References: The Christian History of the American Revolution. Foundation For American Christian Education. 1976. San Francisco.
Life Application Study Bible. NIV. Tyndale and Zondervan Publishers. 1973.
This Friday July 4, 2025 in the United States of America constitutes the 250th Jul 4th since the first one on July 4, 1776 on which the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, PA. This was our declaration of freedom from Great Britain. It was obtained at a cost of spilt blood of American patriots on battlefields beginning with Lexington, MA in 1775 and ending at Yorktown, VA in 1781. "To 'consider' America's Christian history means to behold the Hand of God in all events leading to the Declaration of Independence...All these 'human events' required 'a peculiar people zealous of good works.'"(xxiii) (Titus 2:14; "...,who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.") (I Peter 2:9; "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God...") (I Peter 2:11; "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.")
If you have unconfessed sin, you are not, "zealous of good works,...redeemed from all wickedness, ...purified, abstaining from sinful desires, which war against your soul."
We live in a very unique and special nation, whose freedom was waged in the fires of rebellion. Many of us personally do not have freedom and are in rebellion to the precepts of God. We do not realize we are in bondage to Satan. When we address and deal with our wayward behavior, we attain a freedom from the attacks of Satan. Freedom is free in God's world. However, I admit it is not easy to break away from the familiarity of sinful behavior and to be guided and controlled each day by the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:17 it is explained in footnotes "Paul describes two forces conflicting within us---the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature (our evil desires or inclinations that stem from our bodies.") See Part Two for the vices and attitudes that keep one in bondage. These are enumerations of the specific issues that are evil and go against the teachings of God. Release from them brings one personal freedom and the necessity not to be judged by a God, who is assuredly a God of love, but also one, who will not give us peace and love until we escape inappropriate behavior.
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