The Christian Case For Freedom

[ClaytonB]

The Christian Case For Freedom

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5:1)

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim freedom for the captives
And release from darkness for the prisoners
(Isaiah 61:1)

The Bible talks about freedom a lot. A simple word search for the word "free" (including its suffixes) returns around 130 matches. I have always found it baffling how so many Christians have a viscerally negative response to the word "liberty" or even "freedom", especially in a political context, and particularly in respect to the label "libertarian." To even say the word "libertarian" in a gathering of typical evangelical Christians is the verbal equivalent of a loud fart, unless you're mentioning it in order to condemn it. Room goes silent, forks go down on plates, all eyes on the freak.

Is this evidence of the work of God in his church, or something else? See above, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." Yes, Paul goes on to warn us away from the dangers of using freedom as an excuse for sin (which is really just slavery in disguise), but the point he is making here is astounding. We were not set free for an ulterior motive. We are set free in order to be free. The purpose for which Jesus Christ has set us free was so that we can be free, meaning, so that we could enjoy the blessing of freedom, and use our freedom to praise and worship God.

Ask yourself this: What is the prophetic pattern of the Gospel? The prophetic pattern of the Messiah was Moses. Thus, the prophetic pattern of the Gospel is the Exodus. And what is the Exodus about? The Exodus is about how God sent a deliverer to set his people free from what? From slavery! So the prophetic pattern of the Gospel is escaping slavery in order to be free. And free to do what? To enjoy freedom, to worship God and live in peace and unity:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you...

When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

(Deuteronomy 6:1-3,10-12)

The pattern of redemption cannot be made any more black and white than this. They were once slaves in Egypt, and God has delivered them and led them into the promised land where they are to enjoy God's blessings, and obey God's commands.

There is some danger in getting carried away discussing liberty in the realm of political discourse. Scripture is clear that the cause of our enslavement -- spiritual, political, economic and every other kind -- is sin. To the unbeliever, this idea is odious because, when we are in unbelief, we love sin. And the solution to our enslavement -- including political enslavement -- is not a political revolution or anything to do with "the government", rather, the solution is the Gospel. The solution is Jesus, and not "one day in the far, far future", no, right now. The solution to all of this world's problems is Jesus. Everything that has to do with saying, "that will come one day, but not today" is just unbelief.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14,15)

The entire architecture of Satan's world-order is explained in this passage. Satan has held the entire world in his thrall, through all of history from the Fall to this very day, with just a single weapon: the fear of death. Through the fear of death, Satan has built everything around us that forms this present, evil world. This world-order of death, disease, aging, war, famine, plague, and so on, is all made in the image of its own maker, who is Satan. And if we had to sum up this present evil world-order in a single word, what word should we use in line with Hebrews 2?

SLAVERY

Thus, the entire clash of history is defined by this single issue: slavery versus freedom. This is why we have been set free in order to be free (Galatians 5:1). Obedience to God and rejection of sin is how we escape this spiritual Egypt which we, like the ancient Israelites, have been born into. Our Egyptian taskmasters hoodwink us and gaslight us, telling us that running their hamster-wheel in order to upgrade to the next release of our favorite game-title next month is "life" and "freedom". As Doug Wilson puts it, this world wants you to have all the freedom that you can exercise in a 4x8 prison cell -- the freedom to get drunk, the freedom to get high, the freedom to watch porn, the freedom to be foul and lewd, etc. But what sort of freedom does God give us in the Gospel? Freedom freedom, that's the sort of freedom he gives us. That is what Jesus is saying in John 8:36 when he says we are free indeed. You can't get any more free than being free indeed. That's as free as free gets.

"Yeah, but you can't be free to do sins." Of course not, this is obvious, it's like saying you can't be so free as to put yourself in the shackles of slavery. It's a self-defeating course of action, a performative contradiction. But what is overlooked is what is the cause of holiness? Is the cause of holiness the various harnesses and straitjackets that people invent to keep themselves from sinning? By creating these unnatural bonds in the name of "works", are we not attributing a kind of omnipotence to sin, and deforming the image of God within ourselves like foot-binders? Rather, if we have faith and trust God to conquer sin within us -- and he certainly has the power to do this -- then it is not sin that is omnipotent, it is God who is omnipotent. And will he conquer sin within us only so that we will be deformed into some kind of unnatural disfiguration of the free, loving, peaceful and beautiful image in which he created Adam and Eve, his own image? Or, rather, will he not set us free in order to be completely free, as he himself is free? The answer is obvious from the texts already cited.

