Austin Bible Church
Human freedom is the environment that allows man’s volition or free will to function. Volition is self-determination. Human freedom is designed for the entire human race under the Divine Institutions. It is based on the function of human volition, privacy, and the sacredness of property and life.
Human freedom is an extension of the Angelic Conflict and, therefore, God is responsible for the protection of human freedom both for the believer and unbeliever. The unbeliever is just as responsible as the believer to maintain human freedom. Human freedom requires people to take responsibility for their decisions and the ramifications of those decisions. Human volition is man’s privilege, but man chooses to sin from the temptation of the old sin nature. Divine Institutions are designed to protect human freedom. Rom 13:1-10.
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2, NASB)
Human freedom provides the uncoerced ability to make decisions as protected by Divine Institution No. 4 - Nationalism and is the right to:
Accept or reject Jesus Christ as your personal Savior without coercion.
Worship or not worship in the church of your choice.
Pursue a particular business.
Marry a particular person (believers with believers). Freedom of men to marry the right kind of woman and for women to marry the right kind of man.
Pursue the spending of time as desired, just as long as it does not infringe on someone’s else rights.
Pursue the right of free enterprise and private ownership based on your own ability.
The Divine Institutions include divinely delegated systems of authority for people, businesses, city, county, and national organizations to enable the nations and the human race in general to survive and prosper. There must be a balance between human freedom and systems of authority. Freedom cannot exist without authority. Authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom without authority is anarchy.
Privacy is the environment of human freedom. Property is the expression of freedom. Ownership of property indicates that you are in an environment of freedom. Ownership enables any right or interest to be considered a source of wealth. Property is the right to acquire and possess any tangible or intangible thing, to benefit from it and to profit from that possession. Life and ownership of property are sacred. Mankind must possess life to exercise free will and to function under human freedom. See category on Divine Institutions.
The plan of God gives human freedom a relationship with God and a purpose in life related to God. Volition and human freedom are the basis for true love. Maturity must be defined in terms of human freedom. Human freedom is the basis for salvation by grace. Eph. 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB)
The 4th of July is one of our nation’s greatest holidays. It signifies that more than 200 years ago our nation was willing to fight for its freedom and to correct an ill, taxation without representation. That war was not the Revolutionary War, it was the First War for Independence. The Second War for Independence was the so called “Civil War.” Today we have freedom in our great country up to a point. But we are in a time of the most severe crisis ever faced by our sovereign nation.
Jeremiah is a valuable book, as the apostacy of Judah parallels the religious apostacy in the USA. When Israel came out of Egypt, out of the bondage of slavery, they were given the Decalogue also known as the Ten Commandments. These commandments were given to a group of born-again men and women and were their guarantee of human freedom. Exodus 20:2-3.
""I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:2-3, NASB)
Since man has volition, they can choose for good or for evil. Israel could obey the Word of God as revealed in the Ten Commandments and elsewhere and have prosperity, blessing, fantastic happiness and freedom. They could disobey the Word of God and destroy the freedom of soul, body and nation. They chose the latter. Jer. 11:6-9.
"And the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 'For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, "Listen to My voice." 'Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.'" Then the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 11:6-9, NASB)
Protection of Human Freedom
God has provided the laws of divine establishment to protect the volition, rights, privacy, and property of individuals. These laws are also the basis for the freedom of evangelism. True morality protects human freedom and recognizes the rights of others. Orientation to legitimate authority protects human freedom. Within the country, the police force enforces the written laws and thereby protects human freedom. Criminality is the internal enemy to freedom. Gen. 9:5-6; Matt. 26:52; Rom. 13:3-4; Exodus 21:12; Num. 35:30.
“"Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.” (Genesis 9:5-6, NASB)
“Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52, NASB)
“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” (Romans 13:3-4, NASB)
“"He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21:12, NASB)
“'If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.” (Numbers 35:30, NASB)
The military protects the country from outside enemies that would take their freedoms. Human freedom is protected by authority for the purpose of evangelism and teaching of Bible doctrine.
The Mosaic Law protected human freedom in the Old Testament. The Mosaic Law connotes responsibility, therefore freedom demands responsibility. To illustrate, someone when they get out from under the wing of their parents at 18 years old may marry some idiot and spend the rest of their life in slavery. Just because you are free to go and sneak a popsicle does not mean you know what to do with it.
In slavery, the Jews did not function as a nation. Once free from slavery, the Jews had the responsibility of using, protecting, and maintaining their freedom. The Mosaic Law was designed to protect human rights and freedoms. It is the principle of protection to give you your freedom.
