It is with great sadness that I write this blog. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NIV84), yet what I see happening in the world today is the ever-increasing enslavement of people.

And what makes this process of enslavement so diabolical is that, at least in America, the majority of those who are losing their freedoms are choosing it, supporting it, promoting it, and actively seeking to recruit others to be enslaved—all under the delusion that it is for their own good. It sickens me.

Oh, how I long for the kingdom of heaven, in which all people will be genuinely free, for God’s kingdom is the opposite of Satan’s.

Judging Two Kingdoms

In Isaiah chapter 14, the Bible describes Satan’s motives, desires, goals, and how he operates, revealing to us how we can identify satanic principles at work:

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (vv. 13, 14 NIV84).

Satan’s motive is self-exaltation; his desire is to rule over others; his goal is domination—to exploit the masses for his benefit.

His method is deception, and the outcome of applying his principles is death:

He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44 NIV84; see also Hebrews 2:14).

This is the exact opposite of Jesus, whose motive is love (John 15:13). His desire is to bless others, and His goal is the unity of friendship (John 15:15; 2 Corinthians 5:17–21). Jesus is the source of truth and life (John 14:6).

The Bible describes Jesus’ motive, desires, and goals:

Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5–8 NIV84).

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13 NIV84).

Jesus uses power to bless and uplift the masses, not dominate and exploit them!

Satan uses deception to break our connection of love and trust with God and incite fear. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, they ran and hid because they were afraid (Genesis 3:10). Fear is the result of sin; it turns us away from love and trust. But Jesus’ kingdom is the kingdom of truth and love, and “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18 NIV84).

Satan wants us to be his slaves, pawns, serfs—mindless drones controlled by him. Jesus wants us to be free—understanding friends with self-governance who live in harmony with Him and His Father (John 15:15; Galatians 5:22).

Satan’s kingdom uses lies, power, force, coercion, and any other method to destroy individuality and take away freedom. God’s kingdom uses truth, love, and freedom to ennoble and develop individuals to gain ever more autonomy and liberty in harmony with the principles of truth and love.

Understanding these differences gives insight into how Satan manipulates people to collude with evil, to use his methods and, thereby, enslave and entrap themselves. When God’s principles are practiced, people are ennobled—they develop ever-greater ability to think, reason, and discern and gain greater virtues of godly character, greater autonomy, greater ability to love, and greater freedom.

When Satan’s methods are in operation, people will eventually lose their ability to be free, independent, autonomous—they become enslaved.

Satan at Work

Satan has multiple methods to achieve his domination and control of others. The most straightforward ways—such as physical enslavement by force, assault, rape, human trafficking, murder, gang violence, rioting, pillaging, stealing, etc.—need not be addressed here, because these are obviously evil and easy for people to identify.

What we will examine is where Satan tricks people into giving up their freedom for some promise of a better life. And despite the results, the objective outcomes that people experience—the loss of autonomy for themselves, their descendants, and communities with the greater dependence upon others, whether moguls, corporations, or governments—these “captured” people keep supporting the processes, methods, individuals, and systems that are enslaving them.

The following are examples of how Satan has tricked people into giving up their freedom. Notice that the process typically involves the offer or promise of improvement (often as a reaction to some alleged threat that incites fear)—a better life, greater success, more power—but the result is enslavement:

