As a nation we are about to celebrate the birthday of our country. We call this day “Independence Day,” as it is a celebration of a day that marks our freedom and independence from the control of England. Many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate this special day. Throughout the country there will be parades and many festivities. There will be bands playing patriotic songs and for many we will feel a particular pride in our country. Not a perfect country, but a country that has given its citizens freedoms that are unequaled in the history of mankind.
Of all the music played, there is nothing quite like the marches written by John Philip Souza. His music will stir the heart and bring forth the patriotic feelings with songs such as “The Thunderer,” “Siemper Fidelis,” or perhaps his most famous one, the “Stars and Strips Forever.” It would not be the fourth of July without hearing at least one of his marches. We live in a country that prides itself with the freedoms given to its people as the words in the end of our national anthem express – “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
As Christians, in this country, we are fortunate to be able to claim dual citizenship in two lands of the free. The physical country, the United States of America, and the spiritual Kingdom of God; Ephesians 2:19 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”. We are citizens in a land made of those who have been freed from their sins: Rom 6:18 “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”.
This freedom from our sins is the most precious freedom possible, considering the consequences of sin: Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Through our obedience to God’s word, we have put on Christ in baptism: Gal. 3:27 “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” We are “heirs of the promise”, “fellowcitizens of the saints”, we have been translated into Christ’s kingdom: Col 1:13 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
If those patriotic songs move us, how much more should the songs of worship to our spiritual King thrill our souls? If we have pride in the freedoms which we have in this country, how much more joy should we have that our God has forgiven our sins and given us freedom from that burden of sin? As we have pride in the freedoms enjoyed in this country and proclaim it in the final stanza of our national anthem, we should have even more interest in proclaiming the joy that comes from being free from our sins and members of God’s kingdom. As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: II Cor. 5:20 “We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ,”, We are to be ambassadors of Christ, we are to be proclaimers of the gospel: Col. 1:28 “whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom”. There is no option in this. We cannot be silent, we must spread the good tidings of the kingdom where we are free from the penalty that comes from the wages of our sins.
We have all heard the saying that freedom isn’t free. The freedom that we enjoy in this country was bought with the blood of the many men who were willing to defend our freedoms; more importantly the freedom from sin, which we have in the kingdom of God (the church) was bought by the blood of the sinless, only begotten, son of God, Jesus Christ: I Cor. 6:20 “for ye were bought with a price:” and I Pet. 3:18 “Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;” Jesus Christ having lived a sin free life was able to pay the price of sin for each of us.
It is also said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. As Christians, we are to be constantly on guard for our souls and for the purity of the faith in the church. The church at Smyrna was warned: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” Rev. 2:10. We are to be constantly on guard: II Pet. 3:17 “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness”. We are warned that we must be on guard. I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
Each day we must be careful of our influence and our behaviors. We are to use wisdom in our Christian walk: Eph. 5:15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise”. The Greek word translated circumspectly carries the meaning to walk perfectly, diligently. We are to be on guard that our behaviors in the world show our Christianity so that others can see our clean, pure manner of living. That we show forth as James wrote, we are “to keep himself unspotted from the world” James 1:27. We have been charged with insuring that we pursue pure doctrine and good works: Titus 2:7 “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,”.
This week we can enjoy celebrating our nation’s birthday. We can enjoy the company of family and friends during this time, and celebrate our good fortune in being a part of this nation with its freedoms, but let us also remember the freedom from sin that Christians enjoy in the church. Let us rejoice in the knowledge of the blessings that God has for us. May we share this knowledge with those around us to teach them to obey God, so they also can enjoy the blessings that are in Christ: Eph. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:”