Subjugation of Sin

To people who value their personal freedoms, the rise of a totalitarian government that oppresses and subjugates citizens is a genuine concern.  More movies than I can count present a societal hellscape with enough connection to reality to be chilling and frightful viewing that illustrate the dangers of unchecked power.  Whether it is annihilation of humanity through time-travelling cyborgs fueled by artificial intelligence ideology, government overreach by power-hungry people employing surveillance or harsh punishments or the use of unwitting human bodies to produce energy, the common threat is the subjugation of the human will--with any concept of God being strangely absent.

In many of these these science fiction and dystopian scenarios, the citizens are a blend of personalities:  those who have been conditioned to submit, those blinded and deceived to imagine the government acts for their best interest, some who will betray their fellow citizens for personal benefits, others who comply out of fear, people who are broken and hopeless shells because of suppression and punishment, and those who suddenly have their eyes open to injustice, decide to rebel and fight against it.  Often it comes down to the brave efforts of a small group of people who join together and risk their lives against incredible odds to be free.  This is usually the major conflict of the show or film to be resolved.  What is not detailed is what happens after the oppressive regime is overthrown and what sort of leaders those freedom fighters end up being--if they lead at all.  To think the brutality required to overthrow oppression will not lead to new oppression is likely wishful thinking.

Did you know every human being born into this world is systemically oppressed?  It goes far deeper than politics, government, economy and society:  it is oppression of a spiritual and personal nature.  The Bible teaches that every person is born a slave to sin that has corrupted them to the core and blinded them to the truth of God who created all things.  Spiritually speaking, people who live and walk and talk are dead in this world under Satan's sway.  They do not realise sin is actually a yoke of oppression that drags them body and soul to hell.  The sin a person drinks like water and revels in is more soul-destroying than the most totalitarian government.  To someone deceived by sin, the embrace of sin is freeing and provides the greatest amount of pleasure and human satisfaction possible, yet in reality its grip only tightens to suffocate and destroy forever.  Trying to rebel against the lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and the pride of life by the power of the flesh is always futile.

Contrary to Hollywood blockbusters, the only way to overcome the sinister, totalitarian oppression of sin over our entire being is not by man's will, savvy or power but by faith in Jesus Christ.  The Law of God reveals our sinful condition in truth and leads us by the hand to Jesus as the Light of the World, the Messiah we need to save us.  The only way of salvation and deliverance from this body of death we live in is by faith in Jesus who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and has sat down enthroned in eternal glory.  For all who have been born again by the power of the Gospel we ought to rebel against the lusts of the flesh, pride, selfishness and every wicked way.  Because Jesus has provided atonement by His death on Calvary, we can put to death the sins of the flesh:  on sin we ought to show no mercy.  At the same time we ought to extend grace to others realising even people who are willing pawns in a totalitarian government are not the enemy and never will be.  Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers and Satan whom must all bow before Jesus Christ (Eph. 6).

Churches all over the world are places these rebels against sin gather in Christ name, however we are not called to rebellion:  we are called to unity and agreement with Jesus Christ and one another in love.  Our identity is not found in the evils we war against, the cesspools of sin Jesus has delivered us from, but as humble children of God who love Him and one another.  When we sin, we repent and strive to do what is good instead.  Rather than being loyal to a cause we are committed and loyal to Christ, even as a betrothed wife remains chaste for her husband.  Many causes may beckon us, and sin can rise up within our flesh with the aim to seduce our souls to join in an elicit embrace.  We look upon these with disdain because our eyes have been opened by Jesus who loves us.  We fix our eyes on Him, laying aside sin and every weight that holds us back from obedience.  By His grace we can run with endurance the race set before us, free from sin and fear and free to serve, minister and work for our LORD in whom we trust and rest.

Jesus said in John 8:33-36:  "...Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."  Man's great fear is to have his autonomy taken away, yet when we are in sin we cannot be free.  It is in submitting and surrendering to Jesus in faith we are freed from slavery to sin and adopted as children of God forever.  How wonderful it is to have the bonds of sin stripped away and to be embraced in the love of God, set free by His grace.  This isn't science fiction or some doomsday conspiracy but a joyous reality every Christian can know and rejoice in today.

