Daily Java: For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:15-17)
I wrote the other day that I am a libertarian. I believe in liberty in Christ.
But I am not a libertine. The online dictionary I use all the time, http://dictionary.reference.com, defines libertine as:
Noun: a person who is morally or sexually unrestrained, esp. a dissolute man; a profligate; rake.
Adjective: free of moral, esp. sexual, restraint; dissolute; licentious.
That I am definitely not.
I believe in a pretty strict moral code and believe that the innate knowledge and desire to be moral comes from God and is present in everybody. Only those who desire greatly to get rid of God become libertines.
A libertarian is onewho, again in dictionary.com’s definition is:
–noun: a person who advocates liberty, esp. with regard to thought or conduct.; a person who maintains the doctrine of free will.
–adjective: advocating liberty or conforming to principles of liberty; maintaining the doctrine of free will.
That I am. I believe in liberty, not in hedonism. I also believe that we are not determined to do something because of some divine plan. That is determinism. I believe in free will and the fact that, along with God, I am free.
The downside of that is that I am also free to skip blithely into hell if I want to. Choice does, after all, carry responsibilities.
As the scripture that I used before says: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17).
I believe in freedom, not license. After all, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free, Jesus said.
Showing posts with label libertarianism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label libertarianism. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
i am a libetarian
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
I am a libertarian. Someone asked me the other day, just what a libertarian is. I tried to explain, and in some ways it is hard to do.
I was raised in a very conservative lifestyle. We were Church of Christ, and, as such did not do a lot of things.
We didn’t dance, or drink, or used instrumental instruments in worship. We were not really encouraged to hang around with people who did, either. We, like some other denominations, unfortunately, were known for what we didn’t do more than what we did.
I stayed in that denomination for 44 years altogether, including 20 years in the ministry. When I left that group, I came into another that was similar, except without the prohibition against instruments in worship. I felt that I come into complete freedom. I soon found out that they too had their absolute views. Although less than the one I grew up in, they were still pretty strong.
When I was baptized in the Spirit, I felt that I had come into complete freedom. I soon found out, however, that the structured views were as strong in their own ways than any other.
I cannot seem to find a group that agrees with me in my libertarian views.
It feels sometimes that I am a wacko.
But I am not. I am a libertarian. I am not a libertarian, though, in the sense that many see it as being. I do not believe in doing anything I want.
In that, I am a conservative libertarian. What I believe in is freedom. Absolute, unfettered freedom in the grace of God.
The grace of God presupposes something that the libertarianism that so many want doesn’t.
That libertarianism is a false one, one that says, I am King and whatever I want goes. That is not God’s view of libertarianism. God’s view is that he is King and, as long as you walk in the light as he is in the light, you have both fellowship and sinlessness.
In his kingdom, you are part of a community and you have continual regeneration. That is because you are not saved by what you do, but by who you are.
If you are a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus, you are free. Life in him does not consist of prohibitions but of freedom.
Whether or not you drink, or dance or go to movies doesn’t matter.. It is how you are in your relationship to God through Jesus and his grace that does.
Christians spend entirely too much time in telling others what they can or cannot do. That is not grace. Romans 6:14 says For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
That means that the Christian is free.
And I am free.
That is why I am a libertarian.
I am a libertarian. Someone asked me the other day, just what a libertarian is. I tried to explain, and in some ways it is hard to do.
I was raised in a very conservative lifestyle. We were Church of Christ, and, as such did not do a lot of things.
We didn’t dance, or drink, or used instrumental instruments in worship. We were not really encouraged to hang around with people who did, either. We, like some other denominations, unfortunately, were known for what we didn’t do more than what we did.
I stayed in that denomination for 44 years altogether, including 20 years in the ministry. When I left that group, I came into another that was similar, except without the prohibition against instruments in worship. I felt that I come into complete freedom. I soon found out that they too had their absolute views. Although less than the one I grew up in, they were still pretty strong.
When I was baptized in the Spirit, I felt that I had come into complete freedom. I soon found out, however, that the structured views were as strong in their own ways than any other.
I cannot seem to find a group that agrees with me in my libertarian views.
It feels sometimes that I am a wacko.
But I am not. I am a libertarian. I am not a libertarian, though, in the sense that many see it as being. I do not believe in doing anything I want.
In that, I am a conservative libertarian. What I believe in is freedom. Absolute, unfettered freedom in the grace of God.
The grace of God presupposes something that the libertarianism that so many want doesn’t.
That libertarianism is a false one, one that says, I am King and whatever I want goes. That is not God’s view of libertarianism. God’s view is that he is King and, as long as you walk in the light as he is in the light, you have both fellowship and sinlessness.
In his kingdom, you are part of a community and you have continual regeneration. That is because you are not saved by what you do, but by who you are.
If you are a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus, you are free. Life in him does not consist of prohibitions but of freedom.
Whether or not you drink, or dance or go to movies doesn’t matter.. It is how you are in your relationship to God through Jesus and his grace that does.
Christians spend entirely too much time in telling others what they can or cannot do. That is not grace. Romans 6:14 says For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
That means that the Christian is free.
And I am free.
That is why I am a libertarian.
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