• In Eden, Satan promised Adam and Eve that they would advance, develop, and improve themselves to become like God if they would only break trust with God and take the fruit. And, of course, they only enslaved themselves and their descendants into fear, selfishness, and sin.
• Today, we are told that we can have greater freedom without law and law enforcement, that the police are the source of abuse and enslavement, so we ought to defund the police, not hold criminals accountable, do away with bail, and not prosecute crimes. But what takes away freedom is lawlessness, community violence, and lack of order—including when those in law enforcement are the ones breaking the law. All lawlessness takes away freedom; if you live in a community where it is unsafe to walk the streets lest you be attacked, then you have less freedom. If you live in a community where the police are lawbreakers, abusive, and exploitive, then you have less freedom—but the solution is not to do away with law or law enforcement; it is to hold accountable those who break the law and put in office people who have integrity. Thus, policies to defund police are actually designed to take away freedom, and policies that refuse to enforce laws that provide social order also take away freedom.
• In response to the resulting anarchy and chaos, another lie is told: You can have more freedom if you give the government more powers—the power to restrict liberties, to monitor your private conversations, to spy on people, to limit free speech, to restrict travel, to dictate personal choices of conscience. Such governments (communism, etc.) often do bring a reduction to widespread anarchy, violence, and chaos—but at the expense of individual liberties and freedom. There are only two ways to have a safe and well-ordered society: One is when it is populated by a moral and religious people, those who love God and others and have maturity of character and are Christlike in their dealings with others. These people have internal self-control, and as a result, their communities are well-ordered and safe. The other way is to have externally enforced control, a totalitarian, communist-like government, but such communities have very little freedom. Only the Christlike way brings true freedom. Thus, the promise that you can have more safety, and thus liberty, if you give the government more control tricks people into surrendering liberty for the illusion of safety.
• Another lie is that you, as a law-abiding citizen, can have more autonomy and freedom and be safer in your community if you are less capable of protecting and defending yourself and family from violent criminals—so we ought to take away your guns because guns, not evil people, are the cause of violence in society. (I am not advocating that people use guns; I’m merely pointing out the false promise that tricks people into taking a course of action that in this world of sin makes them more vulnerable to exploitation by the godless criminals who still possess guns and by abusive, godless governments.)
• A lie that exploits compassion in people is that you can have greater success and freedom if you are not required to work hard, apply yourself, develop your abilities, and achieve a minimum standard of competency. We are told that we help people when we promote them to the next grade and award them a diploma regardless of whether they possess competency. It is said that to hold people to objective standards of functional ability is discriminatory, restrictive, denies opportunity, and takes away freedom. But it is just the opposite; school systems that fail to provide real education are what take away freedom. Getting passed to the next grade, receiving a diploma, but without actual ability is worthless. Understand reality: If you cannot read, write, or do basic math, then you are less free regardless of what diploma you hold. If you have never been taught to think and discern fact from fiction, weigh evidence, or critically reason through lies to find the truth, but instead have been indoctrinated into a certain philosophy, you are less free. If you must look to others to tell you the answers, you are less free. (This is one of the reasons the Taliban obstructs women from receiving an education.)
• Another deception is that the government can make better decisions for you and your family than you can and that you can have greater freedom if you give more of your money to the state in the form of higher taxes. But the exact opposite is true; the less money one has, the less freedom they have in our society. So high taxes reduce freedom, as does high inflation, which, by increasing the costs of goods, reduces the buying power of one’s savings and undermines freedom, as does high energy prices, which increase the cost of living and all goods and especially takes capital from the poorest, thus reducing their freedom.
• One of the biggest lies designed to take away freedom from the masses is that our carbon dioxide emissions are destroying the planet and that we can have a better world with more freedom if we stop using fossil fuels. But the truth is the exact opposite; the use of fossil fuels returns carbon and water to the atmosphere, which increases plant life and growth, thus making the earth greener and reducing uninhabitable deserts, causing the planet to become more human-friendly. (For more on this, see our blogs God’s Promises and the Climate Change Lies Part 1 and Part 2.)
  • Further, fossil fuels provide cheap energy, giving people greater freedom and autonomy. Fossil fuels in automobiles and motorcycles allow people to move quickly and freely over vast distances. One can hop in their car and drive across the country, as gas stations are available everywhere, whereas electric vehicles limit movement to a few hundred miles before the charge runs out and one must pause for long periods to recharge. Additionally, building electric vehicles requires the use of trace metals that are limited on planet Earth. This means that it is literally impossible to replace all the gas-burning vehicles with electric ones, as there are not enough of these metals to produce the number of vehicles needed. Thus, to move in the false “green” direction, focusing upon reducing carbon dioxide emissions, will take vehicles away from the vast majority of people, limiting their ability to travel and move freely, making them rely on government transport—again reducing freedom.
  • The climate change lies also cause people to support so-called environmentally friendly changes in all kinds of industries and products, such as light bulbs, straws, manufacturing, and appliances—which force people to buy more expensive products that have no proven benefit to the environment but which enrich the corporations that produce those new products at the expense of the masses, who are further impoverished by the requirements to buy these products. All of this takes freedom away from people, but the masses support it because they believe the lie that they are making the world and their own lives better. (Don’t confuse climate change lies with our responsibility to be good stewards and not pollute and destroy the planet. Yes, we are to avoid pollution, but carbon dioxide is not pollution; it is the natural byproduct of all living animals and is a life-giving gas to all the plants on Earth. We are to be good stewards and advance God’s instruction to have dominion over the planet, to develop it in ways that are not destructive. But the carbon emissions narrative is a lie designed to exploit the masses and enrich and empower the few.)
• Another lie is that you can have better health by doing whatever you want and taking medications to treat your illnesses. But the opposite is true; sickness, disease, and other health problems take away freedom. The more illness one has, the less freedom, so policies that make junk food cheap and healthy food expensive work to make the poor less healthy and, therefore, less free. Also, policies that lead people to make choices that cause them to become life-long dependents on the pharmaceutical and healthcare systems take away freedom—things like the so-called “gender-affirming care.” Think about the loss of freedom a person experiences once they go through that “treatment” and are required to take various hormones and other treatments for the rest of their lives.
• Another lie is that the way to love people is by giving them handouts rather than a hand up. Any practice that removes the real-life requirements for personal development enfeebles, infantilizes, creates dependency, and reduces freedom. Real love for others always seeks to help them develop themselves to the maximum of their abilities, and no person can advance and develop without applying themselves to achieve. Programs and policies that claim to care about the welfare of people but which cause loss of ability, which enfeeble, are another trap of this world that tricks people into making themselves dependents.
• Another false promise that tricks people into giving up freedom is that we will have a better and safer society if we have information monitors to protect us from dangerous ideas and “misinformation.” But all restrictions on free expression eventually will be used to restrict the truth, and it is the truth that sets people free (John 8:32). If people are not given information about various options, risks, and alternatives, if they are told only one avenue is open to them, then their freedom is restricted. All forms of censoring, media manipulation, so-called “truth-monitors,” and any form of deplatforming, denial of the flow of information, including academic censors that refuse to publish scientific and academic papers that support creation science, the obstruction of the evidence-based papers that questioned the COVID narrative and policies, the refusal to publish articles that exposes the climate change lies—all restrict liberty. By not allowing open, honest, and free debate, discussion, and publication of all sides of the issues, by only promoting one narrative, freedom of choice is restricted.

