Special: the Higher Purpose of Freedom, 7/4/95; Jer 80; PPG 3,8 6/19/84; Eph 287, 325 7/8/86

                                       

DOCTRINE OF FREEDOM

 

A.  Principle of Human Freedom.

      1. Freedom is the status of human volition as the uncaused cause of human function. Live and let live is the principle of freedom. Freedom is legitimate self-determination. It is exemption from necessity apart from human consent. Freedom is self-fulfillment. Freedom is exemption from arbitrary control and exploitation. Freedom is related to privacy, property, and authority. Therefore, it emphasizes the need for the laws of divine establishment which define legitimate authority, designed for the protection of freedom.

      2. The second concept that comes from volition in the soul is privacy, which is the environment for the establishment of freedom. Freedom always demands that the individuals under it have their privacy. This includes for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ the privacy of the priesthood. You have a double privacy.

      3. Freedom includes the right to possess, enjoy, benefit, or to make profit from the acquired things of this life, that is, the true concept of property. Property is defined as the sum total of one’s possessions, tangible and intangible. Under freedom, the individual has a right to make a profit and to possess personal and real property. Ownership means any valuable right or interest which can be considered as a source of wealth.

      4. Freedom includes authority. Authority under the laws of divine establishment include personal volition, marriage, family, government. Authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom without authority is anarchy. Under the laws of divine establishment, freedom and authority are mated. You cannot have one without the other. Freedom without the authority of doctrine is antinomianism. Authority without the freedom of the royal priesthood is legalism.

      5. Both life and property are sacred under the laws of divine establishment. The laws of divine establishment recognize the sacredness of property, privacy, and life as the function of human freedom. Therefore, human cannot exist or be effective apart from human responsibility. The freedom of a nation is no more effective than the morality, virtue, integrity, and sense of responsibility of all of its citizens. Freedom and authority must coexist on the basis of integrity—the virtue and values attained by a nation in any given generation of its history.

      6. There are two enemies of freedom to the national entity.

              a. Criminality is the internal enemy to freedom. Law enforcement is the part of establishment designed to apprehend and punish criminals. Once a person is convicted of a crime, they have no rights under the Scriptural view of law until they have served their sentence. Capital punishment is authorized by the word of God as the greatest control of criminality when properly practiced, Gen 9:5-6; Mt 26:52; Rom 13:3-4; Ex 21:12; Num 35:30

              b. The external enemy to freedom are other nations. There are two general categories of nations: those that are power oriented and function under some system of tyranny, and those nations that are freedom oriented and function under the laws of divine establishment. Without Jesus Christ ruling the earth at the second Advent, there will always be wars. Freedom from power oriented nations comes from freedom through military victory.

      7. The greatness of a nation can only be measured by the virtue of its freedom and the integrity of its authority.

              a. Ps 119:45, “And I will seek freedom, for I seek Your doctrines, O God.”

              b. Jn 8:32, “and you shall know the doctrine, and the doctrine [truth] shall make you free.”

              c. Gal 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing fast and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery.” In context, this refers to slavery to the arrogance skills, slavery to legalism and activism, slavery to the dictates of the sin nature.

      8. Freedom and equality cannot coexist.

              a. Freedom can neither guarantee nor manufacture equality in the human race. Some use freedom to advance under the principle of self-determination; others use freedom to retrogress. There is no equality in heaven. Eternal reward is determined by the use of volition in time.

              b. Freedom is a reality and equality is a myth. The function of freedom guarantees inequality. Equality is the device of the arrogant and the disoriented person. Forced equality is not only the policy of tyrants, but is the basis for Satan’s eschatological cosmos diabolicus.

      9. Freedom is the motivation of the grace-oriented person who follows the principle of live and let live.

     10. Freedom is the policy of God in the creation of the human race to resolve the angelic conflict. The very fact that God created us with volition indicates that He intended us to exercise our free will as a part of the angelic conflict.

     11. Freedom should be dogmatic and inflexible about the essentials of life, and flexible and pliable about the non-essentials. Therefore, freedom is common sense and orientation to reality.

     12. Freedom must have content of thought.    Spiritual thought content is revealed in the Word of God.

 

B.  Two Kinds of Freedom:  Establishment and Spiritual.

      1. Human (Temporal, Establishment) Freedom.

              a. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth, beginning with the imputation of human life at birth to the soul.

