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Dark Freedom
The Rise of Western Lawlessness
by C.W. Steinle
Copyright 2015 by C.W. Steinle
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Thursday, March 17, 2016

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Eleven

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Eleven

by C.W. Steinle
Copyright 2015 by C.W. Steinle

Copyrighted material.  All rights reserved.  No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise - without written permission from the publisher.  This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to purchase this book or share with another person, please purchase a copy for each reader from any online bookseller.  Visit Dark-Freedom.com for purchase details or: http://darkfreedombook.com/

Part III - The Everlasting Kingdom
Law-Abiding Grace

As stated in the introduction, lawlessness is next to godlessness.  To deny the law of God is to deny the God of the law. The Bible plainly and repeatedly points out that the ungodly do not like to think about God.  Paul says in Romans, they don't "like to retain God in their knowledge." - Psalm 9:17 speaks of nations that forget God; "The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God."  And Psalm 119 says of those "who follow after wickedness; They are far from Your law."
Drifting away from God's government (God's law) is equivalent to falling away from God.  How can the citizens of the United States appreciate laws in general when the civil judges have lost respect for the constitutional laws of the land?  Society at large is blind to the fact that falling away from the God of laws will inevitably lead the soul into confusion, and the state into chaos.  The message of grace in many of today's western churches conveys that it is possible to leave the law behind without falling away from God.  Seeker friendly churches are adapting to the lawless western lifestyle by implying that the law has been replaced by grace.  Whereas, in truth, grace reveals God's purpose in giving the laws.
In his letters to the Romans and the Galatians, Paul instructed those churches concerning the functional roles of law and grace.  Peter described the freedom that we have in Christ, but also warned Christians not to misuse their freedom.  Why were law and grace given separately?  Can law and grace be reconciled by human logic?  In order to answer these questions it is helpful to examine the circumstances under which the laws of Moses were given, and the timing of God's provision of grace afforded by Christ.
To recognize why the law and grace had to be given separately we must return once again to Mount Sinai.  First we will recount the actual event from the Book of Exodus.  Then we will glean from Moses' reflection on that event from Deuteronomy.  The Deuteronomy passage explains clearly why the law had to be given in advance of God's grace.
"Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.  And let them be ready for the third day.  For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.  You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base.  Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.  Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.’  So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.  And he said to the people, ‘Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.’
Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.  And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire.  Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.  And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.  Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up." - Exodus 19:10-20
"Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.  Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’  And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’  So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.  Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. . .'" - Exodus 20:18-22
This passage demonstrates the assertion of the last chapter; that the fear of the Lord comes directly as a result of experiencing the presence of God.  Furthermore, it is this awe of the living God which motivates people to obey Him; that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.  But the presence of the Lord is overwhelming to humanity in its weak and fallen state.  In every instance of God's revelation of Himself, God had to make a provision so that men would be able to withstand the awesomeness of His presence.  God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock.  For the priests in the tabernacle it was the blood of propitiation.  Isaiah's lips were touched by a purifying ember.  The Spirit had to raise Ezekiel to his feet.  Thus a provision would have to be made so that the common people of Israel might be blessed rather than terrified by God's presence.
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.'"   "And the Lord said to me: 'What they have spoken is good.   I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.   And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.'" – Deut. 18:15-19
Risto Santala pointed out that the writings of the Rabbis acknowledged that a second Prophet like Moses would come:
The Midrash literature on Moses speaks of the 'First' and the 'Last' Saviours. Midrash Rabbah on Ecclesiastes relates how R. Berechiah said in the name of R. Yits-hak, who lived before the year 300 AD, that:
"Just as there was a First Saviour so there will be a Last.  Just as it is said of the First Saviour (Ex. 4:20) that 'He took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey', so it is said of the Last Saviour that 'He is lowly and riding on a donkey'(Zech. 9:9).  As the First Saviour provided manna (Ex. 16), as it is written, 'Behold I will pour out bread from heaven upon you,' so will the Last Saviour, as it is written (Ps. 72:16), 'Let corn abound throughout the land'.  Just as the First Saviour opened a fountain, so the Last Saviour will provide water, as it is written (Joel 3:18), 'A fountain will flow out of the LORD'S house'." - Midrash Qoheleth Rabbati 1.
We have seen that in the light of the old Jewish literature the Messiah is to be a "Second Moses" and the "Last Saviour"; he will be called by the name "Lord"; grace and truth will be united in him; he will be conceived by the Holy Spirit; he will speak and act in the name of God, and that will be his distinguishing "sign"; in this way he will show himself to be Moses "redivivus".  All of these features apply to Jesus.109
God knew ahead of time how the people would react to His presence on the mountain.  He wanted them to have a 'dose' of His presence so they would know their God personally, instead of merely knowing about Him.  The Children of Israel already had an indirect knowledge of God's existence based on His miracles.  No amount of data gathered about God can replace an actual encounter with God.  But in man's fallen state, the presence of God is outside of man's comfort zone.  The sinner's first inclination to the actual presence of God is to run and hide from Him, just like Adam did in the garden after his sin.
Therefore God gave His law as a means of provisional government until that time when Messiah would come and make peace by the blood of His cross.  The mediator of the New Covenant brought peace, grace, and the outpouring of the Spirit.  "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." - John 1:17 Because of the peace and forgiveness purchased by the blood of Jesus, Christians can actually experience the presence of God because they have entered into peace with God.  Note that Jesus' first word to His Disciples after His resurrection was, "Peace."  Because of this peace received through faith in the redemptive work of the cross, Christians actually long to be present with God, and they eagerly await Christ's bodily return.   For everyone who repents and believes, the sin that separated fallen man from His Maker has been washed away by the blood of the Lamb.
Now consider a simple analogy representing the harmony between law and grace.  The law embodies the rules of God, and grace imparts the life, peace, and the presence of God.  Imagine that a parent has built a small outdoor park for his children.  At some time in the future he will to able to spend time with them in the park.  But in lieu of his physical presence he posts instructive signs giving directions on the best and safest ways to enjoy each of the swings and slides and so forth.
Occasionally the kids don't follow the instructions and they get hurt.  Or they try to do something in different way, like swing from side to side; which the swings weren't designed to do.  They are usually sorry and go back to following the instructions.  After a while some neighborhood children come by and say that the signs are dumb, and that they were only posted to keep them from having more fun by doing things their own way.  The signs bother them.  Just having the signs there spoils everything for the neighbors who don't trust the father's advice, and would rather be free to experiment.
At a later time the father comes to spend time with his children.  He interacts with each one, and tends each one to see that they are having fun, while avoiding anything hazardous.  While he is present the kids don't really need the signs.  They would rather enjoy the time with their dad and appreciate his personal attention and advice.  Because he is there to help them he even allows them to do some special things that would have been to complicated to explain with a sign.  By spending time with their father they begin to understand why each sign was posted.  The father leaves the signs up so that if people should come by who don't know the father, and don't know how to play, they would still be informed of how to use the park facilities.
This analogy has its limitations.  In reality, God always sees what is happening.  God has never gone away.  But still God's presence was mostly concealed except for His miracles and answers to prayer.  Men were like sheep without a shepherd; like orphans until Jesus sent the Spirit to remain, even to the end of the age.  Under grace God's people can be directed daily by God Himself.  As long as Christians fear the Lord and walk in His Spirit, they do not require the law.  However, when Christians forget God and walk in the flesh, they are prone to transgression just like those who don't know God.  This is why Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
Again, to go beyond the analogy above, the Spirit received by those who believe in Jesus is the very life of God - eternal life.  But to enjoy the presence of God, Christians must continue in their faith.  We will deal with the issue of faltering as a Christian near the end of this chapter.  At this point let us deal with a few common questions regarding law and grace.  First we must recognize the fact that the differences between the Jerusalem Church of Jewish believers and the Gentile Churches were never settled during the time of the Apostles.  This dispute can only be argued using extra-biblical assumptions.  Such assumptions were indeed manufactured in later centuries.  Therefore since both practices were approved by the New Testament, the author is of the opinion that both the Messianic style and the post-apostolic style of worship are valid according to personal conviction.
That said, the Counsel of Jerusalem reduced the Old Testament laws to a minimum for the Gentile believer.  Why did they feel at liberty to do so?  First of all, the dietary laws were refuted by both Jesus and Paul; as well as by Peter's vision of the unclean animals.  Jesus said what goes into the body cannot defile a man.  Then why was the law ever given to the Jews?  Some laws seem to have been given to set the Jews apart from the other nations.  But also, without refrigeration many of the unclean animals had a history of causing problems.
