Live Free or Die
Babylon Believes They Can Control You With Their Earthly Power, but Heavenly Power Trumps Earthly Power
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A furnace roared like a beast awakened beneath the wide, scorched plain of Dura. Smoke rose in serpentine wisps toward the cloudless sky, staining the sun with a blood-orange hue. The smell of burning oil and charred wood soaked the air, clinging to skin and fabric. In the center of this dreadful theater loomed Nebuchadnezzar’s monstrous idol—a towering statue of gold, glinting with cruel light, its lifeless eyes staring down at a sea of subjects like a silent god demanding their souls.
Tens of thousands bowed low, the rustle of robes blending with the crescendo of the empire’s orchestra—lyres, flutes, horns, and harps issuing a command not through speech, but through suffocating sound: Worship or burn. Every man, woman, and child knew what came next for the defiant. The hiss of the flames punctuated the music like a death drum, a foretaste of the wrath reserved for rebels.
Yet there they stood—three Hebrew exiles, eyes lifted, backs straight, knees unbent. Shadrach. Meshach. Abednego. Alone in their courage, surrounded by a sea of compromise. The sun caught the edges of their garments, as if heaven itself had drawn a spotlight to their faith. In a voice that cut through orchestra and fear alike, they declared: “We will not serve your gods… and even if He does not rescue us, we will not bow” (Daniel 3:16-18).
The silence that followed was more deafening than the music. The air thickened as heaven and earth leaned in to hear. This was not mere defiance—it was declaration. They would rather be engulfed in fire than enslaved in idolatry. Their charred remains, if it came to that, would cry out with a truth no tyrant could silence:
Live free or die.
But they did not burn in the fire. God showed Babylon that his power was so much stronger than any earthly power by preventing the three from even their garments being singed.
Their stance was echoed centuries later by ragtag soldiers at Lexington, by underground preachers in Soviet basements, by young believers today who refuse to kneel to cultural idols. Their witness lights the torch of every soul who refuses to trade freedom for false peace. It was more than civil disobedience—it was a spiritual reckoning. And it is the same fire we are called to walk into today.
What gives ordinary people the courage to defy absolute power?
Why is liberty worth more than life itself?
How does quiet, steadfast resistance overthrow empires—from ancient Babylon to the modern New World Order?
And what does it mean to live in such a way that our very existence becomes a threat to tyrants and a testament to heaven's authority?
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Liberty’s Cry in the American Revolution
On 31 July 1809, aging Revolutionary War hero General John Stark penned a toast to surviving comrades: “Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils.” Though Stark coined the exact wording decades after the war, the sentiment pulsed through colonial America long before Yorktown. When Parliament’s taxes, quartering acts, and coercive edicts choked the colonies, farmers and merchants alike reached a threshold. Liberty, they believed, was God-given—unassailable by any earthly parliament.
This conviction birthed the Declaration of Independence, rallying minutemen at Concord and soldiers at Valley Forge. For them, surrendering liberty would desecrate conscience and covenant alike. Better the gallows than the gilded cage. This wasn't reckless rebellion—it was principled resistance grounded in biblical conscience. To them, tyranny was not simply unpleasant; it was a spiritual violation, a satanic counterfeit of divine rule. As Thomas Jefferson declared, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."
And so they resisted—not only with muskets but with newspapers, prayers, and pulpits. Sermons rang from churches in Massachusetts and Virginia, declaring that all men are created equal not by edict of crown, but by decree of their Creator. They understood that rights unexercised would soon be rights extinguished. They lived in resistance not only during times of battle, but during every decision to meet in assembly, speak with boldness, and pass their faith to the next generation. Their endurance was a spiritual testimony as much as a political one, albeit somewhat misguided in that instead of relying fully on God's protection, they took up arms in resistance.
The Biblical Roots of Liberty
Scripture frames liberty not as modern self-expression would have us all believe but as release from bondage so that people may serve God alone. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Jesus declares, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Where His Spirit dwells, “there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Freedom, then, is covenantal obedience unhindered by rival lords. When Caesars, councils, or corporations command what God forbids—or forbid what God commands—believers echo Peter: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Liberty is lived, not legislated. It is not a document to be framed, but a fire to be kept. It thrives in homes, hearts, and households where the Lord reigns supreme.
God’s liberty demands discipline, not license. It is not freedom from rule, but freedom under righteous rule. Israel was delivered from Pharaoh not to wander aimlessly but to worship freely. Christian liberty demands that we no longer bow to idols—be they political, financial, technological, or emotional—but walk in obedience to the living God. This obedience is often hidden from the world but radiant in the sight of heaven, like incense before the throne.
Liberty Versus Babylon
Throughout Scripture “Babylon” embodies coercive empire—compelling worship, controlling commerce, crushing dissent. Christ announces the Jubilee prophecy, “He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives” (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18-19). His kingdom liberates hearts first and societies later.
Babylon promises security and ease at the cost of conscience. She offers prosperity in exchange for silence. But “live free or die” becomes spiritual warfare: we nullify illegitimate decrees by holy disobedience—refusing censorship that muzzles truth, rejecting surveillance that usurps conscience, ignoring mandates that violate God’s design for worship, family, or vocation. Babylon falls when its captives walk out: “Come out of her, My people” (Revelation 18:4).
The tools of Babylon are fear, flattery, and fatigue. The tools of the believer are courage, truth, and quiet endurance. Babylon may control the airwaves and legislatures, but the saints control the inheritance. Our refusal to bend—our choice to live free—echoes through eternity. Each act of defiance against false authority is a trumpet blast before Jericho’s walls.
