America is at a crossroads concerning this "perfect law of liberty." Understanding the answer to the above question is extremely important and is critical for "We the People" of this "Land of the Free," if we hope to perpetuate and protect our liberty. My good friend, Jim Noorlander, has helped me to understand the answer to this pivotal question. I share here some of his perspectives.
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| The Liberty Bell |
Many believe that liberty and freedom are the same; they are not. We will explain, and many say that our founding documents do not address moral law or the gospel of Jesus Christ. John Adams said, "Our Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people." Noah Webster, the founding father of American Scholarship and Education, and the author of the famous 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, proclaimed that "the principles of republican government have their origin in the Scriptures." And "God’s word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct."
We have the Apostle Paul’s clarion statement, "... where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17) The Apostle James gives the promise: "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:25)
We see this same message integrated into our founding documents. As we declared our independence from Great Britain, our founders said,
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. [These rights entitle us as a nation to] the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle [us],
The perfect law of liberty under Nature’s God, as defined above in the Scriptures, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Inspired by the Scriptures our founders wrote our famous Constitution and its preamble; the preamble reads:
We the People of the United States, in Order to... secure the Blessings of Liberty... establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
In other words, to secure the blessings of liberty under Nature’s God (Jesus Christ), the Constitution was established so that the perfect law of liberty (the gospel of Jesus Christ) could be had among the people in this free and independent nation. Profoundly, there is no coercion. Moral agency is paramount in Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of happiness and in the abundant life promised by Jesus Christ. (John 10:10)
As inferred from our founding documents and from the Scriptures, we qualify for the blessings of liberty and our rights from our Creator (Jesus Christ) as we:
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| The Ten Commandments |
ask for His guidance in humility; (2 Chron. 7:14)
and strive to do His will. (John 7:17; Hebrews 13:21)
The most important of the commandments are to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt. 22:37-40)
Noah Webster said that he sought to build an education system embodying "a love of virtue, patriotism, and religion [meaning the Bible]." Specifically, he stated, "...the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."
As Jim Noorlander pointed out to me, we are the only nation proclaiming that our liberties and our rights are granted to us by our Creator (Nature’s God), which is the Lord Jesus Christ. How important then it is to learn about the religion of our Creator, which is true Christianity as taught by the Savior in the New Testament in the meridian of time. (John 1:1-14). This is the religion of our founders.
Others have spoken clearly on these issues as well:
Woodrow Wilson
The sum of the whole matter is this, that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually. It can be saved only by becoming permeated with the spirit of Christ and being made free and happy by the practices which spring out of that spirit.Ulysses S. Grant
Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts on your heart and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for the progress made, and to this we look as our guide in the future.George Washington
There is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.There are two kinds of freedom: the false and the true.
The foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.
- The false is the freedom to "do our own thing" – to follow the natural man. The Apostle Paul says clearly that the "natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14) Paul further relates that those following this false freedom path are the unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind (homo-sexuals), thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, liars, etc. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
- The true is the freedom to chose to live our lives consistent with the perfect law of liberty – the Gospel of Jesus Christ – to follow our conscience, which will lead us to Christ, who will help us to totally overcome the Fall (the natural man), and to "walk in newness of life... through Jesus Christ our Lord." This freedom (choice) through Christ leads to the greatest joy in this life and a fullness of joy in the life to come. This comes as we (by personal choice) "yield [ourselves to] God." (Rom. 6:1-13; John 15:11; 16:20-24)
Thus we see why we are at a crossroads in America. We can choose Christ and enjoy the protection of our rights along with the fruits of the Spirit (peace, love, joy, etc. Galatians 5:22-25) in the midst of the storms and challenges of life. Or, we can choose otherwise and be destroyed with Babylon the great, which will surely fall (Revelation 17 & 18). We are approaching a time of a great purging and preparing of a pure people (a true Zion society motivated by the pure love of Christ) to be part of the Bride to meet the Bridegroom at His glorious coming – the Great Day of the Lord. This is the most exciting and opportune time in the history of the earth. Let us choose Him, and He will teach us to love as He loves (even our enemies) and gain a fulness of joy and the greatest of all the gifts of God – Eternal Life. Look to God and live the abundant life He has promised here and hereafter. (John chapters 10 and 14 through 17)
The pains that John the Revelator saw that the world would endure, as the wicked destroy the wicked and the Lord brings forth the "man child" called Zion, will be the worst this world has ever seen, but with the birth we will know not only that it was worth it, but will see the wisdom of the Lord in bringing forth the most glorious era ever (His millennial reign). We will feel to praise Him and to thank Him forever for it. (Rev.12:1-12)
Now is the time to hearken to the voice of the Son of God and to stand for the perfect law of liberty as was originally protected and projected by the sacred documents prepared by our founding fathers. The fullness of the gospel (the good news of Christ’s infinite redemptive powers) is at the heart of it all. Let us help all who will to come to know Him and our Holy Father, who is ever there to hear and answer our prayers. He and Jesus love us more than we know. Their promise is sure, that "The Righteous [are] lifted up" at His Coming.
In summary, what are the greatest truths we can learn and inculcate from the Bible to perpetuate liberty?
- To learn to love (unselfishly) as Jesus loves (God and our neighbor), for those who love God, keep His commandments – knowing that they are opportunities for exaltation.
- To know that we are the "Offspring of God" and are of infinite worth; in this we gain a love and a respect for all of Father’s children.
- To utilize the gift of moral agency to choose to follow Him, and to perpetuate that gift to others and through inspired government. Choosing to follow Him leads to the greatest of all the gifts of God – Eternal Life and a fullness of joy
David W. Allan has authored over 100 papers in the field of precise time and frequency. He and his colleagues developed the Allan Variance which is at the heart of international time-keeping algorithms.
Photo credits: Liberty Bell, Ten Commandments, Freedom.
