REDEMPTION AND RESURRECTION
In spiritual terms, pain of death has redemptive purposes. One purpose is to understand what it means to be a non-religious outsider. It is impossible for insiders to appreciate how outsiders see religion until they become outsiders. Then, religion, which was seen as good and desirable while an insider is now seen as evil from the outsider’s perspective.
Remarkably, the hypocrisy and toxicity of religion is not evident to insiders. After we leave religion, however, we realize that we, along with generations of others, have been victims of deception by false prophets whom we willingly and eagerly idolized. We are shocked and humiliated that we could be so gullible and even stupid.
Knowing the difference between good and evil has many other advantages:
People who have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and escaped from religion, are able to see the reality of the evil of religion that they could not see while they were religious.
People who experience the good of hearing God’s spoken voice live in a state of rapture all day everyday.
People who experience the good of hearing God’s spoken voice know the rewards and gifts that God gives to those who listen to his voice.
People who have been enslaved to the rules that religion imposes, are able to appreciate the freedom that comes to those who are delivered from religion and are no longer under the rules of religious laws created and enforced by religious men.
Religions that was seen as inclusive and loving is now seen as exclusive and hateful.
Living in freedom inspires us to engage in spiritual warfare in which we put our own lives at risk to that others may also be set free from religion.
Having been raised from death while in religion to new life without religion, we are inspired to do whatever we can, including suffering persecution by religious people, to lay down our lives so that others may have new life also.
Knowledge of the evil of religion deters us from any thoughts we might ever have about returning to it.
Having been fooled by religion humbles us because we can no longer take pride in knowledge that we knew God and understood what he expected of us.
This is only a very short list of the advantages of being a New Covenant disciple. People who have received salvation from religion know, or are learning, about these and other blessings that come to New Covenant disciples. People who are still enslaved to religion may understand these advantages intellectually but will not actually experience them until they quit religion. They are still under the curse of the Old/First Covenant and that is where they will remain until God opens their eyes and hearts to see that religion is sin and then repent for their participation in it.