The Thirteenth Amendment

01/03/2014 Human Observations

There is a difference between “just trade” and “sinful business”.

Micah 6:8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

God anticipates trade amongst mankind, so he gives us the fundamental principle to guide that trade: equal for equal.

However, greed has laid a different foundation, one that now sits as an offence to God:

Revelation 18

² And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. ³ For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. ⁹ And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: ¹² The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and … chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Deuteronomy 24:7

If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

2 Peter 2

2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.  ³ And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

 

Revelation 17

⁶ And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. ⁷ And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman … ¹⁸ And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

So, there is “just trade”, and then there is the business of “that great city”.

That is the biblical basis for my attempt to garner Congressional action enforcing the words of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the American Constitution.  As I see it, we as believers are here to demonstrate the behavior of a people bought and paid for by God Himself, who is the giver of all life.  We should act like we know that previously we were worthless; being dead in our transgressions against the Creator of all things, until He gave us value by buying us.  Therefore we teach, by example, how to treat those others around us who cohabitate our nation; and our planet. 

 

Romans 14

¹² So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

 

In a free and equal society, there is no preference given because of a person’s position, status, degree of wealth, or level of authority.  Since the entire population born on earth is equally bought and paid for by The Savior of the world, then believers are in the best position to demonstrate equality by living the understanding of mercy, which is not receiving the punishment we deserve; and also the understanding of grace, which is receiving the good favor that we do not deserve. 

¹⁹ Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

 

I conclude, therefore, that in order to maintain a condition of peace, and to build up others in the faith, it is wiser to live according to the principles of equality, as indicated in the Thirteenth Amendment.  In this manner we avoid the detour that leads to unseemly business practices, involuntary servitude, and offenses against each other and to The Creator of our ability to think and produce. 

 The Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights, AMENDMENT XIII

Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.

Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.

Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

---

Involuntary Servitude

     A nation of free and equal individuals has long been the desire of those such as myself; especially here in the USA where the actual words are written into the foundation of our democratic republic.  Yet, the very life of freedom and equality are daily threatened by the commonly accepted economic practice of barter, where currency is exchanged for the necessities of life.  By their very nature, these necessities are a requirement for living, and are therefore not negotiable.  Yet, those who would exploit the participants in a free and equal society, have stolen both the land and its resources, and hold them for ransom.  Whosoever is willing and able to pay the extortion money will tend to thrive.  Those unable or unwilling to reward such criminal activity are relegated to the group of Americans known as the poor or the underprivileged; poverty stricken outcasts, whose error is living according to the original words upon which our United States of America was founded.  Barter, using money, creates disparity; it is an un-equal exchange that creates an ever-growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.  If the barter were truly equal for equal, then exchanges would be constant, without profit or loss.  However, the very notion of equality is dismissed in commerce, because the motive of commerce is profitability, and not equal trade.  While this may appear reasonable in the trade of non-essentials, it is criminally inacceptable in the manipulation and distribution of the necessities of life.  The Congress of the USA, as empowered by the thirteenth amendment of the constitution, is required to adjust or create legislation to put away any and all business activity that causes or results in either slavery or involuntary servitude.  Just as there is separation between church and state, there must be separation between business and government.  Government protects and enhances the lives of the citizens that it governs.  Business does whatever it does in the name of profitability, and therefore, must be prevented from intruding upon the freedom of the citizens of a free and equal society.  A very serious and productive conversation is demanded. 

Who, not what, makes us perfect

05/12/2011 Human Observations

Jesus  said ...

Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

I can accomplish this command from the Saviour of the world, when I believe that Jesus the Messiah IS the Saviour of the world, accepting His death as payment for my transgressions against the law of God.  The law provides in the first covenant with humankind the model or shadow of what will be accomplished in the eternal and heavenly covenant.

Hebrews 9:1

…verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.  ⁶Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle (the holy place), accomplishing the service of God. ⁷But into the second (the Holy of Holies) went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: ⁸The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing …⁹Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect …   ¹¹But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,  ¹²neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  ²²And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Hebrews 10:1

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Hebrews 9:²³It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves (purified) with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So in our re-union with God, we are no longer condemned by the law, but now are justified by the law, because we accept the only biblically lawful and legally acceptable remedy to our transgressions against God; which is the sacrifice of the Lamb of God: Jesus, the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, our heavenly High Priest; the Son of God.