The subject of washing procedures and special types of containers also makes sense based on hygienics.  Even though the microscope would not reveal the reason until thousands of years after the law, God knew that proper food handling and preparation would protect the people from diseases that might be spread into the Hebrew community.  God's rules on cleanliness helped keep the Israelites free from the diseases of the surrounding nations.
The observance of holy days was addressed by Paul in his letters to the Romans and the Corinthians.  The Early Church seems to have made a point of putting the new wine of the New Covenant into new wineskins.  The earliest records we have of Gentile weekly services calls for them to be held on the first day of the week - the weekday of the resurrection.  But the western churches, particularly Rome, insisted that the yearly celebration of Easter also be held on a different day than the Jewish Passover.   Rome even went so far as to excommunicate the Revelation churches of Asia because they insisted on celebrating on the day of the Jewish Passover.
But the Ten Commandments and the laws of sexual purity were not in any way expunged by the New Covenant.  In fact, they were made even more strict by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount; condemning even intentionally meditating on these sins.  If we go back to the park analogy, those signs weren't taken down; they were repainted in bold letters!  If the reader has been taught to believe in a Lord who has come to take away His own law, they have not known the true Christ.  The law cannot give life anymore than the signs in the park could come to life and become the children's father.  The law is not alive, and it has no life to give.  The Bible says that if someone were able to keep the whole law; even in their heart, they would not be condemned to death.  But everyone, other than Jesus, has been born with a wayward and deceitful heart so that, under the law, all men are disqualified.  The law cannot save; and in this respect we are not under the law because we are saved by grace.  But in our conduct we cannot say that we are not under the law.  Whether we are under the law or under grace, if we transgress the will of God we have sinned.
Paul, who tells us that he was a member of the strictest sect of the Pharisees, saw this danger.  He wrote; "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code" Romans 7:6.  Originally God justified Abraham on the grounds of his faith. Legal ordinances given some 430 years later to Moses cannot annul this "covenant previously established by God" (Gal. 3:16--19). To this day, Christ as the Messiah still has the answer to the Jewish Torah problem.
The "hedge" around the Law with its traditions and ordinances of men has now been torn down. The Ten Commandments are of course still valid as the irrevocable "words of the Covenant". The Christian's protective "hedge" is Christ himself, and so Paul in his letters uses over 160 times the phrase "to be in Christ". If we stray out of Christ, the "dogs of the Law," to use Luther's words will tear us to pieces. In this way the law serves the gospel. Here lay the background and logic of Paul's Torah teaching.110
God gave us both the law and grace.  Therefore both are good and beneficial.  Jesus countered the accusation that He had come to abolish the law by responding, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." – Matt. 5:17-18
The law was given for the necessary purpose of maintaining order in the midst of a fallen world.  "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." - I Tim. 1:8-11
The law also confronts imperfect man with a perfect standard which exposes his inner defect of sin.  We are convicted by our inability to live up to God's standard, leaving us with an unsolvable dilemma: How can mortal man withstand the judgment of a holy God?  The Apostle Paul said it is this very predicament which directs us to grace as the only solution.
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." – Rom. 3:19-20
In Galatians 3:21-25, Paul explained that law and grace are not in opposition to one another.  "Is the law then against the promises of God?  Certainly not!  For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.  But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."
The corruption of sin has stained every man with the defect of inner corruption; a stain which can only be removed by living a perfect life in obedience to every law of God - a life that no one but Jesus has lived.  But God has made a way that the stain might be removed through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.
"’Come now, and let us reason together,’
Says the Lord,
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.’" - Isaiah 1:18
And even though this divine salvation from sin is supernatural, it is not beyond human comprehension.  There is a place for logic and human reasoning in the Christian faith.  "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'  Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'  But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it." – Deut. 30:11-14
So how might we understand the mechanics of salvation?  Some have used the acronym for grace: God's Riches At Christ's Expense.  Others have called it "The Great Exchange," as described in II Cor. 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  This gift of grace bestowed upon those who believe in Christ is the complete forgiveness of sins, and the appropriation of God's righteousness - it is the righteousness of God imparted as a gift upon those who are incapable of righteousness on their own.  It cannot be earned.  It can only be accepted.  It is not based on personal merit.  It's based on the perfect sacrifice which Jesus offered for us on the cross.
"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." - Titus 3:3-7
But why does John say that truth came through Jesus?  Jesus often began His statements; "Truly, truly, I say to you. . ."  Jesus spoke with authority from the full knowledge of the Godhead.  And Jesus is the true and only way to be reconciled to the Father.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6
The life of God - eternal life, is honest life.  It is a holistic and wholesome life that is complete in Christ.  It is true life that sets men free to be who they were created to be. How broken is man in his fallen state!  How he is held back by his insecurity, by his circumstances, by mistakes and misfortunes.  But all the while, he attempts to hide his inner dissatisfaction as he searches within and without for his own identity; only to be more and more disenchanted with the imperfection of his fallen state.
Jesus came to give us life, abundant life, true life as life was meant to be - free from the problems of guilt, of sin, and even from the fear of death.  The New Covenant is the covenant of grace and truth.  It has been said that this gospel is so simple that it might be stated in four words; "Christ died for me."
"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." – Heb. 9:12-15
If Christ did all of the work, is there anything left for us to do?  Yes.  Believe it!  How can you indicate that you understand that the only way to obtain righteousness is through Christ, and that you are placing your faith Him?  Confess what you believe to God and to others.
"For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ‘The man who does those things shall live by them.’ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'’ (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’" – Rom. 10:5-11
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’" Amen.  Matt. 28:18-20
These verses, known as the Great Commission, instructed the Disciples to baptize and teach their converts.  In obedience to this directive, a believer should submit to water baptism as soon as possible after placing faith in Christ.  Water baptism signifies fellowship in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.  Being immersed in water testifies of one's own death to self and sin.  Submersion in water signifies Christ's burial and the cleansing of sin by Christ's blood.  Rising up out of the water is a picture of Christ's resurrection, and the believer's new life in Christ.
It is the author's opinion that God will bless the new believer's act of baptism administered by any true Christian - whether they incorporate sprinkling or dunking.  In an emergency someone might even baptize themselves.  Faith, and the baptism by the fire of the convicting Holy Spirit, are the works of God unto salvation.  Church leaders have resolved to carry out Christ's work in various forms, and through various denominations; but they are only human.  They are sincerely trying to follow God's will.  And God will honor their interpretation of God's will, as long as it conforms to His Word.
Now let us return from this evangelistic interlude to our discussion of law and grace.  Where did western churches get the idea that grace has replaced the law in regard to conduct?  Just as Jesus said of Himself, grace didn't come to take away the law, but to fulfill the law.  The only time Christians need not heed the law, is when they are walking so close to God in the Spirit that the fear of God keeps them within the law - without the aid of the law.  That is the only time when they are not under the law; because they are under grace.  They are free from the law because the presence of God guides them and persuades them to keep the laws; thus writing God's law within their hearts and minds.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." – Rom. 8:2-8
When Christians are not walking in the Spirit of grace they cannot disregard the tutor of the law.  The law will keep them from getting too beat up, until such time when they become so hungry for the life of the Spirit that they repent and return to the presence of God.  Christians don't lose their salvation every time they wander from God, but if they continue in sin and stray from God's fellowship, what fruit will they bear to testify to their faith?  What treasure will they store up in heaven?  Too much time in the dark can cause Christians to doubt if they were ever really saved; as Peter taught, "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins." - II Peter 1:5-9 (Emphasis added)
Sadly, the willingness of western Christians to disregard God's law shows that they have either not known His presence, or else they have forgotten what it was like to fear the Lord.  Instead of trying to conform to the world they need to come to the cross and repent.  Christ is ready to forgive, to cleanse, and to fill those who believe He is the Lord with His Holy Spirit.  Then they will receive the love of God, and also know the holiness and majesty of His presence.  Without the fear of the Lord the nominal Church cannot even claim it has received saving grace; and it will never keep the law.  And if the Church has become lawless, how will the world come to respect the law?  Without the law to act as a tutor, what standard will draw the lost to Christ?
Now we will proceed to the touchiest and most politically incorrect issue of the Mosaic Laws; the punishments proscribed for breaking those laws.  "For the wages of sin is death." – Rom. 6:23a  Is this true?  The Christian who understands the importance of staying close to the Shepherd should be willing to pray; "Lord, do whatever it takes to give me victory over that sin which spoils my fellowship with You."  Because sin cuts man off from the life of God, Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount that it is better that a man should cut off part of his own body - if that member separates him from eternal life.  We don't see voluntary dismemberment modeled in New Testament writings, nor by the Early Church. (Apart from Origin)
