Freedom

A recent survey has found that an increasing number of Americans are no longer claiming to be Christians. This is happening as we see the stage being set for our freedoms of religion and speech to be eroded away in the United States. There is a connection between a falling away from the Christian faith and the loss of our freedoms that are part of a trend revealing our proximity to the return of Christ.

The United States has been an exceptional place in the world because of our freedom culture. And this was only possible because the founders of this country were mostly Christians who applied biblical principles in structuring how our government should work. George Washington made it clear that human governments will fail apart from God's help when he said, "It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being" (from 1835 book titled, “Paulding’s Life of Washington”). You can't have enough laws to make a civil society, people must be self-governing or the government will fail.

Historical revisionists are hard at work trying to erase this country's Christian heritage and have made significant progress in "reinterpreting" our Constitution on many fronts. The attitude of the progressives in opposing God is reflected in Psalm 2:2-3: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.'" (Psalm 2:2-3, NKJV). The more America turns away from God, the more our God-given freedoms will evaporate. The loss of freedoms in the last bastion of liberty in the world is just one more indication that the Day of the Lord is near.

Agnostics are those who believe nothing can be known of the existence or nature of God beyond material phenomena. They are proud of being on the fence about God declaring neither faith nor disbelief in Him claiming to be open to any evidence that could cause them to change their mind. But their thoughtful-sounding position is generally a smokescreen hiding the fact that they have already made up their mind and prefer to remain uncommitted. There is plenty of evidence for the supernatural nature of Scripture in the prophecies that have been fulfilled but agnostics use all kinds of rationalizations to remain willfully ignorant of them.

There is a grave misconception among agnostics that to embrace Christ is to limit themselves. They think by remaining a spiritual free agent, they are exercising more freedom than Christians who constrain themselves by their religion. The agnostic perspective appears to be reinforced by stories of people who were once practicing Christians but have stopped believing saying they have felt liberated by their decision to leave the faith.

Claiming to be a Christian and even doing great things in the name of Jesus apart from having a personal relationship with the Savior has no eternal value (Matthew 7:21-23). Eventually the truth will become known; those falsely professing to be followers of Christ will either genuinely yield their life to Jesus, get tired of pretending and appear to fall away from the faith, or continue their charade until they are forced to acknowledge the truth at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-12).

The professing Christian who appears to leave the faith feels liberated because they think following Christ is all about earning salvation through obedience and doing good works. This perspective has more in common with all the other religions of the world than biblical Christianity. The Bible makes it clear that salvation is not a function of one's own performance but having a relationship with the Savior. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus does not constrain us as agnostics believe. He invites us: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). This is the picture of an experienced ox being teamed up with an untrained one to learn how to be successful at what we were created to do. When we are teamed up with Christ, He does all the hard work and keeps us on the right path. And His help is what makes it possible to realize the purpose and blessings God has for us. The more we experience God's help in achieving what He has called us to, the more we realize that His constraints are hardly a burden. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalm 34:8).

The agnostic view of freedom is exactly opposite from reality. They think by remaining uncommitted to the Creator they are free to do whatever they feel like when in fact their willful rejection of Christ keeps them in bondage to ultimate destruction either as a soulless evolved animal as they have chosen to believe or in the lake of fire per Revelation 20:14-15. Such an attitude compels agnostics to pack all the happiness they can into life because if this mortal existence is all there is, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1 Corinthians 15:32).

Only those who know Jesus as their Savior are truly free. "Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free... if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed'" (John 8:31-36). Christians don't fear death because we know it is not the end of our life. This takes the pressure off living and enables us to truly enjoy this life. We know we will not miss out on any good thing this world has to offer, we will have all eternity to bask in the goodness of our Creator.

The trend of professing Christians denouncing their religion is a sign we are in the season of the Lord's return. "The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1). And we also know that the freedoms we currently enjoy in this country will have to go away to accommodate the coming global dictator: "All the world marveled and followed the beast...  It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation" (Revelation 13:3, 7).

It is too bad that the agnostics of the world won't face the reality of this world's trends and recognize that all this was foretold by God to authenticate the Bible as really being from Him. Only God is able to declare, "the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10). All we can do is pray for them and "be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). This is worth doing because some will believe for, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).