For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.
Galatians 5:13 (HCSB)
Today is July 4th. Today is known in the United States as Independence Day. We commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on this date. The Declaration was actually voted on July 2, 1776, yet it was finally signed on July 4th. Therefore, Americans celebrate the idea that we are have proclaimed liberty from the tyranny of Great Britain.
It is interesting that on today, many people in Egypt are also expressing their desire for liberty from tyranny, as seen from the protests movements against Mohamed Morsi. The army has ousted him, and have called for new elections. Tonight, we will be enjoying our fireworks display tonight in the US. In Egypt, they are making political fireworks of their own.
Ultimately, the story of liberty’s triumph over tyranny is rooted in the story of the Gospel. God sent Jesus to come into the world to proclaim liberty and free God’s people. This freedom is open to everyone who wishes to take off the yoke of sin’s tyranny in their lives. God wants to lead us on a new path, as we follow His way which brings a way of freedom found in no other philosophy or religion.
The Founding Fathers knew this and inscribed in the preamble to their declaration:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
In his famous sermon on Baptists and religious liberty delivered from the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C., George W. Truett said, “There is a vast difference between toleration and liberty. Toleration is a concession; liberty is a right; toleration is a matter of expediency; liberty is a matter of principle; toleration is a grant of man; liberty is a gift of God.”1
The obligation we have as partakers of liberty is to serve one another in love. Liberty is a right that we all have as citizens of this country. It is a right given to all of us who decide to follow Christ. However, liberty must be coupled with the desire to serve one another in love. Otherwise, liberty can be quenched in the fires of tyranny. Liberty leads us out of tyranny, but it should lead us to love.
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