4-5: Religious Liberty

Good morning, and thank you for being a part of Family Worship here with the church of Eastern Hills. I’m Bill Connors, senior pastor, and if you’re our guest this morning, I’d like the opportunity to thank you personally for being here. At the close of service, I will stay down here at the front for several minutes, and if you’re a guest today, I invite you to come after service and introduce yourself. I have a gift to give you just to say “thanks” for your visit to EHBC today. We’d also like to get a record of your visit, whether you are joining us in person or online today. You can text the word WELCOME to 505-339-2004, and you’ll get a link back to our digital communication card. If you’re in the room and prefer analog communication cards, you can use the one in the back of the pew in front of you, and either drop that in the offering plates by the doors as you leave at the end of service, or bring that card down to me when you come to say hello.

Announcements

Many of you might not know that we have a church library from which you can borrow books and videos. That’s because for the most part, the library has been by appointment only since COVID. However, we’d like to get the library back into having available times for the church family to use it. We’re shooting for having this begin in two weeks, on February 12. The plan is for the library to be open for a half hour following Family Worship each Sunday, and for an hour every Wednesday night beginning at 5:30 pm. However, this means that we need a few volunteers to agree to staff these times. Amanda Bowman is our church librarian, and she’s looking for 2-3 people to help out. If we can get more, that would be great. You can email her at amandab@ehbc.org to find out more or to let her know you’re interested in helping.

In four weeks, the BCNM will hold our annual Evangelism Conference at Sandia Baptist Church. The conference is free, and will be held Monday night, February 27, and all day Tuesday, February 28. It will be full of great preaching and music, breakout sessions on various topics, and have wonderful opportunities for fellowship with other believers. You can register by visiting bcnm.com/nmec/.

LMCO ($28,017). Goal period ends on Tuesday.

Opening

This morning, I’m excited to share this final message of this series on our Statement of Belief. It’s been good to go through this as a church, and I pray that these messages have brought some clarity and understanding to what we believe as a church, and why it’s so important for us to all be on the same page. Our plan for the near future is to link each message from this series to its corresponding article in our Statement of Belief, and we pray that this will be useful for you as a refresher, or for those who are looking for a church family and want to know what we believe before they visit. Now, as we get into this last message, let’s stand as we are able in honor of God’s holy Word as we read our focal passage from the first epistle of Peter:

1 Peter 2:12–17 CSB

12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits. 13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

PRAYER (Iglesia Hermosa in Santa Fe)

This morning, we are looking at the topic of Religious Liberty. Simply stated, religious liberty is the right of every person to worship God, or not, as they see fit, without any interference from the government, but under the direction of God, to Whom all of us will give account. Our focal passage from 1 Peter is one of the main passages to consider as we contemplate the relationship between the citizen Christian and the government, the relationship between the law of the land and the law of Christ.

One of the incredible truths about Christianity is that Religious Liberty as we know it is a decidedly Christian notion: the belief that a person cannot be forced to worship, and therefore, must be free of government interference in their pursuit of the object of their faith. In fact, Peter shows that our submission to the governing authority we find ourselves under is something that we choose to do because we are free in Christ. This is why our Statement of Belief has a section on Religious Liberty:

EHBC’s Statement of Belief, Article 19: Religious Liberty

“Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. … A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.”

While every world religion claims to be true, we can know that only Christianity actually holds that title because it is the world’s most verifiable religion. Everything on which Christianity is based happened in real public, in real time, and recorded by real people, and not just one of them, either. Jesus really lived, and He really died, and He really rose again. And this one true faith holds to the fact that one’s relationship with God is first an individual faith—that a person is saved through surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord, not through doing good works, appropriate family ties, church membership, or national identity, and neither the person’s salvation nor their worship of God can be forced upon them by anyone, even by the government.

Southern Baptists have long been champions of Religious Liberty. Article XVII of the Baptist Faith and Message, which our Article 19 comes from, is much more comprehensive. Article XVII says:

“God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.”

What biblical foundation do we have for espousing the position of Religious Liberty set forth in this article of the BF&M, or in our Article 19?