We have been set free in order to become godly, which literally means "like God". Not "like God" in the serpentine sense of shoving God off his throne and ruling over him in his place, rather, "like God" in that we are transformed into his image, which is freedom, love, peace, holiness and, yes power. God is powerful but God's power is not like human power. Human power is finite and scarce. There are only a few hills and only one king can sit on each hill. So the mad scramble for human power is a game of elimination. But not so with God. God is supremely powerful, his power is beyond challenge. God is so much more powerful than we are that it is logically impossible for anyone to threaten his power. But this is the very same power into which the Gospel invites us, not in order to unseat God, but so that we may be seated by God at his own table in heaven, to rule beside him. This doctrine is taught so clearly in the New Testament that, once again, it absolutely baffling how badly it is misunderstood by many Christians.

But by definition, no slave can rule. So, if we are slaves, then we cannot be rulers. When we bow down before mere men, it is an abominable act of idolatrous sacrilege that defiles the image of God in us. [Compulsory bowing reduces the one who bows to a homosexual submissive, and the one that is bowed to, to a reprobate sodomite. It is acting out the scene of male-on-male rape. That is why slavery and human rule is an abomination and repugnant to God. We freely worship (bow down to) God, but God refuses physical worship and he can only be worshiped spiritually (John 4:24).] The entire purpose for which we have been set free is so that we may become co-rulers with Christ in his kingdom. No ruler can be compelled to bow down like a slave! As before, this is taught so clearly in Scripture that I struggle to understand how anyone who has read the Bible can miss it. Amazing.

So, what of the political rulers? Since we're so free in the Gospel, why does God permit us to go on being subjugated to them? The answer to this is complicated. I'm going to start from a side of the issue that is rarely discussed but, once again, is clearly there in Scripture. One of the lessons of the showdown between Pharaoh and Moses that is often overlooked, is that God sets a trap for corrupt, tyrannical rulers in order to utterly destroy them with divine power. Let me repeat that for emphasis: God sets a trap for corrupt, tyrannical rulers in order to utterly destroy them with divine power. God repeatedly sends Moses to convince Pharaoh to turn away from his oppression of the Israelites. When Pharaoh hardens his heart multiple times, the narrative shifts and it is God who then hardens Pharaoh's heart. And to what showdown is this hardening of Pharaoh's heart leading? To the death of Pharaoh's firstborn son, demonstrating that Pharaoh has been judged by divine power, not by any human scheme. God did not merely judge Pharaoh, he led Pharaoh into a trap because it was just, divine judgment against Pharaoh for his many crimes in oppressing the Israelites. Pharaoh had no rightful authority to enslave and oppress the Israelites. Every lash of the taskmaster's whip on the back of an Israelite was a criminal assault by Pharaoh against them. Pharaoh's fate is a giant flashing neon-sign warning to all the tyrants of history: God Almighty has set a trap for you and he's leading you, step-by-step, into it!

As you can see from this, the language of powerlessness frequently used by Christians is repugnant to the Gospel. It is a fundamental failure to understand what the Gospel is really about, what God's kingdom really is. Yes, we are beaten, abused, oppressed, enslaved, killed and harassed. But we are not persecuted in this way by demi-gods or super-men, rather, we are persecuted by dead men. We are persecuted by the animated corpses of the damned who are taking their last few steps down and over the precipice into eternal hell. We take no joy in their damnation because, truly, they would be pitiable if they were not damned. Like Pharaoh, they have hardened their hearts over and over, until God has given them up to their default condition, which is damnation. And no one is more hopelessly lost than the rich and powerful in this world. The first in line to go over the precipice into the flames of the lake of fire, are those who are the rich, powerful, famous, influential, etc. in this satanic world-order. There is no way to rise to the top in this present evil world, but by bowing down and worshiping Satan, see Matthew 4:1ff. Every tyrant in this world, petty or not, is being led into the trap of Pharaoh.

Given that this is the case, now it should be clear why Paul says, "... we are more than conquerors..." (Romans 8:37) in the midst of persecution! (See the context.) Ironically, the persecution proves the Gospel because the persecutors would have no reason to persecute Christians unless the Gospel were true. They are demon-worshipers and the demons know that the Gospel is true because they witnessed the events of the Gospel, and their aftermath. Being spirits, they also saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. They know Satan is damned, they know they are damned and their only remaining goal in this world is to drag as many other souls as they can along with themselves down into hell. And that is why they persecute Christians and everywhere oppose the Gospel, both overtly and covertly. They are so frenetic in their opposition to faith precisely because they have already lost. They know there is no hope, and their only remaining "comfort", such as it is, are those additional souls which they drag down into hell with themselves. For this reason, our persecution and the fanatical opposition to the Gospel ironically proves the truth of the Gospel. This is why we are "more than conquerors". By persecuting us, our enemies confess that our King has already defeated them. We are not mere conquerors, we are more than conquerors in him!

