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God Exists in a State of TOTAL FREEDOM

People in the world sometimes perceive God as some old fuddy duddy in the sky who can’t stand folks having a “good time” and therefore is obsessed with removing anything “fun” from our lives. While human religion and forms of legalism might be like this, the LORD is quite different and actually operates from a state of absolute freedom. See for yourself:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Thus in the Scriptures you’ll find several statements like this:

Our God is in heaven;

he does whatever pleases him.

Psalm 115:3

The Lord does whatever pleases him,

in the heavens and on the earth,

in the seas and all their depths.

Psalm 135:6

In other words, God functions in a state of total freedom and therefore does whatever he wants.

What’s interesting is that people — male and female — are created in God’s image and likeness and so we have this same desire. We intrinsically hate captivity and the restraints thereof. We want freedom! This explains why we have an instinctive revulsion of slavery. No wonder efforts to end the slave trade in the West were spearheaded by godly people, like William Wilberforce in Britain and William Lloyd Garrison in America.

Satanic people & their godless ideologies, by contrast, love tyranny and bondage in one form or another. Communism is a good example. And this explains why citizens in socialist states East of the Iron Curtain always tried to escape to the freedom-oriented republics of the West and not vice versa.

That’s all I really wanted to stress in this article. Chew on these things and you’ll be blessed.

 

For those interested in additional miscellaneous insights on this topic, keep reading…

Democracies and Republics

While a king or queen rules absolute in a monarchy and an elite ruling class reigns in Marxist governments, the people rule in a democracy (the Greek word dēmos means ‘the people’ and kratia means ‘rule’). In a republic the people rule as well, except that they appoint representatives to do the political work, which frees-up the citizens to raise families and conduct the business of their livelihoods (the Latin res refers to an ‘entity concerning’ and publicus means ‘the public’).

Countries today that are called ‘democracies’ are actually republics since the people of the various regions elect representatives to carry out the political duties, like traveling to the capitol cities and speaking for them. America is a good example.

I bring up republics because they are God’s preferred form of government since they allow for people to function in the most liberty in a fallen world. While it’s true that the LORD uses flawed human governments in general as an instrument to bring order to societies by protecting innocent citizens from criminals (Romans 13:1-6), God is not a big fan of authoritarian-styled governments since they stifle human freedom (1 Samuel 8).

This explains why the first nation of millions of people to have no king (or absolute ruler, whatever the title) in the history of the world was the Hebrews after they escaped slavery in Egypt. For the next 400 years they had no human king. Instead, the LORD was their spiritual King and they had noble human representatives or intermediaries, like Moses, Joshua or Deborah, along with the priests teaching the Law and individuals being accountable to God based on conscience.

While technically a theocracy, this was a republic from a purely natural perspective. It was the beginning of the concept of equality in regards to a nation of millions with the Law supporting the premise of no respecter of person, rich or poor. Ideally, everyone was to be treated the same and by the same standard.

This Hebrew Republic was God’s original plan for the Israelites, but eventually the people wanted to be like all the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:19-20), so the LORD reluctantly gave them their first king, which was Saul, who started out good, but became corrupt.

Interestingly, the Pilgrims used the Hebrew Republic as a model for government when they arrived in Provincetown Harbor & Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They were a Puritan sect of the Church of England, known as Separatists because they considered their congregations separate from the English state church (as opposed to the non-separatist Puritans). They fled tyranny in Europe for sanctuary in the New World.

Here’s something interesting to consider: The Pilgrims in America focused on the model of pre-King Saul Israel, which was the Hebrew Republic, whereas King James I of England (and other Euro monarchs) preferred the Israel of King Saul-onward.

King James naturally favored the Saul-onward model due to the idea of “the divine right of kings” in which Kings have subjects who are subject to the king’s will, which is the final word. This is in contrast to a democracy or republic that the Pilgrims had in mind based on the pre-Saul Hebrew Republic.

This explains why the colonies in America were so successful and attracted multitudes of freedom-seeking people in the 1600s-1700s, the vast majority of them being devout believers. Towns sprung up across the landscape, all Judeo-Christian republics. A group of people with their pastor would found a settlement, a town, and the church facility would service both spiritual gatherings and political meetings, aka the townhouse.

The reason the Hebrew republic ultimately failed is because of humanity’s fallen nature and the corresponding need for a new spiritual nature. Thus Israel fell into times of moral anarchy in which “everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6 & 21:25). While this sounds good on the surface, it’s not good when people are slaves to the flesh or sinful nature and collectively lack virtue. In the American colonies, by contrast, the vast majority of the people were spiritually regenerated and hence the communities operated on the foundation of the love and fear of God and the virtue thereof.

So what hampered America’s godliness and goodness and led this formerly great nation to where it is now with all the glaring corruption and immorality? [Keep in mind that this was written during the 0Biden years]. Simple: being a free nation, godless ideologies were increasingly introduced and spread in the last century through the educational system, the media, arts & entertainment and government. I’m talking about the atheistic religion of secular humanism, aka LIEberalism.

Thus, instead of being a virtuous nation, America is now looked on as a moral joke throughout the world [at least during the 0Biden regime, when this article was originally written], which doesn’t mean that there aren’t millions upon millions of genuinely godly people in the population; it just means that the ungodly are in positions of influence and power, corrupting the youth. The Parable of the Weeds (Tares) applies (Matthew 13:24-30 & 13:36-43).

