We are about to celebrate the Fourth of July. But what exactly are we celebrating? Obviously we are celebrating our freedom. But from what authority do we derive our freedom? Until recently, nearly all citizens would say that we derive our freedom from God.
Today many American citizens have forgotten the foundation upon which this republic rests. But the founders of this country and the framers of the Constitution were not ignorant. Consider some of the following quotes.
Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!" James Madison, known as the architect of the Constitution said, "We have staked the future of government not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions on the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the ten commandments of God." And George Washington once said that "Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle . . . . It is impossible to govern rightly without God and the Bible."
These and other founders recognized that government was ordained by God and that in forming a government, wise men would acknowledge God's hand and direction in their lives. They trusted not in their own reason or wisdom. They trusted in God's wisdom as found in the Scriptures.
We would be wise to follow their direction today. Our government was founded on Christian principles, and we would be wise to trust in God's wisdom rather than our own.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.