Question

I thought that Jesus told us that we had to do several things to be saved.  How free are we?

Answer

"Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again", (Galatians 5:1 CEV)

Think about this verse from Paul's letter to the Galatians. They relatively quickly forgot that faith and faith alone would save them.  The churches of Galatia had begun to institute a policy of salvation by works.  Paul quickly trounced upon their error and reminded them of Jesus' sacrifice.

"You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you?" (Galatians 3:1 CEV)

By reading the rest of chapter three, we deduce that Paul was aggravated with the Galatians.  In fact, the whole of Galatians is a about a group of people who thought that by obeying the Mosaic Law they could be saved.

"I don't turn my back on God's undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die". (Galatians 2:21 CEV)

By attempting to be saved by works, one would be in Paul's own words, STUPID!  Therefore, to answer the question posed, "WE ARE REALLY FREE!".  We can do nothing to reach salvation; we would be foolish to try.  Simply put, we are saved by faith in Jesus.

Is this then so to speak, "A license to kill"?  Jesus replaced the Mosaic Law with two great commandments; Love God, Love Neighbor.  As Romans 2:15 and 16 show, the conscience is our guide to what is right and wrong.

"This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned, when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone's secret thoughts, just as my message says.", (Romans 2:15-16 CEV)

Let your conscience be your Law.  So long as you love God and neighbor, everything else is moot.  Therefore, "A license to kill", could violate rule number two.