1. family and parenting
2. children

“Christianity is too restrictive”
Why I’m not a Christian, Msg. 3
John 8:31–38
Nicole Keegan: 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will
know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him,
“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to
anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus
answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin
is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the
son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free
indeed. 37 …You seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you
have heard from your father.”
AJ Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically. (Book picture) Picked up this
book the other day in Barnes and Noble… It’s not a Christian book, in
fact the author is an agnostic who grew up in what he describes as an
extremely secular home. He writes, “I’m officially Jewish, but I’m
Jewish in the same way that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.”
The premise of the book is that this very secular, worldly Manhattan
resident, with no religious upbringing, is attempting to follow every
rule of the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. He starts
out by reading the entire Bible for a month, and he writes down every
single directive that he finds, big or small… so, that includes things
like the Ten Commandments, but it also includes lesser known Old
Testament laws for diet and ritual cleanliness.
As you can imagine, the outcome is somewhat interesting… for
example,
 Leviticus says that men should leave the edges of their beards
unshaven, so this guy stops shaving and ends up with a
massive beard that makes him look like a member of ZZ Top.
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He stops wearing clothes made of any mixed fibers
He plays a ten string harp
He refuses to shake hands with women who might be
ceremonially unclean; (awkward: you got on a short skirt, I bet
you’re unclean)
And (this was one of my favorites), he tries to fling tiny
pebbles at people without them noticing in order to stone
adulterers.
This whole process almost drove his poor wife crazy for a year.
I hope it is obvious that that is not what it means to really take the
Bible seriously and follow it. But the appeal of that book is that it
plays on something that many people assume… and that is to live
under the direction of the Bible would be an impossible, and basically
ridiculous, way to live. Even if you tried, you couldn’t really do it, and
if you did, you’d be living a miserable life… (for many of us that are
Christians, this is basically how people outside of Christianity view
us… you get invited to some party and you’re like, “I can’t go.” And
they’re like, “Why not?” “I’m not allowed. My religion won’t let me.”
And so, they see Christianity as an oppressive, life-inhibiting
restriction.
This plays into a larger assumption by people in our culture about
what real freedom is: our culture thinks that to be free you have to
have no restrictions. The path to freedom is to shed all authorities, all
constraints and to discover yourself and then live out of that.
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You see this conception of freedom everywhere, even in the
Supreme Court = Pretty famous ruling in a 1992 case which states,
“The heart of liberty is to define one’s own concept of existence and
the meaning of the universe.”
Or, on a more popular level, the movie, IRobot… the basic gist of the
movie is there’s this robot, Sonny, whose purpose is to stave off a
plot to destroy the human race by the other robots. After Sonny
succeeds he tells Will Smith that he’s depressed because now he
doesn’t know what to do with himself now that his purpose in being
created has been fulfilled. Will Smith, ever the insightful
philosopher, tells him, “Well, I guess now you’re like the rest of us,
free to make your own way.” See, that’s the current view of
freedom—real freedom is freedom from any design or purpose.
Well, that’s exactly what Christianity does, gives you design and
purpose and instruction about how best to thrive in that purpose. So,
some people see it as oppressive.
So, let me begin here… Christianity agrees with the culture on what
freedom feels like-- freedom is feeling alive and fulfilled; feeling like
you’re doing exactly what you were meant to do. But Christianity
departs from the culture when it comes to saying how we get that
freedom. In John 8, Jesus makes 2 really important observations
about freedom:
I. Real freedom is found only in serving God
Now, that sounds like a paradox. Serving sounds like the opposite of
freedom. But look at what he says in vs. 33: 33 They answered him,
“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to
anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus
answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin
is a slave to sin.
 First, do you see how they define freedom? Not being under
oppressive authorities. A lack of political constraints. Jesus
says, “no.” There is also a tyranny from within. See his phrase
vs. 34, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” This is
sometimes a little difficult so let me take a few minutes to
explain it. All of us look to something that fulfills us or makes
life work for us, and whatever that thing is usually ends up
controlling us. Everybody lives for something.
o A few weeks ago I told you about a great scene in
Rocky I… They are in the ice skating rink and Adrian
asks Stallone why he’s going to fight the world champ…
and Rocky says, “I have to go 15 rounds with the guy.
