The month of July should be very special for each American for on July 4, 1776, fifty-six men pledged, “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor” for these words: “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.” 

Ever wonder what happened to the signers? Five were captured and tortured for being traitors before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the war. Two more had their sons captured and never saw them again. Nine fought and died in the War of Independence. The rest lost their homes, their farms, or their businesses. The old saying is, “Freedom is never free!” 

An earlier Declaration of Independence was written by St. Paul, in Galatians 5: 1 “For freedom Christ has set us free.” 

For way too many of us “freedom” means freedom from something. Freedom from obeying the law. Freedom from living a responsible life. Freedom to do anything we want. The reality is that in both the Declaration of Independence and St. Paul’s words in Galatians we are not “freed from something” but “freedom to something!” 

Paul’s battle with the Galatians centered around works verses faith. There were many in the church at Galatia who believed that a person earned, merited, and deserved God’s grace by doing good works. Paul was saying that we receive God’s grace through faith, not through good works. That grace and faith have freed us from our slavery to keeping the law to earn salvation but instead freed us from bondage to the law so that we shall (Matthew 22: 37 & 39) “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind.” And “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Since God has freed us from working out our own salvation, we can focus on loving God and loving our fellow human beings as we love ourselves. The gracious freedom is not freedom from something but freedom to something. Freedom to be the children of God. Live your freedom! 

Veritas - Curt