The Unpayable Debt

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Cor. 6: 19-20, NASB)

For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called. (1 Cor. 7: 22-24, NASB)

THESE days debt is on everyone’s mind – both the governments and our own personal debts. We have borrowed ourselves beyond are capacity to pay and a generalized resentment has overtaken us because we feel like we are slaves to our creditors. The banks own us. If someone were to come along and offer to pay off all our debts, we might jump at the chance, but we would still recognize that, even with no strings attached, we would always be in our rescuer’s debt. Those who have managed to escape the slavery of debt on their own are still haunted by its memories.

On the spiritual level, every one of us has a debt we cannot pay. It is called sin and the payment is death. But worse, like the accumulating interest on a credit card, there is a further payment beyond the payment of death itself. In our lives, we are saddled by the consequences of our sinful actions. Worse, Death itself is followed by a time of endless suffering, what Scripture describes as “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” Then comes the second death.

On our own, there is no amount of good we can do that will offset the sin debt because at heart, “no one who does good, not even one.” (Ps. 53: 3, NASB) Even our hearts cannot be trusted to consider good because “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17: 9, NASB) If we think we can live sinless lives, we only kid ourselves. Our debt accumulates with every passing day.

But our situation isn’t hopeless. There is One who has already paid that debt for us; One who willingly gave up His own life for our salvation. And because He is the only One who could do it, He is the only salvation we have. All we have to do is accept Christ and his sacrifice and the debt of sin is paid – forever.

By accepting that sacrifice we belong to Him just as surely as we would be indebted to anyone who came along and paid our financial debts. Everything comes with a price. We still have to pay some of the interest – there are consequences on earth for things we have done, but Death no longer has a hold on us; the debt of Death itself is paid in full.

But wait! There is more! Not only has Christ paid our debt, He has given us clothing we could never have afforded on our own. He clothes us in His own righteousness so that we can stand before God as free people, no longer slaves to sin. God has adopted us as His own children because of this. We owe everything to Christ.

Unfortunately, there are those who keep trying to pay off the debt through righteous works long after Christ paid it. While Christ expects us to change our lives to model His own, He also expects us to change from within through a changed nature. We cannot do anything of our own will that will compensate for what we have done nor add any value to what Christ has done for us. What we have to do is let Him work within us to “clean up our act” so we no longer have the spending habits that got us into trouble to begin with.

Too often we forget this. We look with contempt rather than compassion on those who are still drowning in sin’s debt when we need to show compassion. Christ died for all though all might not choose to accept his sacrifice for themselves. But unless we show the world the power of Christ’s love, they will never know the choice exists. The world cannot afford for us to forget how and why we became Christians in the first place.

On Spiritual Testing

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1: 2-4, NASB)

EVERY CHRISTIAN knows he is going to be tested. He expects to be tested. These tests are not examinations to see if he knows scripture. These are not tests on doctrinal stances. These are the very real tests of God, and sometimes of Satan, that test the Christian’s faith and his walk.

Satan cannot test us without God’s knowing and without God’s permission. Remember the story of Job? Satan could not act without God’s granting, and he was bound by God’s restrictions. Satan could do anything he wanted to Job, but he could not kill him.

The closer we grow to God, the more we try to put into practice what we have learned about God and His will for us. It follows that the more we strive to act in faith and do God’s will, the more we will be tested. And the tests will become harder.

One of the most telling Scriptures about spiritual testing is found in Luke’s Gospel. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told Peter something that must have seemed strange when he heard it. “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail, and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32 NASB)

Christ reveals here several things we need to understand about testing. First, Satan can and does demand the right not just to test us, but to test us severely. Being “sifted like wheat” is an interesting phrase. It means Satan has demanded the right to completely shake Peter up, to grind him fine. But sifting wheat also removes the chaff and the impurities.

Second, Jesus makes it clear that God does not reject Satan's demands. The sifting is going to happen. It is as we say, “a done deal.” This was true for Job; it was true for Peter, and it is true for us.

Third, Jesus did not say He prayed for Peter to avoid the testing. Christ intercedes for us in times of testing and trial and prays for us. But He does not pray for us to escape trials, but to survive them. He prays that our faith may not fail. And we know that God does not fail to grant His Son’s prayers.

Jesus also prayed that after Peter repented, turned again, he would use this experience to strengthen others.

This is the fourth and most important point. Jesus already knew Peter was going to fail the test. In order for Peter to turn again, he has to turn a first time. The turning again is repentance. The first turning is his failing the test.

We all know the test. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock would crow at sunrise. Peter, relying on himself and his sense of inner strength and the love he had for Christ, denied that possibility. How many times has each of us fallen into that same self-laid trap?

Even though Peter knew he was going to be tested and had time to prepare and strengthen himself, he did exactly what he swore he would not do. In the middle of the night, while Christ was before the priests being beaten and cursed, Peter denied knowing Him three times. His third denial was accompanied by a curse. He failed the test miserably. Or, did he?

Peter failed to live up to his over confident image of himself, but his faith in Christ did not fail. When he repented, that faith grew stronger and Peter did indeed become a source of strength for the other disciples. In his later life, he wrote two letters encouraging Christians to endure testing and to see it as being purified as gold. His letters then urge us on to faith and good works.

Testing is learning the power of faith the hard way. But the lessons hardest learned endure the longest.

In the Sight of the Lord

Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father. He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days. (1 Kin 15: 10-14)

He Jotham) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD. (2 Kin 15: 34-35)

Scripture names several kings of Judah who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” Christians should always strive to do this as well. But for many of these kings there is a qualifier: The high places were not taken away.”

These high places were the hill shrines to local gods. The people of Judah had grown accustomed to sacrificing and making offerings to these gods. The king, rather than do what was totally right, allowed his people to maintain comfortable custom. The hill shrines of Judah were nothing more than the thinking of the world overpowering the worship of the one true God.

What was true of the kings is true of us as Christians: We want to do what is right in the sight of the Lord but there is some qualifier that keeps us from being totally right, totally effective. We must be on guard against the qualifier day and night.

There are churches today that follow the same pattern of allowing the custom to dilute their godly mission. It does not happen because anyone intends to be ungodly but because everyone has become so comfortable with custom, no one challenges its validity. The practices remain because no one wants to deal with the unrest that would come from challenging a fond belief, even if it runs counter to Scripture itself.

One example of this is the commonly held view of a church as an institution or organization rather than an assembly of believers. When we speak of what a church believes, too often it is not a sound Biblical doctrine accepted among all believers, but rather articles of faith determined by a council far removed from the local church. The articles begin as statements of Biblical faith but over time, as new councils embrace new ideas, doctrines evolve to accommodate modern thinking. Even if they were controversial at their inception, over time church doctrines take on the patina of Biblical truth. Few people question the Biblical soundness of the doctrine of their church. These doctrines are the hill shrines of the present age.

We keep the hill shrines and their remnants when we need to tear them down entirely. To do what is right in the sight of the Lord, we need to constantly test what our church professes against what Scripture teaches as sound doctrine. If we don’t do this, the thinking of the world and its gods of equality and fairness or of legalism and ideology will throw up barriers between us and our God. We see this in churches that preach grace and practice legalism or that preach Christ yet accommodate political correctness or New Age spirituality.

Individual Christians, too, have their hill shrines. Think of the things we cling to that run counter to the will of God. Some Christians are fascinated with angels and focus on them instead of the God who created them. There are others who have been seduced into believing that all religions are equally valid and who honestly believe they will encounter Buddha and Mohammad in Heaven. Others elevate patriotism to the level of worship and place loyalty to nation on an equal plain with service to God. These are all hill shrine beliefs rooted in the thinking of the world.

As individual Christians, we have to be sure that every doctrine is consistent with the teachings of Scripture and abandon without regret any that is not. Our God is an awesome God, and He is a jealous God who tolerates no rival and whose Word is unalterable. The only way to Him, is through His Son, Jesus, and no created thing or doctrine conceived by man can lead us there. If we would do what is right in the sight of the Lord, we need to keep these things constantly in mind.

In Our Own Eyes

There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. (Deut. 12: 7-9, NASB)

And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. (Judg. 17: 5-6, NASB)

The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance.

  In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judg. 21: 24-25)

WE are constantly at odds with ourselves. On one hand, we want to do what is right in the sight of the Lord, but on the other, we are constantly directed by what is right in our own eyes. For most of us, too often what is right in either case is influenced more by the world than the Word.

The world is a place of moral and ethical relativity. We see this creep into Christian thinking in the sliding scale we have for sin. We see some sins as more deadly than others. For example, we seem to think that homosexuality is somehow more abhorrent to God than lying, and we forget which one made it to the top ten. Sin is sin, and in God’s eyes all sin is deadly. Since all of us sin, where does that leave us?

In the same way we forget that “an eye for an eye” was not intended to be a standard of retribution, but of consideration towards others. The over-riding principle behind the law is to use it as a gauge of our own morality. It is in reality a reminder that the things we do to others should be balanced against what we expect others to do to us. The intent is that we need to consider what injury we are willing to suffer before we injure to our neighbor. This is summed up in what we commonly call the Golden Rule: Do to others what you would want them to do to you.

But we turn that entire concept on its head. We use the possibility of injury or unfavorable treatment as a justification for preemptive injury and unethical behavior by ourselves. We rely on stereotype to create a whole system of misbehavior that is “right in our own eyes”. It is all right to pad insurance claims because after all “all insurance companies over-charge anyway.” We work things to our own advantage because after all, “we deserve it.” We can steal supplies from our work because we are over worked, underpaid, and the company won’t miss it. Really?

This is the world’s thinking and has no place in ours. There is no way we can stack such behavior against the God’s commandments and come out thinking we are moral, or just, or even justified. Yet we establish our own standard of justice for others and exonerate ourselves at every turn. In the days of the judges, there was no king in the land and everyone was a law unto himself. And chaos reigned.

Today, we have government and we have laws and still there are times that chaos reigns because we all set our own standards for what laws we will keep and which we will break. We feel moral because we don’t kill and we don’t steal, perhaps. But we constantly ignore other laws we see as a nuisance or inconvenience. Yet we feel superior to our neighbors because in our own eyes we are doing what is right. And we are pleased with ourselves.

We have not yet moved into the land that God has prepared for us. We cannot allow ourselves to forget that obedience is the cost for admission. As Christians, we have to constantly balance what we see as right with what God teaches us is right. The two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. The welfare we have to consider is not our own, but our neighbor’s. Then we can do what is right in both God’s eyes and our own.

I Know the Plans . . .

  Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon . . .  “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.

  “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’(Jer. 29: 1-14 NASB)

UNTIL now, we have been looking at places where Christians wander off the mark in trying to deal with the world. Our biggest failing sometimes is in trying to make the world comfortable for Christians by ignoring the obvious: The world will never be comfortable for Christians. Even were we to gain absolute power over all things, we would still not be comfortable because we would constantly squabble amongst ourselves over which group’s comfort should be the norm.

One of the fond fantasies among Christians in America is that there was a unified drive for religious freedom among the founding fathers and that our colonies were begun solely to establish a Christian Community. We make much of the fact that the early settlers were escaping persecution. We choose to ignore the fact the colonists were fleeing persecutions other Christians. Maryland was settled as a haven for Catholics who were persecuted by the Church of England. The Puritans and Pilgrims settled the Massachusetts colony to escape the Anglicans whom they saw as being too much like the Catholic Church.

In America, they all squabbled amongst themselves. The Puritans and the Pilgrims couldn’t get along because their goals were different. The Puritans were Anglicans whose goal was to purify the church. The Pilgrims wanted purity through separation. Roger Williams founded Rhode Island because the Puritans and Pilgrims weren’t pure enough for him. All the religious colonies were divided in their concept of God’s plan for the world. All started out as theocracies. The non-religious colonies were settled mostly by Anglicans and Deists with no religious agenda at all.

We see similar divisions among Christians today. Some see government as the salvation of Christian values. Others see it as the enemy of all things holy. We all see the world going in the wrong direction and wonder what God wants us to do. Where can we look for an answer? Part of that answer can be found in Jeremiah 29.

There is a tendency among Christians to see Israel of the Prophets as a parallel with the church as a nation. The church is not a nation; it is a people. A nation has borders and can be made up of many peoples. A people has an identity, and can live in many nations. We get a better understanding of our own place in the world if we look at Jeremiah 29 as an example of how God wants His people to live in a world that is decidedly not of God.

God’s message to the exiles covers three basic rules for living among the heathen:

·      Live normal lives

·      Don’t just pray for the welfare of the pagan society that holds you captive, but actively seek it

·      Avoid false prophets among yourselves

Paul reinforces this view of how Christians should live in the world. In Romans, he reminds them to respect authority and to pay taxes without complaint. (Chapter 13) Earlier, he wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” If we do this and cling to the good and avoid evil, practice hospitality, refrain from revenge, and love even our enemies and pray for them, we will be lights shining in a darkened world. Our mission is to draw the lost to Christ through example and teaching. Judgment and vengeance belong to the Lord. (See Rom. Chap. 12)

The examples in godly men in the Prophets all fit into this pattern. Jonah, the prophet who opposed God in this, drew discipline upon himself until he did as God commanded and preached repentance in place of retribution.

The Jews were given a finite time in exile after which God would restore them to their homeland. Our homeland is not of this earth and our time in exile has no stated expiration date. Peter assures us that this because God is patient and doesn’t want anyone to perish. He is biding His time that all whom He has called may come to Him.

Unstained by the World

Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. (Gen 41: 41-46 NASB)

And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation. (Esth 10: 2-3 NASB)

The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court. (Dan 2: 47-49 NASB)

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (Jas 1:27)

WE are strangers in a strange land. We became foreigners in the world when we became part of God’s family. Until we die, or until He returns, we are forced to live in this world, in exile. For this reason we need to be on guard constantly that we don’t “go native” and return to the thinking of the world from which God has rescued us.

When we think of being “unstained by the world” we tend to focus on the obvious stains – the sins and vices that we enjoyed when we lived in the world and were slaves to its lusts. They trip us up constantly. But there are other, more subtle, ways the world stains and influences our thinking without our knowing.

This influence is evident in the belief among Christians that we can make the world more godly by human means. We want to pass laws and set up statutes that will make the world more God fearing. Christians in politics or public service are especially prone to this thinking. If it were possible to make men godly by force, the Messiah would have come as the Jews expected and would have overthrown Rome. Paul reminds us that the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against our very nature. Therefore, Christians in public positions need to exercise both caution and restraint.

Should Christians, then, become involved in politics and civic duties? Why not? There is nothing is Scripture to prohibit it. Part of being in the world is being actively engaged in life itself. Not being actively engaged keeps us from being effective ambassadors of Christ. It is very difficult to be a light of the world if we are shining in isolation, or to function as salt of the earth if we remain in the jar. We just have to be careful to avoid being stained by the world around us.

Fortunately, Scripture provides us with examples of godly men who served as political figures while in captivity. They served pagans, yet never abandoned or compromised their faith or their godliness. They wisely looked after the welfare of the nations they served, but they did not force Judaism onto the pagans. Rather by their very lives and dedication to God, they inspired others to accept and honor God. In the same way, Christians need to lead by example rather than compulsion.