So, just like with the Hebrew Republic in Israel, the people forsaking the fear of God and giving themselves over to the sinful nature is bringing down America and similar Western republics. The problem, of course, is that hedonism, aka libertinism, is not true freedom, although it disguises itself as ‘freedom.’ It’s actually just bondage to the flesh, which brings us to…

Individual Freedom

The problem with humans functioning in a state of total freedom, like God, is that human desires are corrupted by the flesh or sinful nature. Thankfully, the LORD has provided a way for us to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4); it’s called “participating in the divine nature” otherwise known as walking in the spirit (Galatians 5:16). When you learn to “put on the new self” you’ll be spirit-controlled rather than flesh-ruled (Ephesians 4:22-24) and, hence, your desires will be righteous rather than corrupt. (You can learn more about living by the spirit here or see this video).

When your desires change from worldly to godly you’ll naturally find yourself no longer interested in chasing worldly things for satisfaction. For instance, is going out on the weekend to get plastered on alcohol & drugs really “fun” or is it potentially destructive? Is it really “freedom” to “let loose” in this manner or is it actually bondage, bondage to the flesh?

If believers “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” by walking in the spirit, the community in question will have virtue — a spirit of goodness — which is the opposite of lawlessness. And this is one of the reasons the American settlements were so successful in the 1600s, attracting throngs of freedom-seeking people in the 1700s, the vast majority of them being believers and, often, pastors & their congregations.

A few early examples include Puritan ministers Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone who led a group of about 100 people to establish the settlement of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636. Hooker also founded Windsor and is unsurprisingly considered the “founding father” of Connecticut. Meanwhile theologian Roger Williams founded Providence, Rhode Island, in 1636 wherein he established the first Baptist church in America.

While all forms of government in a fallen world are flawed and have shortcomings, the republic model — often called ‘democratic’ — is the best for individual liberty and opportunity. People tend to flourish in republics whereas they languish under the gross restraints of Marxist countries or dictatorships/kingships, which explains why folks naturally try to escape communistic states and dictatorships in preference for freedom-loving republics and not the reverse.

In republics, the Word of God is freely spread and believers gather & worship at liberty whereas in communistic states or corrupt dictatorships/kingships believers have to meet secretly and, if they’re caught, they’re fined, imprisoned or worse.

Regardless of the form of human government believers exist under — whether freedom-oriented, tyrannical or somewhere in between — the individual believer can certainly function in a personal state of spiritual freedom thru living by the spirit since “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). In light of this you can be in a state of captivity and yet be free on a deeper level, like Paul when he wrote the prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon).

Remember, the LORD functions in a state of total freedom wherein He does whatever pleases Him. You are created in God’s image and thus naturally want to do the same. If you’re spirit-controlled rather than flesh-ruled, here are some scriptural insights on how to obtain your (righteous) desires, regardless of the government you’re under or situation you’re experiencing (or see the video).

Keep in mind, off course, that every believer will face the ongoing challenge of temptations, trials and tests during their spiritual pilgrimage in this fallen world, which you can learn about here.

Related Topics:

The SEVEN FREEDOMS — Take Hold of ‘Em!

FREEDOM! LIFE! JOY! POWER!

Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?

Godliness and Religion—What’s the Difference?

The Basics of Christianity

Libertinism — What’s Wrong with It and How to Walk FREE

Law of Christ—What is It?

What Form of GOVERNMENT Is Best?

How to TAKE CAPTIVE THOUGHTS (Noémas—Mindsets, Ideologies)

Notice what the Bible exhorts us to do:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Christ is the living Word of God who is the truth (John 1:1 & 14:6). So we are to “take captive” thoughts and make sure that they comply with the truth. ‘Truth’ is alétheia (ah-LAY-thee-ah) in the Greek, which means “reality” or “the way it really is.” So we are to take “thoughts” and make sure that they conform to reality. If they don’t comply with the truth then they are ‘weeds’ of unreality and should be purged from the soil of your heart.

The word ‘thought’ in this passage is noéma in the Greek (NOH-ay-mah). While noéma can refer to thoughts, good or bad, it can also refer to a person’s perspective—mindset, attitude or ideology—which is the result of indoctrination, good or bad. Indoctrination is naturally determined by the doctrine—the teaching or instruction—to which you are regularly exposed.

For instance, if you sit under a secular humanist professor long enough and don’t counteract those teachings with the truth of the rightly-divided Word of God (or the truth period) you’ll naturally develop a secular humanist ideology. You’ll then start to live out of this mindset, to one degree or another. The doctrine or teaching you’re exposed to on a regular basis determines your indoctrination, which is your mindset, good or bad. Such a mindset is a noéma.

The Greek word for “doctrine” is didaskalia (did-as-ka-LEE-ah). It means teaching or instruction and can be good or bad depending on how true it is. The Bible speaks of sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:3 & 4:6) and bad doctrine:

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings (didaskalia) of demons,

1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)

Obviously the teachings of demons aren’t good because demons are evil spirits.

The point is that a person’s mindset or ideology — noéma — is determined by the teachings to which he or she is regularly exposed. Noémas formulate over the course of time as a person is fed information. The longer it takes for a noéma to develop the more imbedded it is in the individual’s psyche.

It is through negative noémas that the enemy “blinds the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The devil has control of their minds—through demonic noémas—and the truth cannot penetrate this indoctrination.

To help you visualize this, I went to the Facebook page of a Christian friend I hadn’t seen for three decades and was surprised by his cover pic. It was a skull with a red dragon wrapped around its head. No doubt he chose this pic because he thought it looked ‘cool,’ but it’s actually an excellent illustration of how the enemy blinds people’s minds: The red dragon represents the devil and he has control of the person’s mind, which is depicted as a skull and symbolizing death, the natural result of satan’s misleading.

Notice how 2 Corinthians 10:5 (quoted above) says we are to “take captive” thoughts and mindsets. The Greek word for ‘take captive’ literally means to “take captive as a prisoner and interrogate; to subjugate and bring under control.” The Bible is saying that we should take any perspective we have and honestly & thoroughly examine it, making sure it conforms to reality (the way it really is) rather than unreality (the way it really isn’t). If we discover that the mindset does not comply with reality then we need to throw it out.

