#4: God-Granted Rights

#4: God-Granted Rights

God has granted human beings with certain intrinsic rights as human beings. These human rights are not granted by, nor can they be taken away by, governments.

What are human rights?

Where do human rights come from?

What is the relationship between human rights and human responsibility?

When God made human beings, he granted them certain rights as human beings. Because these rights are given by God, no government can rightfully take them away. The most basic purpose of government is to secure and protect these God-granted rights. These rights are essential for building free, just, and prosperous nations. The most basic God-granted rights are:

The Right to Life – The right to live is foundational to all other rights. Remove this right and all others become void. The life of every human being is sacred because all are created by God. Even the weakest, most impoverished and most vulnerable life is immeasurably valuable to God. When a government fails to protect this right, a culture of death results and the nation is weakened and imperiled.  

The Right to Freedom – Every human being is created by God to be free, not enslaved. God grants freedom for people to choose how to use their time and their resources, to pursue their vocation, friendships, associations, and even their religious beliefs.

 If worship is to be genuine, it must be voluntary. It cannot be forced on people against their will. God grants to people the freedom to choose to obey or disobey Him—to serve, or not to serve him according to their best judgment. Governments of free, just, and prosperous nations do not force compliance with any particular religious belief or practice. Rather, they respect the right of people to worship God, or not worship Him, according to their own conscience and convictions. 

Credit: Disciple Nations Alliance and Harvest Foundation