Claiming Freedom - Part 2

Claiming Freedom – Part 2

A coin named Freedom

There are two sides to every coin. Imagine that freedom is a flipping coin, heads on one side and tails on the other. Now, the coin’s name is Freedom; therefore, both sides represent a form of freedom. However, the two sides occur in perfect opposition to each other. Every coin lies with one side up and the other side down. One side exposed while the other remains concealed. Both cannot present at the same time; although, you hold the power to pick up the coin and turn it, exposing the side of your choice. Therefore, Freedom has a positive (go; advancement opportunities- life) and a negative (stop; dead end- death) disposition, and it’s up to you to choose a side.

Let’s decipher Freedom’s two sides by first learning the meaning of freedom, which you probably already know, but just for fun, let’s go over it here. Freedom signifies removal from a particular obligation by means of new option without subjection to due penalty (my own definition, wink). Think about a time when you received an opportunity to form a choice about a matter. What happened after you chose? You probably remember that your decision landed you in another realm of terms and conditions, because a final decision always does. Without a new set of motivational terms or conditions, there exists no reason for which to choose. Freedom would serve no purpose. Ok, for example, think about choosing a loaf of bread. You can choose Rye bread or you can choose White bread. What could possibly represent a new set of conditions with regard to a loaf of bread, you might ask. Here it is. You chose to accept the terms of taste, color, and nutrients. That’s right, you chose a binding contract that says the bread will taste a certain way, look a certain way, and will provide only certain nutrients, and those were your key motives for choosing. The result of your choice is now binding. Therefore, the freedom received at first was in only the choice confronting you, when it confronted you. Once you chose, you entered a new finalizing set of stipulations. So does that mean freedom doesn’t exist anymore? No, but it exists only in that which you did not choose.

Imagine now that you chose the Rye bread. Therefore, you entered into the terms presented by the Rye bread, but the White bread still exists. That means that the choice you made ended in both an agreement to a binding set of terms and in an agreement of release from the other set of terms. In that way, you remain free from one loaf of bread’s stipulations, but bound to the other. Again, you are free, but you are too bound. To be any other way is impossible, unless the loaf (or side of the coin) you chose represented freedom in its self, meaning, if its specifications granted endless options. Then you would remain free because freedom means to be removed from particular (direct) obligation by means of new option, or new opportunities, without subjection to due penalty. Moreover, a removed obligation denotes maintaining an immobile status within context of the exact obligation (just as the White bread still exists, but no further action concerning it will take place—it resumes dead from further significance and replaced by new options). Importantly recognize, though, that such a specification would not excuse you from the original contract, but the contract within its self would provide you with regenerate opportunities. Now, let us return to the coin and tie it together with freedom of salvation, since I know you were wondering when I was going to bring up anything to do with Christianity, wink.

Imagine that one side of a coin named Freedom represents salvation in Christ and the other side represents liberalization. You have the coin, Freedom, in the palm of your hand and the choice of which side to commit (or turn up) is yours. Both sides deliver a form of freedom; otherwise, it wouldn’t possess the name it does. Remember, when you commit to one side you become free from the other side’s circumstances, or rules. Now view each side’s contract agreement.

The side that represents Salvation specifies that you agree the following is true:

1. God exists.

2. God is the one and only god.

3. God created the heavens, the earth, and all the creatures thereof, including man; therefore, God represents the purpose of His creation, or contains the meaning of life.

4. Man violated God’s will, necessitating compensation for reconciliation.

5. God established man’s life; therefore, without reconciliation, the life He gave is lost (man will now decompose over time and die).

6. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world, dressed in human flesh, to recompense man’s debt by offering the perfect sacrifice—His own life.

7. Jesus paid the price in full by leading a perfectly obedient life, suffering persecution and execution by the hands of sinful men, and asking The Father, God, to forgive man’s debts on behalf of Jesus’ sacrificial death, which He carried out in perfect obedience to God.

8. Upholding Jesus’ sacrifice as the only way to regain everlasting life is the only way.

9. Jesus’ sacrifice pays only the debt of those willing to admit these accounts are true.

What you must do under the new contract with Jesus:

1. Continue to support the above statement.

2. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind

3. Love your neighbor as your self. (Luke 10:27)

4. Accept this side of the coin before your current physical body meets death, and know that it will.

The benefits received by this side of the coin:

1. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit—an element of God will take residence inside of you and become your best friend upon acceptance of this contract. He will divulge your purpose, unveil your worth, strengthen you, inspire you, and encourage you until the time God has appointed to fulfill all the components of the contract, which finishes with a deadly expulsion of all those who deny it.

