Ramon Arias | March 21, 2016
Jesus said: “…Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Luke 5:31) He didn’t have a person’s physical need in mind but was referring to Israel’s moral and spiritual sickness.
The cultural health of a nation is the outcome of that society’s beliefs and actions. If the culture is corrupt it’s because people’s moral corruption is dominating. Anyone who thinks that America’s cultural health is in optimal condition is deceiving himself or herself. America is in deep trouble, and we know it!
America did not arrive at its present culturally immoral condition overnight; it has been in the making for over a period of at least 200 years. The greatness of a society should not be confused with its wealth, military might, discoveries in science, technological progress, the number of colleges and universities, and other elements that make a society stand out above others. Let us keep in mind that history has ruins where great civilizations once stood.
Since 1620, Christians in this land have known that prayer works. They have prayed asking God for His divine intervention in many areas of need. Before we became a nation, the colonists knew a great deal about the importance of being in right standing with God for His favor. In our times we hear much about the call to national prayer seeking God’s favor and yet we don’t see the Divine intervention we hope to see for national healing. The opposite is true, our culture is getting worse, what are we doing wrong?
God’s rejection of our prayers is self-evident. We truly need to know the reasons so we can correct our ways.
The Greek word for “sin” is hamartia, an archery term for “missing the mark.” The Bible gives us a better definition for our understanding by declaring sin as disobedience and rebellion against God: “Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 9:7) By breaking or transgressing God’s law, society makes a decision not to conform to God’s standards of right living. We read in 1 John 3:4, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” God Almighty is the lawgiver and personal or national offense against His moral law brings penalties, Paul puts it this way: “For the law brings wrath…” (Romans 4:15), God always upholds His law.
Sin is despicable and pollutes man’s ideas and that can never bring personal or social stability. This is the reason a person or a society deserves punishment for defying God, whether they are aware or not, this will bring down His righteous wrath. The moral character of the individual in society is the fruit of the heart and mind (Romans 6:12-17; Galatians. 5:17; James 1:14-15).
There are only two options for God’s people and all of humanity, whether to live in righteousness or sin. We know which way America is going. Close to 400 years ago Christians came to this continent with the right perspective based upon the full counsel of God’s Word. American Christians of the 21st century will determine if they will restore their relationship with the One who owns everything and we owe everything to, or let lawlessness continue to dominate the land and destroy it.
Sin is slavery, not freedom. God’s law is not repressive; it liberates the individual and society to achieve God’s divine purpose. Biblical law was given to the first community of Hebrew people. It is the only moral law that makes sense for a perfect society; Christianity is built upon that solid foundation. God’s moral law is directed to the individual where all forms of government begin; it is called self-government, it spreads to family government, culture and to all civil standards.
Anyone can overcome slavery to sin through Christ’s atonement by faith alone in His salvation; it is only through this decision in Jesus Christ that a person can find a fulfilled life in obedience to God’s immutable and eternal law.
America, as well as all nations, is called to live righteously. The church is warned that rejection of biblical law is a great offense before God. God’s people are called to embrace the perfect law of liberty: “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25)
All our personal and social conflicts are moral, and as Christ followers, we should not even conceive that freedom and God’s Word are in conflict. Nor should we think that God is impressed with the high percentage of people who profess faith in Him. The very absence of His righteousness throughout the land should be enough to make us aware that we are far from doing His will.
We should tremble as we see how evil is increasing in society; if God’s truth is not proclaimed with courage, wisdom and understanding the way we are expected to make it known, we will only see evil continuing to increase all the more. We do well to pay attention to Jeremiah’s warning to Israel: “And the Lord says: ‘Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts…’” (Jeremiah 9:13–14a) Is Christian America any better off than old Israel?
Many times God rejected Israel’s prayers for deliverance not because God is hard of hearing, but rather, because God’s people just want all the benefits of life without obedience to God’s law. America has offered many national prayers seeking God’s blessings but, for the most part, they have been rejected. Solomon has this to say about unanswered prayers: “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)
National deliverance will not take place if we do not fulfill God’s requirements laid out in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
- As God’s people, we must humble ourselves before God
- We must pray and seek God’s knowledge to know His thoughts and ways
- We must turn from our wicked ways
- Then, He will hear from heaven
- He will forgive our national sins
- And, He will heal our land
God never betrays His requirements. Our political, social and cultural future depends on Christian America and no one else.