Voluntary dismemberment and self-flagellation are no more acceptable to God than suicide.  The Mosaic laws say is wrong to cut one's own flesh as was the custom of the prophets of Baal.  But sin should appear so deadly, to those who understand the holiness of God, that they should be willing to do whatever it takes to gain victory over anything that opposes God's will.
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Hell." – Matt. 5:27-30
Physical death and dismemberment cannot separate the soul from God.  "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." – Rom. 8:38-39 But sin can, and does, separate us from God.
"Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear." - Isaiah 59:1-2
Now if Christians actually possess such a desire to have victory over sin that they would be willing to suffer discomfort at the hands of God in order to be sanctified, and to have fellowship restored, why would they object to punishment at the hands of the civil authority to correct and punish those same sins?
Indeed, we see that the early Christian settlements in America actually desired, and created, civil laws fashioned after the Ten Commandments.  Likewise, those standards were adopted at the state and federal level by the founding Fathers of the United States.  For nearly 2,000 years the Church has recognized the grace of the New Covenant; and, at the same time, desired to have civil authority modeled after the laws of Moses.  Why suddenly, in the mid-twentieth century, did western culture begin to object to these laws, which seemed intuitive, good, and just throughout the previous generations? 
Once again the answer lies in the exaltation of self and the desire of mankind to erect its own kingdom with its own laws.  Westerners have been indoctrinated by socialists to believe that centralized power is evil.  Authoritarian government will lead to social injustice, and create an inequitable "class struggle."  The social engineers hold up the vision of a social order without laws and without authority - a headless body-of-state.  But it will never be.  Self-government is an oxymoron.  It is contrary to the divine model of the Godhead.  It is lawlessness.  The idea that law somehow conflicts with the Kingdom of God is a lie from the pit of Hell.
Nevertheless, a lack of faith in God and His power has led to a fear that unless man is in control, God might not be able to protect His children.  This lack of confidence in God to govern His people through the civil authority might be expected from the ungodly.  But the Church Patriotic has jumped aboard the socialist bandwagon right along with the world.  (We will learn in the last section of this book that America's rift with her leaders is part of a comprehensive plan to undermine the U.S. Republic.)
The take-away for the Church in this discussion of law and grace is that the New Testament amplifies God's government rather than diminishing it.  The New Testament declares that the Lord has come.  The gospel does not hide God's system of justice, it further reveals it.  "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith".  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." – Rom. 1:17-18a 
No matter how wayward the world and contemporary church culture might be, when a person is reborn of the Spirit into the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit is still able to convict the heart of sin, and to instill a proper fear of the Lord.  But without proper exampling and discipleship, these new believers will be apt to be carried away by a culture obsessed with liberty and independence.
The world has no freedom to offer which can compare to the freedom found in Christ.  There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing God.  The fallen sin-self looks for freedom from all outside authority, but the soul set free by Christ is freed from its myopic mindset and soars in the vastness of the knowledge of God.  With the sin issue settled, the soul has nothing left to hide.  In the light of God's glory there remains no false sense of self-worthiness to defend.  Furthermore, the Christian is commissioned by God to accomplish His work by the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit, laying up eternal treasure in heaven.  But this purpose-filled life is only found by submitting to the King of glory.
Let us return one more time to the European Renaissance to observe God's remnant Church of God-fearing, self-denying believers.  At the same time that individualism and humanism were rising in response to Rome's errors, another movement was born in the Rhineland to carry the flame of true Christianity.  The fire from this camp, along with courage of Wycliffe, would kindle what would become the Protestant Reformation.  These Christians have been referred to as the German Mystics.  This title gives the impression that experiencing God's presence is mystical, or even optional, in the life of the believer.  But only a personal encounter with God can impart a genuine fear of the Lord. 
The theology of the German Mystics was not fully refined to remove the dross of personal assumptions.  But the fear of the Lord was instilled in these Christians who believed that Christ could be known personally.  They believed their names could be written in heaven without the necessity of having their names written on the roster of the apostate Roman Church.  We will only mention a few of the movement's prominent leaders.  Meister Eckart taught that God was in Christ, and Christ was in those who had been born again by becoming empty to self in order to seek after God.  John Tauler's writings are still quoted today in Protestant Churches.  The Friends of God consisted of various fellowships along the Rhine.  Their most influential writer used the pseudo-name, "The Overland."  The German Theology111 is a comprehensive statement of the German Mystics' beliefs; published around 1497.   Schaff gives the following synopsis.
The German Theology sets forth man's sinful and helpless condition, Christ's perfection and mediatorial work and calls upon men to have access to God through him as the door.  In all its fifty-four chapters no reference is made to Mary or to the justifying nature of good works or the merit of sacramental observances.  It abounds as no other writing of the German mystics did in quotations from the New Testament.  In its pages the wayfaring man may find the path of salvation marked out without mystification.
The book, starting out with the words of St. Paul, "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away," declares that that which is imperfect has only a relative existence and that, whenever the Perfect becomes known by the creature, then "the I, the Self and the like must all be given up and done away."  Christ shows us the way by having taken on him human nature.  In chs. XV.-LIV., it shows that all men are dead in Adam, and that to come to the perfect life, the old man must die and the new man be born.  He must become possessed with God and depossessed of the devil.  Obedience is the prime requisite of the new manhood.  Sin is disobedience, and the more "of Self and Me, the more of sin and wickedness and the more the Self, the I, the Me, the Mine, that is, self-seeking and selfishness, abate in a man, the more doth God's I, that is, God Himself, increase."  By obedience we become free.  The life of Christ is the perfect model, and we follow him by hearkening unto his words to forsake all.  This is nothing else than saying that we must be in union with the divine will and be ready either to do or to suffer.  Such a man, a man who is a partaker of the divine nature, will in sincerity love all men and things, do them good and take pleasure in their welfare.  Knowledge and light profit nothing without love.  Love maketh a man one with God.  The last word is that no man can come unto the Father but by Christ.
In 1621 the Catholic Church placed the Theologia Germanica on the Index.  If all the volumes listed in that catalogue of forbidden books were like this one, making the way of salvation plain, its pages would be illuminated with ineffable light.112 
The Mystics found that God's presence could be experienced through Christ.  Later theologians categorized these believers as Mystics based on the fact that they claimed to have experienced a spiritual encounter with God.  Is this type of encounter, by which a person advances from knowing about God to making an actual acquaintance with Him, a realistic expectation?  Is experiencing God's presence a singular event in the Christian life?  Might such an encounter constitute the beginning of a true relationship with God; or is it something that comes through a lifetime of refinement, meditation, or education?  Lastly, what does self-denial have to do with drawing near to God?
In order to answer such questions let us consider a logical argument which Jesus gave to those who had accused Him employing demonic spirits to accomplish His miracles.
"And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’  Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.’" - Luke 11:14-23
Now take this same line of reasoning and apply it to the self.  The self stands vigilant guard over its own house.  When a person confesses that Jesus is his Lord, that person is saying that he has handed over the keys to every area of his life.  But does that person really want Christ to possess him completely?  Is he really willing to have Christ take all of his soul as His spoil?  The self is a strong man.  It fights to retain some item of personal value that it is unwilling to be counted as Kingdom property.  The self reasons, "If all is Christ's, what will become of me?"
The problem from the standpoint of salvation is that sin bonds the self with the devil.  The house of self must be spoiled in order for Jesus to break that unholy alliance.  The real strong-man is the devil hiding behind the door of what appears to be one's own house.  People can try to clean house on their own, but unless they have honestly received Christ they will be self-deceived.  They might, through their own sense of guilt or willpower, obtain spans of victory over sin.  Nevertheless, in their heart they remain un-submitted to the authority of God.  Therefore the devil is still in the house; and can, at his whim, cause further destruction.
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." - Luke 11:24-26
Let us conclude this chapter on law and grace by reviewing Paul's warning about "self-imposed" religion.  "Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations -
‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using - according to the commandments and doctrines of men?  These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." – Col. 2:20-23
How has the reader's religion been imposed?  Was it imposed by parents, the Church, or the preferred state religion?  Is the reader relying upon his own self-imposition of God's law?  Or has the reader been imposed upon by the very real presence of God - by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit?  John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus with a call to repentance.  Repentance unto salvation involves the honest admission that, up until the moment of surrender, the strong man of self is still guarding the house from the lordship of Christ.
God made His presence known at Mount Sinai so the people might fear Him and be obedient to His laws.  The children of Israel did not remain at the mountain forever.  In Deuteronomy Four, the parents were instructed to teach their children what they had experienced at Sinai along with the laws so that they might "learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth."  The Holy Spirit has been sent by our ascended Lord so that each generation till the end of age can experience God for themselves.  Christians do not live every moment after their conversion actually experiencing the awesome presence of the Lord.  But between such experiences they remember what it is to fear the Lord.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.