This can apply to any doctrine—teaching—you were taught during your formative years as a believer. Just because you were indoctrinated by a particular teaching in a relatively sound sect by a respected pastor doesn’t make the doctrine true. So you need to “interrogate” it in light of reality. Does it comply with the rightly-divided Word of truth and the Spirit of truth (John 17:17 & 16:13)? If not, it needs to be thrown out in favor of whatever the truth is, which is reality.

Of course, this applies to secular indoctrination as well, such as the godless humanism that’s commonly taught at our secular colleges and universities. Generally speaking, the professors thereof teach that the idea of an intelligent Creator is absurd and thus life is meaningless and you’re just an accident. There’s nothing special about human beings, they say, and we’re basically just animals. And, when ya die, that’s it.

The consequences of this kind of brainwashing are devastating—it produces moral rot and an attitude of no respect for life, including one’s own; it encourages living with a temporal perspective (noéma) rather than an eternal one (noéma). Such a hedonistic philosophy can be summed up as: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32).

One example of secular indoctrination is homosexuality. While homosexuality was still a crime in much of the USA as of the new millennium, that’s all changed. Now homosexuality is taught to be innate and healthy in our secular culture and people are encouraged to experiment with it and embrace it as a legitimate alternative lifestyle. Our secular mentors in the mainstream media are increasingly active homosexuals, like Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper.

Take the first two, for instance (DeGeneres and Maddow): Parents allow their children to sit under them where they’re exposed to their smooth “gay” propaganda and then wonder why some of their offspring eventually embrace the homosexual lifestyle. Notable people who publicly “come out” are commended by celebrities and governing officials alike. Those who refuse to approve of homosexuality, by contrast, are considered evil bigots and punished severely, socially speaking. The truth about homosexuality, however, is that it’s a damning sin and those who unrepentantly practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God. “Do not be deceived,” the Bible warns (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

A believer struggling with this kind of worldly indoctrination or same-sex attraction can take this noémas (mindset) captive and interrogate it in light of the truth of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit of truth. Since these kinds of noémas don’t comply with the truth they need to be purged out of one’s mindset in favor of reality.

As you do this with every thought/impulse/attitude/mindset you purge your heart of falsity and unreality. This is “being made new in the attitude of your mind” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

One last thing, “taking captive” thoughts or mindsets does not refer to taking captive someone else’s thoughts since we don’t have authority over another person’s will. The only way we can help someone else’s thought life & beliefs is by teaching the rightly-divided truths of God’s Word and praying for the person, not to mention setting a good example.

This article was edited from chapter 17 of…

Related Topics:

What Are the Sources of TRUTH (Reality)?

Hermeneutics — Proper Bible Interpretation

Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them

SANCTIFICATION: Spirit, Mind & Body

Your Thoughts Run Your Life! (video)

How to Renew Your Mind (video)

Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

Does the Bible Support INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY?

The revolutionary idea of “innocent until proven guilty” can be observed in God’s Law for Israel in regards to six “cities of refuge” being established for this very cause (Deuteronomy 19, Numbers 35:6-34 & Joshua 20).

To explain, these cities served as sanctuaries for those guilty of involuntary manslaughter — an unintentional killing of another person — to protect them from revenge by family members or loved ones, referred to as “the avenger of blood” in the text, which technically refers to the kinsman-redeemer, i.e. the nearest male blood relative of the one who had perished.

Here’s how this judicial process worked: If an Israelite killed another person, accidentally or otherwise, they could find immediate asylum in a city of refuge where they would await trial while living & working under the watchful eyes of the Levites. A murder conviction had to be based on more than one witness (Deuteronomy 19:15) and the judges involved were charged with investigating the case in detail, including the thorough cross-examination of witnesses and their testimonies (Deuteronomy 19:18).

The six cities of refuge were located throughout Israel with three on either side of the Jordan River, which made them accessible to any Israelite charged with possible murder. You can get a map visual from several images here.

Hebrews found guilty of murder were turned over to the avenger of blood for just execution (Deuteronomy 19:11-13). However, those determined to be innocent were guaranteed protection in the city of refuge where they would stay until at least the death of the high priest (Numbers 35:25). If they left the city before this they obviously were not assured protection.

Spiritual Application of Cities of Refuge for New Covenant Believers

The Bible stresses that the LORD is a strong, fortified tower in which the righteous can run to and be safe (Proverbs 18:10). Of course no one is righteous in themselves (Romans 3:10), but we can acquire righteousness — in-right-standing with God — through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). In other words, any sinner can find a “city of Refuge” in Christ (Colossians 1:21-23 & John 3:16, 3:36).

For fascinating details on this figurative application, see this article.

Related Topics:

REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation

Is Christianity a “RELATIONSHIP With God”?

Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?

Does Christianity Weaken People or EMPOWER?

Law (Torah) — New Testament Believers are NOT Under the Law

The Basics of Christianity

What Form of GOVERNMENT Is Best?

The righteous laws of human governments and corresponding enforcement of those laws are God-ordained for the purpose of punishing criminals, including the right to execute when appropriate (Romans 13:1-6). In other words, the LORD uses flawed human governments in general as an instrument to bring order to societies in this fallen world since they protect innocent citizens from the consequences of sinful human tendencies. You can read more about this here.

Unfortunately, governments can become corrupt and do more harm than good for its citizens, not to mention other nations. How can noble citizens prevent their government from becoming corrupt? Obviously they have to be involved in the political process on one level or another otherwise evil people will take the reins.

