Gen. 4:3-5 π Dt. 6:4 π Isa. 29:14 π Mt. 22:37 π Jn. 15:5 π 1 Cor. 1:19 π 1 Cor. 1:28 π 1 Cor. 2:6 π 1 Cor. 12:14 π 1 Cor. 12:18-20 π 1 Cor. 12:27 π Eph. 4:4-6 π 1 Jn. 2:17 π Rev. 13:17
The philosophy of socialism is the notion that wealth and the means of producing it belongs to society rather than to the individual. The fallacy of this philosophy is readily apparent. If a man has $500 in his pocket and another man comes up and demands and attempts to take that $500, the first man is entirely within his rights to defend himself and his property. But socialism gives some men the idea that they have more right to other people’s property or that they have a greater knowledge or wisdom in the use and control of that property than the owners do. Thus proponents of socialism use patriotism, ecology, historicity, safety, public utilities, the notion of “the good of society” and whatever other thing which people place some value on so they can gain some measure of control over individuals.
Hitler pushed the notion of socialism to its limits. He preached the good of the Fatherland (Germany), aid for the poor and unemployed and the superiority of the Aryan (super) race. He convinced the vast majority of Germans, particularly the youth who were young and gullible, to sacrifice their very lives in service to his ideals – ideals which were merely the hidden and disguised agendas of the demonic who desired to eliminate all people who followed (however imperfectly) after God (that is, Jews and Christians) and to control and draw as many people into eternal condemnation as they could. In the end, Hitler demonstrated the real fruit of his ideals when he committed suicide and left all of his dupes to fend for themselves.
A slave is a person who is owned by another and who is obligated to obey that other. Few people willingly volunteer for slavery when it is properly called by what it is. Thus grand schemes like Hitler’s socialistic “democracy” must be concocted to bring foolish people to obligate themselves to various masters. But politics is hardly the only tool available to the demonic. The greedy man and those who desire “nice,” comfortable houses must become a bank’s slave held in the banker’s “death grip” (old English roots of the word “mortgage”) to satisfy their own cravings for comfort and pleasure. The alcohol and drug addict is a willing slave to the brewer, manufacturer, dispenser and dealer of his favorite tool of escapism. The man who gives himself to pornography is a well-paying slave to those who produce his preferred type of smut. The “good” neighbor who pries into others’ lives so he can enforce some code of neighborhood standards is a dupe and willing slave of the socialists who will utilize anything to bring the individual into the collective. Assimilation into the pursuit of “the common good” is the mantra behind which arrogant men hide as they enact and enforce self-serving agendas and programs. People in this nation may want to rethink that one about history repeating itself and those who fail to learn the lessons of history being doomed to repeat them.
But why is all of this significant to the follower of Christ? Because it points toward the differing natures of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The law which Jesus said was the most important (
Mt. 22:37
) is prefaced in the Old Testament with a description of the nature of God:
“Hear, O Israel! The
Yet Paul also wrote, “The body is not one member, but many… But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body just as He desired. …if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body… Now you [plural] are Christ’s body, and individually members of it [singular].” ( 1 Cor. 12:14 , 18-20 , 27 - emphasis added; top)
Many people have difficulty with the notion of the tri-unity of God – Father, Son and Spirit – because they add one plus one plus one and correctly arrive at the answer “three.” But the number “one,” no matter how many times it is multiplied by itself, remains one. This is the number by which God has chosen to reveal something of His nature. Those who have difficulty with grasping the unity of the three Persons of the Godhead will have even more difficulty when the fourth Person of the Godhead, the Bride, takes her place alongside her Husband, Christ Jesus – for she, being one body, is made up of many members. Yet these members are all one with each other and one with each Person of the Godhead. This is a revelation to be received, not fully understood – trying to wrap your head around this one can be hazardous to your sanity!
God calls and equips individuals to serve His kingdom. It is in their oneness with God that they also experience the corporate nature of Christ and God and his Spirit and experience the oneness of His body. Thus it is the individual’s obedience to God in interaction with other’s obedience to God that is the tool by which God brings about the unity that is found among the true followers of Christ. It is not outward conformity to some list of standards of behaviors nor even adherence to a list of commonly held doctrines or beliefs by which we are one with God and one another – these are only flawed approaches to the whole notion of seeking after God. Only in seeking greater individual obedience to God will we ever be able to attain to the corporate unity and oneness that is the body and ekklesia of Christ.
In mathematics, interestingly enough, there is only one other number which shares a similar multiplication characteristic as the number one – only zero, no matter how many times it is multiplied by itself, will always be the same number. But the result is zero, nothing. Paul wrote that “God has chosen the base, the despised and non-existent things of this world to bring to nothing the things which are.” ( 1 Cor. 1:28 ) John confirms this by telling us that this world is passing away - that is, coming to nothing, dying. ( 1 Jn. 2:17 ) God has also promised to bring to nothing even all worldly wisdom. ( 1 Cor. 1:19 , Isa. 29:14 ) And Paul also wrote that the rulers of this age, the demonic forces who utilize deception and oppression to maintain the devil’s control over the world, his kingdom, are coming to nothing. ( 1 Cor. 2:6; top )
We live in a world that is, spiritually speaking, truly only a binary (two-number) system. We can either be a zero or we can be a one in this system. Those who would see this as a reduction of the human being to a mere number and as a horrible thing have failed to grasp the transcendency of God’s nature as one. And those whose selfish nature rules their lives are going to find one day that their whole identity will be reduced to nothing, a meaningless bureaucratic number under the hellish control of Satan and the demonic. ( Rev. 13:17; top )
Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” ( Jn. 15:5 ) Any action we take – no matter how “good” it seems and no matter how well intentioned we might be – apart from a unity with the oneness of God, it is nothing, a fruit and by-product of the kingdom which stands in opposition to Christ and God. By what foolishness (and arrogance) do we thing that we have anything of value of our own to offer God (think Cain in contrast to Abel – Gen. 4:3-5; top ) when all our resources are tainted and contaminated with the elements which God’s enemy has placed into our life? Put another way, what can we possibly do for God that He can’t do better by and for Himself? We must allow Him to will and work through us or else we are only a willing and useful tool in the hands of His enemy. There are only two kingdoms to which we can belong and we must belong to one or the other. In this life, there is no neutral ground and no de-militarized zone. There is only One or nothing. All else is mere deception.
Let he who has ears hear.
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