Truth, Freedom and Authority
On this page...
- Do you know the Truth?
- What is Freedom (and what does it have to do with the Truth)?
- Authority - Who is in charge of it all?
You were given time. You squandered the time you were given and you grew callous to the TRUTH.
Do you know the TRUTH?
Facts may be true, but Truth is not fact. Likewise, knowledge may be true, but Truth is not knowledge. Truth is not a collection of information or data.
Truth is a person!
I AM the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life.
MarYah Yeshua Meshika (our LORD Jesus Christ) declared Himself to be the embodiment of all that is true. He did not say, "I am a truth" as though he was humbly presenting Himself to be one of many truths. Instead He said, "I am the TRUTH."
The Gospel of John opens with the following:
In the origin the Word had been existing and that Word had been existing with God and that Word was himself God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...
The Word of God was Himself God, Who became flesh... the only begotten of the Father. The Word of God is our LORD Jesus - Jesus is the Word of God. On behalf of all those given Him out of the world, He prayed:
Father, sanctify them by your TRUTH, because your Word is TRUTH.
"Your Word is Truth" - God's Word, our LORD Jesus, is TRUTH.
The angel of God appeared to the shepherds and told them Who had arrived...
Do not be afraid, for behold, I proclaim to you great joy which will be to all creation... For today, in the city of David, the Savior has been born to you, who is MarYah Meshika (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH the Messiah)!
Our LORD suffered, bled, died, was buried, rose from the dead three days later, and ascended forty days after that to take His rightful place beside His Father. He Who is the TRUTH is alive - He lives as our God unto eternity! That's the TRUTH!
Truly, God has made this Jesus, Whom you crucified, both MarYah (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH) and Meshika (the Messiah)...
The TRUTH is absolute. Unlike the god of so-called science, that which all the people of the Earth are urged to believe in, trust in, pay homage to and follow, the TRUTH does not change.
For I am MarYah (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH); I change not...
Jesus the Messiah is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
The TRUTH, alone, is trustworthy. Those who are His, those who belong to Him, they don't trust in themselves, or place their trust in others. They trust in Him.
It is far better to trust in, take refuge in, and depend on the LORD than to put your trust in men, even if they are celebrities.
Do not trust in princes, celebrities, influential people, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation! When they breathe their last breath, they return to the ground. On that day their plans come to an end.
Those who are His, those who belong to Him, they don't follow their gut. They don't follow the teachings of men. They don't follow after one another. They follow Him.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
What is Freedom (and what does it have to do with the Truth)?
The Spirit is MarYah (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH), and wherever the Spirit of MarYah is, there is freedom (liberty, release, deliverance).
He Who is the TRUTH quoted the prophet Isaiah saying,
The Spirit of MarYah (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH) is upon me... He has sent me to proclaim... freedom (liberty, release, deliverance) to the enslaved (captives)...Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears."
His freedom, true freedom, is not something portioned out or conditionally rationed to the slaves by their masters. It is not doled out by governments to their citizens under the guise of being permitted, licensed and allowed.
His freedom, true freedom, is not achieved by overthrowing one's tyrannical oppressors through military force or political activism. It is not won by murdering others, by having the “good guys” shooting dead the “bad guys”.
His freedom, true freedom, is not the right to do whatever one pleases. And, if you have ears to hear, His freedom is not even a right, let alone the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
His freedom, true freedom, is the gift of God, the decree of God, purchased once and for all and ratified by the suffering, shed blood, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our MarYah Yeshua Meshika (the LORD, YHWH, JEHOVAH Jesus, the Messiah. He sacrificed Himself to set us FREE, to make us FREE.
You will know the TRUTH, and that TRUTH will set (make) you free.
So know the TRUTH - He Who is alive from the dead, our LORD Jesus, and be free:
- Free from sin... Romans 6:7
- Free from the law of sin and death... Romans 8:2
- Free from the fear of death... Hebrews 2:15
- Free from this present evil world... Galatians 1:4
- Free from the love of money... Hebrews 13:5
- Free of anxiety and worry... 1Corinthians 7:32
- Free to serve the Living God. 1Peter 2:16
Authority - Who is in charge of it all?