The reality of the presence of God is the power which enables grace to govern in the place of the law; not contradicting the law, but superseding the law.  The misinformed and nominal church has never experienced the power of God; and, therefore, cannot fear Him because they have not known Him.  Yet they declare they can ignore the law because they are standing under the umbrella of grace.  They have neither submitted to law, nor grace.  They are out of control.  This is one of the delusions of lawlessness.

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Monday, March 14, 2016

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Ten

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Ten

by C.W. Steinle
Copyright 2015 by C.W. Steinle

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Part III - The Everlasting Kingdom
God's Model of Authority / Submission

As we observed in the introduction, where we marveled at the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, the spirit of lawlessness would like to portray submission as something dark and demented.  To the Church Dualistic, all sex is viewed in a derogatory light; therefore, all sex is dirty.  Even the knowledge that the top wrung of Christianity requires celibacy conveys to the idealistic adolescent mind that sex is an act of compromise.
To the non-rural juvenile who has grown up without witnessing the procreation of animals as part of everyday life, the notion of intercourse can be shocking and awkward to contemplate.  What is perfectly natural can be perceived as wholly unnatural; thus providing the perfect opportunity for Satan to sew his seeds of confusion.  The sin-nature of fallen man possesses a rebellious spirit which is only further enticed by God's prohibition of premarital sex.  The thrill of willful disobedience combined with the rush of new hormones causes fornication to glisten with the appeal of forbidden fruit.  Without the discernment of the Holy Spirit these emotions are prone to blend together, tragically linking sexual desire with the dark feelings of mischief.
Before the introduction of pornography, and media ads dripping with sexual innuendoes, most young people were able to subdue their sexual urges until they had completed their education.  But today, youths who have been properly trained and strengthened by the fruit of the Spirit of self-control are far outnumbered by compromised Christians and a culture which resembles Lot's city of Sodom.
The additional twist to the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomena is its distortion of the act of submission.  Submission, like sex, has been degraded in modern society.  Biblical submission is good and expresses trust in God's government.  But without trust in God, submission is easily viewed as a weakness without any merit.  The New Testament abounds with verses about submission; but contemporary congregations would rather hear sermons on fire and brimstone than be taught the virtues of submission.  Even the training and correction of children can hardly be discussed in public without controversy, and without the fear of being "politically incorrect."
The current negative connotation of submission did not appear suddenly.  The attitude of submission has been gradually rejected as western culture has yielded to the philosophy of individualism.  Submission and individualism are diametrical opposites.  They require two antagonistic attitudes, and result in two contrary sets of responses.  This battle between the self, and the submission of self to authority, merely helps us to realize the degree to which we have become alienated from God and His will.  In fact, it will be difficult, or even impossible, for the reader who has not submitted to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to receive the truths of this chapter.
Submission to authority in today's culture brings to mind humiliation at the hands of a cold-hearted tyrant.  Granted, the act of submission does result in a certain degree of vulnerability.  To the godly, this vulnerability is rewarded by relying on the power and goodness of God's grace, which never fails and is always sufficient.  But to the ungodly, the vulnerability of submission is a dark and dangerous prospect.  And therein lies its appeal to the thrill-seeker.  Adding this danger to the emotions of mischievous sexuality increases the dark feelings of excitement.  The Destroyer has combined these two sacred acts of sex, and submission, and has twisted them into the grotesqueness of masochism.  So then let us unravel this twisted version of submission as we did in the previous chapter in regard to sexual intercourse.
Submission to God's government is nearly synonymous with the denial of self; without which, Jesus said we could not be His disciples.  The will to submit to God, or any other authority, is either established by trust or by brute force.  Those who have submitted to God have first recognized and believed the love that He has toward them; and this love was manifested by the sacrificial offering of His Son on the cross.  To embrace or receive this expression of God's love, a person must first understand how desperately they need to be ransomed from sin and death.  Only when the eyes of the heart are opened to see one's own sin, and to grasp the worthlessness and helplessness of their fallen state, can they fully surrender - and fully trust God.
Obedience begins with obedience to the gospel.  Jesus said that all should honor Him, even as Jesus honored the Father.  "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." - John 5:21-23 To find our place in God's authority system, we must fall in line under the authority of Jesus.  We cannot honor the Father if we refuse to honor His Son.  Just as God the Son submitted to God the Father, we must submit to Jesus, the Son of God.  Our honor comes through being humble servants of the King.  "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." - John 12:26 (Emphasis added)
It is more palatable to consider the act of submission if we recognize the truth regarding authority and submission; that we are already under someone's authority, and we are all in some position of authority ourselves.  Everyone has been placed by God somewhere in His authority/submission matrix.  The Bible teaches that children are to honor and obey their parents and elders.  Wives are to submit to their husbands; but mothers hold the place of authority over their children. (The children are ministered to by the angels of God.)  Servants (or employees) are to obey their masters (or employers); but even employees are typically advanced over time to supervisory positions over other workers.  Even those who are self employed must serve their clients or customers.  All citizens are to obey the king and his magistrates.  The king and his officials are responsible to God, and all the citizens obey God by submitting to the authorities that He has placed over them.  Consider Romans 13:1-5.
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  For he is God's minister to you for good.  But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.  Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake."
So we see that God claims responsibility for those authorities which He allows to rule over us.  Because God is in control, He will see to it that those in authority over us are restrained from doing what is outside of God's plan for us.  That doesn't mean, however, that our God-appointed supervisor will not sin.  It just means that God will use even mortal errors to glorify Himself; and in His glory we will be glorified - if we trust God with our lives.  Our duty and reward is to trust God.  And that means trusting that He loves us, no matter what He allows us to go through.  We know His love because of the cross.  That is why the Christian can say, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." – Rom. 8:28  We cannot rely on our feelings or our circumstances for our assurance of God's love.  Feelings come and go; and circumstances change.  The only 'bullet-proof' knowledge of God's love is the cross.  And nobody, and no thing, can ever erase Christ's work on the cross.  The cross stands for all time as a historical marker which cannot be altered or removed.  It is finished!
Jesus made the good confession before Pontius Pilate.  When His mortal life was at stake, and He was about to suffer under Pilate's judgment, Jesus submitted to the authority of the civil magistrate.  "Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Are You not speaking to me?  Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’  Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.’" - John 19:10-11a  God knows when we are trusting Him to take care of our personal interest.  He sees when we submit in obedience to the authorities that He has placed over us.
"The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him." - Nahum 1:7
What an awesome assurance - to know that God is aware that we have placed our trust in Him!  Think for a moment about the implications.  Have you ever watched the way a mother walks her child across a busy intersection?  She isn't merely holding the child's hand.  More often, she actually has her hand fastened around the child's wrist or arm.  There is no way she is going to depend solely upon the child's willingness to hold on.  The parent knows that the child is trusting in them.  Now consider that your Father in heaven knows that you have put your trust in Him by believing in His Son.  He knows!  And He will never forsake you.  "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day."  II Tim. 1:12b
One might ask, "What about suffering under an unjust government?"  First Peter 2:19 tells us that sometimes we are called to suffer.  "For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully." As Christians, we are to trust God, and wait for heaven.  This is not to say that the world should stand aside and let a wicked king slaughter his citizens.  In fact, it is the duty of the other kingdoms of the world to take action, and put an end to his unrighteous reign.  Indeed, we see from history that such corrective actions have been taken.  Under the theory of the Divine Right of Kings, a ruler is presumed to have been place in power by God.  But when the nobleman behaves ignobly the divine appointment of such a leader must be called into question.  History shows that God has, many times, allowed wicked kings to be deposed.  This too, as Wycliffe suggested, is a part of God's divine order.
The Lord God of the Bible is the Governing God, and the God of Government.  The authority/submission relationship is the oldest and highest relationship.  It predated the creation of heaven and earth.  This relationship is the mechanism which enables government to function.  God's authority is expressed in His names, "The Almighty," "The Lord," and "The Everlasting Father."  The authority/submission relationship is acknowledged in the Trinity through the titles of the Father and the Son.  God the Father holds the highest position of authority within the Godhead.  The Father loves the Son, but for our sakes He sent His Son into the world, and to the cross.  The Son loves, honors, and obeys the Father.  Because the Godhead embodies the authority/submission dynamic, we should know that it is a good, blessed, and sacred relationship.
God's government is authoritarian and hierarchical.  The Son is the Prince who will deliver the heirs of salvation unto the Father - so that God will be all-in-all.  The Spirit was also sent from heaven.  (The Eastern and Western Churches stand divided over whether the Spirit was sent only by the Son, or by the Father and the Son.)  The Spirit takes what is the Son's and declares it among men.
Before we follow the cascade of authority from heaven to earth, let's take a quick inventory of the favorable qualities of rulers and their subjects.
