Legislating YOUR morality…
Well, it’s happened again. One Politician exits center stage as another takes his place. But, it’s not merely a change in personnel that we find taking place, but a shift in ideology. The exiting party tries to do all they can to preserve their impact on society based on what they perceive to be good, only to have another come in and work just as hard to undo it. It’s obvious that we are divided when it comes to our views on what is good and evil, moral and immoral. And the reason we are divided from top to bottom ought to be clear to Christ’s Church.
When politicians speak to their responsibility to address their society’s “morally reprehensible” practices, such as racism, abortion, neglect of the poor, hatred, sexism, our responsibility as caretakers of the earth, and the like… they are dealing with matters not simply of man’s behavior toward his fellow man, but rather matters that have entirely to do with man’s heart toward His Creator. After all, it is the heart that overflows into one’s actions and affections toward others. But at each passing of the baton from party to party, someone in power is constantly looking for a new way to fix the moral issues that society faces.
This raises an ongoing societal problem for us all. Namely, that man’s legislation of “morality” (though necessary because of sin) might bring the body to some outward conformity but cannot bring the heart to repentance or reconciliation with God. Without repentance of sin and faith toward God, man’s “morality” will always be failed attempts at humanism. While we try to accept all and be all, we are also busy at work to condemn those who define what is “morally right” differently than the perceived majority. This Band-Aids on bullet wounds approach to sin, leave us mostly arguing about what actually is right and wrong as if we could decide on that for ourselves.
The result is a humanistic decline away from the recognition of, submission to, and thankfulness toward God as The One Creator, and Supreme Authority. It strips away biblical morality, replacing it, piece by piece, generation after generation, with cheap “feel good” imitations, that when embraced, unleash the destructiveness of every kind of evil, begging the world to not only act out evil towards God and others but demanding the promotion of such evils as “good”.
It is no surprise then that man spirals out of control, into the depths of immorality, while a just and righteous God gives them over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28) If it sounds pretty hopeless, it’s because it is. Mankind defining their own standard for righteousness and their own means to justification is left completely hopeless before The Holy, and Righteous God to Whom they will give an account.
What then is to be done? The answer, of course, is that it already has been done. It was done by The Lord Jesus Christ on the center stage of existence, where He became the sacrifice for sinners who would by faith believe that God Himself, gave Himself, to save a people from Himself and for Himself. And so, He did. And in His perfect wisdom, He did it in the only way that could satisfy the righteous requirements of the law, through the only One Who had ever been perfectly blameless under it.
What would remain then, if men would have a morally righteous standing before the Holy and Righteous God? Well, that answer must be defined, not by man in His foolishness but by God in His perfect wisdom. The foolishness of man will attempt to legislate the heart through perceived evolutionary trends, defining good and evil based on lofty opinions of our “woke” progressive enlightenment. All the while, ignoring that God Himself has told us what must be done, namely that sinners, who God has predestined to know Him, would by faith, turn from their sin, and follow Jesus as Lord. That they would do Justice, Love Mercy, and walk humbly with Him as their God. (Micah 6:8)
And in place of His judgment against their sins (which was laid on Jesus), He would look upon the shed blood of His only begotten Son, counting it perfectly satisfying, according to His Righteousness, to complete the penalty for all their offenses. What's more, He gives to them, out of the abundance of who He is, such joy and satisfaction that they could never know apart from Him in this world. And He gives it to them forever.
This truly is good news! And it comes to us again and again, as empires and legislators rise and fall, as our own hearts wrestle through the moral and biblical implications of shifting social norms. The goodness of the news of Jesus Christ remains as unchanged as The Lord Himself. So, for His glory and our eternal good, let’s trust and abide in Him.