When we stand against tyranny in the smallest decisions—choosing honesty over approval, gathering to pray despite disapproval, raising our children in the fear of the Lord—we hasten Babylon’s fall. Resistance is not only protest; it is prophetic testimony.
Jesus: Liberty Incarnate
Rome occupied Judea with taxes, troops, and crucifixions. Yet Jesus walked its dusty roads utterly unenslaved. He paid Caesar’s coin while declaring, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s—and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). His allegiance lay elsewhere: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
At Calvary He chose death rather than capitulate to imperial ultimatum; but in rising, He stripped principalities of their power. The cross shows that oppressive human power can destroy the body yet cannot chain the soul. In Christ, liberty outlives execution.
Jesus embodied the revolutionary ideal—not by inciting mobs, passing tolerance laws or raising up armies, but by walking free from fear, refusing lies, and inviting others to follow. He is the fulfillment of every freedom cry: not just freedom from Rome, but from sin, shame, and Satan. In Him we discover not just escape, but the true dominion of heaven that is already ours because of His victory.
His refusal to compromise, to turn stones into bread at Satan's command or bow to Rome for power, reveals the essence of liberty. Liberty in Christ is not self-will but total surrender to God. It is freedom from every lesser claim, no matter how powerful by earthly standards. His resurrection wasn’t just victory over death—it was the coronation of the true King over every counterfeit crown.
Quiet Resistance in Our Day
Today tyranny no longer wears redcoats; it arrives through bureaucratic edict, digital coercion, or cultural intimidation. Followers of Christ practice quiet insurrection: homeschooling when curricula deny truth, opening churches or homes when worship is banned, speaking life in a culture of death, stewarding wealth outside Babylon’s debt traps. We wield truth, service, and sacrificial love—seeds that fissure concrete.
Modern liberty in Christ does not require marches or manifestos. Sometimes it looks like telling your children the truth when the world lies. Sometimes it means losing a job for refusing to affirm falsehood. It may mean being mocked, marginalized, or maligned—but it also means living unafraid. When laws are passed by tyrants that violate your conscience, you refuse to live according to the unconstitutional edict.
Creation itself “will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). Every small act of obedience proclaims that liberation in advance. Our faithfulness today undermines the tyranny of tomorrow. Quiet resistance is loud in the ears of heaven.
We are not called to overthrow governments but to disarm them through truth. We are not called to dominate culture but to demonstrate the gospel. We are not called to raise up arms against Babylon and overthrow them with weak earthly power, we are called to raise families in the body of Christ with Heavenly power. When we say “Jesus is Lord,” we mean Caesar was not. That simple phrase cost the early christians everything—and changed the world because they chose to live free.
Conclusion
“Live free or die” is more than New Hampshire’s official state motto; it is a Christian confession. Freedom is our birthright in Christ, guarded not by muskets or laws but by Scripture, prayer, and consciences captive to God. Empires fall, but those who live free in Christ cannot die a slave.
The call is not to recklessness, but to righteousness. Not to chaos, but covenant. We live free not in defiance of all authority—but in submission to the highest. In doing so, we expose the fraudulence of tyrants and display the power of the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
The blood of martyrs, the prayers of the saints, and the witness of the faithful form a chorus: we are free men and women, bought with a price. So let us live as those who are free—not using our freedom as a cover for evil, but as servants of God.
Are you living the liberty Christ purchased, or have you ceded your conscience to lesser lords? Are you free in truth, or comfortably enslaved in lies? Do you quietly resist the pressures of Babylon, or are you subtly bowing to its idols? If not, join me in this prayer:
Father of Liberty, I come before You aware of chains—some forged by tyrants, others by my own fearful heart. I confess that I have bowed to voices louder than Yours, obeyed laws that contradicted Your Word, and pursued comfort over courage. I’ve traded truth for silence, conviction for convenience, and spiritual freedom for cultural approval. Forgive me, Lord. I believe Jesus died and rose to set captives free—including me.
Holy Spirit, break every yoke that binds my thoughts, habits, and affections. Search the deep places of my soul. Cleanse me of cowardice masked as caution, and awaken in me the fierce joy of liberty. Teach my tongue to speak truth with salt and grace, my hands to serve without fear, and my feet to walk the narrow road, even when Babylon’s broad highway lures me. Grant me Shadrach’s resolve, the patriots’ valor, and above all, Christ’s obedience unto death.
Where rulers command what You forbid, steel my will to stand; where they forbid what You command, embolden me to act. Let quiet acts of faithfulness sow seeds of an unshakable kingdom until every sphere of my life proclaims: “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” I surrender my rights, my future, and my very breath to Your purposes, trusting that in life or death I am forever free.
In Jesus’ victorious name, amen.
Bibliography
John Stark, Memoranda and Letters.
Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution.
David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride.
Pauline Maier, From Resistance to Revolution.
Os Guinness, A Free People’s Suicide.
Timothy George, Galatians: The Freedom of Christ.
Rod Dreher, Live Not by Lies.
N. T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God.
Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty.
C. E. Hill, God’s Revolution and Man’s Liberty.
Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Live Not by Lies.
Scripture References
Daniel 3:16-18
Galatians 5:1
John 8:36
2 Corinthians 3:17
Acts 5:29
Isaiah 61:1
Luke 4:18-19
Matthew 22:21
Philippians 2:8
Revelation 18:4
Romans 8:21
1 Peter 2:16
John 18:36