GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
This is not an attempt to mimic "check-out line" magazines that just try to grab attention. This is an attempt to a biblical approach to an obvious tension among Christians regarding their civic duties. We live with this tension because we have two homelands. We are born from above yet assigned to live and die on this earth: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3 NRSV).
If we only think of our eternal homeland, we will neglect our earthly duties. If we only think of our earthly existence, we will be conformed to our culture's norms, susceptible to all the fears and frustrations that come with being cut off from home. We will either be legitimately accused of being so heavenly-minded we are of no earthly good, or of being so worldly that we are hypocrites.
"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11 NRSV).
Aliens have a special kind of freedom. The apostle Peter expressed it in what seems to be a paradoxical phrase: "As God's slaves, live as free people..." (1 Peter 2:16 HCSB). Since the original fall of humanity into sin, we have been captives to fear and frustration. The only freedom possible is submitting to be slaves to the One who is sovereign love. When He is responsible for our provision and protection, we are freed from self-preservation, self-exaltation, and fear. Nothing is stronger than He, and love motivates everything He does. His purpose is to restore us to true humanity as originally designed. It is an honor to be His slave. The only other option is being a slave to sin.
Peter goes on to explain the nature of this alien freedom: "Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Peter 2:17 NRSV). As we respect all people as being created in the image of God and worth the redemption price of the Son, we eliminate prejudice, racism, and injustice. As we love the family of believers, we embrace the purpose of God to bless the world through His family of priests. As we fear God, we respond to Him as the final authority and last word in our lives. As we honor the emperor, we accept God's use of civil authority to order society, and we submit to participate in it.
When Peter wrote his letter, there was one emperor of Rome. In our day we live in a democratic republic where the people being governed have a role to play in who establishes order and how it is done. We honor this process by lawfully participating in it with diligence.
The same root word for honor is used for our attitude toward everyone and toward the emperor. We don't have to approve of what everyone or the emperor does in order to honor. We do have to see them as God values them. Emperors change. Civil authority is God's established way of ordering society. It remains. We must constantly work to establish laws that reflect the values of God's kingdom. Personalities are not as important as policies.
Being aliens who are enjoying a freedom that is other-worldly, we are faithful to embrace our earthly assignments seriously. We are slaves to God who has made us His sons. We can leave the earth a better place than we found it. Aliens who are aware and awake make good citizens of the earth for we know we will be going home.
Dudley Hall is a Senior Contributor to The Stream. He is the founder and President of Kerygma Ventures, a sought-after speaker, an engaging preacher, an effective consultant, and a trusted spiritual father. Dudley has authored several books including Grace Works, Incense & Thunder, Glad to be Left Behind, Men In Their Own Skin, Orphans No More, When Hard Times Come, Follow Me and his latest, a children's book laced with gospel truth: Shorty the Substitute Ram.
The post There are Aliens Among Us appeared first on The Stream.
Anytime that we discuss freedom as it relates to believers in the kingdom of God, we must realize that freedom means different things to different people!
In Acts 22, an incident in the life of Paul powerfully illustrates the New Testament truth regarding Christian freedom in the kingdom of God!
And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. (As a Roman Citizen or a FREE man, Paul had rights!) And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this FREEDOM. And Paul said, But I was born FREE. —Acts 22:25-28 (KJV)
Freedom meant something totally different to the Roman captain than to Paul.
Many today believe that their Christian May freedom is obtained by ‘paying a high price’—hard work, moral discipline, personal sacrifice! They think that if you sacrifice much in zealous pursuits of Christian discipline, you are ultimately rewarded with victory and freedom.
But I like what Paul said, “Maybe your freedom cost you a high price, but I was born FREE.” Before we can understand and experience true freedom, we have to know that it’s not something we obtain through personal sacrifice, we are born into it!
That doesn’t mean that our freedom was without cost. It came at a very high cost—THE LIFE OF THE SON OF GOD. The degree to which you understand and believe in the freedom you are born into in Christ is the degree of true freedom you will experience in everyday life!
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he [man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
“Thinketh” means “to calculate; to put a valuation on.” “What” and “who” we value in our hearts determines where we go and what we become! Therefore, the way I believe about God and our relationship, controls the way I see and relate to myself and others.
Before we can understand and experience true freedom, we have to know that it’s not some- thing we obtain through personal sacrifice, we are born into it!
All the experiences of our lives, can be directly linked to the condition of our hearts or our belief system! (Prov. 4:20-23)
You can be a God-fearing, Holy Spirit-filled, Bible-quoting, morally-disciplined Christian, living in a reclusive commune! But if your beliefs are still deeply rooted in performance religion, you’ll never be free from the destructive behaviors and bondage that dominate your life.
Unfortunately this is the sad reality of many Christians in the church today.
The Jews served God based on performance religion that unknowingly kept them in bondage. Jesus said to them:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? —John 8:31-33 (KJV)
They didn’t even recognize the religion they were in. They thought that everything was just great!
They served God under a system governed by rules, regulations and performance that could never make them acceptable before God. This is what they needed to be set free from, and it’s the same for many today.
Jesus said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” That truth is relationship with God—free from legalism, self- righteousness and the guilt of the law! Jesus came to give us freedom and abundant life in Him. Celebrate the freedom you were born into every day!
Blessings, Arthur
