On Freedom and
Persecution
Charles Faupel
What follows is a letter written to several
college students who were meeting with my wife and me in a local pub prior to
our leaving Alabama to move to Arkansas in 2010. I believe he would have me share this with
our readers at this time. If you have
never done so, I urge you to spend time meditating on the book of Galatians. It is a life changing book to those
struggling with bondage to the law.
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Friends:
I need
to begin this email with a little context. This message is birthed out of
a discussion that took place among several of us who meet at the Olde Auburn Ale House for study of the book of
Galatians. My heart has not been this moved to write in such a
manner in a very long time. Some of you will be encouraged by these
words; others may be angered. But as Jesus said of his disciples when the
Pharisees told him to rebuke them for speaking forth His glory on His entry
into Jerusalem, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Friends, God is passionate about this word.
Christ
came to set us free. Says the apostle Paul in his
letter to the Galatians, "It is for freedom that we have been set
free." God bore the excruciating pain of watching His only
begotten Son die a most wretched death in the most humiliating way possible for
one purpose--to set us free. He came to set men free--free
from the bondage of sin and free from the bondage of the law. HE WANTS
HIS CHILDREN FREE! HE PAID AN INCREDIBLE COST TO SET US FREE! He
came for no other purpose than to set us free. Jesus did not come to
establish a new philosophy or a new religion. He did not come to set up a
new system of rules. He came for one purpose only--to set men free.
Period. Yet, we so willingly sacrifice the
freedom that has been bought for us for a "bowl of stew"--whether
that be in the form of worldly attraction that is so
alluring or in the form of succumbing to the law with its empty promise of
freedom through adherence to its impossible demands. Can you imagine
sending your son or daughter to a foreign land to fight and die for the freedom
of a people who don't really want or care about being free? This is how
the heart of God is grieved—grieved beyond our capacity to comprehend—when we
reject the freedom that was so costly for Him to bring to us.
The
question was raised in the meeting last night at the Olde
Auburn Ale House, "Why did Paul so zealously persecute the
Christians?" Understand that Paul was about as perfect as any man
could be with regard to the law. He boldly states in Philippians that he
was "as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." If
anyone could lay claim to moral perfection, Paul could. But he said he
regarded it all as rubbish--because he had discovered the freedom that there is
in Christ. It was before he discovered this freedom, however, that he was
perhaps the most zealous persecutor of the church ever known. Why was it that Paul was so zealous in his persecution?
His own message, which consumed his entire life after his encounter with Christ reveals why—It was because of the freedom that these
early believers found in Christ. This freedom was an affront to the
religious establishment—the establishment to which Paul had devoted
his life. Friends, do not be mistaken—It was the
religious establishment that instigated the persecution of those early
Christians. Oh indeed, they used the secular authorities to help carry
out this persecution, and we know that the Roman authorities eventually demanded
unqualified loyalty to the Caesar with gruesome forms of execution to take
place if they refused. But the spirit of persecution of the Church all
began in that little Palestinian land with the religious establishment.
These early Christians, following in the path of their Lord, paid dearly for defending
the freedom that was their inheritance.
Those
who are committed to this gospel message of freedom today will also pay dearly
for the freedom that is their inheritance. And from where will our
persecution originate? None other than the religious
establishment. Religion is all about control. It seeks to
destroy the freedom that we have in Christ. And there are costly
consequences for anyone who is serious about laying claim to this
inheritance. The religious establishment will tell you, "Yes, you
are saved by grace alone," but then proceed to lay down rules for how you
must live your life. Exactly what those rules are will vary, depending on
the particular religious tradition. In the tradition of Paul's day, the
rules involved circumcision, and the eating or not eating of certain
foods. In the tradition in which I grew up, those rules involved such
things as smoking and drinking, and even dancing and playing with face
cards. Other religious traditions will tell you that you must engage in social
outreach activities. Most religious traditions will tell you that you
must get baptized. I must interject something here: I know that
believer's baptism is scriptural, but folks, when this is imposed as a rule
upon believers as a criterion for membership in the body, it ceases to have the
power of the testimony that it had. Some of you have heard the testimony
of my baptism. I'm not going to go into that testimony here, except to
say that I was in my mid-40's before being baptized. I had joined
churches that required baptism for membership, but my conscience would not
allow me to be baptized simply as a requirement for membership. Somehow,
they let me in anyway. I was baptized only when the Spirit of the Lord
came upon me one day and let me know in no uncertain terms that it was now time
for me to be baptized. The purpose of my sharing this is not to engage in
a theological discussion on baptism. I share this only to give testimony
to the fact that God does not want us to do ANYTHING out of obligation to the
law.
Those
of us who have accepted Christ as our righteousness stand complete in that work
that HE did. Hear me very carefully: ANYTHING THAT WE DO TO JUSTIFY
OURSELVES BY THE LAW IS AN AFFRONT TO THE CROSS OF CHRIST! I
don't care what that work is: be it getting circumcised, or remaining
abstinent from alcohol or tobacco, or doing good works in the community, or
getting baptized--if it is done out of obligation or in order to conform to a
rule or law that has not been written on our heart and ordered by the
Spirit of God, it is sin. Paul says in Romans that "everything that
does not come from faith is sin."
This
word has been incredibly heavy on my heart today. God is calling forth a
remnant of believers who are willing to stand firm, no matter what the cost,
for this gospel message of the freedom that is in Christ. You WILL be
persecuted for this stand. Jesus promised it. But friends, there is
no greater honor. I encourage you with every fibre
of my being to live free in Christ and in His righteousness that He has
cloaked you in.
I am,
to those of you who accept Christ's work as complete,
Your
brother,
Chuck Faupel