Articles by Pastor Mark Woods

The Root of Human Freedom

Or why we dare not neglect the Great Commission

The 4th of July is always an exciting holiday for many reasons; parades, back yard barbeques, fireworks, a day off from work, family get-togethers, and more. Among all the reasons for why this holiday is special stands the most important and foundational reason, the celebration of our freedom. The forefathers of our country set aside this day, which coincided with the signing of the declaration of independence, as a day of celebration of and reflection upon our freedom as a nation and a people. I fear that in modern day America much is made of the celebration aspect of this holiday but too little is given over to the reflection that was intended for this holiday as well. The forefathers knew the importance of setting aside a day each year to remind people of their roots lest they forget and in the forgetting loose that which is most precious. This is why Thomas Jefferson said that freedom was a responsibility that required "eternal vigilance." In other words it was necessary to maintain because it could be lost!

I would like to consider in this brief article a couple of seminal questions. Where did the concepts of personal human freedom come from? Did the basis for their ideas and ideals of personal freedom that resonated so deeply in the hearts and minds of the founding fathers have any basis in religion, Christianity, or the Bible? I personally believe that this nation has never been a “Christian Nation” but on the other hand I also believe that this nation could never have come into existence apart from Christianity and the Bible, because the very foundation of the Forefathers belief in personal human freedom came from their religious convictions concerning God, but more specifically, Christianity.

Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian in the orthodox sense, but he had deep personal convictions regarding God and the value of the Bible. In his Notes on Virginia of 1782, Jefferson wrote: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?" It was Jefferson’s conviction, as well as the other framers of the declaration of independence, that there were certain "inalienable rights" afforded all human beings granted to them by their "Creator."

John Adams wrote, "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Patrick Henry, the forefather who said, "Give me liberty or give me death" made it very clear what his conviction was in regards to the basis for the freedoms and privileges of this American experiment. He wrote, "It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

I believe that what our forefathers understood, we need to be reminded of again, in our ever increasingly secularized society, that the very basis for human freedom and dignity ultimately issues forth from a proper understanding of God and His gospel.

Our forefathers were not only students of the renaissance and critical thinking but also of the reformation and the restoration of the gospel. It was religious persecution of the state religions of Europe that drove many of America’s original colonists to its shores. And despite many historical revisionists attempts to prove otherwise it is a well established fact that our founding fathers were exclusively protestant in their religious convictions and or leanings. Because of this connection with the protestant faith we also need to consider the history of Protestantism in our quest for the basis of the conviction of human freedom found in our founding fathers.

Almost 350 years before the declaration of independence a German monk by the name of Martin Luther was being used by God to change the face of the world by setting the human spirit free. God used this man to establish the basis for unparalleled human freedom primarily by means of the restoration and defense of the Biblical gospel to the hearts and minds of the common man of faith.

It was the Martin Luther’s conviction concerning the gospel that under girded his conviction concerning human freedom. He wrote in regards to Christianity and human freedom these words, "A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none, a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one." In this brief statement Martin Luther so eloquently declares both the rights and the responsibilities of human freedom for the man or woman of faith.

These convictions of human freedom and dignity did not materialize in Luther’s mind out of thin air. They were the product of an exegetical approach to scripture and the direct implications of the gospel of Christ. Martin Luther wrote to Pope Leo the X these following words concerning the freedom that accrues to the one who places his or her faith in Christ.

As Christ by His birthright has obtained these two dignities, so He imparts and communicates them to every believer in Him, under that law of matrimony of which we have spoken above, by which all that is the husband's is also the wife's. Hence all we who believe on Christ are kings and priests in Christ, as it is said: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Pet. ii. 9.)

These two things stand thus. First, as regards kingship, [115] every Christian is by faith so exalted above all things, that, in spiritual power, he is completely lord of all things; so that nothing whatever can do him any hurt; yea, all things are subject to him, and are compelled to be subservient to his salvation. Thus Paul says: "All things work together for good to them who are the called" (Rom. viii. 28 ); and also; "Whether life, or death, or things present, or things to come: all are yours; and ye are Christ's. (I Cor. iii. 22, 23.)

This is a spiritual power, which rules in the midst of enemies, and is powerful in the midst of distress. And this is nothing else than that strength is made perfect in my weakness, and that I can turn all things to the profit of my salvation; so that even the cross and death are compelled to serve me and to work together for my salvation. This is a lofty and eminent dignity, a true and almighty dominion, a spiritual empire, in which there is nothing so good, nothing so bad, as not to work together for my good, if only I believe. And yet there is nothing of which I have need--for faith alone suffices for my salvation--unless that, in it, faith may exercise the power and empire of its liberty. This is the inestimable power and liberty of Christians.

These are amazing and powerful words. They contained power to set the mind and heart free regardless the circumstances of life and they were the joyous notes of freedom that so many hearts had longed for but could never reach because the gospel had been hidden to so many for so long.

We in America owe a great debt of gratitude to our forefathers for their faith, wisdom, and insight and to Martin Luther and the reformers for their courage in recovering and declaring the true gospel of Christ which is the great foundation upon which all true freedom and human dignity rests.

In his 1917 book, "What the World Owes Martin Luther" J.B. Remensnyder wrote, "Before the Reformation the members of a congregation or parish were clergy-dependent". Through seven sacraments, six of which dealt directly with lay people, Catholic clergy sustained a day-to-day influence and control over the members of their congregations. According to Catholic doctrine the grace people needed to live correctly ("righteously") before God came through the administrations of the sacraments. Using a passage in 1 Peter (2:9) as his source, Luther noted that all believers are called priests before God. Each one could talk directly with God and receive His gifts. People could read the Bible for themselves and learn directly from its words without the official interpretation of the church. This concept of individual human freedom was an idea that would later be refined and restated in the principles used to justify the American Revolution and to build the Constitution of the United States of America.

So as we celebrate the 4th of July this year let us thank God for our freedoms by remembering our heritage and let us commit ourselves anew to the ultimate task of the church which is to go and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to teach them to observe all things that Jesus commands of them, and remember that God will be with us always to the end of the age!

Submitted by Pastor Mark Woods