The question we want to answer in this article is, what is the best kind of government in God’s eyes and why? What’s the Bible say? Let’s start with…

The Most Prominent Form of Government

William Federer informs in his excellent book Who is the King in America? that the most “popular” or reoccurring form of government in human history is the kingship in which what the ruler says goes. Different cultures use different names for such an authoritarian ruler — king, queen, pharaoh, lord, caesar, sultan, kaizer, emperor, maharaji, khan, dictator, etc. — but they all come down to one person calling the shots for a country of people. Even tribes have their chiefs. (When the words ‘king’ or ‘kingship’ are used throughout the rest of this article they’re referring to this type of government).

Federer points out the facts of life in such an authoritarian rule:

A king is essentially a glorified gang leader and the gang leader naturally demands loyalty.

The best case scenario in a kingship of course is to have a good ruler. The problem with this is that the ruler will eventually perish and someone else will take over. What happens when the new person lacks the nobility of the former ruler? A good example from the Bible is the righteous kings of Judah, such as Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah. Judah was blessed under the noble leadership of these kings; unfortunately, all of their sons were ignoble, destructive authorities and the nation suffered accordingly.

Another problem with a kingship is: Even if you have a good king or queen, what if he/she goes bad, as was the case with Saul, Solomon, Joash, Amaziah and Uzziah, as well as Jehu in the northern kingdom?

Here’s the general top-down hierarchy in this form of government:

This model is the default setting for government throughout human history. Interestingly, it wasn’t originally God’s will for Israel to be a human kingship. The LORD had in mind a bottom-up model with a decidedly spiritual kingship…

The Hebrew Republic and the Pilgrims Who Came to America

The first nation of millions of people to have no king in the history of the world was the Hebrews after they escaped slavery in Egypt. For 400 years they had no human king. Instead, the LORD was their spiritual King and they had noble human representatives, like Moses, Joshua or Deborah, with the priests teaching the Law and the people being accountable to God based on conscience.

While technically a theocracy, it was a republic from a purely natural perspective. This was the beginning of the concept of equality in regards to a nation of millions with the Law supporting the concept of no respecter of person, rich or poor. Ideally, everyone was to be treated the same and by the same standard.

The Hebrew Republic was God’s original plan for the Israelites, but eventually the people wanted to be like all the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:19-20), so the LORD reluctantly gave them their first king, which was Saul, who started out good, but became corrupt.

The Pilgrims were members of the Puritan sect of the Church of England, known as Separatists because they considered their congregations separate from the English state church (as opposed to the non-separatist Puritans). They fled tyranny in Europe on the Mayflower and used the Hebrew theocratic Republic as a model for government when they arrived in Provincetown Harbor & Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620 (they were heading for the Colony of Virginia, but a storm blew them off course).

King James naturally favored the Saul-onward model due to the idea of “the divine right of kings” in which Kings have subjects who are subject to the king’s will. Case closed. This is in contrast to a theocratic democracy or republic that the Pilgrims had in mind based on the pre-Saul Hebrew Republic. Speaking of which…

Democracies and Republics

While a king rules absolute in a kingship, the people rule in a democracy (the Greek word dēmos means ‘the people’ and kratia means ‘rule’). The Athenian democracy in 508–507 BC is considered the first large-scale democracy in human history.

In a republic the people rule as well, except that they appoint representatives to do the political work, which frees-up the people to raise families and conduct the business of their livelihoods (the Latin res refers to an ‘entity concerning’ and publicus means ‘the public’).

Countries today that are called ‘democracies’ are actually republics since the people of the various regions elect representatives to go to the capital cities and carry out the political duties. America is a good example.

Anarchy, Republics and Kingships/Communism

The two extremes in human government are no government and total government.

In both anarchy and kingship/Marxism the leaders rule by fear: Do what they say or they’ll captivate you or execute you. In essence, the State becomes “god” because it is through the State that the citizens get their rights and they are accountable to the State. Needless to say, the saying “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” becomes relevant.

Obviously the best option of the three possibilities is the “middle ground,” the people-ruling republic. In this form of government the individual gets his/her rights from the Creator and is ultimately accountable to their Maker. The citizens’ political leaders are merely representatives and often have term limits.

Republics Can Become Corrupt

Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and so even a republic can become corrupt if the people don’t maintain a modicum of virtue; that is, a communal sense of nobility or honor. When the people of a community have virtue there’s little need for police. However, if the people become depraved, lawlessness results and they’ll choose corrupt representatives, which naturally results in a corrupt or ineffectual government.

Consider how America was challenged by two flooding disasters in 2005 — flooding in five Midwestern states, which caused the governors of Ohio and Indiana to declare states of emergency, and the flooding of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. In the Midwest the people came together and helped each other through the crisis while in The Big Easy a dog-eat-dog scenario emerged marked by heinous criminal acts.

What can explain the diametrically opposed responses to the same kind of natural calamity in the same country? Simple: In the Midwest the communities had a spirit of virtue and goodwill whereas inner city New Orleans had developed a dangerous, depraved spirit. I’m not saying there weren’t any good people there (even Sodom had a handful of noble souls), just that the widespread atrocious acts speak for themselves.

The Hebrew Republic of the first 400 years after escaping slavery in Egypt didn’t always work but, when it did, it was because the community had virtue, which was fueled by the Mosaic Law advocated by a noble national representative, like Moses or Joshua, not to mention the service of the priests. What is ‘virture’ based on in such a scenario? The citizens embrace three basic truths:

  1. The Almighty sees everything.
  2. God insists on honesty & fairness and repentance when moral error occurs.
  3. Everyone is ultimately accountable to their Creator.

If a populace embraces this perspective it naturally creates societal order because the people are policed by their God-fearing conscience above law officers. This explains why the Pilgrims who came to America based their government on the brilliant Hebrew Republic and the United States was originally “one nation under God.”

