Life, Liberty, Happiness By Whose Definition?

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -  Galatians 3:28

Certainly you understand the point the Apostle Paul was making. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We are all the same from God's perspective and in His creative intent. So why would Paul need to write it, aside from the fact that it was inspired by the Spirit of God. Well, because that thinking is contrary to the nature of man - apart from God.

"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." - Preamble to Declaration of Independence

Totally consistent with Galatians 3:28 don't you think?

"Dred Scott decision a legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional."

A Supreme Court ruling in the same country that declared that all men (people) are created equal ruled that they are not. That they are not endowed with certain rights. And even if they are, man has the power to deny them their rights. 

The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans from enslaved to free.

A proclamation that may have change things from the governments perspective but did not change the hearts of men.

Why the history lesson? Cultures may decide to deny what God has said is right and true, but that does not change the truth. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The decision struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws.

The argument being the fetus has no rights - because it is not a human being - the woman can do with it what she chooses as if she was having a tooth pulled or a wart removed. After all - the fetus is part of her body.  The people who endorse that thinking, I am certain, are against gun violence and murder of living - breathing men and women. So if we decide when a human being is a human being, then we can do what we want with - whatever it is before then.  

My point is not to raise a discussion on abortion rights but to encourage you to see that it is the same manner of thinking in 1857 and 1973 and today. That even though we know the right to do - we choose what we think is the best, most advantageous for us. That thinking started in the Garden and prevails in the heart of sinful man and will until Jesus returns. 

"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

We might wear a cross around our necks, a WWJD bracelet on our wrists, sit in a pew and say "amen" every Sunday, and our hearts may still be far from God. Be careful that you don't "drink the culture's Kool-aide". Go along to get along. Embrace what is clearly contrary to the will and purpose of God. Be the Light in a dark world!

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone