Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

Jesus attempted to stop religion, tradition and liturgy from being the foundations of belief and spirituality.

Bruxy Cavey makes a compelling case for Jesus' desire for people to be free from the law and experience a life built around a person rather than a set of rules.

"What Jesus came to establish was a subversive spirituality outside the boundary markers of traditional religion, and in the process He made religion itself obsolete."

The people of the New Testament only knew about God in the context of religious structure, not all of which was bad,

but it had become the focal point of spiritual life and to tamper with it was blasphemous.

Jesus is relentless in pointing out the hypocrisies.

Matthew 7:1-5, Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 15:1-9

Back to Bruxy.

He was asked, "How do you justify working in a church when you seem to be saying that Christ came to end religion?".

His answer was that it’s not that churches in themselves are bad,

structure has its place, but believing that the structure itself will save you is where you run into trouble.

He finished by giving the example of a thirsty person licking the outside of the water bottle.

Obviously ridiculous.

But the bottle represents the structure.

What we really want is inside the bottle.

With credit to www.ideasandthoughts.org

Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave.

A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will.

The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house.

So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.

I know you are Abraham's descendants.

But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn't yet penetrated your thick skulls.

I'm talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father,

and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father." John 8:34-38