Characteristics of a leader: Stable, trustworthy, good, strong, endued with resources in order to provide - hopefully generous, hopefully kind.  God revealed Himself to Moses as gracious, merciful, and slow to anger; but nevertheless a God of justice.
Characteristics of a subject: Humble, loyal, obedient, in need of protection or sustenance - hopefully grateful, even joyful as the subject appreciates their protector and benefactor. (If the reader believes in God, a moment might be taken here to make an assessment of these qualities of a good subject of God's kingdom, and especially of the attitudes of gratitude and joy.)
In God's chain of command from heaven to earth we see that, "All authority in heaven and on earth" has been given to the Son.  Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  Thus the counsel of the Second Psalm to the world's rulers:
"Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." - Psalm 2:10-12
The Governor-God, the Lord God, is the God of order.  The Holy Spirit is so concerned that we "get this" that, as of March 20, 2015, OpenBible.info108 lists 74 verses modeling submission to human authority.  The New Testament defines man's responsibilities within God's hierarchical authority matrix in great detail.  We will take a top-down approach in our review of these areas of authority.  The several stunning conclusions which are presented at the close of this chapter will be enhanced by taking these Scriptures to heart, so please do not look at this review as laborious reading.
The master/slave relationship and the husband/wife relationship must be taken in the light of the common customs of biblical times.  But the hierarchical principles represented by these verses have not changed.  Wives need to take into consideration that the marital roles of biblical times placed much more importance on the provision and protection which were part of the husband's duty.  Thus the marital relationship bore more resemblance to the lordship of noblemen; who administered justice, provision, and protection for the benefit of their community.  As we consider each of the authority/submission relationships below, keep in mind that we are addressing normal relationships.  Just as ignoble and abusive kings have been deposed; governors, masters, husbands, mothers, elders, and church leaders can only stand under the appointment of God when they behave in a godly manner.  The Bible does not recommend slavery, nor does it endorse abuse.
The citizens of nations are to honor their national leader as well as their local governors.  We have previously read from Romans Thirteen.  Here are other verses specific to submitting to the leaders of State.
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." - II Tim. 2:1-2
"Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men - as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.  Honor all people.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the king." - I Peter 2:13-17
"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." - Titus 3:1-2
The New Testament instructions for the employer/employee relationship are represented by God's counsel to masters and slaves.  The Bible speaks of two types of slaves.  What is most often referred to as a bondservant is a person who has been bound into slavery.  This might have occurred as a result of war.  One of the best deterrents to war in ancient times was the knowledge that the losers could be bound to servitude as part of the peace settlement at the end of the conflict.  Another way that people could become slaves was to borrow what they could not repay.  This might be viewed today as the equivalent of writing a bad check.
Some verses simply make reference to servants.  Servants would include any relationship which establishes a master/servant relationship.  The practice of indentured service is well documented in the Old Testament.  Indentured service is the closest form of servitude to employment today.  This service is provided for a prescribed length of time; and is not too unlike employment under today's right-to-work agreements.  Unfortunately, slavery is still practiced in the twenty-first century even though it is almost universally outlawed.
Readers should not forget that God's counsel to slaves has been directly applicable for the greater part of the last two thousand years.  And there is no reason to believe that slavery will not become commonly practiced once again in the future; especially as we see the end of the age approaching.  If the reader is one of those unfortunate individuals living as an "infidel" in a Muslim country, or otherwise being held against their will, he or she will have no problem understanding God's counsel.  But for the free reader, know that this counsel is fully applicable to today's employer/employee relationship.
Counsel to servants and slaves:
"Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to good and gentle, but also to the harsh.  For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.  For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.  For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps: "Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth;"  who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed." - I Peter 2:18-24
"Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.  And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him." – Eph. 6:5-9
Counsel to husbands and wives:
"But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." - I Cor. 11:3
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.  So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.  For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." – Eph. 5:22-33
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them." – Col. 3:18-19
"Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.  Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.  For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." - I Peter 3:1-7
Counsel to elders and youths:
"But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things - that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." - Titus 2:1-5
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders." - I Peter 5:5a
Counsel to parents and children:
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’  And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." – Eph. 6:1-4
"Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.   Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." – Col. 3:20-21
Counsel to overseers and their flock:
"And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake." - I Thess. 5:12-13a
"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.  Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." – Heb. 13:17
"The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly,  not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." - I Peter 5:1-5
General counsel:
"Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity." - I Tim. 5:1-2
"Submitting to one another in the fear of God." – Eph. 5:21
"Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." - I Peter 5:5b-7
Peter's counsel to wives not to be afraid, and again in this last verse, to cast our cares upon God; are both given in the context of being submissive.  Both of these verses address the vulnerability which is part of trusting God's system of authority and submission.  God knows the concerns we face in trusting His system.  The exaltation that comes in due time is the reward for submitting to God, and to one-to-another.  Why is humility and submission to the authorities which God has placed over us so important to God?  Because honest humility in the heart is proven by outward obedience which pleases the one in authority.  Humility and submission are the inward and outward expressions of love to a superior.
Without obedience, no other expression of love towards one in authority can be received as genuine.  Obedience is the "love language" of kings.  When someone under the authority of another expresses arrogance, disrespect, or disobedience, it is perceived as rebellion against that authority figure.  Insubordination strains the relationship and no other expression of love will be received until the proper respect is reestablished by compliance.  This principle holds true with every hierarchical relationship; be it the home, the workplace, or the courthouse.  To disobey a king would be to deny his authority as king.  This is why Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." - John 14:15
Just as the marriage relationship models the union of Christ with His Church, every authority/submission relationship models Christ's kingdom authority, and recognizes the divine hierarchy within the Godhead.  Disobedience is sin.  But the failure to recognize the authority of God is lawlessness.  The manifestations of the rejection of God and His laws can be seen in today's lawless society by its haughty individualism, disrespect for authority, disorderly conduct, and a Satanic hatred toward the name of King Jesus.
"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." - I John 2:3-4  Here, John once again confronts those who only possess a philosophical knowledge of God.  Whether one is a good Platonist or a bad Gnostic, a philosophical understanding of God cannot replace an actual encounter with the living God.  We have no record that Plotinus fell on his face during his four episodes of "oneness" with his immovable mover.  Neither were Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle struck to ground and breathless before their Forms of Beauty, Goodness, and Justice.  Even a thorough knowledge of the true God's attributes does not constitute an audience before God Himself.
But we can actually know God personally through the Holy Spirit, who was dispatched from heaven after Jesus ascended.  Because believers have been reconciled to God through the propitiation of Christ, Christians can not only comprehend God, they can actually experience His presence and power.  Still we cannot, at this time, behold Him face to face; because, as Paul says, He dwells "in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see . . ." - I Tim. 6:16  While we are in these mortal bodies we can only behold Him dimly, as in a primitive looking-glass.  Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit's power to convict us of sin is sufficient to impart the fear of the Lord.  And, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." – Prov. 1:7
This is the true knowledge of God which writes God's commandments in the hearts and minds of men, and gives them the Spirit to obey them.  Knowing the authority of God first hand produces a submissive heart, a heart willing to make itself vulnerable; or as Jeremiah expressed it, a heart of flesh in the place of a heart of stone.  Submission and obedience testify to a genuine fear of the Lord which can only come from knowing God personally.  "He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." - I John 2:4
It is easy to see now why a culture determined to break all of God's laws would also be determined to bring God's principle of authority and submission into ill repute.  Is it any wonder that families cannot function, and citizens rise up against the very law enforcement officials who are trying to protect them?  Politicians no longer know how to rule, and the people don't know how to obey; in fact, they don't even know why they should obey.  Without the reflexive relationship of authority and submission there can be only lawlessness.
Now that mankind is centuries away from the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, world rulers are awakening to the fact that fallen man possesses no innate compulsion to submit and obey.  The same individualism released during the Age of Reason wars against every form of authority.  In the absence of the fear of God, only the fear of man can bring order to an ungodly world.  Brute force will undergird mankind's final attempt at civilization, preparing the way for the armies of the earth to oppose Christ Himself at His second coming.  In the last chapter of this book we will examine how a ruthless ruler could also be the master of lawlessness.