Because if I go 15 rounds then I’ll know I’m not a bum.”
Everyone has something that is like those 15 rounds.

Something whereby you escape “bumness…” Achieving
a certain status in your career, making a certain level of
grades; being a good parent, whatever.
That something controls you because you have to have it. You
become a slave to it.
 Success: You have to have success. You become a slave to
it in that you get depressed if it ever looks like you’re not
going to be successful, you’re jealous of those who are
more successful for you, and you make some really stupid
decisions to attain success by overworking and hurting
your health or your family.
 Other’s opinions: For others of us it is other people’s
opinions we have to have. Other peoples’ opinions control
how you dress, how you act. You are always worried about
what everyone else thinks about you or what you’re doing.
Criticism kills you, or when you think people are looking
down on you or talking poorly about you it really bothers
you.
 Romance: some people feel they have to have a romantic
excitement or affirmation to be fulfilled. They’re enslaved
to it, so they become serial daters. Irony: “I don’t want to
be married; I am independent.” Dependent on their
independence.
 Materialism: two ways… you’ve got to have the latest,
nicest thing or you’re bored. Iphone for the night. Or, you
obsess about losing money… saving, worried, warranty
monger.
 Sensual pleasure: You become a pleasure glutton.
Pornography, drunkenness.
 ((BTW, you might ask, What is it for you?
o Just ask, when you look to the future, what one
thing has to be there for you to feel like you’ll be
happy, or ok?
o Or, just answer this: If I could change one thing
about my life right now it would be…

o Or, what would you be most worried about losing
right now?
o Or, here’s another way to tell: What do you tend to
look down on others about? KIf they’re not
successful? Not good looking? (Palin and
education) Maybe you look down on people who
are not as righteous as you. What that tells you is
what you need to feel fulfilled is to feel like you’re
better than other people.))
We all have something that we have to have for life to be
good and fulfilled and because we depend on it, it controls
us. You might ask, “Why are we like that?” We are created
as dependent beings. None of us is truly self-sustaining. All
this talk on caring for the earth has made us realize that
our lives are really contingent on a lot of things we can’t
control. If the sun heats up or cools down by 20% we’re all
dead in a few hours. We have needs for the body. Same
for our soul: our soul has a source of life. Whatever the
source of life is for you, you worship. Our culture says that
freedom is having no master. Jesus says, that is impossible.
You’ll be a slave to something. As Bob Dylan says, “You
might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage, You might
have drugs at your command, women in a cage; You may be a
business man or some high degree thief, They may call you
Doctor or they may call you Chief, but you’re going to have to
serve somebody. It might be the devil or it might be the Lord,
but you’re going to have to serve somebody.” If Jesus and Bob
Dylan both say it, it has to be right. Everybody serves
something.
OK then, do you see who Jesus says is free in vs. 35? 35 The slave does
not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the
Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. The son. The son has a real
freedom. Why? Two things about the son.

The son knows that he belongs with the Father.

o He feels his home is with the Father. Home is where
you know you belong. You know, you’ve been a way
for a while that feeling you get when you come back
home? Home is where your heart is. Sweet Home
Alabama. Going to Carolina in my mind. My home’s in
Alabama. Country Roads take me home. (From WV, it’s
like our national anthem). You get the point… The son
knows that where the Father is, that is where His home
is. God created us so that we would only be happy in
Him. Augustine. Pascal. Angelina Jolie. No matter
what we try, we can never replace the fact that we are
created for God. That’s why so many of us are unhappy
in marriage. We were unhappy as single people and we
thought that getting married would fix it. But it didn’t.
Marriage is not our true home, God is our true home.
The son knows that the Father best understands the way he
should live. The son is created in the Father’s image, the
Father loves the son, and thus the Father understands what is
good for the son and will tell him. Jesus says that freedom is
discovering how God created you to live and living that way.