Unfortunately, during Israel’s time of the “judges” — who were divinely-appointed leaders that delivered Israel from hostile neighboring nations — Israel fell into times of moral anarchy in which “everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6 & 21:25).

This illustrates why fallen people desperately need new spiritual ‘software’ and the corresponding redemption if any republic is to be successful in the long term, which is what the message of Christ and resulting spiritual regeneration is all about (2 Timothy 1:10 & Titus 3:5). And this explains…

Why the American Colonies Were So Successful

After the Pilgrims set up their New England colony in 1620, towns started springing up across the landscape, all Judeo-Christian republics. A group of people with their pastor would found a location, a town, and the church facility would service both spiritual gatherings and political meetings, aka the townhouse.

One good example is Puritan ministers Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone who led a group of about 100 people to establish the settlement of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636. Hooker also founded Windsor and is unsurprisingly considered to be the “founding father” of Connecticut. Meanwhile theologian Roger Williams founded Providence, Rhode Island, in 1636 wherein he established the first Baptist church in America.

These ministers & their people were naturally involved in the politics of their settlements. The word politics comes from the Greek polis, which means ‘city.’ Politics is simply the business of the city. On a national level, it’s the business of the nation.

These communities in the New World were very successful and naturally attracted increasing people from Europe who understandably grew weary with governmental tyranny and religious oppression, not to mention they desired land to farm or ranch.  Whole congregations with their pastors migrated to the colonies and pioneered settlements.

In the 1700s up to the Revolutionary War a wave of 450,000 immigrants arrived mostly from Germany, Ireland, and Scotland, including throngs of Pietist Lutherans from Deutschland. Thus the population of the American colonies skyrocketed and the independent nation of the U.S.A. was born in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence.

As noted, the Puritan immigrants of the 1600s were very involved in the governance (politics) of their communities in America wherein practically everyone was a believer. Hooker, for instance, delivered his most famous sermon in 1638 on governmental power in Hartford wherein he declared “The foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of the people.”

This was revolutionary in the 17th century when Europe was controlled by monarchs and oligarchs and the common people had precious little say in the running of their governments. It’s no wonder that Hooker was dubbed “the father of American democracy.”

Harvard University, incidentally, was established in 1636 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and named after its initial benefactor, a Puritan minister. What would America’s wise, devout ancestors think of the gross Leftist propaganda and perversion that is spewed out of this once-great institution today?

Is Being Involved in Politics “Unholy”?

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut of 1639 is considered to be the first written constitution in history and thus Connecticut was nicknamed “the Constitution State.” Unlike the Mayflower Compact, this agreement made no mention of the British monarch and it became the blueprint for the American colonies and the U.S. Constitution. The document is profoundly Christian-oriented with the eleven orders prefaced by the statement “to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess, as also, the discipline of the Churches.”

This is in contrast to the Pietist Lutheran immigrants of the 1700s, who felt that believers should focus on God’s Kingdom, the Church, and not be involved with “man’s kingdom” because it was somehow unholy. The obvious problem with this outlook, of course, is that it discourages believers from being active in the governance of their communities and encourages the less devout to take the reigns of politics.

This is a recipe for disaster since — if every believer did this — it would guarantee a society governed by unbelievers or, at best, nominal “believers.” In other words, it takes control away from noble believers to determine how they should be governed. Imagine, today, giving all governmental power over to loony Leftwingers who ludicrously believe there are hundreds of genders, that homosexuality is natural & healthy, that mentally ill males should be legally permitted to use the women’s restroom and that practicing the truths of the Bible is bigoted and hateful.

You’ve no doubt noticed that this is increasingly happening in America and other Western nations with the radical Left gaining more and more power through propaganda in schools, universities, media and art, as well as brazen voting fraud and taking control of key political positions.

This leaves two possibilities for believers:

  1. Government can get dirty so don’t get involved because you’ll get dirty (and, after all, God wants you to be holy).
  2. Government can indeed get dirty so make sure you’re involved to help clean it up.

The latter option is just common sense, particularly if you want to leave your children — physical children or spiritual children — a nation that’s noble and free; a nation where the Word of God is freely spread without hinderance, including truths that (supposedly tolerant) LIEberals don’t like and desperately want to suppress.

God’s Very Nature is FREEDOM

Our LORD naturally prefers a form of government that provides the most freedom for citizens because liberty is core to God’s very nature:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Thus in the Scriptures you’ll find several statements like this:

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

Psalm 115:3

The Lord does whatever pleases him,

in the heavens and on the earth,

in the seas and all their depths.

Psalm 135:6

In other words, God functions in a state of total freedom and therefore does whatever he wants. Guess what? People, male and female, are created in God’s image and likeness and so have this same desire. We intrinsically hate captivity and the restraints thereof. We want freedom!

The problem of course is that humans have a flesh or sinful nature which corrupts their desires. Thankfully, the LORD has provided a way for us to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4); it’s called “participating in the divine nature” otherwise known as walking in the spirit (Galatians 5:16). When you learn to “put on the new self” you’ll be spirit-controlled rather than flesh-ruled (Ephesians 4:22-24) and, hence, your desires will be righteous rather than corrupt. (You can learn more about living by the spirit here or see this video).

Think about it, if believers “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” by walking in the spirit, the community in question will have virtue — a spirit of goodness — which is the opposite of lawlessness. And this is one of the reasons the American settlements were so successful in the 1600s, attracting throngs of freedom-seeking people in the 1700s, the vast majority of them being believers and, often, pastors & their congregations.

