Freedom

Paul says "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free." It's not for some new and different kind of slavery, he says later. Christ didn't set us free so that we could turn around and walk right back into our cells and slam the door. And you can't be a little bit legalistic. If you're going to try and be justified by anything except relying on Jesus, you have to swallow the whole thing.

It's religion (meaning the empty, rule-centered rituals devoid of Christ) that keeps people in bondage. It's when we try to add stuff onto what Jesus said and did that people start gagging when they drive by churches. It's hard enough just to do what Jesus asks - then we want to add onto that? A good friend of mine tells me about once a week that if you just try to love God and love others, you'll have enough to do. There is a lot of freedom inherent in love. It's a bit of a shift from what we're used to with religion.