Our culture says that freedom is doing whatever we want;
Jesus says freedom is doing what you were created to do.
o Water skiing – I go water skiing a good bit up at Lake
Gaston… It’s a huge lake, but what you want to do is
find a cove without many people, so you can enjoy the
freedom of skiing. But what I’ve learned is that many
coves, though they look good, are too shallow to ski. I
got into one of those coves the last time I went… it
looked great, I drove back into it. David T was with me,
he jumped out and said, “I can feel the bottom.” Sure
enough, I looked at the depth guage. 2 feet. Of course,
for David, that’s still almost over his head. Now, I could
freely choose to drive my boat into the shallow region.
I could say, ‘I can drive my boat into that cove if I
want.’ But would I really be free? No. Bad for the boat,
and bad for David Thompson. There are some realities
your boat has to conform to if you want freedom to
ski. The greater freedom is found in conforming to the
design of the boat.
o (Or, to use CS Lewis analogy… say you’re walking by a
lake and you come upon a fish lying on the land. Is that
fish free? No. He’s about to die. If you try to free a fish
by putting him onto the land you are not actually
freeing him, you are killing him. The fish is freest when
he is in the water as he is created to be.)
o Just because you desire something doesn’t mean it is
good for you. I used this example this summer: I go to
Maggiano’s and I look at the menu… I have two
desires. One desire: Healthy heart… I want to be in
shape so I have good energy and look great too.
Another desire: To do the family style at Maggiano’s,
all you can eat of two appetizers, two salads, two
pastas, two entrees, and two desserts. Am I free to eat
whatever I want? Yes! But by eating whatever I want
all the time I sacrifice the greater freedom of life.
Which is the better freedom? Eating whatever I want
all the time, or living strong and long?
o And I don’t learn that just by following the “stronger
desire” either. In the moment, I always have a
stronger desire to eat what tastes the best and not
what’s the best for me. If you put in front of me a
bowl of ice cream and bowl of green beans I almost
always feel like eating the ice cream. (You may be one
of those weird people who says, “I just like health
food. I’d rather eat the hummus and suck on a stalk of
broccoli afterwards for dessert…”) Me, ice cream
always feels like the right choice. (In fact, I think part of
the curse that’s going to be reversed in heaven is the
whole deal with ice cream… there it’s going to be
eating ice cream that makes you healthy and helps you
lose weight, and green beans will clog your heart and
make you fat.)
o Well, if it’s not the stronger desires, how do I know?
Easy, I need something beyond my feelings… I need the
doctor, who has studied the body and knows the
design of the body and can tell me what I’m meant for.
So watch this: if a doctor who has studied the body
can tell me what it’s meant for, then God, who made
soul, can tell me what is best for me spiritually. Take,
for example, sex… sex almost always “feels right.” But
what does the Creator say? Sex is so powerful that it is
supposed to be an act of physical oneness that is to be
accompanied by oneness in every area: emotional,
spiritual, financial… in a commitment for life. When it
is not done in the context of marriage, it actually
destroys. The movie Unfaithful the actress Diane Lane
goes through this process with adultery—it starts out
seemingly harmless and fun, and feels so right but it
destroys her whole life, even though it felt so right,
right until the end. Jesus says, 32… you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. You’ll only find
freedom when you live in the truth of how the Creator
designed you to live.
So, again—let me summarize, Real Freedom is Found in serving God,
because…
 It is a myth to say that freedom is simply independence.
Because we are dependent beings, we will all look to
something as our source of life, happiness, and fulfillment.
That thing becomes our master. (So, then, the question is, does
your master enslave you or free you?)
 It is also a myth to say that freedom is doing whatever you
want, because sometimes what we want conflicts with how
we’re made.
 SO, Our culture says freedom is having no master; Jesus says
freedom is having the right master.
Here’s our second point Jesus makes:
II. The Gospel alone makes us free
Let’s go back to our verses: 35 The slave does not remain in the house
forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will
be free indeed.
 For some people, living in God’s house feels like slavery.
Religion is rules and constraints that keep you from doing
what you really want to do. Amy Hawks… (the handwriting
was on the wall for that relationship). When I met Veronica…
all I wanted to do was spend my money on her: oh, this
reminds me of you. hahaha. Big hole in my wallet. After we
got married I noticed that that hole in my wallet remained,
just that I wasn’t the one spending the money any more. The
point is, When you don’t love the Father, living in the
Father’s house is like slavery.