When we discuss the political world order -- which is nothing but an unbroken chain of inter-generational, monolithic, global slavery -- we must take care not to use the language of powerlessness. In so doing, we inadvertently contradict the power of the Gospel. We must not fear them because the worst they can do to us is kill us. But they had better fear us or, more accurately, they had better fear our God and King. Why? Because, as I said above, our King has set a trap for them and, in their rebellion, he is ever-so-carefully leading them into it, into utter destruction.

The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
The wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
All the nations that forget God.
(Psalm 9:15-17)

We cannot boast, because we were falling into the very same pit, ensnared in the very same net, until God delivered us. And it is not God's fault that we were lost, it was our own sin by which we went astray. So we have no one to blame but ourselves. But all the same, while we do not rejoice in the destruction of the wicked, we do rejoice in the justice of God. In this, we rejoice mightily, because we know that the rightful ruler of creation is a just king who is not partial and will by no means clear the guilty.

It is true that there will not be political freedom until this present evil world-order is destroyed. As long as Satan's system of abominable subjugation of man by man persists, there will not be political freedom. But there is coming a time when we will be free not only spiritually and legally in God's sight, but even politically. The culmination of the Gospel is the kingdom of God in fullness, on earth, meaning, Jesus Christ reigning as the universally acknowledged Lord of heaven and earth (Philippians 2:5-11). However, we need to place this fact in its correct context -- what we are really saying is "Pharaoh will not let God's people go until God has crushed him once and for all." Satan and all who cast their lot with him are being led to the slaughter (Rev. 19:11-21). This is one of the primary reasons Jesus went to the Cross... in order to receive from the heavenly Father the authority to do this very thing. God has set a trap for the tyrants and he's leading them, step-by-step, into it!

We are not looking forward to a future of restrained, reductive, subtractive, retarded, haltered, hampered, stifled and gagged freedom. No, we are looking forward to a future of complete freedom, a freedom so free that even the most renowned secular libertarian philosophers could not dare to imagine it, a freedom that goes beyond the bounds of the material creation and stretches beyond death itself into eternal life. That is a freedom so immense that the human mind staggers at the thought. What does it even mean to be completely free, forever?? The freedom of the Gospel is a freedom so enormous, so outrageous, that it obliterates every earthly conception of liberty and can only be properly understood in its heavenly context. The Gospel is not about nostalgia for the herbs and spices we had in Egyptian slavery, nor about looking back to Sodom while fleeing it. No, we are leaving this satanic world-order which is nothing but slavery top-to-bottom, and we are being shepherded by Jesus himself into a land of freedom unlike anything that any human since Adam has ever known. The Gospel is about freedom, from start-to-finish, that is its purpose. The Gospel brings freedom. The Gospel is freedom. A freedom so immense that, Paul tells us, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2:9) You've never seen anything like the freedom that Jesus is shepherding us into. You've never heard of anything like it. You've never even imagined anything like it.

THAT is the freedom of the Gospel! That is Christian freedom!

Stop making excuses for Satan's world of slavery! Stop rationalizing it! Stop the mealy-mouthed pandering to abominable slavers and their pathetic, willing slaves! Stop diluting the freedom of the Gospel! Stop making apologetics for the blood-drenched swords of the murderous State! Stop lending them moral legitimacy from fear or servility! Stop mindlessly repeating unexamined quips and propaganda maxims! Examine your faith! Examine the facts! Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6) so never back down in the face of the liars and deceivers who are the intellectual bodyguards of the satanic world-order! Resist the devil and his wicked system of global slavery which has enslaved mankind through the fear of death since the dawn of time!! In Jesus, we are absolutely and completely free and we need to start acting, speaking and thinking like it!!

 

[ClaytonB]

Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the King of Kings who has conquered the world not through war, but through his own death! He did not attack his enemies with swords, but was pierced by them, and that for our salvation. Every drop of the blood of Jesus is a testament against the murderous State and contains within it the eternal damnation of this present evil world-order and everything that proceeds from it. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!

mises.org: Reclaiming the Antistate Roots of Christmas

12/24/2022 -- Jeffery L. Degner

While Christians the world over look to the celebration as a way to remember the incarnation of Christ, some dismiss it as a Christianized version of the ancient Rome’s Saturnalia. Whatever one’s view happens to be, I humbly suggest that it ought to be used by Christians and non-Christians alike as a reflection upon a collision of two kingdoms and two forms of rule. One that makes the way for life, and the other for misery, suffering, and death.

