Who's your Master? My friend Edward Oleander has again asked me to explain the important differences between Biblical Christianity and other religions. Although I believe that I have previously provided a good explanation, it seems as though I should provide a different angle on these differences. And so, today's topic is Freedom in Jesus Christ for the elect.
I started by asking who is your Master. The Apostle Peter understood the deceitfulness of sinful desires in people when he wrote 2 Peter 2:9: "For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved." And so, if there is something that overwhelms us, makes us feel as though we are out-of-control, this sort of desire is described by the Apostle Peter as enslaving us. We are the slave. The sinful desire is the Master.
This is why Jesus in His teaching made clear that He came to set the captives free. Luke 4:18; See, John 8:31-36; Free from the penalty of sin (death); free from the chains that sin wraps us in; free from the law, and the desire to prove ourselves 'righteous' based upon our own actions; and free from the guilt that we need to do something 'more' in order to have God be pleased with us. Instead, once we have become born anew in Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, we are free; we no longer have to follow our sinful desires (although sometimes these desires have a nasty way of returning.) We are as Martin Luther described at the same time as being both a saint and a sinner.
Here are three verses that are helpful to me that speak of the freedom provided to the followers of Christ:
2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Galatians 5:1, :13 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another
Romans 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
If you would like more to read about on the topic of the Freedom in Christ, Romans chapter 6 and the entire book of Galatians are excellent places to start.
Finally, the great benefit that this Freedom provides us is that we can enjoy all of God's creation. God has created this world for us to enjoy (Genesis 9:3; 1 Timothy 4:4; 1 Timothy 6:17). He has given us spouses so that we can enjoy the wonderful pleasure of physical love with another. He has given us all things, not as traps for the unwary, but as a blessing that points us to a loving Creator (1 Corinthians 8:6). Yet Jesus wants us to consider others in our use of this Freedom, so that we do not injure other Christian's consciences (1 Corinthians 8:12). Yet the rule stands - "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12). The Christian is free to enjoy all of God's creation, with a thankful heart.
The examples of the use of this Freedom are shown in the Apostle Paul's writings. There were those in the early Church who thought that the Hebrew dietary laws (e.g., forbidding the eating of pork, etc.), yet both Peter and Paul showed we are Free in Christ from the dietary restriction; There were those who taught the Church should follow the Hebrew law of circumcision, yet we are also Free from this requirement; There were some in the early Church who worshipped on Saturdays (the Sabbath), and some on Sundays (the Lord's Day). Yet, Paul made clear that this was not important, because we are free in Christ (Colossians 2:16). What a terrifically clear teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 8:8, where he writes that if we follow one of these laws/rules, God does not love us any more nor any less. "We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do."
In conclusion, the Freedom that Christ provides His followers is something totally unique among religions. Other religions teach that we reach out to God through our actions – and their god in this life rewards good actions, and punishes sinful actions. Yet, the promise of the Bible is that out of thankfulness for God's Grace, and the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, we grow in our desire to trust God, and to grow in our own personal holiness. And do not forget the importance of a Christian living their life guided by the Spirit of Christ. The "fruit" of a life guided by the Holy Spirit is one filled with love for others, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 6:22). And who doesn't want this kind of life, that is a result of being a follower of Jesus Christ? Free in Christ - /s/Tom
3 comments:
Hello Tom,
Thanks for trying again to illuminate me on the differences between Christianity and the others. I remain, I fear, endarkened. Christianity seems more amongst the pack than ever.
You claim God/Jesus set you "free" from what enslaved you, but it is God that defines enslavement, and then offers us "freedom." Christianity certainly isn't unique in declaring natural feelings to be sinful and enslaving... and then offering the One, True way to Salvation...
You claim God sets us free from guilt, but yet the whole of ALL Abrahamic religions are BASED on making you feel guilty for the normal acts of being human. Indeed, we are taught that by Original Sin, we are all guilty just BY BEING human. We are told we must repent. To repent is to regret, and regret and guilt are so overlapping as to be interchangable in most scenarios.