Since human freedom is a divine institution, it is an extension of the Angelic Conflict. The Angelic Conflict is based on volition. Volition must have freedom to act - to accept Christ or reject Him. Therefore, human freedom must be perpetuated during the course of the Angelic Conflict.
Obviously then, God has designed laws to protect it. Otherwise we would take our freedom and go in a direction that destroys freedom. The Mosaic Law is the basic concept of morality and also the basic protection of human freedom. True morality is the basic protection of human freedom (no legalism or self-righteousness). Morality is like good manners in that it recognizes the rights of others.
The plan of God which is grace gives human freedom a relationship with God and a purpose in life related to God. Legalism is a distortion of the Decalogue. All sin, known or unknown, involves the action of volition. If you say you have never deliberately sinned since you became a Christian, you are a liar. 1 John 1:8.
“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8, NASB)
The old sin nature never produces sin apart from volition. Never! Ignorance of the fact of sin doesn’t alter the act of sin. You do what you want to do. Volition and human freedom are the basis for the function of true love. Aggression of love (man) comes from volition. The right woman is the spark that gets you aggressive. The response to love must come from volition. A woman must want to respond. True love cannot be coerced!
So many men have killed the goose that laid the golden egg. So they want to revive the goose or manufacture gold. Who can resurrect what freedom has destroyed? The right man must provide for his right woman both freedom and privacy.
Human freedom is the basis for determining human maturity. Human maturity is defined as taking full responsibility for one’s own decisions. Emotional revolt destroys maturity. Volition is the issue in salvation. Why? Everything else has been provided through the work of Christ on the Cross. What are you going to do with Christ?
“Thou shalt not” is for your protection and freedom, in what way? Through the protection of divine law “Thou shalt not” indicates responsibility for protecting human freedom through recognizing and observing divine laws.
Loss of Human Freedom
When the human race in a nation rejects the Divine Institutions or the Word of God, they strangle the freedom of that nation. Disobedience to the Word of God leads to soul slavery and eventually to body slavery. Jer. 34:8-17.
“And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set them free.” (Jeremiah 34:10, NASB)
“"Therefore thus says the LORD, 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,' declares the LORD, 'to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” (Jeremiah 34:17, NASB)
True liberty proceeds out of biblical Christianity and is the monopoly of believers through salvation and through spiritual growth to spiritual maturity. John 1:12; John 8:31-32; 2 Peter 3:18.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (John 1:12, NASB)
“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."” (John 8:31-32, NASB)
“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18, NASB)
The number of mature or maturing believers in a nation determine the preservation of that nation. The greatest danger to freedom in a nation is false doctrine. 2 Peter 2:15-17; Matt. 5:13-16.
“forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.” (2 Peter 2:15-17, NASB)
“"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16, NASB)
False doctrine promotes anti-military peace movements. Pacifistic mothers don’t want their boys to go to war because they might get killed. False doctrine substitutes slavery in economics and kills the free enterprise system. False doctrine eventually reduces everyone in a nation to a non-thinking mass of dazed idiots.
False doctrine is always an enemy of good government and substitutes principles of nationalism in the Bible with either religious or political internationalism. False doctrine undermines patriotism and national defense. When the freedom of a nation allows one to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, this leads to eternal liberty. Luke 4:18-20.
“"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.” (Luke 4:18-20, NASB)
It is to the advantage of the believer to follow the Divine Institutions, to not steal, commit adultery, lie and so on. However, this bona fide morality does not save anyone. Whereas morality for the believer is a by-product of the filling of the Holy Spirit, in the unbeliever it is a by-product of God-consciousness. God-consciousness comes before Gospel hearing.
Unbelievers enslave themselves when they make the Divine Institutions a savior or they may try to make human good a savior. This always confuses the issue of Jesus Christ. The unbeliever must always remember that their heritage is little more than trash according to the Word of God. Only salvation in Christ gives him nobility and continued growth in doctrinal truths. Isaiah 64:6.
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NASB)
Human Freedom and Morality
Freedom requires responsibility to obey the laws of divine establishment. Morality safeguards human freedom. Morality involves the responsibility of having good manners, being gracious to others, paying all of the taxes your government demands, serving in the military, and obeying the rule of law.
We are to have self-discipline and have good social behavior and thoughtfulness toward others. Men are to be gentlemen and women are to be ladies because they have been taught to do so and because they choose to do so based on their own integrity.