s new book “Death by Love,” a collection of letters written to people Mark has worked with as a pastor. Each letter takes one of the aspects of the cross and applies it to a particular person’s situation. In this letter, Mark is addressing a man who appears externally religious but is full of vice. He provides this man with a list of ten ways to distinguish religion from the gospel. Here is #3, which I share because it is particularly convicting to me:

[R]eligion is about what you do. Because of this, religious people like you like to quantify their righteousness in measurable ways. Meanwhile, because such things as love, patience, kindness, and mercy are not easy to quantify, you do not pursue them as vigilantly as a clean house, regular church attendance, enforced bedtime, and a balanced checkbook. Conversely, the gospel is about what Jesus has done–for you, in you, and through you–by grace. (page 95)