                   (1) When God imputes human life to the soul and Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature, He provides human freedom at the same time.

                   (2) All members of the human race are born free, but not all are born equal. All people are born free in the sense that all are born with volition.

                   (3) Therefore, under the principle of freedom, slavery is wrong.

              b. Mankind was created by God and placed on the earth to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict. To this end, he was given freedom, with establishment as its protection. Mankind has only one thing in common with angels, and that is freedom or free will.

              c. Human freedom is the true environment for the function of man’s volition. It is the only real environment for the function of establishment freedom.

              d. God has delegated establishment authority to command, to train, to prepare people for life, to employ, to teach, to act as an agent for a principle; e.g., for business, marriage, family, team, city, or nation.

              e. Freedom cannot exist without authority. Authority without freedom is tyranny; freedom without authority is anarchy. Both tyranny and anarchy destroy human freedom.

              f. Temporal freedom is designed for the entire human race under the laws of divine establishment. It is based on the function of human volition, privacy, and the sacredness of property and life.

                   (1) Volition is legitimate self-determination. It is exemption from necessity apart from human consent. It is self-fulfillment. It is exemption from arbitrary control or exploitation. The function of volition is the privilege and franchise of mankind.

                   (2) Privacy is the environment of human freedom. Only criminals have no right to privacy.

                   (3) Property is the expression of freedom. The very fact that you own anything is indicative of the fact that you live in an environment of freedom.

                            (a) Property is the right to possess, to acquire, to benefit, and to make a profit from acquired things in life. Property is defined as anything subject to ownership, i.e., the ownership of tangible things.

                            (b) Ownership is the manifestation of human freedom. Ownership, in the broad sense, is any viable right or interest which may be considered as a source of wealth, whether it is property, money, business, or brick-a-bra.

                   (4) Life, as well as property, is sacred. Mankind must possess life to exercise and function under the principle of freedom.

              g. The laws of divine establishment as found in Rom 13:1-10 recognize the sacredness of privacy, property, and life as the means of functioning under temporal freedom. Those who violate these sacred rights are criminals who have no right to privacy, property, or even life under certain conditions.

              h. Human freedom cannot exist or be effective apart from human responsibility.

              i. Human freedom is for all believers and unbelievers in a nation. Human freedom must be earned and deserved; therefore, it is not directly related to the grace plan of God in which you cannot earn or deserve anything.

              j. Both the believer and unbeliever are responsible for human freedom. The unbeliever is just as responsible as the believer to maintain human freedom.     The believer, therefore, must serve in the military just as the unbeliever must. No distinction is made between believer and unbeliever in terms of obligatory military service.

              k. Freedom in a nation is no more effective than the morality, virtue, and sense of responsibility in all of its citizens.

                   (1) Morality in itself is not the issue for the believer, because morality by itself without God leads to arrogance. But morality does protect establishment freedom. Virtue, which is higher than morality, is what is required of believers.

                   (2) Morality is required of the unbeliever; virtue is required of the believer. All citizens should have a personal sense of responsibility.

              l. Human freedom is earned by the recognition of the laws of divine establishment. It is preserved through the military establishment and law enforcement. The military protects our freedom from enemies without; law enforcement protects our freedom from enemies within.

              m. Human freedom demands separation of church and state. Believers have no right to superimpose so-called “Christian laws” on the state; that’s evil.

              n. Human freedom demands separation of the military and state. The United States is one of the few countries that recognize this principle. Hence, our military has always been subordinate to our civilian government, which is a great protection against military dictatorships.

              o. Human freedom demands separation of law enforcement and the state.

              p. Human freedom demands separation of business enterprise and the state. This separation is crucial to the full function of free enterprise, without which there is no successful economy. Every business, unless it is criminal, has every right to be successful, to make as much money as possible, and to be efficient.

              q. Human freedom is purchased by military victory against enemies outside the state, and by successful law enforcement against criminals who are enemies inside the state.

              r. Ex 20:1-17, the ten commandments, lists mandates for the entire human race for the preservation of human freedom.

      2. Spiritual Freedom.

              a. Just as establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth, so spiritual freedom is the heritage of the new birth or regeneration. 2 Cor 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit is deity], and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with an unveiled face looking into a mirror to produce a reflection of the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, as it were from the Spirit of the Lord.”

                   (1) Spiritual freedom is the environment for all believers to execute the unique spiritual life of all time.

                   (2) The believer must never use his spiritual freedom to endanger or hurt the divine blessings which accompany such freedom. Any believer who does not execute the four spiritual mechanics and objectives of the Christian way of life is hurting this nation.

                   (3) The believer must use his spiritual freedom to advance through the function of the four spiritual mechanics and thereby attain the two tactical and two strategic objectives of the spiritual life.

                   (4) Our unveiled face is the positive believer in the consistent function of the two power options—the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. The mirror is the word of God. We look into the word of God to produce the reflection of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.

                   (5) Gal 4:19 summarizes this concept, “until Christ is formed in you.”

              b. Spiritual freedom is for believers only. It is the function of spiritual freedom that is the basis for the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church.

              c. The function of spiritual freedom is based on cognition and utilization of the spiritual skills: the filling of the Spirit, metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness, and ten problem solving devices which you deploy on the FLOT line of the soul as you learn the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

              d. Human freedom cannot exist or be effective without human responsibility. This is also true of spiritual freedom; we have responsibility.

                   (1) First, we cannot have spiritual freedom without making the decision to believe in Christ.

                   (2) Thereafter, we must make thousands of daily decisions to live inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. Spiritual freedom only exists inside the divine dynasphere.

              e. You get a taste of spiritual freedom at salvation. The moment you believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit enters you into your divine dynasphere, the only place of spiritual freedom. When you sin, you’re out; grieving the Holy Spirit in cosmic one, or quenching the Holy Spirit in cosmic two. Then you no longer have spiritual freedom because you are in Satan’s dungeon.

              f. Spiritual freedom is the basis for equal opportunity for every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God for the Church. We have equality to succeed or fail under the freedom God has provided.

              g. Spiritual freedom is destroyed by the function of the arrogance skills—self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption.

              h. The believer can live and function without temporal freedom, but he cannot execute the protocol plan of God without spiritual freedom.

      3. Two Categories of Nations.

              a. Power-oriented nations function under two principles of degeneration.

                   (1) Immoral degeneration.

                   (2) Moral degeneration.

              b. There is relativity of degeneration among power-oriented nations; i.e., the level of degeneration, whether moral or immoral, varies among power-oriented nations.

              c. For example, the USSR is very strict with strong law enforcement. But as a power-oriented nation, they have their own form of evil. They have eliminated evil on the street, e.g., the little guy, the criminal, and drugs. But Soviet evil exists on a much larger scale, as evidenced in Afghanistan, where an entire population is being murdered. Therefore, the USSR can be called Evil One.

              d. On the other hand, the USA has grass roots evil today. Grass roots evil is characterized by the all-ruling “public opinion.” Our general public opinion is pitiful, lacking intelligence and understanding of any kind. This contributes to our bureaucratic pettiness.

                   (1) As a result, the current mindset is characterized by evil; e.g., if a business is too successful, tax it; if it is more than too successful, break it up and destroy it (as was done to AT&T).

                   (2) Another grass roots evil today is our drug problem.

                   (3) Another is the arrogance of the born-again believer in crusader activity.

                   (4) We are becoming Evil Two.

              e. Revelation teaches the principle that Evil One eventually destroys Evil Two. This will soon apply to the USA if we continue on our present course.

              f. Russia is a typical illustration of a power-oriented empire. Communism rejects individual freedom and subordinates everything to the state. Therefore, they can enforce morality. This is manifest in their unbeliever legalism. For example, if you drop a piece of paper, your fellow comrade will report you. This leads to very self-righteous attitudes. Hence, Russia’s evil is moral degeneracy.

              g. By contrast, the USA is being destroyed at the grass roots level by both believers and unbelievers who practice both moral and immoral degeneracy. Our moral degeneracy is manifested in crusader arrogance.    Our immoral degeneracy is manifested in many ways:     drug addiction, openness of homosexual society, and all the many anti-establishment functions which undermine society.