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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Nine

Dark Freedom: The Rise of Western Lawlessness - Chapter Nine

by C.W. Steinle
Copyright 2015 by C.W. Steinle

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Part III - The Everlasting Kingdom
By My Name - "The Lord"

Lawlessness not only disregards the law, it also opposes the Lawgiver.  Christians confess that Jesus is Lord.  But the practice of lordship is far removed from the life-experience of most western believers.  One reason for the waywardness of the Western Church is this obscure understanding of the meaning of "Lord."  People can't be expected to obey the Lord's laws without the fear of the Lord.  They must understand whom they are fearing, or else they will meet the same failure as the Gnostics - who knew nothing but a theoretical god.  "And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" – Rom. 10:14
The God of the Bible is more than the Neo-Platonists' First Cause.  God not only created all things through His Son, He also controls all things through His Son.  The incarnation of God in Christ bore the image of the invisible God.  All authority in the heaven and on the earth has been given to the Son.  But sadly, we must even define what is meant by "authority," because authority brings to mind that politically incorrect word, "submission."  Therefore we must proceed with caution to consider that God is both; good, and Lord.
We are told in Genesis that once the fellowship between God and Adam was broken, several generations went by before men even began to call on the Lord.  Man's estrangement from his Maker made fellowship with Him impossible.  Were it not for the love of God which compelled Him to reach out to man, the relationship would be broken forever.  God revealed Himself to man only partially at first.  Hebrews One states that God, "at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets."  God revealed Himself in creation as "The Almighty."  In the flood God showed that He was the Judge of the earth; and also that He was the God who made a way of salvation for Noah.  God made Himself known to Abraham as the God of blessing, and as the God of the promised inheritance.  But God revealed Himself to Moses in a different way.
"And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the Lord.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.  I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers.  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.  Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.'" – Exodus 6:2-8
"I am the Lord."  Because Moses wrote the Pentateuch after the time of this revelation, he often referred to God as the "Lord God".  In His address to Moses above, God proclaimed that He was more than a Deliverer-God who was able to free His people from their bondage to Egypt.  God was also the Governor-God; the Lord God.  After God delivered the Israelites from bondage, Moses presented God's laws to the people and asked them to make a commitment to honor the Lord's terms of government.  Mt. Sinai was the place where God enrolled Moses in His campaign of deliverance, and Sinai was also the place where God unveiled His government to the Children of Israel.
"So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do.’  And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.  Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.  And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.  Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.’  And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.’" - Exodus 24:3-8
Jesus is Lord.  The Christians in Jesus' day (especially the Hellenic Jews and the Gentiles) used the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament.  The Greek word for Lord, "Kurie", in the Old Testament is the same word used in the New Testament when stating that Jesus is "Lord", or in calling Him "Lord" Jesus.  When first century Christians made their confession that Jesus is Lord, they were acknowledging their confidence that Jesus was both; the Christ, and that same Lord (Kurie) of the Old Testament.  Thus Peter's words, "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." - Acts 2:34-36
Those heretics who believe that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the God of the New Testament have not known God at all.  There is only one Lord.  "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." - Eph. 4:4-6 
David was a man after God's own heart.  David's psalms abound with praises for God's law.  The Psalms of David are also filled with prophecies about Christ.  David's God, and Christ's Father, are one and the same Deity.  It is an error to believe that Christians should have a different heart for the law than King David had.  The law was begotten of God, and should be cherished by His children.  "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome.  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world." -  I John 5:3-4 When David wrote in his First Psalm that a man would be blessed by meditating on the law, he didn't intend that only men of the Old Testament should be blessed.
"Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Jesus, the son of David, was also a man who loved the law.  Hebrews 1:8-9 reads, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness . . ."
Jesus was not only a lover of the law, He was also the Lawgiver - the Governor God; the Lord.  The same prophetic verse which announced His incarnation also declared His endless government.
"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." - Isaiah 9:6-7
This brings us to our next observation about God's government - it is a kingdom.  A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.  Jesus is the Lord of a kingdom.  The kingdom form of government has been summarily rejected as inherently evil by today's westerners.  The behavior of the United Nations and the United States implies that all kingdoms need to be abolished, and all kings deposed.  Telling American Christians that Jesus is the king of a kingdom is like telling Luke Skywalker that Darth Vader is his father.  "That's Impossible!"  It just doesn't fit in with everything else they've been taught about the evils of monarchy.  The Church Deceived says, "Yes Lord, yes," to God's great salvation; but, "Surely not," and "May it never be," to "Thy kingdom come."
In fact, the western concept of heaven is an ethereal free-for-all where souls are set free to do whatever they want, whenever they want; very much like Plato's dreaded democracy.  Westerners imagine a "Have it your way" heaven.  They are prepared for the reign of the Burger King, but ill prepared for Christ the King.  Because of this perverted and egocentric impression of heaven, the pervasion of lawlessness might easily be seen as the fulfillment of the prayer, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  How can the new generation possibly embrace the vision of a model kingdom in heaven when the last thing they want is a kingdom on earth?
Faith in God's Lordship is also undermined in proportion to man's faith in the soundness of human reasoning.  The God of the Bible has been painted by western philosophy into a corner of the mind, where He is limited to the confines of predetermined parameters.  Who God is and what He can do is evermore distorted because of the incessant presence of Platonism and Gnosticism unwittingly absorbed by the Church.  The Lord God of the Bible is the Jehovah God; the God of love, grace, mercy, compassion - who cares, who heals, who rescues, who helps, who even understands our weaknesses - and yes, the God who also chastens and judges.  But the Platonic altruistic god of goodness is too good to judge and too idyllic to care; thus eliminating the need for redemption.  And the greater part of western culture has put their faith in this imaginary god.  The growing lawless majority assumes the living God is like their lifeless god.
Sufficient knowledge of man's philosophies concerning theology and politics has been introduced in previous chapters so that we may proceed to explore the heartthrob of lawlessness.  Immorality.  Immorality is the violation of God's moral code.  The basis of the American moral code shifted abruptly in the mid-twentieth century from the Bible to common law; which now has become little more than case law established by human tradition.  Most conservative Christians were not aware that the very foundation of Biblical morality had been removed from the courtroom long before the Ten Commandments were removed from the courthouse.  In 2010 the United States Department of Justice came out of the closet and shocked the Judeo-Christian community with the official banner below.  Almost as profound as the statement itself is the spiritual reverence assigned to the words Mankind, Life, and People; which were enlarged and ornamented to elevate these principalities of the earthly sphere to their presumed deific status.
Figure 10 - Dept. of Justice website banner from 2010 – 2014104
"The common law is the will of Mankind issuing from the Life of the People."  WND.com posted the following research regarding the source of this slogan.
According to U.S. House documentation, the quote is one of the multitude of statements engraved outside the Justice building in Washington. The full phrase is, "The common law is the will of mankind issuing from the life of the people, framed through mutual confidence, sanctioned by the light of reason."  According to The American Spectator, which has documented the controversy, some attorneys believed the quote was pulled or adapted from the writing of the 18th–century British jurist Sir William Blackstone, who "influenced not only British law, but also the American constitutional and legal system."
However, the report cites "other Department of Justice employees" who say the quote comes from British lawyer D. Wilfred Jenks, author of "The Common Law of Mankind" essays in the 1950s.105
