FREEDOM;
BODY OF CHRIST

The spirit of complete inward freedom is a precious heritage from the cross and should be treasured as one of life’s most wonderful possessions. It is our privilege to be wholly free from evil habits, from superstition, from the fear of men, from the slavery of popular customs, from the necessity of pleasing the self-elected dictators of society. Such freedom is wondrously delightful, near to the joy of heaven itself.

Our Lord said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.… If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Yet such a happy soul has no feeling of independence; he is deeply conscious that he is a member of a larger body of which Christ is the head, and he willingly acknowledges his indebtedness to all other Christians.…

It is most important that this truth be grasped firmly and taught faithfully, for as long as we are in this mortal body, there will always be danger from one or the other of these two extremes, slavish dependence or arrogant independence.

John 8:31–32, 36; Romans 14:7–9; Galatians 5:1, 13

The Next Chapter After the Last, 64, 65.