Satan’s kingdom is the kingdom of lies, of fear, of selfishness, of a few ruling elites rising up to dominate, exploit, and manipulate the masses for their own benefit. In the world today, this is often done by duping the masses into supporting the very policies and people who are enslaving them.

But God’s kingdom is just the opposite; it is the kingdom in which the King gives of Himself to uplift the masses; it is the kingdom of truth, love, and freedom. We cannot find this kingdom in the nations of this world, for all the nations of this world operate on the power-over-others method.

The United States tried to establish a government that limited the corrupting influence of power, that limited the ruling class from exploiting the masses. But those protections are slowly being taken away, and they are being taken away through policies designed to enslave people through poor education and godlessness, which leads to greater fear, anarchy (purposeful and willful refusal to enforce laws), purposeful inflation, intentional increase in energy costs, the continued climate change lies, and unhealthy lifestyle practices. The elites in power make most of these problems—either in fact (poor education/inflation/high energy costs) or in fiction (climate change/law enforcement causes less freedom) and then the creators of these problems promise that if you put them in power, they will deliver you from these problems, and thus you will have a better life with more freedom.

But it is all a lie. Look at the outcomes of various governments and policies and judge for yourself.

Don’t collude with evil; don’t choose to enslave yourself by surrendering your thinking to others or by supporting policies that take away our freedom. In the end, the beast of Revelation will arise claiming to do justice, to make the world better, but it will exploit and abuse the masses. Then, the whole world will realize that their only freedom was ever and always in Jesus Christ and in practicing the principles and methods of God, which are truth, love, and freedom.