Feeding On-Demand

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

1 Peter 2:1-3

God designed the milk of a mother to supply all the nutritional needs of a newborn baby for health and growth.  Peter urged believers of all ages and levels of spiritual maturity to lay aside sin and to feed on God's word as a newborn baby drinks milk.

While there are obviously more than two camps when it comes to feeding babies, the most common and large groups seems to be scheduled or "on-demand" feeding.  Some adhere to a more strict schedule concerning feeding, while other mothers feed their baby whenever he or she seems hungry.  From what I was told, with me my mother adopted the "on-demand" feeding style and resulted in me growing very fat and happy.  The story goes my mum was rebuked by a pediatrician for "ruining my life" by allowing me to drink milk whenever and as much as I wanted.  It was a painful experience for someone who carried, nurtured and loved me from birth.

A baby without an appetite is a concern, as babies need to eat properly to develop and grow.  Spiritually speaking Peter told believers we ought never wean ourselves from the word of God but to desire it, to treasure the flavour of grace in the Bible.  Like a baby grows out of tiny clothes, we are to put aside sinful thoughts and behaviours that are unfitting for a child of God.  A baby finds comfort in using a dummy to satisfy the natural sucking reflex God created babies to have, yet there is no substitute for the pure word of God.  The scripture is never something we ought be weaned from because God has provided it for our growth.  We do not grow out of needing to ingest, contemplate and put into practice God's word.

Many believers adopt a scheduled spiritual feeding routine, limiting themselves to feeding during a Sunday sermon or a weekly study.  For these it should be no wonder if there is little spiritual growth:  imagine if a baby ate only once or twice a week!  God does not dole out wisdom on a weekly basis but feeds His children on-demand, giving us His word and the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.  Peter's exhortation implies believers have the choice to lay aside sin and to desire the pure milk of the word.  Physical growth for babies occur when they drink milk, and spiritual growth occurs when we receive and obey God's word.  A baby might spit up a lot of what they drink, and just reading the Bible more is not the cure for our spiritual ills.  But the growth of believers is directly tied to feeding on God's word, developing a taste and hunger for it, and obeying it.

Jesus fed all 5,000 men and their families with five loaves and two fish that sat down on the grass in groups as directed, and God will never turn away the spiritually famished because it is not Sunday.  If you are hungry, come to Him and feed on His word.  We ought not condition ourselves to be scheduled feeders when He feeds us on-demand.  We cannot eat too much of God's word; we cannot heed it too well.  Our error is to neglect God's word and seek answers, comfort or guidance from anyone or anything rather than God.  We are called to put away all sin that stunts our spiritual growth and desire the pure milk of God's word.  Demand cannot outstrip God's abundant supply, for we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Transactional or Relational?

A lot of our connections and interactions in our modern day are transactional:  I pay for goods or a service, and the other party responds by providing it.  I bring stocked items to an associate, I pay money and then the items become mine.  People come to my door asking me to support a charity by contributing money they will use to further their aims.  What is never discussed is I will be placed on a mailing list that will likely endure long beyond my natural life.  The depth of our involvement with people is strictly transactional until we make things personal.  First we recognise an associate, begin calling them by name, or engage in conversation about something more significant than the weather.

It is entirely possible, because of modern society and personal desire, that we can dumb down the relationship God desires to have with us to one of merely a transactional nature.  Many adopt a formulaic approach to avoiding future judgment and receiving blessing from God.  Man's focus can be primarily on what we hope to obtain or for God to do what we want rather than Who God is, what He has done and freely given.  Want to go to heaven?  Believe on the LORD Jesus and you will be saved.  We want sins forgiven or help?  We need only repent and ask God.  When Simon saw the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of hands, he foolishly offered money to Peter for the ability to do this too--like a party trick.  It does not seem Simon was interested to be baptised with the Holy Spirit himself, but he wanted the power the apostles had for himself.  He had a transactional mindset.