Like many other ethical positions we as Southern Baptists hold, they are drawn from Scripture as a whole, rather than simply being from one or two specific passages.

Jesus tells us that He is the author of freedom, both of conscience and of worship when in John 8:32 He says,

John 8:32 CSB

32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

and in 8:36, where He said:

John 8:36 CSB

36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

Jesus drew a distinction between the church and the state in Matthew 22:20-21:

Matthew 22:20–21 CSB

20 “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them. 21 “Caesar’s,” they said to him. Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Paul instructed the Christians at Ephesus in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to live in harmony with the government, even to pray for their leaders. He then went so far as to tie our citizenship to our witness by saying:

1 Timothy 2:1–4 CSB

1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Of course, Romans 13:1-7 clearly tells us that as Christians, we have a responsibility to submit to the authorities God has placed over us and that God has ordained government to punish the evildoers and to reward those who do good.

Romans 13:1–7 CSB

1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience. 6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s servants, continually attending to these tasks. 7 Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

These are just some of the passages that this statement of Religious Liberty is founded upon. There are many others.

For the purpose of our study today, I want us to look at several of the statements made in Article XVII of the Baptist Faith & Message and expound upon them briefly.

1) We believe in religious liberty.

It is to this end that Article XVII begins with the affirmation that “God alone is the Lord of conscience.” This conviction is at the very heart of all religious liberty, the idea that God alone is the Lord of conscience, the one Who, in His Word, tells us what to believe and practice.

One of the great Southern Baptist preachers of last century was George W. Truett, at the time the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. In 1920 Truett delivered a sermon from, of all places, the steps of the United States Capitol, if you can imagine. As he stood there preaching to somewhere between 10 and 15 thousand people, he summed up what most Southern Baptists believe religious liberty is.

Truett said:

“It is the natural and fundamental and indefeasible right of every human being to worship God or not, according to the dictates of His conscience, and, as long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others, he is to be held accountable alone to God for all religious beliefs and practices. Our contention is not for mere toleration, but for absolute liberty. There is a wide difference between toleration and liberty....Toleration is a gift from man, while liberty is a gift from God....God wants free worshipers and no other kind.”

We do not believe people should be, or truly even can be, forced to worship God... nor do we believe they should be in any way kept from worshiping God. As Baptists we have long been the champions of this kind of religious freedom, not just for Christians, but for all people.

It is interesting to note that it was Baptists who pushed for religious liberty with the framers of the Constitution of the United States. Dr. Jerry Johnson, a leading Southern Baptist ethicist, and former President of the Criswell College in Dallas, noted that, “While most of the early American Colonies had official denominations, the Baptists worked with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to oppose state churches and to enshrine religious liberty in the Bill of Rights. John Leland was the most outspoken Baptist (preacher) on religious liberty and exercised considerable influence on Jefferson and Madison.” Johnson says that Leland's argument was theological when he said, “Religion is a matter between God and individuals: the religious opinions of men not being the objects of civil government, not in any way under its control.”

This conviction that God alone is the Lord of conscience not only applies to religious liberty where our government is concerned. As Baptists we have always resisted any kind of hierarchical oversight from a denomination, as we saw a couple of weeks ago when we considered the topic of cooperation. The depth of our conviction runs so deep here that we strongly believe each local church is autonomous, retaining the right to affirm their own beliefs, doctrinally examine their own pastors and own their own property. Religious liberty is not only freedom from meddling governments—it is also freedom from any kind of external religious body which would seek to force their creeds upon our conscience. While our Statement of Belief is based on the Baptist Faith & Message, it’s not because it must be so—it’s because we believe the Baptist Faith & Message to be a confession that accurately states both what the Bible says and what we believe.

As Baptists, who have often been the victims of religious intolerance, we believe strongly in religious liberty, that being the right to worship or not worship as directed by one's conscience, not by the government.

2) We believe in the separation of church and state.

I mentioned last week that in late October of 2022, Pew Research published a couple of research articles relating to the concept of the United States of America and the terms “Christian nation” and “Christian nationalism.” They are interesting reading. According to their research, 60% of Americans believe that the founders of our country originally intended for the U.S. to be a “Christian nation.” However, only 45% believe that the U.S. should actually be a “Christian nation.” Much of the disparity in the opinions of those surveyed has to do with semantics: the meaning of the term itself. Many (about 69%) see this in a generally positive light—that a “Christian nation” refers to a country being guided or founded on Christian beliefs, or that the laws reflect a Christian or other generally Christian moral or value foundation. Some see it as massively negative—that the term “Christian nation” is simply a way to support bigotry, racism, white supremacy, or misogyny. (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/10/27/45-of-americans-say-u-s-should-be-a-christian-nation/)

“Christian nationalism” is an even more difficult term to pin down, but there is very little positive impression of it. The majority of Americans know nothing or very little about the term, but well over half of those who know something about it have a negative viewpoint of it. One respondent defined Christian nationalism as: “Attempting to use the government to impose an extreme, fringe version of Christianity on everyone in the nation, regardless of others’ religious views. They are no different than al-Qaida or the Taliban.” Another said that “Christian nationalism” is: “racism, bigotry, fascism, hateful, judgmental, the antithesis of Christian teaching.” (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/10/27/in-their-own-words-how-americans-describe-christian-nationalism/)

Both of these perspectives are caricatures, as at its root, the term simply means a Christian who loves and supports his country. That country doesn’t even have to be the United States. However, much of the negative perspective against the term “Christian nationalism” has been earned in various ways, especially in how we sometimes approach the question of whether or not the U.S. is a “Christian nation,” and what it might mean if it is one.

A little history lesson is needed this morning. I can state with certainty that the United States of America was founded largely by men who professed a Christian faith, and that all of them (even those who were not professing Christians) saw the Judeo-Christian ethic as the bedrock of a secure, just, and prosperous nation. Research of documents from the Founders’ Era (1760-1805) by Dr. Donald Lutz of the University of Houston found that approximately “94% of the ideas in our Constitution are based either directly or indirectly on the Bible.” One quote that I especially liked as I studied was from Benjamin Franklin who, though not a professing Christian himself, said:

“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it’ [Psalms 127:1]. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”

—Benjamin Franklin

and John Adams said of our Constitution:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

—John Adams

However, this same man also said: “The government of the United State is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

His meaning is reflected in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which states in part:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...”

So while the United States of America was founded upon Christian principles by principled men of primarily Christian faith, the Founders never intended that the U.S. have a state church such as the Holy Roman Empire did with Catholicism (where the government tells people what religion they have to follow), nor did they intend that the U.S. become a church state such as in Iran with Islam (where the government is ruled by religious authority, also called a theocracy). The idea was that all Americans would have the freedom to worship—or not to worship—in whatever way their conscience dictated, and that the government should basically have nothing to say in the matter. This is that “wall of separation between church and state” that we often hear about.

But our Constitution is clear about who makes up our government: the citizens do, through representatives who are citizens elected and empowered to act on behalf of their constituents. Therefore, while the Founders intended that the church and the state be separate, that didn’t mean for a moment that Christians (or members of any other faith persuasion) should not be allowed to serve as elected representatives. The preamble to the Constitution reads:

“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect [or complete] Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

—The U.S. Constitution: Preamble

This means that the government is made up of “WE the people.” And WE the people bring to the table our ideas of right and wrong, our religious traditions, our experiences, our relationships with each other, and our relationships with God. The “wall of separation” exists not to protect the government from the influence of the church, but to protect the church from the control of the government. It would no longer be a representative government if common citizens could not run for elected office simply because of their faith.

Therefore, our nation is a “Christian nation” from the perspective that our governmental structure and basic moral code are built on a Christian framework. But the Christian faith was never supposed to be the religion of the land, and it is from this perspective that our Statement of Belief Article 19 comes from. The secularists of our country have interpreted this “wall” another way, using it as an excuse to exclude any mention of Christianity from the public square. This is certainly not what we mean.

As we seek to define the separation of church and state, there are several things to be considered here; first:

A. The state should protect the church's freedom to pursue its spiritual ends.

We believe that it is our God given right to express our religious and moral views, and to worship free from any government interference.

