James Robison A Weekly Commentary
God spoke through Moses to the people He had set free to inherit the blessings of the Promised Land. Because there are boundaries and principles that must be respected in order for freedom and fruitfulness to be possible, God delivered this heartfelt desire: “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”[1]
God’s reference to fearing Him was by no means a suggestion or command to be afraid of Him. It is rather an expressed desire that everyone would understand the importance of revering and trusting Him as a loving Father with such understanding that no one would want to live outside the shelter and shadow of the Almighty.
Any time we move away from God’s protection by defying the laws He put in place, we should wisely fear the consequences of that action. Our nation, under the influence of prevailing leadership, is either unknowingly or deliberately leading us away from freedom’s foundation and boundaries that are essential for freedom to survive in America.
Trusting a source other than God hurts everyone, especially the middle class and the poor, because sound economic laws are cast aside. This week the White House announced, “Americans can now decide whether they even want to work.” This is the result of wealth redistribution: money is taken from those who do work, government bureaucrats skim a percentage off the top, and the rest goes to those who chose not to work. If this trend continues, we are on the road to ruin.
Because I care and want everyone to know the truth that will set them free, I’m sharing the following excerpt from Dr. Craig Mitchell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and director of the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement.
In Luke 12:13-15 we read, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’, but he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And He said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Throughout the rest of this section of scripture, Jesus makes it clear that we should be concerned with the kingdom of God and not the treasures or the necessities of this world.
Nonetheless, liberal theologians and political liberals are quick to drag Jesus into their arguments for the redistribution of wealth. This is because they merely want some kind of theological justification for their socialist schemes. By so doing, they have changed the nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from something that is eternal, spiritual, and individual to something that is temporal, material, and societal. What liberals actually offer is the gospel of big government. Big government is the kind of god that they can depend on, because it takes care of the poor by providing them with a life that is not dependent on merit, hard work, or morality. In fact, it is the kind of god that welcomes immorality of all sorts. Consequently, the god of big government does everything to make sure that people have a right to abortions, homosexuality (and other alternative sexualities) and more importantly, big government treats everyone equally (as a number). The god of big government offers safety (at the cost of freedom), but he is not a good god.
In contrast to big government, C.S. Lewis described Jesus Christ (Aslan the lion in the Chronicles of Narnia) as good, but not safe. He offers truth that provides freedom. While freedom offers much joy, it also comes with dangers. This is why believers must trust in Him. Human beings, whether individual or as part of some agency will always fail you, but He never does. Jesus Christ treats everyone the same (as someone made after the image of God), but those who belong to Him have been changed to walk in newness of life. Therefore, while they hate sin, they do not hate those who are engaged in it. To be in the kingdom of God means that you must have nothing to do with the things that the god of big government wants you to have.
Jesus said the poor you will always have with you (Matthew 26:11). This means that he did not come to save the financially poor. It also means that big government cannot fix the problems of the poor either. Rather Jesus Christ came to save the poor in spirit. In Matthew 5:3-15 we find the Beatitudes (from the Latin: beatitudo or the happiness that comes from God). Matthew 5:3 mentions those who are poor in spirit or those who realize their spiritual poverty and mourn over it the way they would as if they lost that which was dearest to them. The spiritually poor are meek, they hunger and thirst for righteousness, they are pure in heart, they are merciful, and are willing to be persecuted for righteousness sake. In other words, they have been transformed by the life giving message of the good news of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. I would dare say that many of the financially poor that the liberals are so concerned with, do not fit this description. Only those who recognize their spiritually poverty are truly willing to repent of their sins. Liberals always mistake the financially poor of this world for those who are spiritually poor. The spiritually poor can be financially wealthy, but they are few in the kingdom of God.
Both the social gospel, and liberation theologies are gospels of big government. They mesh well with the Marxist ideal of social justice instead of biblical justice. Social justice encourages the redistribution of wealth, while biblical justice refers to this as stealing. Social justice encourages covetousness, while biblical justice refers to it as a sin. The gospel of big government is Satan’s lie and substitute for the real Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why the world is at war with God. They might win some battles right now, but it is a war that they will eventually lose. In Revelation 11:16 we read “The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’”
Someday the Lamb of God – the Lion of the tribe of Judah – will take control. But until then, those who know freedom’s source and value it must stand together against the gates of destruction, faithfully holding up the standard, exalting the importance of trusting God and keeping His laws.