All the godly men who held authority in pagan nations endured suffering for their faithful commitment to God. All were imprisoned at some point for putting God ahead of decree. Some were in fear for their lives. Yet God saw all of them through their trials and raised them up. Except in cases where they were sent as messengers from God, their message was not “You cannot do this because God opposes it.” Instead, they were steadfast in saying, “I cannot do this because God opposes it.” The nations were free to do as they would; only God’s people were under God’s law.

In the end, of course, God Himself punishes ungodliness. He doesn’t require us to be His enforcers. The entire world is under that judgment now. The entire world will be destroyed and pass away. All the things of this world are temporary and slated for destruction. There is no law we can enact, no rule we can enforce, no battle we can fight that will change this. The best we can do is be examples of faith and offer temperate advice so that like Mordecai, we work for the good of our people and the welfare of the nations.

And the Government Shall Be . . .

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 ⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isa 9:6-7 KJV)

 ~~~~

³³Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?

 ³⁴Jesus answered him . . . My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

 ³⁷Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?

Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

 ³⁸Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? (John 18: 33-38a KJV)

~~~~

 ¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

¹⁷And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

 ¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.   

 ¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  ²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt 28: 16-20 KJV)

One of the more difficult concepts for modern day Christians to grasp is one simple, over-riding fact about the church itself and the kingdom it represents on earth; It is not a democracy. All power, all authority, all lordship rests in one person – Jesus Christ.

Christians today have no concept at all of exactly the Lordship of Christ really means. In the coming age, the government will rest on His shoulders, and His alone. Scripture teaches us that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. No parliament will counsel the King. There will be no jury; Christ Himself is the righteous judge who will judge the living and the dead.

King of kings and Lord of lords. We mouth the words and deny the reality. We suffer from a sort of cognitive dissonance that causes us to believe two mutually exclusive ideas: Christ is Lord yet we are somehow responsible for judging the world and bringing it into subjugation to God’s Laws.

Scripture assures us we are joint heirs with Christ. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the saints shall judge the world and we shall judge angels. (1 Cor 6: 1-6 KJV) But Paul said this is not to encourage us to judge the world, but rather to exercise sound judgment in dealing with each other. The Christian’s job has never been to judge the world, nor to administer Christ’s judgment on the world.

Until the coming of the age, there is a Prince of this World and the world serves him. For the most part, we need to let the world be the world, recognizing that the world will always be in opposition to God. Trying to force it to be otherwise only encourages further rebellion against God and with it further ungodliness. Rather than making the world a more godly place, we will only bring it into further damnation. This is counter to Christ’s will for us.

Christ defined our role at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. We are to teach, make disciples, and baptize. Our job is not to make the world comfortable for Christians. In fact, it works against us if we allow that to happen. Scripture calls us “strangers in a strange land” because we are not meant to be at home in the world. If we are to function as Christ intended, we must make others strangers with us. Too often, we simply choose to estrange them.

Paul encouraged Timothy to be a teacher, gently correcting those who oppose the gospel to lead them out of the devil's snare. Our job is to teach others so the Spirit may convict them of their own sinfulness and need for salvation. Our goal is to lead them to become disciples of Christ. A disciple is not just a student, but rather a student who strives to become like the master. Discipleship means striving to be more Christ-like. Too often we try to be more like Pilate – administering judgment and keeping the conquered in subjugation.

In the Middle Ages, wealthy nobles and princes apprenticed their sons as squires to other knights so they could learn how to be effective knights when they were older. So long as we are in this world, we are squires, not knights. We serve a Master, but are not yet masters ourselves. There is only one Lord, and the government is on His shoulders and he is the judge over all. We are but his apprentices and servants.

Until we fully understand our role relative to Christ, we will never be effective ministers of His gospel. And the world will be the worse for it.