Rarely is our transactional tendency this blatant.  We can be more subtle, using Bible passages to support our desires.  Acts 2:46-47 describes the activity of the early church:  "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."  People can read this passage as a biblical pattern of church growth:  if we practice what the early church did, the LORD will cause the church to grow.  A transactional view seizes upon this as a formula for church success, but a relational view sees it as simply describing fellowship of genuine followers of Jesus Christ.  People were born again by faith in Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit.  They continued to worship God united by faith in Christ in the temple daily, shared meals together, were grateful to God for His provision, praised God and were of good reputation.  The lives of these people who knew Jesus as LORD produced a crop of new believers who also walked by faith in Jesus.  This is not a "to do" list but things genuine Christians do to this day, for God created sheep to beget sheep.

Some people might be content to just receive benefits or "get free stuff" from God, but His desires is for us to willingly enter into a relationship with Him founded on His love.  We love Him because He first loved us, and our love is not to be shallow as the world loves--feeling of loyalty or affection towards people because they have been kind or generous to us--which is transactional and based on them meeting or exceeding our expectations.  This can be a reason people who at one time profess Jesus Christ as LORD willfully depart from Him.  They feel God has not delivered on the benefits or blessings they hoped to receive by now--like someone who receives poor customer service and leaves a scathing 1-star review because a zero-star review is not possible.  Knowing we have been specially chosen and called into a loving relationship with the living God is the most amazing, satisfying life because He is awesome.  Praise the LORD Jesus unites us, provides our daily bread spiritually and physically, gives gladness, humility, simplicity and grace.  Having a loving relationship with Jesus changes us forever.

Hearing and Fearing

People who fear God will respect and observe the authority He has sovereignly put in place.  I read an article recently a school teacher was pepper-sprayed by a student after he confiscated her phone.  While I do not know anything about the student or what transpired beforehand, behaviour like this primarily demonstrates a departure from the fear of the LORD.  The student could profess faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and LORD, yet at face value this assault on the teacher is an affront to the God who rules over all.  Brothers and sisters, we must be circumspect not to do the same.

When Paul was brought before the council and was ordered to be struck on the face by Ananias the high priest, Acts 23:3-5 tells us what happened next:  "Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?" ⁴ And those who stood by said, "Do you revile God's high priest?" ⁵ Then Paul said, "I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'"   The unjust, hypocritical directive by the high priest did not release Paul from his responsibility before God to keep the Law of Moses, to refrain from speaking evil of rulers.  Paul was bold to rebuke the man for breaking God's law, yet he acknowledged he spoke without realising the man's office.  Abusive speech is not fitting for the child of God--regardless whom we address.

The rules around obedience to the priests and Levites is described in Deuteronomy 17.  When there was a difficult judgment to be made that was unclear in the Law regarding degrees of guilt, punishment or controversy, the Jews were to go up to the place where God chose and the priests and Levites would provide a binding judgment.  Deuteronomy 17:11-12 reads, "According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. ¹² Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel."  This statute is likely difficult for people to accept, as the scripture illustrates human judges are fallible people who can be biased and make errors--like Ananias and Paul.  But God's people were to do according to the judgment of the priest and Levite as unto the LORD, knowing willful disobedience carried the sentence of death.

Jesus is our great High Priest, and it follows we ought to do as He says.  Amazingly, God has not placed born-again believers under the yoke of the Law that demands the blood of evildoers, for Jesus has provided atonement for our sins and delivered us from death.  In the conversation of Jesus with Peter, we see Him appeal for love to govern Peter's actions:  "Peter, do you love me?  Feed My sheep,"  Compelled by the fear and love of God, Peter and all believers are to heed the word of Jesus as if our lives depend on it because He died so we could live.  Instead of establishing His kingdom upon threats of punishment or death, Jesus laid the foundation of His eternal kingdom with love, grace, mercy, compassion and justice.  If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The world is full of people who have little or no respect for authority, but as Jesus told Peter:  "What is that to you?  You follow Me."  Our responsibility before God is clear, and Jesus has provided an example we are to follow:  to love God and one another as He loves us.  Let us put away the evil from our hearts that would murmur, complain and speak evil of those God has put in authority--even if they take your phone, fairly or not.  It is in hearing and fearing God we find security and rest as we submit to His love.