While all forms of government in a fallen world are flawed and have shortcomings, the republic model — often called ‘democratic’ — is the best for individual liberty and opportunity. People tend to flourish in republics whereas they languish in the gross restraints of communist countries or dictatorships, which explains why folks naturally try to escape communistic states and dictatorships in preference for the freedom-loving republics and not vice versa. For instance, have you ever heard of anyone trying to go through the Iron Curtain to a Communistic nation in order to escape freedom in the West? Obviously not. The concept is laughable.

In republics the Word of God is freely spread and believers gather & worship at liberty whereas in communistic states or corrupt dictatorships/kingships believers have to meet secretly and, if they’re caught, they’re fined, imprisoned or worse.

The Purpose of the American Constitution & Bill of Rights

America today is increasingly devolving into a one-party state in which the Federal government has become a monster with an installed (not elected) Resident of the White House ruling through executive orders and mandates. I’m of course referring to OBiden.

The American Constitution is the supreme law of the United States and its primary purpose is to prevent one-person rule, which is glaring in its opening statement:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Constitution is a legal document that says what it says and doesn’t say what it doesn’t say, yet it’s also a  “living document” in that it can be altered if appropriate and these additions are called amendments. There are currently 27 amendments with the first 10 referred to as the Bill of Rights, which put handcuffs on the Federal government to prevent it from becoming an oppressive monster.

Frederick Muhlenberg from Pennsylvania was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives and the first signer of the Bill of Rights in 1789, which was passed into law in 1791 after being ratified by 11 states. His brother also signed it. Their father happened to be the founder of the Lutheran Church in America and Frederick went on to become a minister, as did his sibling.

The future first Speaker of the House pastored several assemblies in Pennsylvania and one in New York City from 1770-1779, which is when he decided to enter politics, and with good reason: He was pastoring in the Big Apple when the intimidating Redcoats arrived at the onset of the Revolution and Frederick was compelled to go back to Pennsylvania.

Why do I bring up Muhlenberg? Because he & his brother were ministers in the Pietist Lutheran sect and therefore originally supported the idea of believers not being involved in governing “man’s kingdom” since politics can get dirty and God wants his people to be holy. However, as they matured their experiences convinced them that believers must get involved for reasons already noted.

These two men signed the First Amendment, which states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This is where the idea of “separation of Church and state” hails from, but this amendment certainly doesn’t suggest that believers can’t or shouldn’t be involved in the politics of their towns, cities, states or nation! There are two clauses to this amendment:

The point is that two pastors signed this amendment into law along with other members of Congress. As such, they certainly wouldn’t prohibit ministers & believers in general from serving the people in politics! If that were the case, then everyone involved in government would have to be atheists, which the Bible plainly calls fools (Psalm 14:1, 53:1 & 10:4).

Related Topics:

Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life

Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) vs. Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Are Believers “Sheep”?

Understanding “the Right” and “the Left” from a Biblical Perspective

Understanding the Religion of LIEberalism

The Basics of Christianity

What Does It Mean to TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY?

Let’s read the passage in question:

 22And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

Luke 9:22-25

The Lord first informs his disciples the grim reality of his ultimate mission on Earth — to die for humanity as a substitutionary sacrifice, which of course opened the door to reconciliation with God and eternal life (Romans 5:10; John 3:16). He then switches to what is expected of his disciples: To deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow him. To “deny yourself” means  to deny the flesh or sinful nature, which you can read about here. It also includes throwing off any “weights” that hinder your service in the Lord (Hebrews 12:1), which you can read about here.

Christ’s instruction to “take up their cross daily” was no doubt startling to his followers since “taking up a cross” literally meant facing the humiliation and horrible pain of Roman crucifixion wherein the condemned were often required to literally carry their cross to the place of execution (and the corresponding hole in the ground where the pole fit).

The difference between the Messiah and condemned criminals of the Roman Empire was that Yeshua laid down his life voluntarily (John 10:15). He asks us to do likewise in a figurative sense: To commit our lives wholeheartedly to the LORD, accepting any humiliation, ridicule and hardship that this eventually brings.

Since starting this ministry in late 2011, for instance, I’ve had to face humiliation and ridicule from arrogant people & slanderers and even lose relationships. These types of challenges are plainly chronicled in the Scriptures:

3Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,

for we have endured no end of contempt.

4We have endured no end

of ridicule from the arrogant,

of contempt from the proud.

Psalm 123:3-4

29“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Mark 10:29-31

Carol & I have also had to sacrifice certain luxuries, which I won’t go into, but nothing we’ve experienced compares even slightly to the myriad challenges that Paul had to face in service of God’s Kingdom, as detailed in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33.

This is what it means to take up your cross daily and follow the Lord. Keep in mind, however, that God deals with people according to the light they have and this naturally corresponds to the individual’s stage of spiritual growth and calling. If you’re a half-pint, live up to being a half-pint; if you’re a gallon, live up to being a gallon; if you’re a two-ton tank, live up to being a two-ton tank.

Related Topics:

Deny Yourself or Love Yourself — Which is It? (Both)

How to keep BALANCED in every area of Life

How to Walk FREE OF THE FLESH by being Spirit-Controlled

What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?

Should Pastors Schedule OTHER FIVEFOLD MINISTERS at Services?

Pastors of local fellowships should make sure the flock under their care (1 Peter 5:1-4) is regularly exposed to the other fivefold offices, which are detailed in this passage:

11So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Ephesians 4:11-14

The service of the five ministry gifts — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher — enable believers to be fully equipped for service (ministry) in God’s Kingdom, which includes building them up and helping them mature spiritually. Hence pastors should schedule such ministers from time to time.

I was part of a great fellowship in my area from 1986-1996, Carol too (my wife), and the pastor always made sure to schedule other fivefold ministers to serve the congregation. Doing this makes for balanced believers rather than off-kilter ones. Why is this important? Because believers who are unbalanced and immature can do more harm than good for God’s kingdom.