If the celebration of Christmas is an acknowledgement of the Almighty’s offering of peace and goodwill to people everywhere, then it behooves all people to remember who it is that offers universal war and ill will. No other earthly institution has so consistently offered the latter than the state. The advent story itself reminds us in the second chapter of Matthew that it was a state actor, Herod, who aimed to snuff out the Prince of Peace in his infancy. Truly, the state hates anyone who stands to challenge to their claims of omniscience and omnipotence.

In the West, it is safe to say that most Christmas gatherings don’t include an intentional acknowledgement of the birth of Jesus. Nonetheless, these too might serve at least as reminders of the nonnecessity of the state. Our networks of family, friends, and coworkers who offer words and actions of generosity, kindness, and hospitality are rightful reminders that our voluntary associations are at the center of good living. These interactions are indeed anarchic, stateless, and free from threats of violence (unless your uncle Harold has one too many).

Whatever a secularized version of a Christmas celebration might look like, the simple acts of exchanging gifts, the sharing of food and drink, and of a sense of kinship may produce – at the very least – a reflection of the goodness of productive activity that allows such enjoyment. This sentiment is abundantly shared on Ayn Rand’s comments on the American celebration of Thanksgiving as a “celebration of successful production.” It is that voluntary act of productive enterprise that offers us the opportunity to take joy in experiencing the bounties of productive activity, even in spite of the state’s efforts to squash it, or at the least to intervene to favor some at the expense of others.

As for me and my house, we’ve taken Christmas celebrations to be an intentional pause to reflect on the various meanings of Christ’s advent. Certainly, we think through the themes of mercy, grace, and love that are lavished upon God’s creatures through the Word made flesh. Yet, as with every account of the words and actions surrounding the life of Christ, there are multiple lessons for people of goodwill to walk away with. It is our traditions and practices that may serve to draw out those lessons.

With this in mind, it is a sad state of affairs to recognize that most Christians fail to recognize the profoundly antistate sentiments that are put forward in the nativity. Whether it is a failure to recognize the profound contrast between Christ’s kingdom and the kingdoms of men, or whether it is a vague sense of sentimentality that overtakes the minds of believers, I know not. It is my contention that habits of mind can, however, be forged through the habits of action. In acknowledgement of this, we have cultivated several regular practices that acknowledge the antistate nature of true Christian worship.

In finding ways to practically remember the antistate meaning surrounding Christ’s birth, our household has taken up the tradition of recounting the facts surrounding the Christmas Truce of 1914. Some years have included viewing the 2005 film, Joyeux Noel. On other occasions, we’ve recalled the exchange of gifts between soldiers on the western front by passing around a precious family memento, a brass gift box from Princess Mary to the soldiers of the British empire. Still another form of remembrance has been to recite a brief passage or two from Stanley Weintraub’s Silent Night as we meditate on common men’s unwillingness to murder one another (at least for a day) in the name of the state.

The point of each of these practices has been to probe our minds and hearts in order to identify our ultimate allegiance. In raising this question, it is my intention to remind my family that it is our duty as worshippers of the King of Kings to defy the tyrants of the earth, just as the wise men of Matthew 2 directly defied an order from Herod when they understood his evil intent. Their actions are certainly an apt illustration of the words of the Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer, “To resist tyranny is to honor God.”

Surely, the past several years have presented ample opportunity for Christians in the west to defy tyrants and their arbitrary edicts. While some have failed to uphold their Christian duty, others have faithfully defied the various forms of covid-ocracy, raise our voices in condemnation of warmaking and the military-industrial complex, or of the rampant cronyism that characterizes so-called modern capitalism, ultimately all of these forms of resistance and protest are an affront to the state, and an as such, are an honor to Christ. May these efforts boldly proceed.

It is because of this mixed record of Christian cowardice and courage that I suggest looking at Christmas afresh. In this season, it isn’t sufficient to think merely of how the individual Christian might look to God’s kindness in Christ to reform oneself or for the nonbeliever to demonstrate a vague sense of generosity and kindness. May it always include a call to all for courage, being reminded that the lowliest of people’s resistance to the power of the state is a precious offering to the King of Kings and brings a better chance for human flourishing. Further, may it serve as a reminder that the rulers of the state genuinely hate and seek to destroy all that comes from the Prince of Peace.

In this adopting this approach, both Christians and nonbelievers can take solace in knowing that their own voluntary associations (religious or otherwise), productive work, restful celebrations, and everyday acts of charity serve as foundational institutions that oppose the evil predations of the state. May such practices will grow ever stronger, and may the mere utterance of the phrase, “Merry Christmas” serve to remind the worshippers of the state that their gods and their traditions are truly antithetical to all human life, and as such are completely unnecessary.