BY
GARY RAY BRANSCOME
God caused the Bible to be written as a
divine witness to Jesus Christ and the forgiveness secured for us by His death
on the cross (John 5:39 and 20:31). Furthermore, because He wanted its words to
be understood and believed, He caused it to be written in the language of
shepherds, tent makers, and fishermen not the language of mystics and
philosophers (2Corinthians 3:12). Moreover, in keeping with clarity, its
central message is history not philosophy, and that history includes seven
events that have a deep spiritual significance for every one of us. Those
events are:
1. The creation of the world in six days
2. The fall of man into sin
3. The virgin Birth of Christ
4. The death of Christ on the Cross
5. The resurrection of Christ from the Dead
6. The ascension of Christ into heaven
7. The return of Christ, to judge the living and the
dead.
Six of those events are
past, and one is yet in the future. Yet they not only are basic to the work of
the Holy Ghost, but also relate to freedom (John 16:8).
CREATION
Those who deny that God has created us, and will hold us accountable for what
we do, wind up concluding that there are no moral absolutes. However, the idea
that there are no moral absolutes makes it easy to justify tyranny. In fact, by
denying accountability to God evolution provided a philosophical rational for
both communism and Nazism. In contrast, our own "Declaration of
Therefore, as Christians we have every right to object when we are forced by
taxation, to support an educational establishment that attacks the truth of
creation. In fact, the First Amendment clearly precludes any action on the part
of government that would deny us the free expression of our beliefs, whether in
the halls of congress, or in the classroom. At the same time, those on the
government payroll have no business using the public school classrooms as a
pulpit for preaching atheism.
THE
FALL
Those who believe that all men are basically good tend to blindly trust their
rulers, and blind trust leads to tyranny. In contrast, Those
who recognize the fact that we have a fallen nature, and a heart that is
"deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," see the
importance of preventing the abuse of power (Jeremiah 17:9, John
THE
VIRGIN BIRTH OF CHRIST
Those who associate luxury and pomp with deity will identify God with the high
and mighty of this world. Furthermore, if they think of God as a harsh judge
they will assume that harshness is God's way of dealing with people, and will
find it easy to rationalize tyranny. However, those who know the love of God,
and see that love expressed by His willingness to be born in a stable and share
the life of the common people, are not likely to abuse power or to turn a deaf
ear to the cries of the poor. Thus, through the virgin birth we come to see God
in a way that is inconsistent with tyranny.
CHRIST'S
DEATH ON THE CROSS
Those who think of service as something that would be beneath the dignity
of God will assume that rulers should not serve the people, or sacrifice their
own comfort, but should be served. However, that way of thinking is
inconsistent with the fact that God revealed Himself, in the person of Christ,
as one who was not only willing to serve, but as one who was willing to die in
our place. The love of God that was revealed to us in Christ is incompatible
with the abuse of power.
God revealed the depth of His love for us when, in the person of Christ,
He took our sins upon Himself and died in our place so that we might have
forgiveness and eternal life. In keeping with that love, rulers should think of
themselves as public servants, rather than gods. Furthermore, they should not
pervert the concept of service, either to make themselves rich or to appear as
benefactors at someone else's expense – by giving to some what they have
taken from others (Luke 22:25,26). Instead they should serve the people by
protecting the innocent, seeing that criminals receive swift and sure
punishment, and praising that which is good and right (Romans 13:3, 1 Peter
2:14, Ecclesiastes 8:11, 1 Timothy 1:9, 1 Timothy 2:2).
CHRIST'S
RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD
Christ's resurrection from the dead is a Divine testimony to the fact that He
was the Son of God, and that God accepted His
sacrifice on our behalf. For that reason, the resurrection (which is one of the
best-established facts of history) affirms everything that I have said about
Christ's virgin birth, life, and death on the cross. The love of God that has
been revealed through Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection is
inconsistent with the negation of love inherent in tyranny.
