DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-6; Galatians 5:1-12

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 2:16-17; 3:1-6

A. The longing that people and nations have for freedom and liberty is a religious longing rooted in our being made in the image of God (see the Westminster Confession of Faith IV:2).

B. Satan appealed to Adam and Eve’s freedom and liberty and their desire to be like God.

C. The lie of Satan was, “You will become like God by disobeying God.”

D. By using their freedom and liberty to choose sin, Adam and Eve brought about the worst kinds of slavery possible: war; genocide, racism, hatred, suffering, divorce, tears, disease, death and God’s wrath (see Chapter 9 of the Westminster Confession of Faith).

E. There are many false gospels offering freedom from the consequences of sin, but only Jesus Christ can set people and nations free (see the Westminster Confession of Faith XX:1).

I. THE SLIGHTEST “CUTTING” FROM THE GOSPEL CAN LEAD TO ETERNAL CONDEMNATION (Galatians 5:2,4,7; cf. Psalm 119:32)

A. Paul’s question in Galatians 5:7 is ironic, “You were running well; who hindered (lit. “cut into”/“cut you off”) you from obeying the truth?”

1. The Judaizers were advocating justification by the “cutting” of circumcision (Galatians 2:3; 5:2,3; 6:12,13; cf. Acts 15:1,5).

2. Someone who has been cut/freshly circumcise/hindered cannot run (cf. Psalm 119:32).

B. It may have seemed like a relatively small thing for Peter and Barnabas to withdraw from eating with Gentiles, but it was a life and death matter (Galatians 2:12-13; 5:2,4).

II. ONE OF THE GREATEST AND YET MOST OVERLOOKED THREATS (CUTTINGS/HINDRANCES) TO THE GOSPEL IS THE CONFUSION BETWEEN AMERICAN FREEDOM AND LIBERTY AND GOSPEL FREEDOM AND LIBERTY. (cf.Gal.2:4-5; 3:23-29; 4:1-11, 21-31; 5:1-12,13).

A. Gospel freedom centers upon Jesus Christ:

1. Through Christ we are free from the curse of the Law and the wrath of God (Gal.3:13; see also Romans 5:1; 8:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Titus 2:14).

“‘Freedom’ is the banner over this epistle, but not until 5:1 does Paul unfurl it” (Paul Duke, “The Imperative of Freedom: Galatians 5”; Faith and Missions; vnp.8.1.94).

2. Because of Christ’s obedience we are free from the obligation of the Law binding us to perfect righteousness (Galatians 3:10; 4:4-7; Romans 7:1-6).

3. Through faith in Jesus we are liberated from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin (Gal. 1:4, Col. 1:13, Acts 26:18, Rom. 6:14).

4. Because of Christ in us (Holy Spirit) we are free from the power of sin (Galatians 5:13-26; Rom. 6:14,18,22).

5. Through Christ we are free to obey God in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20; 4:4-7; 5:13-26; Romans 8:14-15; 1 John 4:18; see the Westminster Confession of Faith 20:1).

6. Because of the resurrection of Jesus we are liberated from the sting of death (Romans 8:1,28, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57; cf. Ps. 119:71).

B. Since the founding of our nation the freedom and liberty of the Gospel has been confused with the freedoms and liberties of our country.

1. The Gospel that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. preached was not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. “Freedom” of choice. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy affirmed the right of abortion by defining “liberty” as the right to “define one's own concept of existence, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”

3. Nationalistic freedom and liberty.

a. “armed in the holy cause of liberty”; “but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” (Patrick Henry, to the Virginia Provincial Convention, March 23, 1775).

b. “proclaim liberty throughout the land” – words from Leviticus 25:10 inscribed on the “Liberty Bell” (see also Luke 4:18).

It is said that before the Declaration of Independence was signed, preachers often preached on the topic of Liberty (cf. Galatians 5:13). “So many patriotic preachers joined in a chorus of dissent against the British attack on American liberties, John Adams was led to say, in the months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “They [the clergy] engage with a fervor that will produce wonderful effects. Those … of every denomination … thunder and lighten every Sabbath.”” (Christian History: The American Revolution)

But there is yet a liberty unsung

By poets, and by senators unpraised,

Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the power

Of earth and hell confederate take away;

A liberty, which persecution, fraud,

Oppression, prisons, have no power to bind,

Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more:

'Tis liberty of heart, derived from heaven,

Bought with His blood who gave it to mankind,

…

Grace makes the slave a freeman. 'Tis a change

That turns to ridicule the turgid speech

And stately tone of moralists, who boast,

As if, like him of fabulous renown,

They had indeed ability to smooth

The shag of savage nature, and were each

An Orpheus and omnipotent in song.

But transformation of apostate man

From fool to wise, from earthly to divine,

Is work for Him that made him. He alone,

…

Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause

Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve,

Receive proud recompense. We give in charge

Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse,…

But martyrs struggle for a brighter prize,

And win it with more pain. Their blood is shed

In confirmation of the noblest claim,

Our claim to feed upon immortal truth,

To walk with God, to be divinely free,

To soar, and to anticipate the skies!

…

He is the freeman whom the truth makes free,

And all are slaves beside. There's not a chain

That hellish foes confederate for his harm

Can wind around him, but he casts it off

With as much ease as Samson his green withes…

(William Cowper [1731-1800], The Task and Other Poems)

c. President George W. Bush’s Second Inaugural Address (2/2/2005), “The road of Providence is uneven and unpredictable -- yet we know where it leads: It leads to freedom.”

4. The Gospel (freedom, liberty and independence) of democracy that our nation is preaching can be just as damnable as the Gospel of circumcision that the Judaizers were preaching. The freedom that the soldiers of our nation have fought and died for in every war since the Revolutionary War is not the freedom and liberty that Jesus Christ died for.

a. As Christians we are to be thankful for the freedoms and liberties our nation gives to us (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

b. We can be thankful that our nation promotes some human rights.

c. We are thankful for the “Daniels” (professing Christians) who serve in our government and military and strive to honor God in their vocations.

d. However, we should never confuse the liberty and freedom of the Gospel with the freedom and liberties of our nation.

QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION

Take what you have learned this morning and make it into a prayer. Have you found liberty and freedom from sin and death through faith in Jesus? If not, confess your sins and ask that Jesus would set you free from the bondage of sin and death. Have you confused biblical freedom and liberty with the values of our nation? If so, pray that God would help you discern between what is biblical and what is cultural.

Why are liberty and freedom so deeply cherished by humanity?

How did Adam and Eve misuse their God-given freedom and liberty? What were the consequences of this for all creation?

What are the freedoms and liberties that Jesus Christ merited for His people?

Why isn’t the civil rights movement the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

How has the American church embraced another Gospel of freedom and liberty since the founding of our nation?

“Christianity and Patriotism are synonymous terms and hell and traitors are synonymous” (Evangelist Billy Sunday quoted in George Marsden, Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism p.51).