A CALL TO LIBERTY (Cont.)

III. LIBERTY: FREEDOM WITH PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

    A. This is a call to civil liberty or liberty within a society. Here is a quote from Noah Webster in 1828: "…the liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of that society. A restraint of natural liberty (freedom), not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression. Civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established law, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty."

    B. Personal responsibility is governing one’s life in such a manner as to give a good account to God, the Creator and Lord of all, for one’s behavior toward God, himself, his fellow man and for the stewardship of all he is given.

    C. When one lives alone his freedom is bounded only by his conscience, however informed, and by the laws of nature. However, when living with more than himself his freedom is now restrained by the willingness of another or others to tolerate his behavior and his ability to force the others to accept it. Agreements can be reached by the consent of all for the safety and well-being of the whole to the limits and standards of acceptable behavior. Restraint of liberty not for the necessity or expediency of the society or the pressing of one’s liberty upon the others because he is able to is tyranny and oppression.

    D. Christian liberty is the use of one’s freedom to do as one’s conscience allows bounded by his love for the brethren or personal responsibility.
      1. Christian liberty is founded upon the principle that as one loves his neighbor as himself, he has fulfilled the whole law of God.
      2. Christian liberty does not need the restraints of law. To the degree we govern ourselves by a Christian conscience, we need little or NO government over us. (Law is for the lawless!)
      3. Christian liberty finds its expression in the guideline our Lord Jesus gave us: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If it is not the way you would like to be treated, do not treat others that way. This is the basic practice of personal responsibility.

   E. A call issued for the return to some basic self-government:
"I am responsible to God for all that I say, do and think and will one day give an account for it!"
Listen first!
Don’t interrupt when another is speaking (think about media interviews)
Think before you speak
Don’t decide ‘til you hear the other side
There is no such thing as objectivity; test everything by the TRUTH
Enjoy the people you are with especially your brothers in the Lord
Enjoy God‘s creation and take care of it (personal responsibility)
If you make a mess, you clean it up
If you borrow it, return it
If you don’t know it’s true, don’t repeat it (gossip)
Put it back where you found it
Leave no trace you were there
Leave a place better than the way you found it
Laugh, especially at yourself; don’t take yourself too seriously
A place for everything and everything in its place
Guard your liberty and do not let it be taken from you