***Mark, I know the bonds of your church. I prefer the bonds of Christ.***
Actually, they are one and the same. A difference which makes no difference, is no difference.
***They really take no effort at all!***
The verse that you quote comes upon us in the context of the current Jewish rules and regulations. The NAB gives the following commentary:
16 [28] Who labor and are burdened: burdened by the law as expounded by the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:4).
17 [29] In place of the yoke of the law, complicated by scribal interpretation, Jesus invites the burdened to take the yoke of obedience to his word, under which they will find rest; cf Jeremiah 6:16.
In this, Jesus promises that adherence to the Jewish law is burdonsome compared to what He is preaching. It is not that the laws or lack therefore of the Reformation and its spawn are less burdonsome; it is of His teaching and His Church.
Your Pauline verses testify to the power of faith and belief. They do not address the other aspects of Christian teaching, much of which is addressed in Pauline verses such as 2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear 7 before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
and 1 Corinthians 9:23
All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
24
8 Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win.
25
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
26
Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.
27
No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
Paul is saying in your quote that it is by faith that we are saved and that is true to a point. One must have faith or one does not attain salvation; yet there are other points as well. For example, to journey by car, one must have the ignition key. Therefore one might say that the key is the prerequisite. Yet, one must also have gasoline. And a road map.
Grace may be said to be the key that starts the car, yet one must keep the car fuelled (by the Sacraments) and one must also keep on the Via (road) with the map provided by the Church of Jesus Christ on earth.