These laws "sanctioned by the light of reason" have displaced the laws of God which were sanctified among men by the sprinkling of blood.  But replacing God's laws with the rules of men is not a recent problem.  And neither is man's inclination to raise up the god of human reason; and to set it up as an idol in the courts of the Lord.  It is time for us to look into the sanctuary and expose a sacred cow which was exalted by the Eastern and Western Churches.  Religious patriotism and individualism were the stepchildren of the Reformation.  But a far stranger fowl flew into the Church during her formative years.  It is a destructive principality; a shifty bird, which has been nesting in the tree of the Church since the second century.
The Reformers sought to expel it but were only partially successful.  It masqueraded as an angel of light resting innocently among the true teachings of Christ and His Apostles.  By God's grace, let the eyes of the reader be opened by Him to judge whether this bird is of God or of man.  And may those who have been injured by its talons find healing in Christ and His Word which is, "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." -  Heb. 4:12
The seeming self-denial of the ascetic dualists appeared to Early Church Christians as a way to achieve the spiritual life they were striving for.  Rather than depending solely on prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, they turned to the aid of Neo-Platonism.   But even though dualism attempts to overcome materialism, its assumptions oppose God's Word and twist the attitudes of the heart in destructive ways.  Our previous discussion of dualism pointed out that both the Platonic and Gnostic philosophies condemn matter.  They both condemn the Creator Himself, or else distance Him from creation by enough intermediaries to allow Him to retain His goodness.  The wickedness invoked by deeming matter to be evil has proven to be one of the foremost forces of wickedness.
Once man had transgressed his proper domain by forcing God to conform to human reasoning, the next step was to override God's directive of multiplying through sexual reproduction.  According to dualistic thinking, because matter is evil, man's strongest desire in the material realm must be the most despicable.  This demented reasoning makes the sexual urge the most wicked desire, and the sexual act the most heinous sin.  Not a few Church leaders spoke out-rightly (or strongly insinuated) that sexual intercourse between Adam and Eve was man's original sin.  So the Early Church fell to dualistic asceticism, teaching that righteousness could be attained by suppressing sexual desire and practicing celibacy.  This dualistic thinking segregated the supposedly righteous Christians from the moderate Christians on the basis of ascetic living.  The good Christians were celibate, and qualified for upper ministry.  But the inferior Christians, who were too materialistic, were expected to fulfill God's commission to be fruitful and multiply.  We have already alluded to the first tragedy of dualism - the fact that such vows of celibacy were seldom kept without some secret sexual outlet.
Many who have tried to live the ascetic life have ended up asking their Maker, "Why have you made me this way?" when, in fact, He didn't design man for abstinence.  Paul recommended celibacy to those who had been given this gift because of the turmoil faced by the first century Church.  But Christian dualism has kept countless men from the ministry over the last two thousand years; impeding the work of the kingdom, and putting the ministry into the hands of men who have actually unwittingly been compromised by worldly wisdom.  The secondary consequence of dualism which was demonstrated by the Libertarians of the previous chapter is one of the leading contributors to lawlessness today.
Dualistic logic which condemns matter and material pleasures cannot make a distinction between wedded and unwedded intercourse, since both acts involve the same flesh and the same desire.  This is why keeping the biblical laws against fornication and adultery has no philosophical benefit.  Only complete separation from the supposedly evil act of sexual intercourse can satisfy the technical requirements of "spirituality" according to the logic of the dualistic system.  Under this perverted doctrine of purity the very act of marriage becomes prima facie evidence that both partners have fallen short of the mark established by the sterile and heartless god of First Principles.  Therefore, even Church-ordained wedlock cannot remove the stigma that sexual intercourse has disqualified both husband and wife from meeting the dualistic standard of spiritual perfection.
The self-righteous and power hungry Roman church was happy to canonize the ascetic standard because it elevated the spirituality of the clergy and demoralized the laity.  Thus the common people, once reduced to this Nicolaitan status, could not help but see themselves as second class citizens of the kingdom of God.  Furthermore, both the drive and the act of intercourse carried the connotation of "dirtiness", in keeping with the Platonic notion that all material realities are flawed and only dim expressions of the perfect spiritual Forms.  As a result, even marriage could not alleviate a subconscious sense of guilt for not being able to overcome the sexual urge; even though it is perfectly natural and God ordained.  This twisted dualistic philosophy is retained even by many Protestant leaders.  Only by adhering steadfastly to God's government and rejecting the wisdom of man can the Church be delivered from this schizophrenic disorder. 
The heresy of the dualistic doctrine has struck to the heart of the Christian life and has never been banished.  Meanwhile, the Church has haggled over every other philosophical issue and never resolved what is surely one of the most significant doctrines in the everyday life of believers.  Disillusioned and demoralized, Christians inevitably come to question the abundance of life in this world promised by Christ.  But what does the Bible say?  "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." – Heb. 13:4 "Undefiled" means undefiled!  Marriage is in no wise dishonorable.  Few dualistic Christians other than Origen have actually comprehended what Jesus said in his response to the question of divorce.
"The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’
And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’
They said to Him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’
He said to them, ‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.’
His disciples said to Him, ‘If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’
But He said to them, ‘All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.’" – Matt. 19:3-12
Why did Jesus answer this question by offering the drastic alternative of castration?  Because man has been wired by his Creator for marriage.  Jesus was telling His disciples that if they wanted to live a life of celibacy they would need to disconnect the wiring in order to stop the sexual urges.  After all, to look at woman lustfully is a sin in itself.  Jesus was saying that if a man wanted to annul God's plan to be fruitful and multiply then that man would need to undo part of God's physical creation in order to live a life free from his God-given sexual instinct.  Granted, God is able to impart a special gift of celibacy to a few individuals – "All things shall be possible with God." – Mark 10:27 But celibacy without castration was not the practical alternative offered by Christ.  We need not go back to the behavior of the popes during the Middle Ages or the Libertines of the sixteenth century to understand why Jesus gave castration as the practical alternative to marriage.  The pedophilia of contemporary "celibate" clergymen speaks for itself. 
And still the bishops have been unwilling to relinquish their claims of super-spirituality and release the laity from marital condemnation; simply because it would dissolve their Pharisaical apartheid system.  When will the Church wake up and return to God's Word?  While the Church perpetuates this philosophical crime against humanity, the world has gained the upper hand by offering a lawless, but more rational, solution.  As the "light of reason" has been "sanctioned" over the last 60 years, and the laws of God have been abandoned, the Platonic thinking of the Church is being answered by its historical antithesis, Epicureanism.  "If it feels good, do it."  But we must make one more observation about the hidden dangers of Platonism.
When the dualistic system is carried one step further, the gates of Hell are opened.  If the natural and sanctified intercourse of Adam and Eve brought condemnation on all men for all ages, then all other sexual acts could not bear any greater condemnation.  If the desire for natural intercourse firmly grounds man to the material realm, why would any other sexual perversion lower him further?  In fact, perhaps all other perversions are actually more spiritual than intercourse; so that they might present more preferable alternatives then the natural intercourse which is expressly condemned by the dualistic Church.  Once again the deviant behavior of the so-called celibate Catholic priests attests to the wickedness unleashed by ascetic dualism.  The Catholic Church has done little to curtail its perversion because the priests have learned to prefer strange flesh over natural intercourse.
When marital intercourse is treated as a disqualifying weakness by the ascetic dualists, the command to be fruitful also becomes an enigma.  How could God's purposes be fulfilled through an act which is tainted by materiality?  This is the same predicament that the Docetists attempted to solve by their assertion that a spiritual Christ could not be incarnate in a material body.  By this same reasoning, God's command to be fruitful and multiply would seem to contradict His desire for man's spirituality.  Thus, in the mind of the dualist the fruit of the womb is spoiled before it is ever conceived.
