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Musings on Faith #73 Temporal and Spiritual Freedom | |
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A few weeks ago, I discovered a link between the freedom we enjoy as Americans and the freedom we enjoy as Christians. Galatians 5:1 says "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (NIV)". The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal [under law], that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And in the days leading up to the Declaration, Patrick Henry said "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Liberty or give me Death".
Notice all the connections here: "It is for freedom" links to "among these are . . . liberty" and "give me Liberty". "that Christ has set us free" links to "that they are endowed by their Creator [God]". "Stand firm then" links to "or give me Death". And "do not let yourselves be burdened again" links to the spirit in the American colonies which led the colonists to break from their mother country, England, and declare themselves free and independent. Of course, we know that the freedom we have as Christians goes far beyond any freedoms given us by laws or governments or men. But the Founding Fathers recognized that "unalienable rights" are endowed by our Creator, God. In other words, being unalienable, they, being given to us by God, cannot be taken from us by man or any government of men. So, you see, there is a great and a very significant and important link between the two freedoms, the freedom we have in Christ, and the freedom we have through divine providence from God. The former applies to the spiritual, and the later to the temporal, or earthly. Both are sacred in |
their own right, because both come from God, the first through the blood of Christ, and the second through the 'natural laws' of God!
The Founders knew, as we must know if we are to maintain our temporal freedoms, that no government made by man had the right to strip us of freedoms given to all men [being created equal in His sight and under law] by God. Neither can anyone take from us the freedom we enjoy in Christ. However, we can surrender both freedoms, that in Christ by failing to take hold of all that He has provided us, not just in heaven but in this life, and that in the temporal world by failure to know and understand what our freedoms and rights are and by failure to "stand firm" against those who would take them from us. Thomas Jefferson wisely said that freedom is not free. He referred to the temporal, but we could apply it also to the spiritual. To keep both, and to gain the utmost that both have to offer us, we need to understand both the Word of God [the Bible] and the foundations of our freedoms as Americans [the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc]. There is no established "bible" of temporal freedom. However, if you would like to have a volume which you could refer to as your "bible" of temporal freedom, I strongly recommend to you a book entitled "The Five Thousand Year Leap", which is thorough but easy to understand, and which is replete with quotes from the Founders and the great thinkers and philosophers who influenced them. Both spiritual and temporal freedoms must be studied, cherished, and defended. |