21 May 2020
In the midst of the current covid-19 crisis, restrictions applied in lockdowns, in distancing, in the wearing of masks and in other areas cause an uproar in many quarters in societies and nations. Various ones declare that they do not like to be told how to behave and they clamour for their ‘freedom’.
The longings for freedom from restrictions, obligations, pressure from systems and those in authority have become the modern man’s obsession. Bad experiences of harsh and unwholesome authority in one’s past may be contributory in the case of some individuals; the root for such a longing in fact has its roots in human philosophy, in the dream that men can be independent and ‘good’ and their personal freedom does not need to be curtailed as they have the ‘goodness’ in them which can be released with coaxing and education. Scripture reveals that ‘all have sinned’ and ‘there is none righteous’. Do not ever imagine that apart from God’s intervention, man can be truly good and righteous and that he would naturally seek the ‘good’ in others and in society.
Today’s rebellion against authority is a sign not of maturity but of its opposite. It is a form of folly rather than wisdom. It leads only to decadence and spoiled lives. The truth is that there is no freedom apart from external authority. But the authority does matter – true freedom is only found under God’s authority. The root of sin is rebellion against God, against HIs authority and rule.
God’s authority is only found under the authority of Scripture, through which God’s authority is mediated to men, and Christ by His Spirit rules His people’s lives. Biblical authority is in fact liberating and invigorating, leading to liberated living free from uncertainty, doubt and despair. The man who trusts his Bible knows what God did, does, and will do, and what He commands, and what He promises. The One who creates us knows what is good for us and in the Bible, He shows us the way to true freedom He intends for us.
No human performance is ever good enough, for there are always wrong desires in the heart, along with a lack of right ones, regardless of how correct one’s outward actions are; God looks at the heart and He is in the process of transforming our hearts through His revelations in Scripture, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, on the basis of what Christ has accomplished at the cross. This process of transformation would lead us to true freedom and oneness with the eternal almighty God; it would make us to be what we truly ought to be, as created by God – the true and wholesome human being created by God! It would ‘qualify’ us to live in the new heaven and new earth, where there is no more sin and man and woman can truly live in love and freedom in God’s society without malice, envy, jealousy and the infringement of the freedom of others.