For those who reject the love of the TRUTH, it is very popular to believe that we are all caught in some kind of random free-for-all, with every man needing to be out for himself. In this delusion, at any given moment, there may be that which is good and beneficial pulling or influencing some of us on the one side, and evil and negative is pulling or influencing others of us on the other side. It is all a matter of perspective, they say. Everything is relative, they say. Some view themselves to be the victims of circumstance, while others believe themselves to be entitled to exercise their own will in order to chart their own path. There is no doubt that, in our time the theory of “relativity” has eclipsed the absolute knowledge of God in the hearts and minds of mankind.
As determined in the Garden, once adam and his wife partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, each son and daughter of adam, each person born of water becomes a god unto themself, deciding for themself what is good and what is evil. And the dividing continues with man against man, children against parents, family against family, team against team, club against club, belief against belief, community against community, race against race, state against state, nation against nation - all based upon each ones own definition of good and evil. A dog-eat-dog race ensues, and he who is willing and able to go where others will not, he who can be more deceitful, more brutal, will win. He will rule... until he is deposed by those more cunning and powerful.
For any who have ears to hear:
There shall not be another god for you apart from Me!
He Who created the heavens and the Earth and everything in them is our God! There is no other god, only Him. This, everything, is all His! Those who are His are to be subject to Him, with His praise on their lips. And yet, so few are. Indeed, we live in a time when the very idea of subjection, of bowing one's proud, stiff neck, of humbly bending the knee before anyone, let alone the Living God, is considered to be not merely offensive, but downright repulsive. Should the topic of subjection to authority even be broached, it is usually replete with explanations and justifications as to why one need never be subject to an authority that one does not agree with - and that includes God! Resultant behavior includes everything from contention to rebellion to murder!
(For more on this topic, see my article titled, "Believing God")
Let every being be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. So he who opposes the authority withstands the institution of God, and those who withstand shall bring judgment on themselves. For those ruling are an object of fear, not to good works, but to evil. Do you wish to be not afraid of the authority? Do the good, and you shall have praise from it, for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain. For it is a servant of God, a revenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of the conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God attending continually to these duties. Render therefore to all what is due to them: tax to whom tax is due, toll to whom toll, fear to whom fear, respect to whom respect.
The elementary teachings of the Messiah, all the foundation stuff, everything is predicated on the understanding that our I AM is truly the great I AM. God is not the yin to the Devil's yang. God is not the red team, with the Devil heading up the blue team. God is not the good god, with the Devil being the bad god. There is no eternal struggle between good and evil, where we are hopeful, no - confident, that our side will win - in the end... but just in case, we bought good insurance policies - and stocked up on gold and silver - and ammo. This is such worldly teaching!
And therein lies the rub, as they say. The love of the world. My country, your country, my nation, your nation, my kingdom, your kingdom...
By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place that he was going to receive for an inheritance, and he went out when he did not know where he was going. By faith he became an inhabitant in that land which was promised to him, as in a foreign land, and he dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, his heirs of The Promise. For he was looking for The City which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Abraham, the father of all who believe, was ever looking for The City built by God...
Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that — heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
It isn't here; not anywhere on Earth. Stop pretending it is here. Stop settling for that which is passing away. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things which are on the Earth.
You have been bought with a price...
Our LORD Jesus did not teach and train His followers to overthrow the tyranny of Rome. He did not instruct any of His disciples to rebel against all ungodly leadership, to throw off the shackles of wicked oppression by whatever bloodshed is necessary, and to go spread this newfound democracy over the top of whatever peoples they can vanquish through resistance movements, uprisings, and bloody war(s), all the while attempting to call such behavior "liberty" and "freedom".
Our LORD Jesus did not instruct any who are His to surreptitiously install themselves into positions of power in order to effect change from within. He did not teach us to transform the ungodly into non-smoking, non-drinking, non-lying, non-blaspheming and cursing, non-murdering, non-coveting, non-fornicating heathen by enforcement of the rule of law. He did not direct us to hang the horse thieves and drag the bad guys into court to see justice done, all so we could live in a so-called free society, and finally be safe and secure in our houses with all our possessions!
