The SPIRIT OF FREEDOM: God’s Gift to Our Nation

The SPIRIT OF FREEDOM: God’s Gift to Our Nation

The Ten Commandments are God’s Moral Law given to man. These Commandments are the foundation for our constitutional laws here in the United States. The Holy Bible teaches us that the only true freedom is freedom from sin. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. While it is true that we Christians are not under law as a means of salvation, we are under it as a rule of life.

EXODUS 20:3-4

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

As one of the 10 Commandments, God tells us that we

shall serve only one God. This is the law given by God to men. As an American I can only serve one country. My allegiance belongs to my country, so if I do not respect it, or its laws, then I am disobeying God. God ordains civil authorities; therefore if we disobey the righteous laws of the land, we are disobeying God. (It is very important that we select our nation’s leaders prayerfully for in so doing we have the hope of our nation continuing to be a nation whose “God is the Lord” Psalm 33:12) Romans 13: 1-7 instructs us that we are to be subject to the powers that be and that the powers that be are ordained of God. In Mark 12:17 Jesus says, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God, the things that are God’s.”

Men tend to serve their own selfish needs, but as a Christian and American, I must serve my God and my country as my Bible instructs me to. God’s instruction in this matter is found in 1 Peter 2: 13-17.

13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14. Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16. As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17. Honour all men Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or

any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or

that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water

under the earth.

As a Christian my belief in God is without tangible sight or feeling. My knowledge of God, through His creation, the work of the Holy Spirit, through faith, is that He exists and is the Creator of the universe and all that is in it. He is, God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Ghost. God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. I do not need statues or idols to know my God is there because I see Him in all things. In this commandment God tells us we shall not make unto ourselves graven images. Do we not still do this with the crosses we wear or the Star of David or the horn or countless other things that we use to remind us of God when He should be foremost in our minds and spirit? Exodus 34:13-17 says

Ex 34:13	But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

Ex 34:14	For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Ex 34:15	Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;

Ex 34:16	And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

Ex 34:17	Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

Man has the tendency to want to include material aids into the worship of God. If God hasn’t ordained material aids, and He hasn’t, then we don’t need them. If we truly know God we don’t need images of any kind to remind us of Him.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that

taketh his name in vain.

In this commandment, it tells us if we deny God, and take His name in vain, He will hold us accountable for the sin. As a Christian, I believe in my God. As an American, I believe in my country. Throughout history there were men that were traitors to America and we held them accountable for their actions. In this, those men lost their lives. But to deny God is to lose your soul and when we use the name of the Lord as a swear word, or a common every day by-word, we are taking the name of the Lord in vain and denying the deity and power of Almighty God. We have become a profane speaking nation, using the name of the Lord irreverently, and God will not hold us guiltless. We put God in a box. We limit God and only want to use Him when we need Him. God is not a swear word. He is our loving, merciful, gracious, Holy, righteous, just, Heavenly Father and worthy to be praised.

I want to thank my dear and loving wife for her help. Also, I want to thank Dr. Michael Ford for all his help and encouragement.

This is Rev. C.W. Boling

onlybygraceministries@yahoo.com