On June 19, 1865, one hundred and fifty-five years ago today, United States Army General Gordon Granger read to the city of Galveston, Texas, the federal order that all enslaved persons in the state of Texas were now free [1]. Many forget that the Emancipation Proclamation issued two years earlier by President Lincoln was a military rather than a judicial decree, and only applied to enslaved persons in territories that had rebelled against the United States as soon as they were occupied by the Union army [2]. Not till the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on December 6, 1865 [3] was slavery fully eradicated throughout the United States and its territories.
Being the most remote of the slave states, only a small number of Union troops were present in Texas at the time General Robert E. Lee surrendered the main Confederate army at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Thus the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas had been partial and inconsistent till Granger read the order in Galveston.
Thus began the celebration of an unofficial American holiday often called Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, or Liberation Day—or simply, Juneteenth [4]. By the 21st century, Juneteenth has come to be celebrated in most cities across the United States [5], and is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 47 of the 50 U.S. states [6]. Activists are presently urging the U.S. Congress to make the day a national holiday [7].
The Gospel of Deliverance
In the synagogue at Nazareth one Sabbath morning, Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah to the 61st chapter, and read as follows:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18-19).
What is notable about the word for “deliverance” in this verse is that it is the same word in the original language for forgiveness. Which helps us understand why, in God’s plan of salvation, forgiveness isn’t just a judicial verdict, but is instead an act of practical liberation from sin. Ellen White elaborates on this Biblical reality in the following statement:
God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 [8].
Sadly, many in the African-American community would attest to the fact that since Emancipation and Juneteenth, even since the great Civil Rights advancements of half a century ago, deliverance from captivity has often been more legal than actual. The terrible acts of injustice that have lately roused the indignation of America and the world are but the tip of a very large iceberg.
But how is it with us, in our respective spiritual journeys? When Jesus spoke of deliverance for the captives, it was captivity to sin which was His primary focus. Physical slavery and social injustice are certainly key aspects of the larger sin problem—and as Benjamin Skinner noted in a book written a few years ago, there are now more men and women held in physical slavery in our world than at any time in history [9]. But what about the spiritual slavery rampant in many of our own lives—addiction to impatience, temper, racial animus, sexual immorality, materialism, or just old-fashioned pride?
The apostle Paul understood spiritual slavery and the deliverance offered by the gospel from it. Describing his pre-conversion captivity to the law of sin, he writes of how his good intentions and delight in the law’s requirements were subverted by a fleshly nature against which, without God, he was helpless (Rom. 7:22-24). But he goes on to describe what conversion and sanctification can do in the lives of those who submit to the supernatural power these experiences bring—freedom from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2), the righteousness of the law fulfilled in the believer’s life (verse 4), and the mortifying of the deeds of the flesh (verse 13).
In other epistles the same author reaffirms this reality for the sanctified Christian, speaking of how—in contrast with the captivity to the flesh described in Romans 7:22-24—the sanctified believer is enabled to keep under his body and bring it into subjection (I Cor. 9:27), and to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:4-5). In Galatians 5 Paul uses the same language used in Romans 7, when he writes that conflict between the flesh and the Spirit makes it “so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (verse 17). But the following verses clarify that this stalemate can be broken by the Spirit-empowered Christian. After listing the fruits of the flesh (verses 19-21) and the fruits of the Spirit (verses 22-23), he assures the striving believer that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (verse 24).
Our African-American brothers and sisters can certainly attest to the pain and lengthy struggle for freedom and equality. The same can be said of the struggle for sanctification in all of our hearts and lives as Christians. It is really all the same struggle. And the same God stands ready to give strength and courage to all who persevere therein.
“The Truth Shall Make You Free”
As we consider the significance of Juneteenth, may God’s promise of liberation from the ultimate bondage impart deeper hope to all who strive for victory over sin—whether the latter be personal or social. The promises of Holy Scripture give to all this promise of total victory, in such verses as the following:
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (II Cor. 7:1).
The Bible is also clear that divine truth, or doctrine, is heaven’s means of spiritual liberation when it is taken to heart as the life’s controlling motive. This is what David meant when he wrote that “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7), and what Jesus meant when He said, “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed” (John 8:31). The apostle Paul wrote that “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thess. 2:13), and admonished Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine: continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Tim. 4:16).
Thus our Lord declared, summarizing the Biblical consensus on the imperative of truth in God’s saving, liberating work:
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).
REFERENCES
1. “Juneteenth,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth
2. “Emancipation Proclamation,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation
3. “Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
4. “Juneteenth,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ellen G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 114.
9. E. Benjamin Skinner, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face With Modern Day Slavery (New York: The Free Press, 2008), p. xi.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan