Four Laws of Liberty
In previous podcasts we have identified the four primary laws of freedom. These were given to us by James in the New Testament.
1. The Law of Liberty
2. The Perfect Law of Liberty
3. The Royal Law
4. The Law of Equality
The Law of Liberty, which I refer to as the First Law of Liberty, is the Ten Commandments. When the Children of Israel were led out of Egyptian Bondage by Moses, one of the first things the Lord did was to institute the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were prefaced with the following:
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Exodus 20:1-2)
Egypt was called “the house of bondage” because they were ruled by a dictator, the Pharoah, who had become a God. He told them what to worship and how to worship. He also became an object of worship. Idol worship is the highest form of dictatorship because it rules the body, the mind, and the soul, and when a dictator is perceived as a God, he has total power. The idols of Egypt became the source of enormous cruelty, including child sacrifice. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to free the Children of Israel from idol worship and Egyptian bondage and to establish fair rules of conduct for everyone to live by. The Israelites were led by a prophet, but to avoid the tyranny of power, they were governed by judges chosen from among the people. The laws were based on the Law of Liberty called the Ten Commandments.
When Christ came, one of the first things he did was to establish the Perfect Law of Liberty as taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Rather than the sharp Mosaic Law which had become perverted, Christ instituted a higher law, called the Beatitudes, based on freewill and moral conscience:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in hearth: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The Perfect Law of Liberty is a matter more of conscience than of law and must be lived voluntarily. The same is true with the Royal Law, which if lived perfectly would be the only laws you need.
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The final law of liberty is The Law of Equality, which is summed up the Apostle Peter.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: (Acts 10:34)
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