This is a faithful
saying:
For is we died with
Him,
we shall also live
with Him,
if we endure, we
shall also
reign with Him, If we
deny Him,
He also will deny us.
If we are
faithless, He remains
faithful;
He cannot deny
Himself.
2Timothy 2:11–13
On this
day, Veteran’s Day, a day when our minds are turned to the word: “Freedom,” we
are reminded that it is freedom that all people desire, and it is freedom on
which this country was founded, and our Constitution was formed upon. The word;
“Freedom,” does contain the word; “Free.” Do not be misled! Freedom is not
“Free.” Freedom has a price, and this price can never fully pay the debt for
Freedom. Freedom won by our staying the course set forth by men who fought and
died, and even with the threat of death, continued to form this nation and to
defend it and we are the recipients of their effort and work. By means of this
nation, its Constitution you, and I, have been set free from the bondage of
powers that do not give freedom to their citizens, or give some half–hearted
freedom just to maintain some peace, and power. No one, no citizens of the
United States can tacitly sit by and believe that they will always have freedom
for there are men who are attempting to destroy this nation, and your freedom.
We must decide who will be serve, who will we be a bondservant to and defend
this freedom, our nation? Here then is the problem; our freedom is not
controlled completely by us, and has enemies that can destroy our freedom by
taking away men who are defending our freedom. We still have an obligation to
our country, our fellow–citizens, and to our progeny. All is not lost if we
teach our children what it means to be free, and their responsibility. The
question is: will we?
GOOD NEWS!
We are free! Not by some man who may or may not have freedom for those who are
under his control, rather we are free and our controller is Jesus Christ: “Therefore
if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Jesus is
not some man, someone who has ulterior motives that are not pure. Jesus imparts
to those who are the children of God, righteousness: “And having been set
free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Our
freedom is secure never to be overthrown, and it is eternal. The question for
each of us is; to whom will we become slaves, Jesus Christ or this world. It is
not that we have a responsibility to this world, it is that we use our
responsibility as slaves of righteousness. It to whom we have allegiance, to
whom we have placed our faith, our trust, and our eternal life, for if we
choose the worse, then we have returned to become salves of unrighteousness: “I
speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you
presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to
more lawlessness, so now present you members as slaves of righteousness for
holiness” (Romans 6:19). Do you want this country to remain free? Then
become slaves of righteousness and then the decisions, the laws, the pragmatic
use of laws, will then be for freedom, and all peoples will be blessed. Don’t
and you are hindering the work of common grace. If we continue in sin then all
we do is bad, it is not aiding the Gospel, it is not bring the Gospel to God’s
children, and it is harming the freedom of all peoples. Is this serious? YES!
Do you take it serious? I HOPE SO! When we are sinning, even though
righteousness is not thwarted by our sin, we disregard righteousness and what
we produce, our fruit is unholy, and we, when we look back at our works, our
fruit are ashamed: “For when you ere slaves of sin, you were free in regard
to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are
now ashamed? For the end of those things is death” (Romans 6:20–21).
Want more
GOOD NEWS? “”But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves
of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Romans
6:22). It isn’t that our work gives us holiness, or even eternal life; it
is that by our faith, a faith that denies oneself, and it is this faith that
produces good works because we are slaves of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, our
Person who has given us freedom, now, in this life, and in the life to come:
Heaven. Jesus Christ is faithful, now, and forever. He will not turn aside from
righteousness and will always reign in justice, love, and in righteousness.
Yes, we
have a secular responsibility, but that responsibility has as its foundation
the word of God operating through us and all are blessed by our faithfulness.
We have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Christ to do all that
is necessary to maintain peace and freedom, both in the Church and in our
everyday secular life. We live in freedom. We can choose who will we be slaves
to, and we are free to live by denying ourselves and putting the Gospel first.
What is the Gospel? It is Jesus Christ. It has within it the work of Jesus
Christ upon the cross, a work that is done, never to be repeated, a work of
freedom for us. Praise God, and praise those who are standing the watch to
defend us, our country and our freedom. Will you stand the watch for freedom,
both in the secular world and the Church?
Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep
Your statutes!
Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look
into all Your
Commandments.
Psalm 119: 5–6
Say Thank You to a Veteran Today
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment