Healing Rays of Righteousness

Many who call themselves Christian do not understand that God’s gift of FREEDOM overrides and should frame our understanding of the national freedoms of speech, religion, and wealth.  Contrary to popular thought, God’s FREEDOM does not give me the right to disrespect, demean, ridicule, blaspheme, or falsely accuse others as I may wish to do.  Neither does God’s FREEDOM give me the right to coerce  others by legalization, to believe and live according to the religious tradition I have chosen.  And neither does God’s FREEDOM give me the right to gain and store wealth for my own comfort and pleasure. 

In fact, God’s FREEDOM frees me from all of the above selfish and prejudiced concerns in order to fully love God and share with others all that I am or hope to be.

We need to rediscover that any worthy definition of freedom must be grounded in the biblical understanding that the core motivation and life-purpose of every follower of Jesus is rooted in the same sacrificial “agape” love which is seen in Jesus and evidenced in a lifestyle of  “serving” others. 

Thus, for the Christian, God’s gift of FREEDOM is not a lawless, irresponsible anarchy, but a holy commonwealth nourished by a self-disciplined, trustworthy, responsible lifestyle of living in unselfish, unwavering love for God and others. 

When asked which is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  (Matthew 22:37-40).

Jesus proclaimed FREEDOM to be the purpose and focus for His ministry when he said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19).

In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul declared FREEDOM to be God’s gracious gift to us through Jesus’ suffering and death, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” And then he adds, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command; ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  (Galatians 5:1, 13-14).

The apostle Peter similarly writes, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.  Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”  (1 Peter 2:16-17).

When we accept God’s gift of FREEDOM, purchased for us through Jesus’ suffering and death, we are rescued (redeemed) and set free from the guilt and penalty of sin.  And then by God’s overcoming death through Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb, we are set free from the fear of death.  And finally, by God’s bringing Jesus’ love and power to us through His indwelling Holy Spirit, we are set free from self-contempt, insecurity, hopelessness, purposeless living, addictions, racism, and all selfish and unloving attitudes and actions toward others.

We all know that this FREEDOM gift from God has been and continues to be constantly under attack by satanic-inspired enemies seeking to deceive the declared disciples of Jesus into believing a false, but more tolerable understanding of personal freedoms as my rights to speak and do as I please.

Another writer has named these enemies of FREEDOM as complacency, conformity, control, and coercion, which are currently extremely active in the political and religious arenas of today.

Complacency is evident in the undisciplined and unmotivated person.  God’s FREEDOM is always the result of a disciplined relationship of love and obedience to God.  It is never free nor automatic.  It must be desired and pursued as our first priority.

Conformity is evident in the desire to squeeze everyone into the same mold of thinking and acting as we are by intimidation and accusation.  God’s grants His FREEDOM to all others, even if they are not like us, do not think like us, nor agree with us, and even do not do things the way we do.  And yet, this desire for conformity continues to be a divisive struggle in many evangelical, conservative churches.  

Control is evident in the attempt by any religious group to control the government and determine its policies regarding religious beliefs and behaviors.  This is an insidious enemy of God’s FREEDOM.  Our histories would confirm that the most grievous threat to God’s FREEDOM is not a government void of religion, but a government controlled by religion.  An earlier Baptist church leader, John Leland said, “Experience, the best teacher, has taught us that fondness of magistrates to foster Christianity has done it more harm than all the persecutions ever did.”  And yet, this is the advertised goal of many who call themselves evangelical Christians, in their use of Old Testament stories to authenticate their efforts.

Coercion is evident in the demands that the religious faith of others be just like ours, and expressed with the same terminology and practiced in the same manner as we do.  The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were coercing people into conformity with their rules and regulations regarding relationship with God.  

Jesus opposed this kind of Pharisaical pursuit of Godly living, knowing that coercion of any kind is an enemy of the FREEDOM that He was offering to all people.  Jesus’ always offered God’s gift of FREEDOM as a choice.  Jesus lived and practiced the FREEDOM He taught, always inviting others to choose to believe, trust, and follow Him, saying “Come to me.”  

God’s gift of FREEDOM to Love is offered to all as a choice that bubbles up from a redeemed, transformed heart toward loving God and all others.  So let this FREEDOM to LOVE ring and reign today and tomorrow, in the lives of all who claim to be Christian in our churches, nation, and world.  Amen.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – July 27, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley