The Problem of Freedom Without God

In these increasingly dark days, a philosophy of freedom without reference to God has emerged.  In other words, people believe they are free to do anything they want.

Well, the fact is, God does give the right of free choice or what is often called free will.  People are free to send themselves to hell if they choose, but this is not God's preference.  He suffered greatly to try to prevent this from happening, but like any gift, it can be refused.

Freedom, as understood by the founding Fathers of the United States of America, included the freedom to serve God and freedom to worship God.  Freedom was tethered to the Bible and the existence of objective truth to which freedom must be directed. In other words, man was free to follow the admonitions of the Old and New Testament.  As long as society was made up of a majority of Christians, this was understood.

Then secular, atheist, and irreligious people misused government and demanded a false notion of the separation of church and state.  It would have been more honest to say they were demanding a separation of the state from morals and ethics. 

In other words, a ruling class wanted the freedom to steal, lie, and deceive the electorate with impunity with no consequences.  And, to a large extent, with important exceptions, the church basically rolled over and let the secularists and atheists take over.  We are seeing the full-blown consequences of this trend all around us today.

The church stayed within the four walls of the church building and left the dirty business of government to those who were without scruples or morals, at least some of them.  Over time, that number appears to have increased.

Without tethering good government to the laws of God, there can be no true freedom.  Because where one man will demand property rights, another man will demand the right to take property freely.  Where one man will follow the law to refuse bribery, another will take a bribe as a way to make money.  Where one man will reverence life, another will take life.  Where one man will refrain from stealing, another man will steal.

Unless there is a common agreement that certain laws are inviolate, and those laws have to be the ones in the Old Testament such as "thou shalt not steal", "thou shalt not covet anything that is thine neighbor's", "thou shalt not commit adultery", and"honor they father and mother", etc., then there is no end to one segment of society destroying what the other builds up.

Freedom will never be fully perfected until all come under the rulership of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This does not mean one denomination.  Those who first came to this country wanted to escape from, the necessity to belong to one church, the State Church.  But it does mean that all denominations agree on the Ten Commandments and multitudes of other statutes such as property rights, no usury, no theft, no bribery, no murder, and other things running rampart today.

Freedom is a great concept, but it will not work apart from God.  In heaven, people are free, but they free to do things God's way, because freedom is ordered toward choosing the good.  Their heart's desire is to follow God's way.  If not, they are not there.  God's ways, when followed, are ways of loving relationships, prosperity, health, and peace.  Who would not want that?

If I come to your house in response to a dinner invitation, and you open the door, you expect me to walk in the decorum of your house.  Otherwise, I am not invited.  God invites those to his house, his kingdom, his heaven, who follow the house rules and who honor the Host.  It is pretty simple. 

The real concept of freedom is that people are free to walk with God.  They are free to be receive Jesus, receive the Word of God, and learn to walk in His ways.  That is what freedom is all about, not simply freedom to follow any thought that comes to mind.