      4. Spiritual Freedom without Temporal Freedom.

              a. The USA is a client nation to God with freedom orientation.

              b. However, we live in a world of nations who are power-oriented rather than freedom-oriented, and they function under principles of tyranny.

              c. Whether a Christian lives under a government of freedom or tyranny, he still possesses the divine dynasphere at salvation and the higher freedom of spiritual freedom. Therefore, he can execute the protocol plan of God whether he lives in a nation and environment of freedom or of tyranny.

              d. There are believers without temporal freedom in communist countries, yet they are still free to fulfill the plan of God. God makes special provision under logistical grace to keep them alive to execute His plan.

              e. For example, a positive believer in communist Russia can advance from gate #4 to gate #8, because in the divine dynasphere he has the spiritual freedom to do so. If he has positive volition, God will provide the information.

              f. Actually, spiritual freedom can coexist with either temporal freedom or tyranny, because spiritual freedom is the private state of the believer residing in his own palace.

              g. Spiritual freedom in the divine dynasphere can actually function with or without human freedom. Some of the greatest believers in the Roman Empire were slaves with very limited or no human freedom. But inside the divine dynasphere, they advanced to spiritual maturity under spiritual freedom and became great believers in the Roman Empire.

              h. However, most believers today are not using their spiritual freedom. They are functioning in cosmic one, grieving the Spirit, preoccupied with themselves in arrogance, and they are functioning in cosmic two, quenching the Spirit, carried away with their own intellect and occupied with other people. As a result, this great spiritual freedom of the Church Age is being rejected.

      5. Spiritual Freedom versus Temporal Freedom.

              a. Only spiritual freedom can fulfill the protocol plan of God. Human freedom depends upon the work of man, but spiritual freedom is a part of the riches of God’s grace.

              b. Human freedom depends upon human works; spiritual freedom depends on the filling of the Spirit which only exists in the divine dynasphere.

              c. Many wonderful works have been performed to protect our human freedom under the principle of freedom through military victory. Many police officers have dedicated their lives to our human freedom. Though these are good and honorable human works, they are still human works. Your human freedom doesn’t depend on you, but on a lot of other people, such as the police officer, the judge on the bench, good government administrators, good lawmakers, good supreme courts, your neighbors, and all citizens.

              d. The Constitution of the United States is one of the greatest documents in all of human history. It guarantees our “religious freedom.” But even religious freedom is not spiritual freedom. Religious freedom is the freedom to worship as you please, to accept and believe in Christ or to reject Him. This means you are free to be involved in any religious sect or organization. All this is actually a part of human freedom.

              e. Spiritual freedom cannot be guaranteed by the Constitution. Spiritual freedom can only be guaranteed by your own positive volition toward Bible doctrine, and by your residence, function, and momentum inside your very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere.

              f. Therefore, spiritual freedom is the monopoly of the believer in Christ. It exists only in the divine dynasphere. You walk into spiritual freedom when you believe in Christ.

      6. Summary.

              a. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth. Spiritual freedom is the heritage of regeneration.

              b. Spiritual freedom is can function with or without establishment freedom, depending upon the circumstances of life. Establishment freedom or lack of it is related to public modus operandi in the nation, while spiritual freedom is invisible. It is related to the privacy of your royal priesthood under the filling of the Holy Spirit and the metabolization of doctrine.

              c. Establishment freedom is based on human morality and virtue, both in thinking and action as illustrated by the function of law enforcement and the military establishment.

              d. Spiritual freedom is non-meritorious, because it is related to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and the provision in time of the four spiritual mechanics.

              e. Establishment freedom recognizes the principle that freedom without authority is anarchy and authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom is the virtue of its people and the integrity of its authority.

                   (1) Human freedom emphasizes self-determination in the function of human volition, and takes responsibility for one’s own decisions.

                   (2) Therefore, human freedom demands a personal sense of responsibility in all citizens, believers and unbelievers, and subordination to all legitimate authority in life, e.g., parent, coach, teacher, professor, police officer, judge, senior officer, or boss.

                   (3) Human freedom is relative, based on the type of government and the policy of a nation or empire for its citizens.

