Part of me sees this blog as an opportunity to spend time in reflection upon a portion of God’s Word that I read, a section of a doctrinal theses I’m engrossed in, or a snippet of pastoral or systematic theology that I am focused on. I pray that the things that I write on this blog may not only be beneficial for self, but give others an opportunity to think about various topics which, in one way or another, have worked their way into my personal devotional life.
Part of that devotional life is the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly. What a Lutheran gem! For 4 years, I didn’t receive the quarterly to my own detriment. God forgive me! Now, I can’t put it down…and oh, how I’ve benefited from it.
Pastor Hirsch’s article in the Spring quarterly had an excellent quote which, I think, came from another source…a quote that will end this particular blog entry (scroll down if you want to read it first). In speaking of the freedom of the will, the assertion is that in our cultural climate in America, the idea of “free-thinking” has naturally spilled over into the realm of theology and religion. How naturally is comes to Americans that in a land of freedom, where freedom is our most prized possession as citizens, something that is valued, that is fought for, something that soldiers die for all over the world…how naturally the thought process comes that leads people to think and truly believe that they are “free” to do what is right in God’s sight, “free” to choose whom they will serve in worship, faith and life, and that all expressions of worship are acceptable to God, “free” to choose whether to be a good person or a bad person and to receive the recompense from the divine judge for whatever behavior they choose. I hear Dr. Phil often say (in a non-theological context), “You choose the behavior, you choose the consequences.”
Do we really have that “freedom”? Such concepts completely deny the existence of original sin, which the Bible clearly teaches as truth, that we are conceived in sin, born in sin (Psalm 51:5). In addition, what of the complete depravity of mankind, and their full-fledged need for rescue from sin’s wages? Does this not necessarily lead to universalism, the idea that all people worship the same God, just with different names and expressions of faithfulness? Furthermore, to what end does this lead? A dangerous one to say the least…it leads to Pharisaism! We can treasure the freedoms that God has given to us in our country. Give thanks for them. Give thanks to the men and women of our armed services who ensure that these freedoms continue to be a part of our lives every single day…but to extend the American concept of “freedom” into the realm of theology is not only a dangerous thing to do, it ultimately leads to removing the need for salvation, robbing Christ of his saving work, and robbing the Christian of true peace, because it ultimately places all responsibility for righteousness on the individual, and not the one who was ordained from eternity to be the Messiah – Jesus. That’s the problem, that’s the crux…the Church already has its Messiah…and yet, in delusion, American evangelicalism wants to make the individual the new messiah, hiding Pharisaism under the mask of “freedom.”
Is it really freedom to bind oneself to the law, instead of trusting whole-heartedly in the fulfiller of the law, the Lord Jesus? That would be like saying it is freedom to be behind bars, to be in handcuffs…freedom leads to bondage when “freedom” leads people to reject the one true Messiah, to reject the truth that we are sinful and in need of a Savior. Freedom leads to bondage when it glorifies sinful man and robs glory from the God-man. Freedom leads to bondage when, in delusion, it leads people to trust in anything….their feelings, emotions, their outward successes, their reason, logic, their decisions, etc., anything but the cross of Christ, anything but the blood which atones for the sins of the world.
Let us find ourselves to be bound…bound in original sin and in complete and utter need of Jesus. For the soul that recognizes that it is bound in the shackles of the law is the soul that realizes how desperately they are in need of saving and how utterly hopeless their efforts will be. Let me be enslaved, not to my “freedom,” but to my Savior, who lived and died for me and calls me to be a servant in the highest calling.
“A faithful confessional pastor must be counter-cultural and must constantly swim upstream in (the waters of free choice), for “…what starts in freedom ends in bondage; what starts in bondage, ends up in freedom.” (WLQ 115)
