WEEK SEVEN PRESESSION NOTES -- PP. 174-200

CHAPTER 11 -- RELIGION AND THE GOSPEL

1. What does Keller mean when he says, "Jekyll becomes Hyde, not in spite of his goodness, but because of his goodness."? (p. 177). (Hint: "Why would Jekyll become Hyde without the potion?" -- p. 176). He was impressed with his own goodness to the point that his pride was a worse thing than the evil deeds done by Mr. Hyde.

2. What are two "forms" in which sin, evil (self-centeredness and pride) are expressed (p. 177)? 1. Riotous self-gratifying living. 2. Self-righteousness (Pharisaism).

3. How can being very, very good be a "rejection of the gospel of Jesus" (p. 177)? All have sinned, ..... perhaps, if we take the NT seriously (particularly the fact that as decadent as was the Roman Empire Jesus said virtually nothing about it but much about self-righteous religious people), none moreso than those who are Pharisaic. All need the Gospel, but those convinced of their own goodness reject it because they don't realize their need.

4. What does Keller mean in saying that religion and irreligion are ultimately spiritually identical (p. 177)? Both lead away from God. They are two opposite paths that lead to a common destination.

5. What has caused "millions of people" raised (in church) to be "inoculated against Christianity" (p. 179)? (Do you agree with this assertion)? Their experience with religious people has been with Pharisees.

6. "This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time" (p. 181). What does? A recognition that we are so flawed that Jesus had to die (for us) and yet that we are so loved that he was glad to die (for us).

7. "Those words, however, can only be spoken on the outside of an experience of radical grace" (p. 182) What words? Why? "Because of grace, Christianity sounds very easy. So I think I'll become a Christian and then go do whatever I want." The true experience of grace is profound and it leads to disciplined living rather than licentiousness.

8. What is the "threat of grace" (pp. 182-185)? (Hint: What may be "the greatest paradox of all" -- p. 185)? Grace is free and yet it captures us and enslaves us. The great example Keller poses is that of Jean Valjean in Le Miserables. He received a great act of kindness which haunted and pursued him the rest of his life. The act both freed and enslaved him all at once.

9. In truth, there is only one thing to which grace is a threat (p. 185). What? The illusion that we are or could ever be free. We'll be enslaved either to our sin (again perhaps the worst of it being Pharisaism) or to the grace that frees us from it.

CHAPTER 12 -- THE (TRUE) STORY OF THE CROSS

1. The "first reason" Keller gives in answer to the question, "Why did Jesus have to die?" is that "real forgiveness is costly suffering" (p. 187). The cost is in part pain. "It hurts terribly. Many people would say it feels like a kind of death" (p. 189). Why? Whose pain? Where does it come from? Jesus (in the cross) frees us by willingly experiencing the pain for us. The human experience if it is to have meaning is necessarily painful. We experience the pain of our own sin. And we experience the pain of the offenses committed against us. And in a world created by a perfect God we experience the pain of forgiving those who offend us -- forgoing the consolation of revenge because there is no other way to have a relationship with God.

2. "Jesus's death was only a good example if it was more than an example ......." (p. 193). What else did it have to be? It had to be necessary. There is nothing exemplary about sacrificing a life unnecessarily.

3. This chapter speaks of the "Great Reversal" (p. 195ff). What does the phrase mean? (Hint: "On the Cross Christ wins through losing, triumphs through defeat, achieves power through weakness ............" (p. 196). Though he was in the form of God he didn't count equality with God something to be grasped. The implications for us are enormous. The way up is down. The way to be rich is to be poor. Etc.