Today is the first of July. Later this week, many of us will be cooking out, shooting fireworks, and enjoying the holiday we call “Independence Day.”
Technically, July 2nd is the day when the Continental Congress officially decided to declare their independence from the King of England. It was on that day when the Congress voted to approve a resolution, submitted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, saying adios to the English Crown. Lee stated to his fellow delegates:
“…these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
It would take a couple days before Thomas Jefferson’s famous letter was signed by the founding fathers, and that’s where things get tricky: The official Declaration of Independence might not have been made official until July 4, but if you asked John Adams, he would have said (and, in fact, did say) that July 2 should be a national holiday, not July 4. Jefferson disagreed, and pushed for the 4th of July, not the 2nd, to be a day of national remembrance.
To say the least, it would not be their last disagreement.
For Adams, the intent was all that mattered, so the holiday should be July 2. For Jefferson, a thing isn’t done until it is done, thus July 4 was his true “independence day.” It’s worth noting, and it’s a great national marvel, that both Jefferson and Adams—friends turned bitter rivals turned friends again—both died on the same day in 1826: July 4.
I suppose, if I wanted, I could turn this into a discussion about the Adams vs Jefferson debate regarding when a thing is “done.” Is it done when you intend it or when you officially “do” it? You can see how that question can be applied spiritually: Are you saved when you intend to be saved, or are you saved when you “do” what God commands you? On that, the Bible is clear: Saul of Tarsus entered Damascus, blind and terrified, fully intending to be saved, but his sins were not washed until he obeyed the command to be baptized (Acts 22:16).
No doubt you’ve heard the challenge to baptism by those who reject the simple words of the New Testament: “What about the person who is on their way to being baptized and suddenly dies? What then?!” Fortunately for me, I’m not the Judge. I’ll leave it to God to sort out the administering of His Grace. That said, the Bible still says what it says, and no hypothetical scenario can change the command to be baptized, nor the salvation that is given to those who put their intent into action (Mark 16:16).
~Matthew