2. Everlasting life—to engage (actively progress) in perfect harmony with God, our creator, forever (indicating a flawless relationship with our creator, who, as discussed in my previous blog, establishes individual significance, or self worth… so, we become locked in to a state of regenerate opportunity for expanding personal significance, or relational influence, meaning- life, by reconciling our relationship to God, our creator)

3. Love—God is love; therefore, you will receive love, undefiled.

4. Fulfillment—due to your perfect harmony with God, His desires become your desires and yours His; hence, due to your harmonious desires and God’s perfect love, God will fulfill all your heart’s desires, including a new and flawless physical body when the particular time comes :D

What's the due penalty for accepting this contract? Death. By acknowledging that humanity defied God, the creator, you come to perceive need to make up for the disobediance by giving back your life to God. However, God is holy and connot take back what has been defiled. Therefore, as you accept this contract, recognizing the price of your defiance has been paid in full with the life of Jesus is critical to receiving its benefits. If you do not accept this package in its entirety, you will not receive eternal life.

What’s the catch? The catch is that we continue to live among those who deny Freedom’s salvation until an appointed time that only God knows (or until we as individuals pass naturally from this life into eternity). That means we live here by faith in the above outlined contract, not receiving its full benefits until the time God has planned to fill His order. Because rebellion infects man’s lineage through a violation of God’s original command, the world stands condemned as a whole (excluding members of this contract, of course), which indicates that hardships resulting from its state of damnation will affect us during our temporary stay here. Moreover, this option remains open only up to the time your current body dies. Now, I bet you wonder what’s on the other side of the coin.

The side that represents Liberalization maintains the following:

1. That you can believe anything you want to, except that which is according to the side of salvation. Oh now, you may believe sections of the other side’s contract, according to your own reason, but just so you don’t agree with and commit to the entire stipulations outlined in it. That’s it. Now that’s freedom! Right?

What you can do under this contract:

1. Anything you want to. There are no rules. You can love money, commit fornication, adultery, theft, murder, etc. Do whatever pleases your self. It’s your life, after all. Now that’s freedom! Right?

The benefits received by this side of the coin:

1. That seems obvious. Self-gratification (but are you sure you know what gratifies? Be careful, the answer may not be plain.)

What's the due penalty? There is none. You owe no one anything outside of what you determine by your own judgment, because you are a respector of only your self. But, there is a major catch.

So, what’s the catch? The catch is that you die. When you read the above terms, liberalization didn’t look so bad. Well, the meaning of death might help change your mind.

Death means to stop advancing, to exist in a state of despair, isolated from love, and to suffer prolonged torment associated with the first three aspects. Understand, not only does death imply a state of physical destruction, but the spiritual portion symbolizes a non-significant nature. Your spirit resumes its existence, but lacks any meaning or worth because its creator, God, terminates your relationship with Him. That means, God remembers you no more, your life does not influence Him. You are cut off from His acknowledgement—GOD’s! The One who fashioned you for the very purpose of carrying a relationship with Him, and with others. If you do not conform to the exact purpose you were created for, you hold no significance, no value; thus you resume dead, isolated, and tormented by that fact. Death does nothing but reflect the individual it captures.

A good analogy of death might correspond to a simple reflection in a mirror. When someone looks in a mirror, all the reflection does is nothing. It’s an unrealistic portrait of an object. Although, a reflection does display, thus an element exists, but a mere image demonstrates no accomplishment, no meaning, and holds no value. Then, when the reflection disappears from view, the observer totally forgets about its invaluable, superficial appearance. The reflection is dead. It contains no life value because it puts an everlasting impression on no one (devoid of ongoing impressionable activity), and is the same with people when they die spiritually; realize here that the spirit is the main object that characterizes life and death. The body is nothing but a cloak. A body can live forever, too, according to God’s wishes; however, I won’t talk about that here. Let’s keep our focus on the main object, the life of our spirit, the core element of our being in connection with our soul.

A reflection is also self absorbed, self-centered, it depends on its own object in order to prove it exists at all. Again, the only verification of individual existence is within its own object of awareness. In other words, the only witness to the reflection’s existence is the object projecting the image, unless someone else is in the room, too, lol. But, suppose this object is the only one in the room because it has no relationship to anyone else—it is dead, remember; therefore, no one else would be present.

