The Free Exercise of Religion

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 By Kit Swartz - Posted at Gentle Reformation:

Published September 2, 2025

The beginning of the first amendment to the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. We will focus on the “prohibiting the free exercise” element. The present difficulty is that historic, orthodox Christianity holds homosexuality to be evil and prohibits it by the power of the Spirit (e.g., excommunication) and the postmodern state holds it to be good and supports it by the power of the sword (e.g., ruinous fines, other penalties; gag orders; potential imprisonment). How should an historic, orthodox Christian act in these circumstances?

First and foremost, an historic, orthodox Christian has liberty as a gift from God. This is commonly called “Christian Liberty”. It is the truth that, through faith in Christ, we are free from the bondage of compelling temptation and also from enslaving sin, endless death and hell. We are freed into a compulsion to righteousness and also into eternal life and heaven. This liberty is not given by the state and therefore cannot be taken by the state. The state can take our property, freedom of movement and even life, but it cannot take our liberty. We were created in the image of God with liberty, forfeited it by our sin and were restored to it by the life, death, resurrection and present rule of Jesus Christ. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Christian liberty is the first and greatest freedom of an historic, orthodox Christian. No state can threaten this in the least.

Second, our supreme allegiance to God frees us from an absolute allegiance to the state. We are bound to God as our Supreme Court and are therefore free from the laws and judgments of men that are in anything contrary to His Law. This is commonly called “Liberty of Conscience”. We are obligated by Him to submit to the laws of men including those laws that are unreasonable. But, when those laws require us to do something God has prohibited or forbid us to do something God has commanded, we must obey God and disobey men rather than obey men and disobey God. The Bible is full of such examples including, especially, the Israelite midwives in Egypt, Daniel and his friends in Babylon and Peter in Jerusalem. The first commandment requires us to have no gods other than the true and living God, therefore we are free from all authority, however otherwise legitimate, in those specific things in which they require us to disobey Him.