Freedom

Freedom

In America we have fought and died for our freedom.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion are just two of the important rights that we enjoy in this country.  We hold these freedoms dear to our hearts.

Is freedom to be without boundaries?  Most would say no.  It is generally agreed that a person is not free to yell “fire” in a crowded theater.  Most cities have ordinances against this.  Neither are we free to drive 200 miles an hour on this country’s highways.  There are laws prohibiting such things.  Why are such boundaries accepted by most people?  The answer is simple.  Such boundaries exist in order to protect the public.  Wise men and women have enacted laws in order to preserve life and to establish an orderly society.

Recently President Obama expressed his personal opinion that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry.  He said that many years of thought, and his young daughters helped him come to this decision.

In this country everyone has a right to their own opinion.  I do not want the government telling me what to think.  But that raises the question, who does have the right to tell me how to think?  Paul said, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.”

Consider for a moment the freedom we have in Christ.  The freedom that Christians enjoy in Christ is freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.  Romans 6:18 says, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”  God has said that those who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness will receive “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil…” (Romans 2:8-9.)

Concerning homosexuality, the Bible says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now, if the laws of this country allow a person to choose a homosexual lifestyle, but the word of God prohibits that choice; the question we must ask ourselves is this, whose law shall we follow.  The fact that president Obama has expressed his personal opinion will not sway Bible believing individuals.  But there is a bigger problem.  President Obama is indicative of so many in this nation who no longer consider God’s word the authoritative guide for their opinions [beliefs].

Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.”  But President Obama and many like him have come to believe that personal freedom to do as you please must take precedent over the boundaries that God has set for mankind in the Bible.  Sodom and Gomorrah threw off all restraint and received their reward.  What will we choose?

The Temple of God

The Temple of God

God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle so that the children of Israel might worship Him.  In this temple was the most holy place where the ark of the Covenant was placed.  On the ark was placed the mercy seat.  God said of that place, “And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God” (Exodus 29:43-45).  The tabernacle (and later the temple) was God’s dwelling place among His people Israel.

The temple was called the “the house of God,” and the “house of sacrifice” (1 Chronicles 29:2; 2 Chronicles 7:12).  In Isaiah 56:7 it was called a “house of prayer.”  Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13).  The house of the lord was also called a sanctuary and a palace.  Isaiah referred to it as “Our holy and beautiful temple” (Isaiah 64:11).

The temple and the items of the temple were to be kept pure and undefiled under the penalty of death.  Leviticus 15:31 says, “'Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.”  Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron used profane fire to burn incense to the Lord, and they died for their error (Leviticus 10:1-2).  God was very serious about His temple.

Today there is no longer a designated building created by men’s hands wherein God dwells.  Zechariah prophesied in chapter 2:10-11, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the LORD. Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you” (Zechariah 2:10-11). 

In 2 Corinthians 6:16 Paul wrote, “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them.  I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’”  Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). 

 Under the Law of Moses a copy of the word of God was kept in the ark of the Covenant.  Today the word of God resides in the hearts of Christians.  In speaking about the new covenant, God said, “I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). 

 Paul wrote, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).  This verse does not teach that each Christian has miraculous powers.  Miracles have ceased (1 Corinthians 13:8).  In the context of 1 Corinthians 3 Paul is talking about being a faithful worker in God’s kingdom.  In verse 9 he says that you are God’s fellow workers, and that you are God’s building.  Verse 13 says that your work will be tested by fire.

In 1 Corinthians 3:17 Paul warned, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”  Unrepentant sinners cannot enter into the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  Yet, there is hope.  You can be made holy.  Listen to these words in 1 Corinthians 6:11.  “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”   Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2Timothy 2:21).  Is God’s temple clean?