July 2026, America’s 250th Anniversary
Galatians 1:6 – I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Yesterday marked the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1776. We are still a very young nation, but as Republics go the United States is growing up. We are no longer children or adolescents. There is some history behind us, and some of the great deeds of the past are receding into recorded history as those who experienced the events first-hand are dying and new generations supplant them. My childhood took place in the 80’s and so I grew up at the tail end of the Cold War. If you had told me as a child or even a young teenager that one of the USA’s largest and most culturally significant cities would elect a communist mayor within my lifetime, I would not have believed you. And yet here we are. Or maybe it’s better to say, there they are – in the warm, suffocating grip of collectivism.
So apparently, freedom and liberty really do have to be purchased over and over by each generation. How could a nation founded on liberty even think about pursuing the path of communism? The thing is that we forget. The horrors and failures of the past – the lessons that we think have been deeply embraced – these can all be forgotten so easily. And thus it goes with the Christian as well.
In Galatians 1:6, the apostle marvels at the speed with which the liberty of Christ has been displaced by the bondage of legalism. And this didn’t even take generations! It only took a matter of months for these believers to lose the hope of the gospel and be brought back into bondage. They had forgotten that grace was free – not earned. They had forgotten that Christ had fulfilled the law – no need to add their works to it. They had lost sight of how great is their Savior – He does not need our righteous acts to save our souls!
We observe Communion together today so that we might keep our memories fresh and our minds sharp regarding how this whole thing works. We did not begin by faith only to finish by good works. We were not saved by grace only to be secured by our own efforts to keep the Law. We eat the bread and drink the wine to remember that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Let all who love liberty love Christ.
Nathan Writes 