The Bible says that man was conceived in sin because both parents are carriers of the disease of sin passed down from the time of Adam's fall.  It DOES NOT mean that the act which males and females were designed to do, and commissioned to perform, is an evil responsible for the generational dissemination of the fallen nature.  Dualism's tainting of the reproduction process also taints the unborn child who is the product of what is presumably a tainted act.  Even before Adam's commission to tend the garden, even before God began to fellowship with Adam in the cool of the day,  the very first word ever to spoken by God to the male and female of His creation was the command to, "Be fruitful and multiply."- Gen. 1:28
Christian youths should grow up looking forward to the day of their marriage when they can bless the heart of God through sexual reproduction and the fulfillment of God's plan for fruitfulness.  But because the Church Deceived has defiled the bed and made a disgrace of man's first commission, the youth are left to anticipate only the pleasure of the sexual act, and are for the most part oblivious to the sacred honor of bearing children unto their God.  Through this evil diversion, dualism's devaluation of what God hath joined together has also devalued the unborn child.  Sex has become the obsession; and the children are only an undesirable byproduct.  The abortion which the Roman Church officially opposes is actually further perpetuated by its stubborn refusal to recognize the heresy of dualistic asceticism.
A murderous spirit has already overtaken the United States, and much of the world.  As I present the proof for what I have just stated, please be assured that if you have sinned in this area and believed in the Lamb of God for forgiveness, you are indeed forgiven.  And if you have sinned in this area in ignorance, the Lord Jesus stands ready to forgive and to heal.  The sin that I am referring to is the abortion of the unborn.
A major contributing factor to the abortion rate has been the effect of humanism and Darwinism that is taught in the schools.  Students are not taught about the varying stages of a baby as it grows in the womb; when the color of the child’s eyes are determined, when the child’s nerves are developed enough to feel pain, etc.  Instead they are taught that a "developing embryo," not an "unborn baby," looks like a tadpole.  Teachers explain this is perfectly natural since we are all just complicated "accidents" from evolutionary processes.  So it's only expected that all life forms would look similar to tadpoles.  This line of reasoning leads a woman to believe that aborting a baby in the womb is essentially no different than destroying a laboratory experiment in a Petri dish.
The Humanists do not classify this choice as "the taking of a life."  In which case, please consider the maternal affection described by the ancient Hebrew word for compassion.  "Rachum" is the word commonly used in the Old Testament to mean compassion.  This word's origin stems from a similar Hebrew word - "Rechem", which means "womb."  During the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, the people reached the point of starvation.  Jeremiah used this word for compassion to magnify the people’s desperation.  "The hands of the compassionate women have cooked their own children; They became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people." – Lamentations 4:10
This Hebrew word for compassion was based upon the natural affection that a mother would feel as she caressed her stomach during pregnancy.  The point that Jeremiah is making is that the very same women, who had once cherished the children within their wombs, were now forced by the madness of starvation to kill and eat them.  This example is given by Jeremiah as the most grievous violation of conscience conceivable in order to point out the severity of Jerusalem's punishment.  Where is this compassion in the twenty-first century?
America's conscience has been slowly seared to the point where many of her women have switched off this natural compassion.  Today, situations of desperation are seldom the reason for aborting one's baby.  Pregnancy is merely seen as untimely, unplanned, or inconvenient.  Why is there no love lost, no compassion, as babies are removed and discarded?  Can you imagine what Jeremiah's reaction would be today?  The biblical standards of family, sexual purity, and the worship of our Creator have all been rejected.  The fear of the Lord, which is the gatekeeper of the Christian conscience, has been trampled under the feet of today's heartless society.
The Christian Church now walks among a people who cannot distinguish good from evil.  There is nothing holding them back from expressing their hostility toward Christians.  Anger toward Christ's Church already fills their hearts, but the notion of tolerance has kept them at bay.  Until now.  Now their anger is beginning to spill through the cracks in the dike.  Their violence has overcome their own ability to resist it.  Once the persecution of Christians has been set in motion, there is nothing to stop it.  The same society who freely terminates the lives of their own children will have no qualms about exterminating the Church.106
The Bible clearly links the sins of Manasseh to the desolation of Judah"And the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon."-2nd Kings 24:1-4 (emphasis added)
Not only did Manasseh kill his own newborn son, he also encouraged his countrymen to engage in this practice.  This was the "innocent blood" that brought desolation to Judah.  The Hinnom Valley, on the south side of Jerusalem, was the central location in Judah where parents would put their children to death.  The Hebrew words for "Valley of Hinnom" are "Ge Hinnom".  We are familiar with the Greek translation of this place as "Gehenna."  Gehenna was the city dump.  Because this place was so vile from the continuous burning of foul rubbish, and from the wickedness perpetrated there, Gehenna became synonymous with Hell itself.  And it was certainly Hell for the babies who were burned to death there in the arms of red-hot iron cradles.
The practice of infanticide was never approved by God.  Jeremiah 19 speaks of God’s distain for this sin: ". . . and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind." (emphasis added)   Infanticide was brought into Israel primarily by the worshipers of Baal and Molech.  It was the blood of innocent children which caused God to drive the Jews out from their land.  God Himself determined to make Judah desolate.107
The Church condemned that which God said was good, and it has led to the infanticide which never entered His mind.  The Church Fathers heeded the wisdom of men instead of obeying the Lord their God.  The dualistic god demands that men behave contrary to their God-created nature.  Here is the true perversion which has ultimately twisted the morality of western man.  The dualists have used the simplistic logic of a child to decide the will of God.  Just because God's Word gives guidelines for man's sexuality does not mean that God is against the sexuality of His own design.  For God to condemn that which He has sanctified would make Him either fickle or evil.  But God is good all the time.  He did not intend for people to spend their lives robbed of peace by a battle against that very thing which they were designed to do.
The Church has twisted the Scriptures to support asceticism; even creating fictions about Mary's eternal virginity so that she might stand as a superhuman cheerleader for the cause of celibacy.  God is a God of truth.  How tragic that the Church would fear God so little that it would add to the Scriptures in order to support this heinous dualistic position.  If the glorified Mary could look upon the earth from above, she would not want to be associated with the slaughter of millions of unborn babies which has resulted indirectly from these myths about the blessedness of celibacy.  But as long as the Church clings to its policies on asceticism, celibacy, and the exaltation of the Virgin Mary, all of the failures of dualism covered above will not be resolved.  Judgment must begin in the House of the Lord.
The dualistic system that was so hastily embraced by the Church Fathers, hermits, and monks has in all actuality become the Pied Piper which is leading the whole human race to edge of the lawless abyss.  And the progressive Church has made no improvement upon the traditional Church.  It has merely turned sliding down the slippery slope of human philosophy into an art form.  Isaiah pleaded with Israel to return to the Lord because that nation was no longer responsive to the Lord's chastening.
The Church sings of the Lord's return.  Let us pray she will learn to honor the sacred earthly union so that she might be dressed and ready to honor her union with her beloved Bridegroom.  Paul stated in Ephesians Five that the human union is a picture of the divine union.  "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." - Eph. 5:30-31 When dualism taints marriage on earth, it also tarnishes our anticipation of our union with Christ.  The Church must be purged of its adulterous worship of the spiritual idol of dualism so that she might obey her true Husband, Christ.  Likewise, let her consider God's dealings with Israel in the days of the judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes.  Because of Israel's unfaithfulness God took away His hedge of protection and left Israel's borders open to enemy invasions.  By the time of Isaiah, Israel's unfaithfulness prompted God to the call for distant armies to remove her from the Land.
"Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
That say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it."
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will whistle to them from the end of the earth;
Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.
No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses' hooves will seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds." - Isaiah 5:18-30 (Emphasis added)

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