Unfortunately, some pastors ignore the other offices in the body of Christ for one reason or another (apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers) and so believers in these kinds of assemblies are going to have to venture outside their local assembly to feed from these gifts for their own spiritual welfare.

For instance, when I was attending the aforementioned fellowship in my youth I supplemented my spiritual diet with books and tapes by other fivefold ministers, like Hal Lindsey, who’s a teacher in the body of Christ. (Sure, he’s not right on every jot and tittle, but who is? In his areas of expertise he’s exceptional. As they say, “eat the meat and spit out the bones” à la 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Sometimes the issue for pastors not enlisting the services of other ministers is lack of funds to pay them for teaching/preaching, but there are usually quality  fivefold ministers available who will do the work of the ministry without a price tag, keeping in mind that there is no perfect minister or ministry in this fallen world. Yet this doesn’t mean they aren’t skilled ministers who can bless God’s flock.

For important details on the fivefold ministry gifts…

Related Topics:

Can a Christian Be Perfect?

What’s the Difference Between TEACHING and PREACHING?

Who Should You Receive from—Official Ministers or Independent Ones?

OFFICIAL Prophets (Ministers) and INDEPENDENT Prophets (Ministers)

Mentor & Protégé Dynamics

Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms

Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?

INTIMACY WITH GOD and Its Benefits

At its heart, Christianity is about reconciliation with the Creator and therefore relationship with God. The word ‘intimacy’ is usually associated with sex, but what about intimacy with the LORD?

Intimacy just means closeness or warm familiarity and there are different kinds of closeness. For instance, when a man hires a prostitute, they obviously have physical intimacy, but not mental/spiritual intimacy. Job spoke of his friendship with God that he enjoyed in his abode (Job 29:4); he was talking about the intimate communion they had (under an inferior covenant to ours), which explains why the LORD literally boasted of Job in Heaven (Job 1:8 & 2:3). Moses likewise had a close friendship with God (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8).

How do you get close to any person? Spend time with them and honestly communicate, right? As you make a priority of coming near to that person, that person will naturally draw near to you (assuming your intentions are noble). It’s the same thing with the LORD (James 4:8). So, prayer (communion) is key, including praying in the spirit (Ephesians 6:18), but so is soaking yourself with God’s Word and meditation, aka chewing on the Word and the corresponding reflection. The Almighty will speak to you through the Holy Scriptures as you grow in the Word.

Getting quiet with your Creator will enable you to “hear” the Spirit’s “still, small voice,” aka “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:11-12). Of course God can speak to us in other ways as well, like through a person or dreams.

The fact that we get close to the LORD through 1. cultivating a personal relationship and 2. growing in God’s Word reveals the distinction of…

I encourage developing in both areas equally, as elucidated in this video:

Interestingly, “to know someone” in the Bible is an idiom for having sexual intercourse with him/her (Genesis 4:1). Spiritually speaking, believers are the “bride” of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22–33; Revelation 21:2), which bespeaks of a loving relationship with an element of passion, even romance.

In the Old Testament, when the Hebrews foolishly turned to idols, the LORD accused them of adultery, even prostituting themselves to other “gods” (e.g. Jeremiah 2:20; Hosea 2:2). This lover’s kind of passion can also be seen in the New Testament:

4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

James 4:4-5 (NKJV)

Lastly, consider this:

Seclusion is necessary for intimacy;

intimacy is necessary for conception;

conception is necessary for increase;

increase is necessary for

pleasure.

By “conception” I’m referring to the birth of an idea or mission/purpose in any area of your life. You conceive as a result of spending time alone with your Creator (Matthew 6:6). Christ regularly practiced this when he was on Earth (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12-13; Matthew 14:23; Luke 22:39-41).

Meanwhile increase only manifests when you put your corresponding plan into motion. It means not being lazy; it means getting off your butt. This takes discipline. Remember, God is your “helper,” not your do-everything-for-you-so-you-don’t-have-to-do-anything-at-all-er (Hebrews 13:6; Psalm 121:2).

As you progress in your assignment you will experience the “increase” thereof, which naturally produces pleasure. This can be observed in the Lord’s statement:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

John 4:34

Christ’s “food” — his sustenance that gave him energy and fed motivation — was to carry forth the assignments the LORD gave him and complete those works. Getting tight with God, discerning God’s will and then carrying out the corresponding assignments is awesome! It creates exciting momentum. This video provides scriptural details on how to do this.

Take Joshua, Moses’ aide: Joshua would often venture into the Tent of Meeting with Moses to experience the presence of the Most High. When Moses departed, Joshua would stay in God’s presence (Exodus 33:11). It’s important sometimes to just be still and know that the LORD is God (Psalm 46:10), which cultivates a “peace that transcends understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7).

What was Joshua’s “conception” and “increase” as a result of this intimacy with the LORD? None other than leading the Hebrews into the Promised Land of Israel to conquer it (Numbers 27:23; Joshua 1). While this was a challenging undertaking, it was also his “pleasure” to fulfill it. And that’s why we’re here talking about Joshua almost 3500 years later!

Related Topics:

Is Christianity a “RELATIONSHIP With God”?

Prayer—Communing with God

Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?

The Basics of Christianity

Hermeneutics—Proper Bible Interpretation

What Can We Learn From JOB’S “FRIENDS”?

In the first two chapters of the book of Job we observe Job being hailed by God as a blameless, upright man with “no one on earth like him” (Job 1:8). Satan responds by arguing that Job was devout simply because God blessed him. In other words, he was “in it” solely for the blessings. Thus the LORD allows the devil to attack Job in which the man winds up losing all his children, his great wealth, his numerous employees except for four and even his health as his entire body is afflicted with painful boils (Job 1-2).

