Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO Liberty or license? Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA July 6, 2003 Scripture texts: Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16. In the Galatians 5 text, Paul is talking about freedom from the Old Testament law. In 1 Peter, the Apostle's subject is obedience to civil authorities. But they both of these texts espouse a principle that goes beyond those particular subjects. The principle is this: "We shouldn't use our liberty as a license to do evil." I'm defining evil here as "anything contrary to God's will and purpose as revealed in Scripture." The freedoms we enjoy in this nation are rooted in biblical truth and founded upon the basic tenets of Christian faith. This is clear from our nation's foundational, historical documents, and from writings and speeches of our Founding Fathers. Our governmental structure is premised upon the nation as a whole adhering to the moral teachings of Scripture. Our personal liberty was never intended to be a license to legitimize anything we want to do. Today we've turned the gift of liberty into a license to do evil. Two well-known examples: Abortion-on-demand was approved by the Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973 on the basis of a the right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I challenge you to read that amendment and find any reasonable basis for such a right with respect of aborting unborn children. This year, the Supreme Court made sodomy a constitutionally protected activity. The basis of the decision: the "right to privacy." What about incest, pedophilia, statutory rape? Can't all of these can be private and consensual? What about assisted suicide? Are we eventually going to toss out restrictions on all these, as well? Edmund Burke, an 18th British statesman, is credited with having once said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." So what can you do? 1) Pray. Ask God to raise up Christians leaders who can recapture the mind of the nation with the truth. Pray the prayer of Jesus -- that God's kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 2) Learn about critical issues. We need to be able to talk about critical issues with authority. To do that we need a working knowledge of the issues and how God's truth applies. 3) Be Politically Active. We need to know where officeholders and candidates stand on critical issues. We must let our government representatives know how we would prefer them to vote. Modern technology has made that easier than in the past. You can go to the American Family Association Web site and register for AFA Action Alerts. They'll send you e-mails about current events and provide an easy way for you to respond by e-mail to your representatives. It is of critical importance that the silent majority be silent no longer. We need to stand and make our opinions heard. A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 030706a: Liberty or License? © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us