Freedom in Christ, part 6.

Freedom in Christ lesson 6, Part 2b: The theory of the declaration and the constitution.

 

 

HEB 13:5-6

 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say,

"The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?"

 

And so freedom comes with duty. I cannot enjoy personal freedom while I try and rob freedom from others.

 

According the Declaration of Independence, no one is born to become the slave of another.

 

The fact that all men are equal does not apply to their virtues, talents, dispositions, or requirements.

 

It doesn't mean equal access to the good things in life, minimum wage, healthcare, or education. Socialism desires to take the wealth produced by one who has applied talent and redistribute it to the one who has no talent. God is not a socialist. Though, unlike the world of men, every believer is born-again with the same spiritual assets, but not identical ones. For example, not everyone is given the same spiritual gift, and if there is a similarity or sameness of spiritual gift, not everyone is given the same ministry.

 

The investment of the believer into his given assets of election and predestination will lead to the acquisition of further assets such as divine good fruit production.

 

Every believer has the right to invest his time into the understanding of his primary assets so that he may develop future assets.

 

COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

 

COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

 

COL 3:11 — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

 

An investment into the understanding and faith in one's positional sanctification will lead to practical sanctification and a life of true freedom.

 

GAL 5:5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

 

GAL 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

 

GAL 5:7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

 

GAL 5:8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

 

GAL 5:9 A little leaven leavens [gases, puffs up] the whole lump of dough.

 

As we see in verse 7, Satan has ministers that portray themselves as righteous who are in the business of hindering the hope of righteousness, which can only come through grace. The Law or religion cuts off a believer from the race and he loses his freedom to purchase with the truth the experience of life that is Christ.

 

This is much like the free market laws concerning the acquisition of property. The founders set laws that allowed the acquiring and possession of property through market freedom. The poor could acquire property by selling their labor. In the same way, God has set freedom upon the believer to acquire the ground of spiritual maturity by investing his labor in the learning and application of the word of God.

 

Virginia Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason as a preamble to the Virginia Constitution. Section 1:

That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

 

D. Enjoying our own spiritual freedom and privacy means that we have a duty not to violate this in other believers. In love we nourish freedom in others.

 

Founders took pride in their establishment of religious liberty. Prior to 1776 the prevailing view was that government should forbid or discourage any religious opinions or actions that were not in conformity with the religion approved by government. In 1774 Baptists were being jailed in Virginia for not practicing with a license. In CT people were being fined for the same crime. 

 

To the founders religious liberty meant not only that all persons may worship God in the way they think best, but also to be able to follow what they believe to be God's laws in their daily lives outside of church. Close a business on Sunday or sacrifice an animal or drink wine in a ceremony. But religious liberty has limits. "Free exercise of religion," first amendment. However, "And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained ... for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; of for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace..." [A declaration of the rights of the inhabitants of the commonwealth of MA, 1780]

 

Tax payer funded religions were accepted in NE, but not in the south. Jefferson was against public funding of certain religions but also wrote, "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?" [Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18, 1784]

 

The founders also believed that government should support the major religions that supported the laws of nature or the natural laws of the Declaration of Independence. Yet we do see today a very real attack on Christianity in this country for this very reason. Natural law is embedded in the Bible since the Bible was penned by Nature’s God.

 

The Bible also contains the morals of divine establishment thought as well as the charity of the believer unto others. These things are vital in a free republic such as ours, and so they are attacked by the kingdom of darkness.

 

Satan's attack on this is to flame the human ego. Society deems it weak to serve others, especially others who are themselves weak. However, our freedom is enriched when we bear the weaknesses of those without strength.

 

A prime example of this is the fact that the Greeks hardly ever used the word agape. They more often used phileo or eros for love and friendship since they viewed the sacrificial love of agape to be weak and only done by those who were weak.