Today is July 4th, a wonderful holiday in the United States. Most people will celebrate it with cookouts and fireworks, watermelon and ice cream. It’s Independence Day!!!! As American’s, we fiercely defend our freedoms. We fence our yards, defend our rights in the highest courts and shed blood on foreign soil to preserve the freedom given to us by God and established by our forefathers. We have a signed and sealed document called the Constitution complete with an attachment called the Bill of Rights which the President and every member of Congress swear to “Protect and defend from enemies both foreign and domestic.” We are serious about our RIGHTS but sometimes lax when it comes to preserving the FREEDOM that allows us to enjoy those rights.
We have been purchased and set free by the precious Blood of Jesus. We have a signed and sealed document explaining our freedom and listing our rights as Citizens of Heaven. Are we as willing to defend our freedom from sin as we are our civil liberties? We have to be vigilant and on guard every minute to our foreign enemy, Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is always lurking around the corner, waiting for an opportunity to snatch another God-given right until link by link we are once again enslaved by sin.
But what about the Domestic Enemies? Domestic threats are actually more dangerous than those from foreign sources. In the United States we have a strong military and a code of law to protect our borders from alien forces that would seek to destroy us. It is easier to identify and resist foreign enemies. Not so with “home-grown” terrorists. They live with us, look like us, speak our language and share our rights. In our Christian Walk we must deal with domestic enemies, as well. The Bible tells us that we are not ignorant of the Devil’s devices but are we aware of the devices of those who seek to enslave us from within. One of the first “plots” we encounter is those who try to replace Old Testament Law with New Testament Law. Galatians 3:3 says, “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” We must resist the mindset that says anything we can do or not do contributes to our salvation. A second “plot” is the philosophy that because we are free in Christ and under grace, we have been given a license to satisfy any desire our flesh lusts after. Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Just as American Citizens cannot yell fire in a crowded building, steal any little trinket that catches their eye, or take the life of the neighbor with the barking dog, Heavenly Citizens must adhere to the Spiritual Law that allows us to preserve our freedom in Christ.
I have read stories of men that were imprisoned when young and then released 20 or 30 years later. They have become so accustomed to their chains that they have no idea how to handle the freedom they have been given. They are so terrified that they will immediately commit another crime so they will be incarcerated again where there is no freedom but life is familiar. Let us not become so comfortable with Satan’s tyranny that we retreat after being set free from sin. Let us also be careful not to trade Satan’s Tyranny for Spiritual Tyranny because we are scared of our freedom in Christ or because it is easier to follow the Law of Man rather than the Law of the Spirit. Whether you are still bound by Satan or have once again become entangled in spiritual slavery, declare your Independence, today.