 How does the Son (Jesus) make us free? What He does is
change our hearts… Gives you that heart where you really
delight in God, where He is your home, and where you and
trust in Him.
 Let me change the example: My mom signed me up for
several years of rather rigorous piano lessons, because she
had a dream that one day I would be the maestro. It was a
dream that I did not share. I dreaded the moment in the
afternoon when I’d be out in the yard playing football with the
neighbors and my mom would say, “J.D., time to come in to
practice your piano.” 30 mins of piano—of course I had to do
it before my dad got home, because the last thing he needed
after being at work all day was to hear me clunking around on
the piano. I would start the clock… always round down and
up… start at 4:04 and count that as 4:00; end at 4:26 and
count that as 4:30… lots of bathroom breaks, need a drink.
Probably actually got in about 9 minutes of actual piano
practice.
The worst was the recital. Never really got those… by the time
that the recital came around my parents had heard “Fur Elise”
at least 3000 times. The only difference in them hearing it this
time was I was expected to play it perfectly, wearing
uncomfortable clothing in front of an audience of total
strangers with the one veiled hope that if it did it well enough
I might get a snowcone afterward.
Finally, in about the 6th grade my mother released me from
that tyranny. But the strangest thing happened in college. I
noticed the guys who could really play and loved to be around
it. I loved to hear them play praise music especially. And I sat
down and tried to pick out some tunes. I actually got pretty
decent at playing a few songs… like 5 of them. Me and my
friend had a deal worked out that whenever girls were around
I’d play a song and they’d say “you play the piano.” I do… what
do you want me to play? Ask me anything.” My friend would
jump in and say, “Yeah, he does… like play “Faithfully” by
Journey (which was one of the 5 songs I actually knew). And
I’d be like… Uhh… let’s see. That’s in the key of F.” “Wow.” Or
maybe they weren’t like that, I just thought they were. I just
really got into it for a while. I started to learn chord charts. I
started to understand why we do the finger exercises… It all
made sense. All the things that had been such bondage to me
(finger rolls) became liberating… as a way to excel at what I
now loved.
I never really went on… the reason being that for all my desire,
I really, truth be told, have no musical skill at all. My fingers
are like meat sausages and I have no rhythm… when I dance I
look like someone on roller skates having an epileptic fit.

What Jesus is saying here is that many of us view God and His
word like I used to view the piano. Bondage. And that’s
because we don’t love Him; we have the heart of a slave… (v.
35) who won’t remain the house forever, but will resent the
bondage of that home and look for any chance he can to get
out. Or just serve out of drudgery or because we’re afraid

we’ll go to hell. And that’s because you’re not a son. You don’t
have the nature of your Father in you. (K looking like me, liking
what I like).1 37 …You seek to kill me because my word finds no
place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and
you do what you have heard from your father.” The fact that
we hate what God loves and love what God hates show that
we take after a different father. That’s why obedience to
God—ion things like sexual purity, generosity, forgiveness…
feels like a drudgery. We feel like God is a taskmaster who
keeps us from what we really love and robs us of all our fun…
and so inwardly we hate him, resent him, and actually (as
Jesus says) want to kill him.
o “Wait, wait… I wouldn’t kill Jesus.” Think of it this way:
Jesus came and said that He should be the absolute
Lord. You can do one of two things: submit, or secretly
wish you could get rid of Him. that’s what they did…
secretly hated him, and when opp came, they killed
him. every time you disobey you and reject Jesus’
Lordship you are consenting in His death.
What Jesus wants to do is give us back the heart of a son… a
son who trusts His Father, is like His Father, and loves what
His Father loves. And, unlike me with the piano, when He
gives you the desire, He’ll also give you the skill.
The Son makes you free. How does He do that? 32… you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. Learning the truth about His love
for you.
 1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He first loved us.” What
causes our love for Him? Learning more of His love for us.
 1 John 2:15: “If anyone loves the (sinful patterns of the) world,
the love of the Father is not in Him.” Look closely at this verse.
See what it’s saying? If you do love the sin of the world, what
is the problem? The love of the Father is not in you. What is
the answer? Learn the love of the Father. “Turn your eyes
1
Bible Exposition Commentary.
upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of
earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and
grace.”
o Some of you struggle so much with sin… you have tried
to quit: pornography. Sometimes I talk with people
who struggle with homosexuality. Thirst for power.
