Apostasy and Lawless Freedom

Tomorrow is Independence Day here in the U.S., so I decided to take a look at the Declaration of Independence . It surprised me how many times the words "law" or "laws" were mentioned in it, and that they were mentioned in the context of the King of England obstructing and abolishing them. Let me list a few for you:

1. ..."refused to assent laws..."

2. ..."has forbidden governors to pass laws..."

3. ..."refused to pass other laws..."

4. ..."obstructed the laws..."

5. ..."abolishing our most valuable laws..."


The first sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads:

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Our Founding Fathers recognized the danger of having no laws and decided to separate themselves where they would have the freedom to have laws - especially God's laws! So many today, especially Christians, equate freedom with no laws. It's really a puzzlement to me how they have twisted the Gospel of Grace to mean that God's law has been "done away with". Why would we want to do that? It is God's law which gives us true freedom (James 1:25). If we do away with law - especially God's law - we lose our freedom and put ourselves under anarchy. Not only that, but God says in I John 3:4 that "lawlessness is sin". At that point, everyone starts doing what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). Man's opinions begin to have higher authority than God's commandments! This is the "Falling Away" or "The Apostasy" of the last days.

Our Founding Fathers also recognized one other thing: Following God's laws would require a separation from the world around them. Have we let God's laws and commandments separate us from the worldly customs surrounding us? Romans 12:2 (NIV) states, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Looking around at the Church today, I see the Apostasy where Christians are being taught not only has God's law "been done away with", but that we also need to be as much like the world as possible in order to win as many as possible. This is totally contrary to what the Word of God says.

As Christians, our freedom came the day that the Lord our God brought us "out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:2) That was God's Grace. Through the blood of Jesus Christ we are set free from the bondage and slavery of sin. However, we forget that Christ bought us and we don't belong to ourselves any longer. I Corinthians 6:19 & 20 says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." We've been set free from our slavery to sin, but now we are slaves to God and His righteousness and holiness. We are not set free to be our own boss and to do whatever our heart desires!

Once He set us free from our slavery to sin - He gave us His 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17) for us to obey as His servants and to set us apart from the world around us. Only through obedience to Him and His commandments will we, as Christians, experience true freedom. So tomorrow, let's remember our Founding Fathers who were willing to die so they could be free to serve God and His laws in this great country of the United States of America.