Subject: Gene Chapman
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:29:21 -0500
Monday, November 28, 2005
Posted
3:01 PM by Gene
Three Things That Christians Are NOT To
"Render To Caesar"/ Jesus Christ: World's Greatest Tax
Protestor
by Minister of Christ Gene Chapman
In a November, 2005 Internal Revenue Service envelope from New
Jersey, I was informed that an IRS employee (we gather) sent
inquiry on my views concerning Matthew 22:21: "Render
therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and God the
things that are God's." Other quotes from Romans 13 and
Matthew 17:26 were brought up in the letter, but I think I can
fully address all these textual questions by addressing the
"render to Caesar" and Matthew 17 points. (Note: The
same "render to Caesar" story is also found in Mark
12:13-17 and Luke 20:20-26.)
First, we must begin our examination of Christ's famous statement,
"render to Caesar" (Mark 12:17), understanding that the
motive of the group was to "catch" or trap Jesus
"in his words" (Mark 12:13). "Jesus perceived their
wickedness" (Matthew 22:18), not their high morality, and
responded to placate the crowd, in PUBLIC, "Render to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are
God's" (Mark 12:17).
At another time, in PRIVATE, Jesus talks to Peter the Apostle
about the exact same type of tax policy described above, in
Matthew 17:24-27. Jesus verifies to Peter that both the
apportioned Temple tax and the apportioned head tax of Rome are
not intended to be imposed upon the locals (also, the Children of
God) but are for "strangers" (see: Matthew 17:26). An
apportioned head tax is not quite grinding slavery, as the income
tax or property tax, and is not quite a moral tax either, like the
excise tax on consumed goods, import and export taxes. It falls
into a kind of no man's land of arguably moral/ immoral taxation,
like the toll. The message of Jesus is that we should be the best
citizens we can be and try not to "offend" (Matthew
17:27) the civil government where possible.
Additionally, in Luke 23:2, the accusers of Christ say to Pilate,
"We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar." Christ did make the assertion to
Peter that the "children" (Matthew 17:26) did not owe
the tax to either the Temple or to Caesar. So it is probably true
that Jesus was the greatest PRIVATE (behind the scenes) tax
protestor of all time.
Second, we must also remember that we Christians have things we
are to render to God that are not Caesar's. For three examples, I
present the following:
1) Holy Scripture (see: All texts on crucifixion of Christ and
death of Apostles in New Testament) indicates that we Christians
are not to stop preaching the Gospel, even if temporal Government
demands it. I'm sure Nero Caesar looked Paul the Apostle in the
eye and said, "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's" the day he had Paul beheaded in A.D. 67 Rome for
preaching the Gospel. And I'm sure Paul replied, "and unto
God the things that are God's," as his head then tumbled into
the basket.
2) We Christians are not to "render to Caesar" the
education and correction of our children. In Ephesians 6:4, Paul
lays out God's word for us: "And, ye fathers, provoke not
your children unto wrath: but bring them up (educate) in the
nurture (within a protective educational and training environment)
and admonition (correction) of the LORD." In other words,
Christian fathers are to ensure that their children have a godly
protective educational and correcting environment within which
their children may grow to adulthood. (Note: The word,
"nurture" has its Greek root in the word,
"Eden.") God wants Christian education in a Garden of
Eden type of environment, not desert of state education and a
little Jesus on the weekends, as so many propose.
3) We Christians are absolutely not to go into the slavery of the
government called "Beast" in Revelation.
In my conversations with Greek scholars at the highest theological
levels of both Bob Jones University and the Southern Baptist
Convention, along with my own studies, I found three primary
attributes of slavery in antiquity:
a) Taxation of Property (1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Planks of "The
Communist Manifesto").b) Taxation of Labor (2nd and 5th
Planks/ income tax: flat or graduated).c) Counting People Like
Cattle (to control labor and property/ 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th
Planks).
