[F]or if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10, portion

Freedom is found in the lack of chains.

A Psalmist wrote, ” I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2).  When we make our decisions before God and man, do we understand that He is all that matters?

Life is found in knowing Him.  It is found in being in Him, and He in us.  It is set forth as being with Him.  Yet, as we learn and discover, to live in Christ Jesus is to provoke both division and to be at odds with men and women, most especially those with whom you are closest to.  Surely, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will face persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

Jesus called the people of His day “slaves”, for as He said, whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34).  This is a essential truth.  Yet, for the believer, we have been delivered of the bondage of sin, and transferred into the Kingdom of God’s son.

But, so much as we yet submit to anything but the Lord, we find ourselves in bondage again, for each must work out his salvation individually, in the context of the whole, but for himself.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, observably overcoming certain accusations of his day, that if he was really still trying to please men, he would not then be a servant of Christ.

Paul knew where his help came from.  He knew the problem of succumbing to the spirits and wills of another.  For, even Jesus Himself said that anyone who loved another more than Him was not worth of Him (Matthew 10:37).

This is a basic truth.

Any time we submit our spirits to anyone but Christ, we become their slaves.  Paul wrote,

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Romans 6:16

This was written to believers, and is true for us today.

If we submit to the spirits of fear and intimidation on another, we come underneath it.  If we obey an edict of unrighteousness, submitting to the spirit of it (although one can submit to God Himself and do the same thing, this is not the same in the spirit, as it is submission to God in the midst of an ungodly decree, not to the ungodliness itself), we become the slave of the spirit of which it is of.

The freedom of the Gospel is a separation, a cleaving from the world.  It is a severing of a covenant of marriage, (through the death of us, according to Paul in Romans 7), to the world, its restrictions, and its whole way of life, and a separation unto righteousness, even the very righteousness of God, that is truth, justice, mercy, godly love, and light and truth.

As the nation of Israel was our example, when we look to the world for our help, which spiritually is Egypt, or worse yet, to the pagan or the contemporary religious notions of the day, which is Babylon, we may find a temporary boost in the production of our visible ministry resources and available avenues for distribution, but as Isaiah prophesied:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.

Isaiah 31:1

When we look to the material and institutional resources of any organization, we cut off our hand in terms of receiving from the Lord.  The Lord may or may not use such a source, but if the eye of our heart is set upon it, rather than upon Him, it is always idolotry.  Any gain from such, even if appearing “spiritual”, is always carnal at the root, and guarantees no lasting return.

When we submit ourselves to anything other than the Spirit of Christ, wheresoever He leads us, we become slaves to the thing that we obey.  When, out of fear of lack of provision, or through intimidation, or through any other perceived means, quite often through fear, we look to any place other than the heavens, to the mountains, to the Lord Himself, from whence cometh our help, we only guarantee we will not receive from Him.  Though He may be gracious to us, and have mercy in our weakness, if we persist in proceeding thus, we will never find the greatness of the treasure that is Him.  We will never realize where our source and supply really is.  We will never know Him, not like He asks us to.

That God does provide in a multitude of ways is apparent.  God may (or may not) use any of the conventional means to supply our needs, including jobs, offerings, the selling of merchandise, or the like, but so long as our heart remains pure, He can work through them.

For, He is our help.  He is our supply.

To live any other way is simply not freedom.

For, he said,

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33