Job’s three friends — Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar — hear about his extraordinary troubles and come to sympathize with him and comfort him. The main body of this unique book of the Bible consists of Job dialoguing back-in-forth with these three “friends” (although quite a bit of what Job says is directed at the Almighty).

No less than 9 chapters are devoted to the verbiage of these three individuals and 15 when you include the fourth friend, a young guy named Elihu. This is in comparison to 20 chapters for Job. The question is, what can we learn from these four men in these numerous chapters wherein they seemingly “minister” to the suffering Job?

Here are a few insights…

Be Careful NOT to Make Rash Judgments and Accuse Accordingly

I have no doubt that the initial intention of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar was to comfort their agonizing friend — Elihu too — but they quickly fell into myopic judgments and accusations of great sin. The problem with making erroneous judgments based on limited information and then voicing the conclusions is that it’s a form of slander, which naturally poisons the minds of listeners against a person who’s not guilty of the things said. Keep in mind that satan is the false accuser of brothers & sisters in Christ (Revelation 12:10) and, in fact, the Greek word for ‘devil’ literally means “slanderer” or “false accuser” (which you can observe here). In other words, any one who practices false accusation is acting like satan!

Do you want to be like satan? Obviously not. Then please resist making rash judgments & the corresponding fallacious accusations about things in which you have limited knowledge.

This is the main reason the LORD was angry with Job’s friends (Job 42:7). They didn’t have access to what went down in the spiritual realm before Job’s great trial, so they arrogantly assumed Job committed some heinous sin, which brought about his terrible losses and sufferings (Job 15:5, 22:5 & 22:10). The problem with this is that it wasn’t true, not even remotely! In truth, Job was the most blameless, upright man of the face of the Earth at the time and God literally boasted of him in Heaven (Job 1:8)! Even more, his righteousness is what attracted the great satanic attack.

Speaking of which, for anyone who thinks Job opened the door to his satanic attacks through fear, see this article.

Be Careful NOT to Cite General Principles as Absolutes

The bulk of what the four friends say to Job is true, as far as general principles go (similar to the sayings in the book of Proverbs), and this explains why Paul quoted Eliphaz in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 3:19). Yet general principles aren’t always true. For instance, consider Eliphaz’ statement:

7“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Where were the upright ever destroyed?

8As I have observed, those who plow evil

and those who sow trouble reap it.

Job 4:7-8

To sin means to “miss the mark” by failing morally and so the practice of sin naturally brings negative results to which there are consequences (Numbers 32:23, Romans 6:23 & James 1:15). This is a general truth. A person who “plows evil” will reap trouble if s/he doesn’t repent (and, even then, there are often natural consequences to sin even though God forgives the penitent, like after committing sexual immorality or a crime). However, it’s not absolutely true that the innocent never perish prematurely and the upright are never destroyed.

Some bad things that happen are simply accidents in a fallen world (Luke 13:1-5) while other misfortunes are the result of contact with a person who chooses to sin, such as being the victim of a criminal. Also, some sufferings are actually the consequence of practicing truth and living a godly life (Matthew 13:21 & 2 Timothy 3:12). For example, righteous Stephen was stoned to death after being slandered by false witnesses (Acts 6:8-7:59) and of course the sinless Christ was unjustly executed (Hebrews 4:15 & 1 Peter 3:18).

The simplistic theology of Job’s friends boiled down to: God blesses the godly and punishes the ungodly. They had no category for what was happening to Job and erred due to their ignorance.

Be Compassionate When Someone Is Suffering

To be compassionate means to have sympathetic understanding toward those who are suffering in some way. Rather than sympathize with Job and console him, the three friends wasted no time in designating him as their opponent in a big theological debate. Focused on winning, they pounded away at Job’s perceived flaws with their pride being at stake; young Elihu wasn’t much different.

Related Topics:

TEMPTATION, TRIALS and TESTS — What’s the Diff?

SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Do You Know What You’re Fighting For?

Armor & Weaponry of God

Spiritual Development — The Four Stages

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

The Basics of Christianity

TEMPTATION, TRIALS and TESTS — What’s the Diff?

Let’s define each…

Temptation is due to the cravings of one’s flesh or sinful nature, which is the satanic nature (James 1:14).

Trials are separate from temptations, although you can of course undergo a temptation during a trial. For instance, Christ experienced hunger during his 40-day fast in the desert and so his flesh no doubt tempted him to break it (Matthew 4:1-4).

Tests are related to one type of trial. To explain, there are three kinds of trials:

  1. Self-Inflicted Trial (SIT)
  2. Discipline-Intended Trial (DIT)
  3. Maturity-Intended Trial (MIT).

God’s tests for any believer only apply to the third type, a Maturity-Intended Trial, aka an MIT. Here’s an explanation of each:

However, not every one of God’s tests involves a curse striking you. The LORD could simply give you a challenging instruction to see whether or not you obey it, like God’s instruction for Abraham to sacrifice his child Isaac, which was a type of Father God sacrificing the Son for the sins of the world (Genesis 22:1-18; John 3:16).

As for persecutions, they’re simply the result of putting God’s Word into practice and living a godly life (Matthew 13:21; 2 Timothy 3:12). This naturally draws satanic attack because the believer automatically becomes a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Since practicing the truth and walking in godliness relates to growing spiritually, and therefore spiritual maturity, persecutions for righteousness’ sake would fall under the category of MITs.

For important details on these things, see this article:

Related Topics:

Prayer — The Basics

Armor & Weaponry of God

Spiritual Development — The Four Stages

Spiritual Growth is Like Climbing a Mountain

Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled

The Basics of Christianity

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