Intuitively, I submit five more attributes of slavery for your
examination from my own thoughts:
d) Control and Supervision of the Physical Location and Activities
of uncondemned Free Persons (i.e. electronic monitoring/ video
cameras on toll ways, high ways, city streets, etc./ 5th, 6th,
7th, 8th and 9th Planks).e) Control and Supervision of the
education/ information presented to uncondemned Free Persons (FCC/
Secular Public Schools/ 6th and 10th Planks).f) Control and
Supervision of Weapon Possession and Ownership by uncondemned Free
Persons (i.e. gun control laws/ Stallin's tactic to kill 10
million people in the Ukrane by starvation of the unarmed).g)
Control and Constraint of the Personal Finances of uncondemned
Free Persons (5th Plank). h) Control and Supervision of food,
water, shelter, clothing and sex of uncondemned Free Persons (1st
thru 10th Planks/state imposed marriage licenses).
The slavery of the Beast in Revelation 13 and 14 includes a
Government control number (Revelation 13:18) placed in the
forehead or right hand (Revelation 13:16) of the voluntarily
enslaved (you volunteer or starve to death, just like in America).
The Beast will head a globally influential government (Revelation
13:17), and he will count all the world like cattle so that none
may "buy" homes, cars, cell phones, credit cards, pass
ports, etc., etc., etc. "or sell" (Revelation 13:17)
most labor and /or property without the number/ mark. He will have
income taxes and property taxes, one may easily deduce, for buying
and selling controls on individuals are only needed for taxation
of labor and/ or property, in their end. Those who cave into the
system and take the mark of the beast "shall face the wine of
the wrath of God" (Revelation 14:10). Those who do not cave
will be Christians (Revelation 15:2), 'tax cheats' by worldly
standards, worthy of prison time and death. Sound familiar? And
since legal changes brought on after 9/11/2001, we are no longer
in a position to differentiate between the mark of the beast and
the Social Security number; it fits in every way for the first
time in American history.
Additionally, if we are to believe John 1 and Mark 14:62, then
Jesus is the "I AM" in Exodus 3:14 who sent Moses unto
Pharaoh and ultimately killed Pharaoh's army over the enslavement
of the people of God (taxation of labor, property, and counting
them like cattle). According to Exodus 10:3, Almighty God asserts
that there is a direct causal relationship between the people of
God being enslaved and their inability to properly
"serve" God.
In Judges 3, we find two stories of how God raised up a man and
sent him to kill a king who had enslaved the people of God (taxed
their labor and/ or property). In the latter story, the people of
God are sent on to attack and kill the enslaving army of Moab, and
they defeated it.
In I Corinthians 7:21b, Christians are informed by Paul that we
are to "use" any freedom from slavery (taxation of labor
and/ or property), obviously to serve God. We are to love and
dream of liberty.
In I Corinthians 7:23, already free Christians are instructed to
categorically reject slavery (taxation of labor, property and
being counted like cattle).
And I also present our slave related term in I Timothy 1:10 --
"enslavers." Enslaver is most accurately presented as
"one who unjustly reduces free men to slavery," in the
Greek word, "andrapodistes." This person is under the
judgement of the Moral Law of God in verse 9.This may also be
represented accurately as, "one who imposes a labor tax /
burden (i.e. income tax) upon an uncondemned free person; thus,
under the judgement of the Moral law of God."The Old
Testament discussion of this type of person in the Law of Moses is
found in two places: Exodus 21:16 and Deuteronomy 24:7.Exodus
21:16 reads, "And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or
if he be found in his hand, shall surely be put to death" (KJV).Deuteronomy
24:7 reads, "If a man be found stealing any of his brethren
of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or
selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil
away from among you."
We are now raised in a culture in America that thinks slavery is
the price of "liberty" (Greek word: elutheria -- without
liability) and that individual liberty in unAmerican. It's an
upsidedown world that only Orwell could predict; he and
Revelation.
Yes Christians are to try to get along with civil government the
best we can and still uncompromisingly follow God. We are not to
lie down and be raped of our liberties and be extorted of the
"gift of God" (see: Eccl. 3:13; Prov. 31:31) in this
free nation, our homes invaded by IRS agents one upon another.
Rather, we are to slaughter their army, kill their king and resist
unto death, if their good reason will not prevail.
Americans have no real Caesar, in fact, and never have. We are a
people unique in the world, where every man is a king, every woman
a queen, every daughter a princess, every son a prince, and every
home is a castle. And if I live, we shall have no Caesars and no
slaves on our shores, so help me God!
respectfully,
Gene Chapman, Minister of ChristGeneChapman.com/ SlaveFreedom.com
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