The willingness to fight for and defend our freedom – The Daily Times

(Galations 5: 1)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

1) According to the the Founding Fathers, tyranny shall not prevail and it is our duty to root it out wherever it rears its ugly head. This, indeed, is our country. One civil war has already been fought, at great price!

2) So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:36).

3) For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God (1 Peter 2:15-16).

4 ) For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

The Founding Fathers, 27 of whom were trained as ministers, took their pledge seriously. On the morning of the signing, there was silence and gloom as each man was called up to the table of the President of Congress to sign the document, knowing that it could mean their death by hanging. The American Revolutionary War was a pivotal event in world history, and the constitutional republic that followed has produced the freest, most productive society ever. No one can deny that most of the Founding Fathers were religious men or that the liberty they fought for has benefited millions of people, but was their revolt against England Biblically justified? Specifically, was the American Revolution a violation of Romans 13:1-7???During the years before the Revolutionary War, the issue of justified rebellion was widely debated, with good men on both sides of the issue. Not surprisingly, most English preachers, such as John Wesley, urged restraint and pacifism on the part of the colonists; while most Colonial preachers, such as John Witherspoon and Jonathan Mayhew, fanned the flames of revolution.

1 Peter 2:15-17 The Message (MSG)

Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are Gods emissaries for keeping order. It is Gods will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think youre a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

The Founding Fathers ignore this scriptural advice. They were in clear violation of scripture!

In his book The Religious Beliefs of Americas Founders (2012), Gregg Frazer shows that the political theology of the American Founding era was neither Christianity nor deism. The prevailing political theology of the American Founding era was theistic rationalism. Theistic rationalism, a phrase coined by Frazer, was a hybrid belief system mixing elements of the Founding Fathers, natural religion, Christianity, and rationalism, with rationalism as the predominant element Adherents were willing to define God in whatever way their reason indicated and to jettison Christian beliefs that did not conform to reason. Frazer concluded by saying:

By making their own reason the final determinant of what counted as legitimate revelation and the final determinant of the meaning of revelation, the theistic rationalists essentially defined away any independent divine influence on their own religion and politics. God effectively lost the ability to define Himself or make demands on them with which they were not comfortable. In other words, they effectively became the voice of God to themselves. In a practical sense, God became whoever they preferred Him to be and made only those demands they wished Him to make. They had truly created a god in their own image

What would you have done? This is why many people decided not to be rebels And so we go on.

The scripture from 2 Timothy captures the spirit of what our attitude should be. Strive to eliminate timidity from our bearing and manner. You can see that the Founding Fathers were bold in the proclamation that the American colonies were standing against tyranny. Despite the clear violation of Scripture!

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from England. Two days later, the early draft of the Declaration of Independence was signed. Four days later, members of Congress took the document and read it out loud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Philadelphia, and afterwards they rang the Liberty Bell. The inscription on the top of the bell is Leviticus 25:10, which reads, Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof.

John Adams said, The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. Probably the clearest identification of the spirit of the American Revolution was given by John in a letter to Abigail the day after Congress approved the Declaration.

He wrote her two letters that day: One was short and jubilant that the Declaration had been approved; the other letter was much longer and gave serious consideration to what had been done that day. Adams could already foresee that their actions would be celebrated by future generations.

Despite the clear violation of Galations 5:1, our spirit of nationalism prevails.

WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE 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, THAT WHENEVER ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS, IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR TO ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE NEW GOVERNMENT, LAYING ITS FOUNDATION ON SUCH PRINCIPLES AND ORGANIZING ITS POWERS IN SUCH FORM, AS TO THEM SHALL SEEM MOST LIKELY TO EFFECT THEIR SAFETY AND HAPPINESS

(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, JULY 4, 1776).

(From the Pulpit is a weekly sermon provided by the clergy members of The Weirton Ministerial Association)

By their nature, colonoscopies cant help but inspire and invite punny jokes.Ive been on the giving and ...

The Ohio River was vitally important to our ancestors here in the valley. For thousands of years, people have lived ...

Most of you who know me, or have read very many of my column, know Im appreciative of those who work to preserve ...

Im going to take a break from the political races and talk about an issue that concerns me greatly: the division ...

Now if I were Janice, where would I have put a book of stamps with frogs on them?The book of stamps I just saw, ...

The care of area animals is important to many of our residents.Many of us, at one time or another in our lives, ...

Read more:

The willingness to fight for and defend our freedom - The Daily Times