Nena Arias | April 26, 2021
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within.”
(Mark 7:21-23)
Jesus said the above words. These things are what defile people and they come from a corrupt evil heart which every human being is born with. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us about the real condition of the unregenerated human heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can understand it?” This is the reason Jesus came to earth to provide the regeneration for the heart. He came to give us the opportunity to transform our heart from a cold stony heart of evil into a pure warm heart of flesh. This is what the prophet in Ezekiel 36:26 refers to when he said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
This is what takes place in the born-again experience, salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said it very plainly in John 3:3, “Jesus replied, ‘Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’”
In his book, God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy, Mike Huckabee makes the following points which are not only common sense thinking but accurate logic and I totally agree with him. He says:
Yes, guns can be dangerous. And in the wrong hands, the hands of someone who has a nefarious purpose or is careless and fails to respect the power of the firearm, or is mentally ill, they are dangerous. Fire in the hands of a cook is useful; fire in the hands of a pyromaniac is deadly. Water can be for bathing or drowning. A pair of scissors can be for opening a box or stabbing someone. An airplane can be an incredibly efficient vehicle to travel between distances, or it can be a missile to be flown into buildings. I don’t, however, hear any suggestions that we ban fire, water, scissors, or airplanes.
The argument, then, is that the reason people use guns to kill others is that we are fundamentally flawed. Those who state that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” likely have this in mind. The issue is not guns, but rather it is us. Since we can’t legislate morality into the human heart, more restrictive gun laws will not transform the heart of those who would seek to harm others. Rather than creating more laws, we should focus on helping people deal with their heart problem.
Clearly stated, guns are not the problem. The problem is the unregenerated human heart. That is the real issue, and no amount of legislated human laws can accomplish the goal of transforming the human heart that is hell-bent on doing evil. Only regenerated born-again heart through Jesus Christ can accomplish what no amount of laws can. We need to respect God’s order for right living and fear the consequences of not doing right. No, this is not fearmongering it is reality.
To put it simply, people need the fear of God in their hearts. People also need a clearly defined parameter of morals and ethics to guide their choices and behaviors throughout their life. These cannot just be what humans determine is right or wrong but what God determines is right and wrong. The idea of a moral code extends beyond the individual to include what is determined to be right, and wrong, for a community or society at large.
Ethics include rights, responsibilities, use of language, what it means to live an ethical life, and how people make moral decisions. We may think of moralizing as an intellectual exercise, but more frequently it’s an attempt to make sense or justify our gut instincts and reactions. But if we look deeper and pay closer attention to our conscience, which is our built-in moral sense placed there by God, we will make better choices regardless of what we may lose.
God’s moral standards are universal and like I said, are built right in all of us and they will apply to everyone, in any part of the world regardless of religion or culture. God made it easy for us to understand these moral standards. They are called the Ten Commandments, which include respect God, honor parents, don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be sexually immoral, don’t covet and don’t murder. You don’t need to be religious to know and respect these universal laws. And if there is still doubt of how you should live there is what we know as the “golden rule”, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Many people have strong and stubborn beliefs about what’s right and wrong that can place them in direct contrast to the moral beliefs of others. But God settles all moral and ethical issues by establishing unmovable guidelines that are to be universal. These standards do not stem from basic human emotions.
So, let’s get it together people and agree with God so we can end all this criminality and lawlessness. Guns are not the real problem, people are.