Religious Freedom

The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

John 12:19

We are blessed in the United States of America to enjoy one of the longest periods of time where men could worship God freely according to their own conscience. 

The 1st Amendment to our Constitution declares this freedom:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Notice how this is worded. The Constitution does not give freedom, it declares it.

It is assumed that it is a right to worship freely, and therefore the amendment says that laws may not be written to prevent this.

When we look at our Declaration of Independence, we can clearly see that the founding fathers understood that the rights of liberty (including religious liberty) were not rights granted by men but by God Himself:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalientable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Government’s job, according to the Founding Fathers and the Lord (Romans 13) is to protect people, not oppress them.

Now, while we should seek to elect public officials that would uphold these principles, we do not depend on getting their permission in order to worship Jesus Christ. Therefore, if a godly candidate loses, we should not lose hope or turn away from following the Lord.

The Pharisees learned this lesson the hard way. Every action they took to stop Jesus and His disciples backfired. Even when they killed Jesus, He rose from the dead! And, ultimately, God judged the natural nation Israel with its destruction in 70 A.D.

Therefore, I do not believe our ultimate fight is with those in Washington, D.C. or any other capital. 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Ephesians 6:12

Our enemy is the devil. AND our enemy is a defeated enemy! 

Our focus should, therefore, be in the same place as the disciples of the first century. They lived during one of the most oppressive times in human history yet they did not turn away from following the Lord. 

Neither should we.

I pray our nation as a whole turns away from the path it has been taking for the past few decades. The continued passing of laws against the right to life, freedom of expression, etc. will not go unnoticed by God. Our nation, no matter its Christian foundation, will not escape any more than Israel.

So, let us frustrate the efforts of Satan, his minions, and those that hate God. Not by ugly mudslinging on the news or social media, but by doing what these Pharisees hated – 

Go after Jesus!