Freedom
Although there are many ways to describe our “age,” it is true to say that we live in a liberal environment. While the term “liberal” can have numerous applications, it can be used to describe behavior or attitude. A couple of definitions that we need to consider are:
“A political or social philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual.”
“A movement in modern Protestantism that emphasizes freedom from tradition and authority.”
Our liberal society advocates the freedom of the individual. Free from the restraint of any authority over our lives.
After Mr. Armstrong died, the Church of God entered into a full-blown period of liberalism. We had been battling the pressure of freedom of the individual from the secular world, but it had developed into the serious freedom from “tradition and authority” within the Church.
For members of the spiritual body, liberalism is lawlessness. That is because our God-given freedom is of a different quality.
Christ said that knowing the truth will make us free and that the Son makes us free (John 8:32,36). Paul further qualified that freedom by saying that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
Our freedom is true freedom. It is freedom to know God and His way of life.
Liberalism’s offer of freedom is actually bondage. It is freedom from truth and from God’s Spirit. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). When an individual feels free from tradition and authority, they only have their human mind to guide them and that inevitably leads to lawlessness.
Christ plainly said that in the last days, lawlessness would abound, causing the love of many to grow cold. As He spoke this to the disciples of that time, He added, “But he who endure to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
Liberalism hardens hearts! It causes the love of God within us to grow cold. It is a disease that effectively stunts the growth and development of the body of Christ. It is an attitude and behavior that God’s people must avoid in order to endure for the long haul.
Brian Orchard