CHRIST'S
ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN
Rulers who are confident that they will never have to account to anyone for
what they do, exercise little self-restraint in their abuse of power. However,
like His resurrection, Christ's Ascension testifies to the fact that He is who
He claimed to be, and that He will return to judge the living and the dead.
That means that rulers will someday have to account for what they do. And, any
ruler who believes that he will have to give account will be less likely to
abuse the power entrusted to him. For that reason, the fact that Christ has
ascended unto heaven, and will return to judge the living and the dead, is
inconsistent with tyranny.
CHRIST'S
SECOND COMING
Because Christ will return to judge the living and the dead, every knee will
bow to Him and give account (Philippians
Contrary to popular opinion, the Ten Commandments were given to Moses as the
head of state, and were the basis of the political law of
OUR
GOD GIVEN RIGHTS
Through the Ten Commandments God has given us certain inalienable rights that
no ruler is authorized to deny. Because those rights are rooted in God's
standard of right and wrong, official recognition of the Ten Commandments is
important to the preservation of freedom. In fact, each Commandment gives us a
specific right. For example: The commandment, "Thou shalt
not kill" gives us the right to life. Moreover, because government exists
to protect that right, no ruler is free to commit murder. Therefore, while God
has authorized capital punishment and allows for national defense in time of
war, a ruler who uses his means to commit murder (as David did with Uriah) should be punished for the crime of murder. However,
it will only be possible to hold rulers accountable for their crimes if those
in authority are subject to the same laws as everyone else, and a division of
power makes it possible to punish rulers who violate those laws.
The First Commandment gives us the right to worship and
serve the one true God to the exclusion of any other. Since one aspect of
worship involves doing the will of God, that commandment gives us the right to
serve God by freely proclaiming His Word, even if that Word condemns the sins
of rulers (freedom of speech). It also gives us the right to publish that word,
and the right to gather peacefully to hear that Word (freedom of press and
assembly). Furthermore, it gives to us the right to work through moral and
lawful means to correct abuses on the part of government (the right to petition
government for redress of grievances). And, it gives us the right to teach our
children to do likewise.
By forbidding us to take His name in vain, God has given us the right to treat
His name respectfully. Consequently, no ruler has the authority to make us
swear falsely in God's name, lie in God's name, or otherwise misuse God's name.
By requiring us to keep the Sabbath day holy, God has given us the right to set
every seventh day apart for worship, and no government has any God-given
authority to forbid such worship.
By commanding children to honor their father and mother, God
has given every child the right to be instructed by his parents, to respect his
parents, and to follow the faith of his parents. Therefore, no government has
any God-given authority to indoctrinate our children contrary to our wishes, to
turn them against us, or to make them testify against us.
By condemning adultery, God has given us the right to lead a chaste and moral life,
marry, be faithful to our spouse, and have a spouse who is faithful to us.
Moreover, no ruler has any God-given authority to violate that right, or to
make laws that encourage the violation of that right.
By condemning theft, God has given us the right to property.
While those rulers who serve us well deserve their salary, and will incur
expenses which must be met, they have no God-given authority to confiscate our
property, either for their own enrichment or to appear as benefactors at our expense
(Luke 22:25,26).
By condemning false witness, God has given us the right to
tell the truth, and to speak well of our neighbor. For that reason, no ruler
has any God-given authority to bear false witness, or to make us bear false
witness against our neighbor.
By condemning covetousness, God has given us the right to
help our neighbor, care for our neighbor, and seek his good. Therefore, no
ruler has any God-given authority to encourage envy, or nurture animosity
between different groups of people.
Any ruler who would command us to violate one of God's
Commandments ceases to be a representative of God, and becomes instead a
representative of Satan who is trying to turn us against our true King, Jesus
Christ.
The point of this essay is that faith leads to freedom, while sin and unbelief
lead to bondage. However, when it comes to defining freedom, the Bible makes a
distinction between liberty and license that many in our society fail to
understand (Galatians