"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36 ESV).
Jesus Christ came to set us free and he can set us free from both religion and irreligion. Religion is a means of making oneself acceptable to God by following rules, living by the right morals. Irreligion is a reaction to religion, believing that whatever one does is fine, no matter what, truth is relative. Religion/moralism enslaves you to a god that can never be pleased. Irreligion/relativism enslaves you to the power of sin and brokeness that infects all of humanity.
Then there's the Third Way, the Way of the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that you can be free.
Let's look at these various approaches through the lens of discouragement:
The moralist, or religious person, says that you are depressed because you have broken the rules and you are being punished. The relativist says, "Hey, don't worry! God loves you." Assuming the depression is mild and there are no physiological reasons for the depression, the Gospel frees you by helping you make an assessment of your life and discovering that you have set up something in the place of God, a psuedo-savior, some form of works-righteousness. You're trying to be worthy on your own, to prove your acceptability to God. The Gospel leads us to repent of this way of thinking and living. The Gospel teaches that we are accepted based solely on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. There's nothing I can do to make myself acceptable to God. I am accepted because of Jesus. This is incredibly freeing because I can cease from my personal program of self-redemption, and live in the power of the Gospel. My good works can flow out of the incredible sense of thanksgiving I feel because of forgiveness and the sense of love that God offers, instead of out of my sense of poverty of love. The Gospel teaches the truth that we are all sinners and offers the grace of forgiveness and relationship, freeing us to live differently in the power of the Spirit.
Freedom to live according to the law of love is a benefit of the Gospel. Jesus Christ came not only to redeem us but also to revive us so that we live out the ramifications of being created in the image of God. Religion can never express the image of God because it is all about the image of the false self. Irreligion is not even that interested in the image of God because it teaches that there's really no sin to interfere in the first place.
Come back later in the week for more on the Freedom of Christ.
Comments