Romans 6:22 reveals the hoax... Gods "frees" you only to enslave you himself. His use of the word "freedom" is pure propaganda. Oppressors and dictators throughout history have used "freedom" to disguise the very opposite. In modern times the best examples would be the "freedom" given to the Cambodians under Pol Pot (who then killed 25% of his population), and the "freedom" offered to the Jews by the Nazis. Remember the immortal words, "Arbiten Macht Frei" which appeared over the gates to several of the death camps... "Work sets you free"... God's in great company here...
End part 1...
Hello Tom,
Thanks for trying again to illuminate me on the differences between Christianity and the others. I remain, I fear, endarkened. Christianity seems more amongst the pack than ever.
You claim God/Jesus set you "free" from what enslaved you, but it is God that defines enslavement, and then offers us "freedom." Christianity certainly isn't unique in declaring natural feelings to be sinful and enslaving... and then offering the One, True way to Salvation...
You claim God sets us free from guilt, but yet the whole of ALL Abrahamic religions are BASED on making you feel guilty for the normal acts of being human. Indeed, we are taught that by Original Sin, we are all guilty just BY BEING human. We are told we must repent. To repent is to regret, and regret and guilt are so overlapping as to be interchangable in most scenarios.
Romans 6:22 reveals the hoax... Gods "frees" you only to enslave you himself. His use of the word "freedom" is pure propaganda. Oppressors and dictators throughout history have used "freedom" to disguise the very opposite. In modern times the best examples would be the "freedom" given to the Cambodians under Pol Pot (who then killed 25% of his population), and the "freedom" offered to the Jews by the Nazis. Remember the immortal words, "Arbiten Macht Frei" which appeared over the gates to several of the death camps... "Work sets you free"... God's in great company here...
End part 1...
Part 2...
There are two areas that you seem to go back to over and over when separating the Christians from the others. Good works being meaningless, and accepting that Christ died to relieve us from sin.
Good works may not redeem us, but continuing to do evil certainly doesn't. I don't remember the verses, but the clear lessons are that you don't really love Jesus if you continue to do blatantly evil acts. The whole bible is full of examples of the DEEDS of righteous people being praised, and held up as role-modeling for others. Saints are raised on account of their deeds, their miracles... There seems to be conflicting messages here...
When Jesus died on the cross, what did that really get us? It seems to me that all it did was create an unnecessary middle step, just for the sake of uniqueness. Redemption from sin really comes from repentance and a continuing love of God. Jesus seems to be just window dressing.
UNLESS, you see Christianity as a myth that grew out of Judaism. Perhaps Jesus knew that in order to be thought of as the Messiah, he had to be greater than even Moses. Being a literate person, he knew the prophecies, and knew that by fudging his resume, and orchestrating a few future press conferences, he could be seen as fulfilling most or even all of them. So he wrote himself in as the Son of God to fill all roles, and be given the job of Messiah. I make him sound self-serving and cynical, but this does not have to be true. He could have been very well-intentioned, or even fanatical, and willing to become a martyr for what he thought right. Or insane. After all, I have had patients who thought they were holy. I had one just last month who kept up a 3-way conversation between himself, his dead brother, and God... For real.
Jesus makes far more sense as a con man (albiet perhaps a good-intentioned one), a crazy visionary, or a purposeful construct of the fledgling church to differentiate it from other religions of the day (with the Triune aspect thrown in to differentiate Jesus from other half-human, half-deities out there, like Hercules). The LEAST sensical explanation is the Biblical one, because it opens too many cans of worms, and throws too many monkey wrenches in to the equation.
Of course, more monkey wrenches makes for more chances to increase mystery and thus carve out a unique niche for the religion. Listen to me... You would think I'm John... HE'S the one who believes in conspiracy theories...
Happy Easter (the date of which was stolen from the Jews who had already stolen it from the Pagans, which iss another reason Christianity looks the same as the others... they all use the same tactics!)
~E~
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