                   (4) Human freedom is a merit system which depends on law enforcement, self-restraint, self-discipline, thoughtfulness of others, and freedom through military victory. Human freedom is no stronger than the thinking or mental attitude of leadership at the local, state, and national levels.

              f. Therefore, spiritual freedom is an absolute. The carnal Christian does not have spiritual freedom; only the believer who is said to be spiritual has spiritual freedom.

              g. The greatest decision of human freedom is to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. However spiritual freedom, by way of contrast, requires that you make constant decisions to live your very own spiritual life. Therefore, as the Romans put it:  WINQIT QUI PATITUR, translated “He is a winner who perseveres.”

 

C.  Spiritual freedom is the heritage of the Church Age believer.

      1. There is no more dramatic passage in the Bible than the principle of spiritual freedom found in 2 Cor 3:17-18. “Now the Lord is the Spirit [Holy Spirit], and where the Spirit of the Lord is [in the body of the believer and in the divine dynasphere], there is [spiritual] freedom. But we all [royal family], with an unveiled face [filling of the Spirit], beholding as in a mirror [Word of God] the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image [cf. Gal 4:19] from glory [humanity of Christ in prototype divine dynasphere] to glory [momentum of believer in divine dynasphere], just as from the Spirit of the Lord [enabling power].”

      2. This passage starts out by telling us that the Holy Spirit is God. It is one of the rare passages that document the deity of the Holy Spirit. Here He is called KURIOS, a Greek word for deity.

      3. The filling of the Spirit is the means of living the Christian way of life, and/or the enabling power to execute the protocol plan of God.

      4. Gal 5:16, “Walk by means of the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”

      5. When we look into the mirror of the Word of God, it is not our reflection we see, but the mirror of the Word produces the reflection of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory.

      6. “Being transformed into the same image” is a reference to Gal 4:19: “My little children, I am sweating you out until Christ is formed in you.” Christ being formed in you is the key to 2 Cor 3:18.

 

D.  The Necessity for Human Freedom.

      1. Free will in man is the only thing that man has in common with angels. Human freedom, therefore, is an extension of the angelic conflict into human history. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict. And man’s freedom functioning on a non-meritorious basis resolves certain aspects of that conflict.

      2. Therefore, the greatest issue in human freedom is evangelism. However, in the function of evangelism, a public invitation to believe in Christ is a violation of the privacy of human freedom. It is a misinterpretation of Rom 10:9-10.

 

E.  The Protection of Human Freedom.

      1. God has provided the laws of divine establishment to protect the volition, rights, privacy, and property of individuals.

      2. These laws are also the basis for the freedom of evangelism.

      3. True morality protects freedom and recognizes the rights of others.

      4. It takes the antithesis of freedom, or authority, to protect freedom.

      5. The two most honorable professions in the world in relation to human freedom are the police force and the military.

      6. Human freedom is protected by authority for the purpose of continued evangelism and teaching of Bible doctrine in Satan’s world.

 

F.  The Spiritual Function of Freedom. Non-meritorious human positive volition can function in three ways under God’s plan of grace.

      1. In salvation by faith in Christ.

      2. In rebound by acknowledgment of sin, where the justice of God is free to forgive us and enter us back into the divine dynasphere.

      3. In the protocol plan of God by positive volition toward the teaching of the Word of God, in order that we may reach the point of spiritual maturity, Gal 5:1.

 

G.  The Relationship of Human Freedom to Authority and Discipline.

      1. Jesus Christ set the precedent at the cross, Heb 5:8. He was free to reject the cross, but He recognized the Father’s authority and became obedient even unto death, Phil 2:8.

      2. Matt 26:39 says that our Lord was totally obedient. His obedience at the cross results in our spiritual freedom which we have inside the divine dynasphere, Gal 5:1.

      3. The application to us is that we need to exercise self-discipline and consistently use our freedom for the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

 

H.  The Relationship of Human Freedom to Manners and Morality.

      1. Freedom demands responsibility. We are free, but we are not irresponsibly free.

      2. All people have a responsibility to obey the laws of establishment. Morality is the human safeguard for freedom.

      3. Moral responsibility demands waiting for one’s right partner in life, good manners, paying taxes, serving in the military, and obeying the law.

      4. Good manners are a sign of being inculcated with the principle of freedom. You curtail your freedom by thoughtfulness for others. A self- disciplined man is always a gentleman. A gentleman is someone who recognizes that others have freedom as well, and he subordinates his freedom to them.

