Author: Tim Challies

This week, the blog is sponsored by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article is adapted from Jason G. Duesing’s chapel message, “A Portrait of the End of Religious Liberty,” given during the Spring 2024 semester at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College. You can watch the full message here.   The beautiful hymn in Philippians 2 tells of the humbling, sacrifice, and exaltation of Jesus Christ. And, it also tells us when religious liberty will end. Paul reveals that a future day is coming when the name of Jesus will go forth and all creatures will bow and confess him as Lord. At this time, which Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:24 calls “the end,” Jesus will finally destroy death and see the complete fulfillment of Psalm 8:6, when all things are put in subjection under his feet. Only on that day, the time of religious freedom will end. Everyone will bow and acknowledge the one true religion and one true God.  When we talk of religious liberty in the United States, we acknowledge its present fragility, and, to be sure, as long as we have religious liberty, it is worth defending. However, should believers find their liberties removed or suppressed in the days ahead, we should recognize that we will not really reach the end of religious liberty until Jesus returns. Given this reality, how are Christians now to think about the purpose of religious liberty as something bigger? In Philippians 2:11, Paul says that the universal submission of humanity to the lordship of Christ at the end of time takes place “to the glory…See Also3 Things I’m Excited About at Midwestern SeminaryHow a Minister in the Northeast Went to Seminary Online in the Midwest5 Surprising Advantages to Online Seminary Education