It includes our ability to share the gospel of Jesus Christ without being labeled as intolerant because we hold that Jesus is the only way to heaven. One of the foundational tenets of our faith is the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to salvation. Increasingly, what we see as being the good news, the world sees as bigotry and intolerance. Religious liberty means the state has an obligation to protect our right to believe and preach and teach whatever we like.

It includes us exerting any political influence we may have as Christians to see candidates elected who hold our beliefs. Citizens who happen to be Christians should not be silenced as they seek to exercise their freedom of speech simply because that which they choose to speak is from a decidedly Christian worldview. Christians, or any other religious group for that matter, should not be penalized because they seek to place people in office who best represent their views. This is, after all, the basis of representative government. Increasingly we are seeing this idea propagated which says that all views are valid, unless of course it is a Christian point of view. This is contrary to what we believe. And for the record, it is contrary to what the founders of our country envisioned.

And it means that the government should never censor the pulpits. As the moral tide of our country falls, increasingly preachers who stand against immorality and wickedness will become the targets of those who object to anything being called a sin. As Southern Baptists we believe that we can take God at His word, and to proclaim and teach that Word. The government has no business telling us what can and cannot be preached from our pulpits.

We believe the state has a responsibility, a God-given responsibility, to use its authority to protect people of faith as we seek to live out that faith in public. Our religious freedom is not based on the laws of men, in truth it is an unalienable right granted to all people everywhere by God. Good government has the responsibility of protecting that God-given right.

B. The state should not favor one religious group over another.

There are some in our country who think that separation of church and state means that the state must be godless. This was never the intention of the framers of our Constitution. Whether or not its adherents like to admit it, the fact is that atheism is a religion unto itself. Being a former atheist, I can tell you that it was a position that I took completely on faith. Many would claim that it is a position based on science, but truly it is a position based on theories about things that we can never see duplicated and never experiment with, and thus, are no longer the realm of doing science—we are now talking about questions of faith… what someone believes. Since the separation of church from state means that the state will not favor one religious group over another, it stands to reason that atheism, being a religious belief system, should not be favored over Christianity. Thus, I would contend that for the state to hold that and act as if there is no God, would be to establish atheism as the state religion.

Dr. Richard Land, former president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee and now President of Southern Evangelical Seminary, in his book, The Divided States of America traces the history of the phrase “separation of church and state” back to colonist Roger Williams in 1636, who claimed that the wall was to protect the garden of the church from the wilderness of the state and not the other way around. When newly-elected President Thomas Jefferson used the phrase to address a group of oppressed Baptists in Connecticut in 1802, it was at a time when Connecticut had a state tax-supported religion, which by the way was Congregationalist. The separation of church and state was meant to protect the church from the state. It was never intended to establish a godless state.

C. Christians should not look to government to carry on the church's work.

As Baptists, not only do we object to a church which is governed by the state, we also reject the idea of a state which is governed by the church.

One scholar notes that it is an interesting fact of history that one may find examples of civil governments that have officially been tied to particular religions: Lutheran, Anglican, Congregational, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Christian, Shia Muslim, Sunni Muslim, or even atheist. However, no civil government has ever been officially “Baptist.” This is no accident. By definition, no government could ever be genuinely Baptist because Baptists reject the notion of an official state church or an official church state.

As Christians, we understand that we are citizens of another Kingdom—the Kingdom of God—and as such, we are governed first and foremost by the rule of our One True King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we do not believe in the need for an earthly theocratic government, that is, a government which is ruled by religion. We have but to look to some Islamic countries today and to the Roman Catholic Church during the middle ages to see what happens when people try and use government to carry out the work of the church, or try to enforce the laws of their religion on those who do not believe. We do not believe in making converts at the edge of the sword. We do not and have never advocated coercion of any kind in matters of faith. Discussion? Yes. Conviction? Certainly. Coercion? No.

We believe that God’s work is accomplished by God’s people through the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the enforcement of civil authorities.

Part and parcel to this concept of the separation of church and state is the belief that the State should neither impose penalties for religious opinions nor should it impose taxes for the support of any form of religion.

Jesus did not look to the Roman authorities to further His kingdom, neither did the disciples, nor did Paul, the most prolific writer among all the apostles. In fact, Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. We do not believe civil government should be used to carry on the work of the church.

Only when Jesus returns and establishes His throne will government truly be free from the vice and corruption of fallen men. Then and then alone will theocracy be the government of this world, as the sinfulness of man that damages everything that we touch now will be completely eradicated, and the King of kings will rule on the earth.

Revelation 11:15–17 CSB

15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. 16 The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, 17 saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

D. Christians have a responsibility to the state

As Christians, Scripture clearly tells us that we have a responsibility to submit to the state, to pay our taxes, to serve when asked to serve, but also, because we are salt and light, we have a responsibility to speak the truth in love when our government is wrong on moral issues. As we saw in our focal passage in 1 Peter, as Christians, while we are to submit to the government’s authority, our ultimate allegiance is to Christ and to the truth of His Word.

In Acts chapter 4, when Peter and John were ordered by the Sanhedrin to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and John answered them in verses 19-20 saying,

Acts 4:19–20 CSB

19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

And in Chapter 5, after having been arrested for continuing to preach Jesus, Peter continued to proclaim boldly:

Acts 5:29–32 CSB

29 Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. When the laws of man violate the laws of God, as citizens of heaven we must obey the laws of God.

Sometimes this means Christians must be involved in civil disobedience. But civil disobedience must be clearly based on God's Word, not on the predilections or opinions of man. As Christians, we should be model citizens but we also have a responsibility to be the conscience of our nation as well.

3) A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.

This speaks to a state and a church wherein the church is free from the influence of the state but at the same time, because the members of the church are citizens of the state, is free to influence the state towards righteousness but not to control it.

Again, Dr. Richard Land has already done some good thinking in this area. He says that governments can take one of three distinct approaches to church-state relations. The first is avoidance—completely removing any recognition of the church and creating a secular society. The second is acknowledgment—a government affirmation of the majority religion.

What we need, Dr. Land suggests, is accommodation, a middle way between the other two. This approach provides the perspective in which all views are allowed, encouraged, and respected, and a healthy respect for the value of religion in America's past, present, and future that permeates society. Americans should be able to bring their religiously informed moral values to public policy discussions.

Conclusion

At the end of the day we have to say that religious freedom is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it affords us the privilege to worship God as we wish, where we wish, and with whom we wish, without fear of punishment, castigation, or reprisal. While we acknowledge this as a God-given right, it is nonetheless a unique phenomenon. Looking back over the course of history, few people have ever had as much religious freedom as do those of us who are citizens of these United States of America.

But the problem with blessings is that, when they are taken for granted, they can become a curse. Like a child who was reared on a trust fund and never learned to work, thus never learning the true value of money, many Americans have no concept of how truly precious and unique our religious liberty is. And, taking it for granted, we fail to protect it against the encroaching tide of secularism that is swiftly rising in our land. As Christians we must let our voice be heard. As salt and light in our culture we must be faithful to the responsibility God has given us.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, according to Galatians 5:1. However, if you have never surrendered to God through faith in what Jesus has done for our salvation, trusting Him as Savior and Lord, then you are actually in bondage, even if you think you’re free. Our sins hold us captive to death, and Jesus died in our place so that we could have life. Turn from your sins this morning and trust in the sacrifice of Christ for your salvation. If you’d like to talk about salvation, or if this morning, you are trusting in Jesus to save you, we’d love to know about it. I’ll be here, as will Trevor and Kerry, and while the band is playing in a moment, come and share with us what God is doing in your heart. If you’re online, you can send me an email.

Church Membership

Prayer

Offering

PRAYER

Closing Remarks

Blondell Keen Service Saturday at 10 am

Bible reading (Zech 1 today). February calendar will be posted by Tuesday.

Pastor’s Study tonight at 5:30.

Prayer Meeting in MH at 5:45 Wednesday.

Instructions for guests

Benediction

Galatians 5:13–14 CSB

13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

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