Instead, Jesus explained it quite clearly, declaring to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, the highest local authority in the land:
My Kingdom is not from this world; if my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting that I would not have been delivered up to the Judeans, but my Kingdom is not from here.
Those of you who think it incumbent upon you and/or others to "fight" for truth, to "fight" for freedom, even to "fight for life, perhaps you are unaware of the Master's words. He said, "IF my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting..."
His kingdom is NOT of this world! If you are His servants, you had best not be fighting!
For The Kingdom of God is ... the righteousness and the peace and the joy in The Spirit of Holiness.
The Messiah submitted to the will of the Father, and thus submitted to the Roman government, and to the wicked Judeans, and even unto Death -
Pilate said to Him, “Do You not speak to me? Do You not know that I possess authority to impale You, and I possess authority to release You?” Jesus answered, “You would possess no authority against Me if it were not given you from above.
Don't be afraid. Those who know the TRUTH are FREE to submit to authority, as they know full well that ALL authority is of God - yes, even the wicked rulers. And they know that, just like their Master told Pilate, those leaders have no authority but what is given them by God.
There are many proud and arrogant who claim association with our LORD Jesus, when it is convenient. These are they who get huffy and retort, "So, according to you, what are we supposed to do? Just sit around and do nothing while evil rages on? Doing nothing makes us complicit! We are not cowards! We are not traitors! Wicked men are oppressing us! They have to be stopped! It is up to us to stop them! We will win back our freedom through any means necessary! We are merely defending our rights! And it is our right to execute justice upon the rule breakers!"
I would ask you one simple question? Is The Living God who He says He is? You cannot truthfully answer, "Yes", and then go marching off to take matters into your hands, hands of flesh. His sheep follow Him. No man is greater than His master.
Jesus prayed to the Father for those who are His, saying:
It is not that I am praying you would take them from the world, but that you would preserve them from The Evil One. For they are not from the world, even as I am not from the world.
NOT from/of the world...
Paul, an apostle of Jesus, had this to say to the brethren at Colossus:
If therefore you are risen with the Messiah, seek that which is above, the place where the Messiah sits at the right side of God. Feed on that which is above and not that which is in the Earth, for you have died to yourselves and your lives are hidden with The Messiah in God.
I remind you that if you are His, you are not your own. Wives, submit to your own husbands (not somebody else's). Husbands, love your wives, and don't grow bitter towards them. Children, obey your parents in all things. Fathers, do not exasperate your children to the point at which they become resentful and lose heart. Slaves, always obey you earthly masters (not merely meeting minimum requirements). Everyone, do all that you do with all your being, because whatever you do, you do to Him! Your reward is from Him!
Regardless of our station in life, we are free! Already free. All of us: wives, husbands, children, fathers, and YES - even slaves! To the brethren at Galatia, Paul said this:
...Stand therefore in that liberty with which The Messiah has set us free...
Just as He has raised us with Him, He HAS set us free. Our freedom is something He has already purchased. We are not waiting for Him to set us free some day in the future. Are you living a life where you know the TRUTH and, as a result, live free?
...As free children - not as persons who make their liberty a cloak for their evil, but as Servants of God.
Has the TRUTH set you free? Are you living a life where you are no longer:
- Sinning and confessing sin and sinning and confessing...
- Loving the world and its lusts
- Walking in the flesh, defeated
- Yearning to be honored by men / seeking mens' approval
- Under spell(s) of witchcraft
- Haunted by demons
- Chasing after every vain teaching
- Falling for scams and lies
- Deceiving and being deceived
- Believing anything and anyone but God alone
- Looking to man for salvation
- Living under condemnation
- Feeling helpless, powerless
- Constantly afraid
Are you still living as though you were enslaved?
You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in Our Lord, therefore so walk as children of Light. For the fruits of The Light are in all goodness, righteousness and TRUTH. Distinguish what is pleasing before Our Lord. Neither should you fellowship with the Servants of darkness, because they have no fruit in them, but you should rebuke them. For the thing that they do in secret is an abomination to mention. For all things are corrected by The Light and they are revealed, and everything that reveals is light. Therefore it is said, "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from among the dead and The Messiah will illuminate you."
Grace and Peace be with you,