Similarly, a spiritually dead person relies on his own reason for living. Outside of his person, there resumes no personal influence because he has not formed any lasting impressions through vital relationships, which would distinguish his self worth, or personal motivate. A vital relationship involves a connection to a separate individual who equally contains life, for example, who equally contains additional life-bound connections, such as to God, His self. Spiritually dead men/ladies do not retain consideration for others who are spiritually dead and do not hold lasting consideration by others, whether dead or alive. A spiritually dead individual is self reliant, self-serving, self-respecting, and spiritually isolated and alone (the person might not presently realize how truly isolated, but the realization will inevitably come), which denotes a complete lack of personal significance, providing confirmation of lifelessness. In short, he establishes no substantial consideration relative to developing relationships. Now how does death look to you? Still good? I’m not finished, lol.

Assuming you will consider an explicit declaration from God at this point (realize that reading into this two-sided coin at all indicates your interest in destiny’s mission according to its creator, God), God tells us in the Holy Bible that in the end time, when He has appointed to fulfill His contract, He will cast down to Hell all those who remain in denial of the salvation contract on the other side of this coin (as previously stated in the salvation contract). Those in denial will suffer unfathomable torment in Hell for the rest of eternity. That time has not come yet, but God assures all in His Word that the time will surely come, and the event will take place just as He has revealed it to us. If this isn’t enough to cause you to clasp the coin and choose, consider this also.

Someone did actually hold this coin before you did. His name was Adam, and because you are his descendant (human connection) you currently live under the terms of contract that he chose. Want to know which contract? Liberalization. That’s right, you currently reside under the terms and conditions of the liberalization contract, but… the option to choose for yourself was delegated to you as a mercy offering by God. Therefore, the coin changed hands, and now you hold it. At this time, another brief look at the two options might prove worthy.

Remember above, where I mentioned about what happens concerning freedom once you make a choice. I said that once you make a choice, you become bound again. I added, though, that such is true unless the option you choose contains within its self the condition of freedom, or endless opportunities without subjection to due penalty. Therefore, consider that before you commit to a side of the coin. Which of the two sides do you suppose might offer such a proposal, and isn’t that the side you prefer?

Side 1, Salvation

Looking over the contract, you notice some precise stipulations. There includes a particular set of beliefs, a few inexplicit rules to live by (open to good judgment), an intriguing set of benefits, and a small catch. Where might freedom subsist on this side of the coin? It might not likely appear in the Particular Beliefs section, nor in the Rules section; although, the inexplicitness of the rules does open some doors, but let’s examine the Benefits package. You might notice in the benefits Everlasting Life, #2. Wow! This side of Freedom’s coin concludes that you will live forever! What does that mean, exactly? That means you will grow opportunistically in affiliation to your creator, God, gaining in purpose and in worth, everlastingly. With this, the few rules seem desirable and the beliefs conceivable (and true J). The penalty is paid. The catch is no worse than your current condition, and its troubles will eventually end.

Side 2, Liberalization

In this option, and at first glance, you can perceive much freedom, freedom to believe whatever, freedom to do whatever, and the benefit looks inviting- Self-gratification. There is not even a penalty to pay, other than what is according to your imagination. The catch, however, claims death, loss of motivational purpose! So, where’s the freedom inside of Freedom?

Finally! LOL… If you haven’t figured it out by now, you probably aren’t going to. But just for kicks, let’s quick pick it open.

Salvation confirms your everlasting life; thus, no matter what you do (release from ‘particular’ obligation),

you will continue to own a future (a future naturally refers to new, pending opportunities),

even if you fault in your future moral obligations to God from time to time (again alluding to a release from direct obligation through further options).

Once again, the contract validates your entitlement (privileged opportunity to receive without due penalty or payment)

to live forever. (to experience endless opportunities for personal growth through vital relationships).

The only condition for the terms of Salvation to take effect is that you choose to embrace this entire contract wholeheartedly. Remember, too, once your body dies, you will no longer have a choice; your present status under the liberalization contract, which projects only an illusionary freedom, will be final, and you will never relish true freedom. Liberalization certifies your total and final isolation from everything that contains significance, or life, forever. Liberalization is a binding condition in its self because purpose, thus too valuable options, ceases to exist. My final question is this. Did you turn over the coin yet?

BRAIN STRAIN:

To prohibit restrictions is to prevent purpose;

To prevent purpose is to block options;

To block options is restrictive in nature. You are bound. Now return…

To prohibit restrictions is to prevent God, who purposefully created you; and

To prevent God is to block all options, because God holds our purpose; hence,

God holds all our options.