For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...

...For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Galatians 5:1, 13-14 - ESV)

The true faith of Christianity tells us that we are called to experience freedom in Jesus Christ. And this freedom isn’t just being freed from sin and wickedness in order to embrace holiness and righteousness in Jesus Christ, but it is the freedom from the Mosaic Law that not one of of us could ever fulfill. But thank goodness that Jesus did and that is one of the reasons why His perfect sacrifice on the cross means so much to us as believers.

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.  Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; [she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
(Galatians 4:21-31 - ESV)

Whereas Jesus freed us from the Law and and now we are led by His Spirit in truth, Churchianity seeks to establish yet another set of laws that go beyond what Jesus requires from us. Some churches are leaving the New Covenant in Christ and going back to the Old Covenant, thinking they are still serving Christ. Others are leaving the New Covenant in Christ and forming their own religion in the same spirit of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Examples include segments of the Hebrew Roots Movement, the Black Hebrew Israelites, even the Seventh Day Adventists with their Sabbath requirements.

Though we are given examples of what to do and what not to do as followers of Christ in the Bible, the key is this: If we are to truly love the Lord our God and truly love our neighbors, then by the power of God’s Spirit in us, we will already seek to do what is right and avoid what is wrong. So why is there such confusion as to what is permissible and what isn’t for the Christian? It is because we aren’t adhering to the Bible as we should and when we are, we aren’t interpreting the Scriptures correctly.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 - ESV)

God has ordained the Bible as the source of authority that acts as our instruction manual when it comes to living out our lives as believers in Jesus Christ. Yet there is plenty of evidence among professing believers that show gross misinterpretations of the Bible, a blatant disregard of the Bible and even an outright rejection of the Bible. These are reasons why such confusion exists in matters of the faith and many professing Christians do not know the difference between what they think or even want God’s word to say versus what it actually says.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
(John 16:13-14 - ESV)

We will never understand the Scriptures just by more intellect but must be guided and led by the Holy Spirit in order to truly understand what we read. The reason that many of the believers during the time of Acts found agreement on the truth was because they were truly one in spirit--the Holy Spirit.

There are definitely essentials that we must adhere to as believers in Jesus Christ but there are also many things that can be left to the believer’s discretion. Essentials include things such as Jesus being the only Way to have forgiveness of sins and right standing with God, Jesus’ death on the cross being the atonement for our sins and His resurrection signifying His victory over death and our future victory over death, Jesus is God in the flesh, there is only one true God, God does truly exist, and God expects the believer in Christ to be holy. But what about those things that aren’t essentials?

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
(Romans 14:1-8 - ESV)

We have the choice whether we want to hold to the Sabbath and other Old Testament festivals or not according to the New Covenant. We have the choice as to whether we want to eat meat or not. We have the choice as to whether we want to drink wine or not. We have many choices in the new covenant that will be based on our own personal convictions. But does this mean that the same has to go for everyone else because you feel a personal conviction? No. What goes for everybody is the clear and expressed truth found in the Bible. Things such as believing in Jesus, living holy, repenting of sins, loving one another and helping others in need are not options, they are requirements and even fruits of a genuine Christian. Abstaining from idolatry, fornication, adultery, lying, covetousness, unforgiveness, homosexuality and hatred are requirements for Christians.

So what about things such as alcohol, different styles of music, tithing, required attendance in weekly church services, speaking in tongues being proof of salvation and other controversial topics? Well let’s take each one and give a clear Biblical explanation:

Alcohol - While many churches teach all any drinking of alcohol is bad, the Bible does not support this. What the Bible condemns is drunkenness. If you can not handle alcohol responsibly, do not drink it. And remember, even Jesus and His disciples drank wine if you look in John 2 at the wedding in Cana.(See Romans 13:13,  Ephesians 5:18, 1 Timothy 3:3, 8)

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