      5. True love cannot be coerced; it must be freely given. When true love is given, it demands in return privacy, caring, and cherishing that love.

 

I.  The Relationship of Human Freedom to Maturity.

      1. The adult individual must be free to make his own successes or mistakes. Therefore, he must take the responsibility for all his decisions.

      2. A person is not mature until he is able to take the responsibility for his own decisions on a consistent basis.

      3. Parents must realize that there comes a time in their child’s life when he becomes an adult and must make his own choices, good or bad.

 

J.  The Relationship of Human Freedom to Sin.

      1. All sin, known or unknown, involves the function of human volition.

      2. Ignorance is no excuse. Whether you knew it was a sin or not, you still wanted to do it.

            Therefore, you and you alone are responsible for your own sins.

      3. You have no right to ever blame your failures on anyone else.

      4. Criminals are criminals because of the decisions of their own volition to violate freedom and try to get away with it. Therefore, criminals must lose their freedom and be punished.

      5. The old sin nature never functions apart from total agreement of human free will. Volition plus temptation from the old sin nature produces sin.

      6. The first sin ever committed was committed by a woman. She didn’t understand what she was doing was sin, but God still held her responsible.

 

K.  The Relationship of Human Freedom to Christianity.

      1. Knowledge of doctrine frees the believer from slavery to the old sin nature, permitting him to accurately live the Christian way of life, Jn 8:32. Doctrine frees us to have a relationship with God in time.

      2. Jesus Christ provided us with spiritual freedom to serve God and advance to maturity, Gal 3:13, 5:1.

      3. Believers are said to have “a glorious freedom,” Rom 8:21.

      4. This freedom is related to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, 2 Cor 3:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [spiritual] freedom.”

      5. The “Word of God” is called the law of liberty because it defines the believer’s freedom to glorify God through Bible doctrine, Jas 1:25, 2:12.

      6. Positive volition to Bible doctrine is the basis for freedom in the client nation, Ps 119:45. This is why freedom is part of our national heritage.

      7. The Ten Commandments are the Magna Charta of human freedom, Ex 20:2, Deut 5:6. The Year of Jubilee, wherein everyone started all over every fifty years, was designed to maintain and perpetuate the freedom of a nation, Lev 25:10.

      8. As the Mosaic Law provided freedom in the Age of Israel, so today the Holy Spirit provides freedom in the Church Age, 2 Cor 3:17; Rom 8:2-4.

      9. Slavery was a national issue in Jeremiah’s day, Jer 34:8-17. Jeremiah constantly warned against soul slavery. The people’s souls were shackled, and slavery of the soul always ends up in physical slavery or death.

     10. Eternal liberty belongs to the children of God, Rom 8:21. Our eternal freedom is related to the doctrine of redemption, Isa 61:1, Lk 4:18-20.

     11. Experiential sanctification provides daily freedom to serve God, Rom 6:16-20; while positional sanctification provides freedom from slavery to the old sin nature, Rom 6:7. If you’re going to serve God, you must have freedom from the old sin nature, even though the old sin nature is still in you.

     12. Bible doctrine learned and metabolized under operation Z provides freedom from soul slavery, Jn 8:30-36; Jas 1:25, 2:12.

     13. Therefore, liberty is the modus vivendi of Christianity, Gal 5:13; 1 Pet 2:16. That means that every believer, even with a small amount of doctrine, ought to understand freedom, free enterprise, patriotism.

     14. Legalism seeks to enslave the believer and destroy that liberty, Gal 2:4. This is why false teachers, though in slavery themselves, promise freedom to their victims, 2 Pet 2:19.

     15. Freedom provides that stability of soul necessary for both occupation with Christ and worship, 2 Chr 29:31.

     16. Since salvation and the inculcation of doctrine provide freedom for the soul, human slavery does not hinder the believer from serving God, 1 Cor 7:20-23. This is why Paul told believer slaves to not break out of slavery, for they are God’s freemen and can continue to serve God. And to those who were free, he told them to consider themselves God’s servants, free to serve Him. Gal 3:28 teaches the same principle.

     17. Citizenship in a national entity provides freedom, Act 22:28.

 

 

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 © 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr.  All rights reserved.

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