Is America at war with God’s law? Conclusion
Isaiah 59:14-15 “So justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”
In doing this series on the Ten Commandments one thing stood out that I would like to end with. Just as God has set in place laws to govern this universe so He has done the same thing for the moral fabric of society in what these Ten Commandments stand for. We are not saved through the law (if that was the case then the incarnation of the Lord with Him dying on the cross would be of no effect), but we are saved through the amazing grace of God through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. However, the law has been given to us to direct us in the right way or right path in order to live a productive life; one that is true and just in a fallen world.
We see the war that has been waged against God’s law with it being removed from our government courts, schools and other public buildings. We seem to think that by getting rid of the law of God we now have freedom to do what we want and to believe that what we think, apart from God’s law is right.
In other words, like Israel in the Old Testament under the judges at the close of Joshua’s reign, they each did as they wanted in their own opinion of right and wrong; they were right in their own eyes but not right with God.
What we do not understand is that by getting rid of the Ten Commandments (as gaining what we think is freedom) this has put us under the tyranny of thousands of ‘little man-made laws’ that has enslaved us instead and most people (even Christians) do not understand that they are slaves and not freemen.
For example: take property rights. God’s 8th commandment is “do not steal,” meaning that we have the right to property of our own, but look at all of the ‘little laws’ that have popped up taking away our rights slowly but surely.
For example: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which is becoming very powerful can declare your property worthless because of some minor infraction under their man-made laws, and take it from you. Or take the government’s ability to issue property tax that if not paid they can take away your property.
Another example: the ‘little law’ in existence called ‘eminent domain.’ This law gives the government the right to take private land for public purposes, but only if the government provides fair compensation to the property owner. The process through which the government acquires private property for public benefit is known as condemnation.
How this works is that the government will come in when the town or city is expanding and see private property to acquire for this expanding purpose and will then offer the owner what they think is a reasonable price. If the owner agrees then it is settled, but if the owner does not agree then it goes into ‘condemnation proceedings’ where the owner then comes and brings out the price that they think is fair and then the two: government and owner must settle the matter. However, we find that developers wanting a piece of property also go to the government and persuade the government to use ‘eminent domain’ to acquire private property that can then be developed often for the benefit of the developer, but primarily for the expansion of the town or city for the increase of tax revenue.
What we are finding today are other ‘little laws’ taking away our rights, one by one. For example: we have today a law called ‘hate law.’ Sounds good because we do not want any hate speech taking place, but in reality we see that it is a law that bans one from even preaching certain truths from the Word of God that convicts (condemns) us under God’s laws. For example: calling homosexuality a sin can now be labeled as hate speech.
Because Pandora’s Box has been opened, where all of this will go no one (but the Lord) knows, but Isaiah prepared us for it by telling us about a time like this: “Justice is far from us and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows… We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but is far away. So justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.” Isaiah 59:9,11b,14,15
If this sounds familiar in our day it is only because we have rejected God’s law that gives us freedom to do what is right and true with protection of that freedom. Yet, we have been brought into bondage by these ‘little man-made laws’ man has conjured up.
I admire the giant intellect and moral standing of our Founding Fathers when they drafted our Constitution that has stood the test of time, but is now being lowered to the dust bin of history. We need men/women in the seat of government who will govern with the Constitution in mind and do that which is true, right and just. We still have the power of the vote. Might we use it wisely. Amen?