Can’t control your temper. “I just can’t turn it off.” Of
course you can’t. You can’t tame your heart by telling
it don’t do that. You have to replace your love of the
sin with a greater love.
o You’ll never overcome any kind of sinful urge (whether
it is for homosexuality, adultery, or lust power) until
you hate it like God hates it. How do you learn to hate
it? Hate is another dimension of love. (Sometimes
people think hate is the opposite of love. Far from it.
Hate is another dimension of love. When you love
something, you hate what destroys it. as in, if you love
somebody, you hate the cancer that eats away at their
body.) So, the way to develop hatred toward sin is to
develop a love for Jesus.
o By you experiencing the power of His all-satisfying
love, He plants in you both love for Him at your core
that satisfies you and gives you the hatred toward sin.
 (Illus: My conversation with a guy who couldn’t
overcome a sin… tried and tried.) Quit focusing
on the sin and start focusing on the love of
Jesus… and you’ll grow to where you develop a
hatred toward the sin.
o (Summit: this is why we say real Christian growth
happens by learning more about the Gospel… as you
learn the love of Jesus more, and He becomes more
beautiful, and you see that your sin destroyed His
body, it creates a hatred toward sin and a love for God.
You need a heart change, not more resolutions to do
better. You need to learn to be overwhelmed by Jesus’
love, caught up in His everlasting joy, and your heart
will change.)
Our pleasure and our duty, though opposite before,
Since we have seen His beauty, are joined apart no more.
To see the Law by Christ fulfilled, to hear His pardoning voice,
Transforms a Slave into a Child, and Duty into Choice.
- John Newton (writer of Amazing Grace)
Here’s my conclusion:
 For some of you, being in church, trying to be religious, is a
drudgery. It’s not a delight. It’s time to be honest. You might think
you’re in the Father’s house, but you have the heart of a slave. And
don’t try and make up your mind you’re going to change… you
cant’. Say, “God, I need you to change my heart. Teach me about
your love, about your ability to delight me. Enrapture my heart with
You so that it is not enraptured with sin.” And then, I want you to
make a decision to get into an SLG where you can learn to love
Jesus.
 Maybe the reason you don’t love Jesus is that you’ve never
accepted Jesus’ free offer of forgiveness. All your sin is completely
paid for. He gave Himself for you. I mean really believe it. “I prayed
when I was 8.” “I was baptized.” Maybe you’ve never embraced the
Gospel. Do so this morning.
 One more thing I want to say: Matthew 11:28: Jesus said that his
yoke is easy and burden is light. If your soul is bring crushed this
morning, it’s because you have some other yoke and some other
burden, because Jesus’ yoke is the only one that is light and easy
and will not crush you and will sustain you and satisfy you. We all
have a master. You’ve got to make a choice… I’d rather have this
burden… than Jesus.
NOTES:
The son knows He is created for God
The son knows that the Father best understands the way he should
live
The son has a heart that loves the Father
Galatians 2:20: Christ lives in us!
“Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” Saying that freedom is
simply doing whatever we want is built on two false assumptions:
 You can ever really be independent
o Everyone lives for something. Whatever you feel like
you need controls you. I’ve explained before how I felt
like I needed people’s opinions… even in my freedom I
was enslaved.
o Also, when you love something, you are constrained…
the only way to stay free of constraint is to stay free of
love.
 Whatever we desire is good for us:
o I am a bundle of conflicting desires. (example of
something stupid I’ve done)…
o When you talk to people who have either been
through adultery, or on the verge of it, there are two
conflicting desires. One is to be a person of integrity, to
be a promise keeper, to maintain your family, the
other is to be with this person who exhilarates you and
makes you feel good about yourself, and you think
about all the time. So the modern definition of
freedom is “do what you want to do.”
Our culture says freedom is having “no” master; Jesus says it is having
the right master.
A new type of freedom: A son abides forever”
Religious slavery… (religious constraint)… but real freedom. We use
God?
 Like piano lessons as a kid…
o I hated it.
o At “recital…” I had played Fur Elise 1000’s of times. Did
my parents want to hear it again? No… the only
difference was they were there to see if I could play it
PERFECTLY.
o Later, I learned to love to play. I learned there’s a
reason for chords… before I thought the chord charts
were burdensome tasks to intensify enslave me. Now I
realized they were exercises that would grant me life
and freedom to play!
o Freedom comes from love… like me paying money for
drama class.
A slave never knows when he is going to be thrown out. His relationship
is conditional on his performance, but a son has freedom because a
son knows he belongs;
How we learn that freedom… “if the Son sets you free, you are free
indeed”
Jesus says freedom is doing what you were built to do; the father can
tell the son that, that’s Jesus’ analogy; the son wants to do many
things which are not really good for them
Matthew 11:28 – Jesus said that his yoke is easy and burden is light
If your soul is bring crushed this morning, it’s because you have some
other yoke and some other burden, because Jesus yoke is the only
one that is light and easy and will not crush you and will sustain you
and satisfy you
3 Christianity is a straightjacket: Absolutism/Finding the Truth in
Ourselves. What is “freedom?”
 John 8:31–36… difference in being a slave and a son. Both
obey, but one is used, the other is blessed. One motivated by
love, the other by fear. Christ came preaching freedom (quote
from Isaiah 61:1–2; Both of these passages are a type of
summary of Jesus’ ministry. Great Commandment: Love!:
o Enlightenment freedom… freedom from any “rules’
whatsoever. Answer to no one. The side effects of that
were:
o You could have no purpose:
 Fish analogy…
o You could love nothing: Love is always “confining”
o Those two things ALWAYS confine you.
o **Use the 4 things in Keller Exodus talk 5 (Everybody
lives for/is serving something; whatever you live for
enslaves you…)
 Matthew 11:28–29: God is more liberating than
all other masters
o See If you could ask God one question, ch 11: “Why do
you hate sex?”
o Shalom, the plagues and Jesus’ miracles: the hands of
the King are healing hands… one way I know is that it
works so well…
o We’re all enslaved to something, we’re all worshippers
o It is an inclusive exclusive and a liberating rule, and
worth fighting for.
o Choung’s 4 circles…
o Here’s a thesis to remember (relevant for next week,
too: Christianity is an inclusive exclusive and a
liberating rule, and worth fighting for)
o
Option 2: The freedom of the children of God. HOW LOVE IS FREEDOM AND
BONDAGE. (How whatever you serve you are enslaved to). (this one would deal
with worship idolatry and being born again.

Everyone is serving something. Pervasity of worship… Formerly slaves
to… now you are slaves to… Galatians 3, and 5 about serving the flesh,
fruits of the Spirit. “The freedom of love.”

Romans 6

John 8… “free indeed”
OR… Option 2: 2 Tim 3:14–17… HOW THE WORD OF GOD IS LIBERATING. You are in a
world of death, God’s ways are the ways of nature. Keller, “If you went to the doctor.
And you were 50 and he said you have to cut out cholesterol,” You wouldn’t say, “Doc,
that’s a naked abuse of power… or, will you send me to prison? You know he’s acting in
your best interest. Where is your locus of authority? Why yourself as a locus of
authority will fail you.
Ch. 16, Bruner
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Keller:
o Truth is unavoidable (THESE FIRST TWO THINGS
DEBUNK THE IDEA THAT CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY
THING THAT IS RESTRICTIVE)
o Community can’t be completely inclusive (everyone is
exclusive)
o Christianity isn’t Culturally Rigid: See Keller notes on
Galatians 2 in Bible studies… revisit “Inclusive
exclusivism”
o Freedom isn’t simple… everyone has master
o Love, the ultimate freedom, is constraining
Study: Galatians 2:4–16
Testimony: Miguel Valencia. See Jason Douglas. “God sent
mini-plagues into my life to cleanse me of it”
People who really understand what Christianity teaches never reject
it because it’s dull or boring
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Loving…
“Slaves to righteousness.”
(Now, I need to make clear as we begin that to take the
Bible seriously does not mean that you live this way…
those laws were for a particular time in history; Jesus said
that the essence of following God now is to love God with
all of our hearts and to love each other as much as we love
ourselves.)