Frank Sinatra made the song “My Way” famous. His perfect rendition sticks in the mind and the similarity between the song and his life is unmistakable. Though Frank is gone, his version of the song is still popular as is the practice.
Repenting in the 51st Psalm, King David prayed, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me”. Enamored and puffed up with their own goodness, humanists hate the doctrine of Original Sin. Original sin is the Bible’s initial theological verity. It is a stark reality of history. This obvious truth is denied because the creature is determined not to allow the Creator to rule over His creation. Instead the creature, whose flaws make it impossible for him to successfully rule himself, determines to do what he is unable to do and instead of creating peace and freedom he creates war and captivity.
In order to avoid the inadequacy of the creature and his need for the Creator positive thinking has become popular. Condemning sin is unpopular, reality is forsaken, and fantasy is embraced.
National sin remains more acceptable than individual sin. Stealing is usually noticed and condemned in individuals but is often overlooked in nations. Empires become famous and rogue nations win battles writing glowing descriptions of the procedures they used to murder and rob other people and nations.
A Google search on “inherited criminal behavior” brought up 53,000 entries. There are thousands of entries that involve human diagnosis of behavioral problems but I found nothing about sin.
If you have a child enrolled in the public school system and he or she is not studious and compliant, chances are your child has been tagged with one of the following acronyms: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD) or Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). The baggage associated with these terms is so onerous I have quoted directly from the text.
“ODD is characterized by argumentativeness, noncompliance, and irritability, which can be found in early childhood (Holmes et al., 2001). When a child with ODD grows older, the characteristics of their behavior also change and more often for the worse. They start to lie and steal, engage in vandalism, substance abuse, and show aggression towards peers (Holmes et al., 2001). Frequently ODD is the first disorder that is identified in children and if sustained can lead to the diagnosis of CD (Morley & Hall, 2003). It is important to note however that not all children who are diagnosed with ODD will develop CD.”
“ADHD is associated with hyperactivity-impulsivity and the inability to keep attention focused on one thing (Morley & Hall, 2003). Holmes et al. (2001) state that, “impulse control dysfunction and the presence of hyperactivity and inattention are the most highly related predisposing factors for presentation of antisocial behavior” (p.184). They also point to the fact that children diagnosed with ADHD have the inability to analyze and anticipate consequences or learn from their past behavior. Children with this disorder are at risk of developing ODD and CD, unless the child is only diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), in which case their chances of developing ODD or CD are limited. The future for some children is made worse when ADHD and CD are co-occurring because they will be more likely to continue their antisocial tendencies into adulthood (Holmes et al., 2001).”
“Conduct Disorder is characterized with an individual’s violation of societal rules and norms (Morley & Hall, 2003). As the tendencies or behaviors of those children who are diagnosed with ODD or ADHD worsen and become more prevalent, the next logical diagnosis is CD. What is even more significant is the fact that ODD, ADHD, and CD are risk factors for developing Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). This disorder can only be diagnosed when an individual is over the age of eighteen and at which point an individual shows persistent disregard for the rights of others (Morley & Hall, 2003). ASPD has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of criminal activity. Therefore, it is of great importance that these early childhood disorders are correctly diagnosed and effectively treated to prevent future problems.”
Take particular note of the last sentence, “Therefore, it is of great importance that these early childhood disorders are correctly diagnosed and effectively treated to prevent future problems.” Sin is not mentioned. The assumption is that Human intellect can provide solutions to all behavior problems and create a properly functioning adult.
Secular emphasis is on changing people to conform to humanist norms. Jails are called “correctional institutions”. Psychology and psychiatry claim to be able to correct aberrant behavior. Supported by wealthy patrons, Freud became famous and spearheaded the psychology fraud.
Secularists are not alone in their attempt to change behavior. The Christian church does it too. Shrinks like Dr. James Dobson spend their careers counseling their fellow Christians. It is common practice for churches to have counseling ministries where ministers attempt to modify the behavior of the parishioners. Often the people involved in these ministries take secular psychology courses. Christians seek to be like Jesus and ministers present esoteric teachings on how this can be accomplished. Humanistic efforts are popular replacements for obedience.
Social engineers have divided criminal tendencies into categories: Biological and sociological (Nature and Nurture). Theories on the cause of criminal behavior are as varied as the people who attempt to diagnose them. Some contend it is caused by a lack of Serotonin, others claim it is caused by too much Cadmium, there are some who attribute it to brain damage, brain abnormality, early aggressiveness, early argumentativeness, violence on television, poverty, lack of education, environmental placement, life experiences, facial and cranial features, sexual abuse, alcoholic parents, physical abuse, or love deprivation. Thousands of pages of theories are available but few, if any, call it sin.
The God of the Bible is fiercely realistic. He knows He is working with a permanently sin-stained creation. He does not waste time trying to perfect what He has allowed to be imperfect. Instead, He defines righteousness with legal perfection and prescribes just punishments for disobedience.
Humanists have company in their failure to face reality. The majority of those who claim to be Christian still harbor the notion that Calvinism was too strict and the Law is cruel. They consider themselves more loving and tolerant than “the god of the Old Testament”. Christians who believe this are poorly taught, theological infants. There is no “god of the Old Testament”; God does not change, He is the same from Genesis through Revelation.
God created the world and everything in it. He pronounced it good. He allowed Adam to fall into sin and sin to stain His creation. He gave His chosen people the Law and provided discipline to help them obey. They failed. With great mercy He sent His only Son as propitiation for their disobedience. Again, His chosen people failed to respond. When His only Son was rejected He fulfilled His threat to scatter the people He originally chose and replaced them with strangers who accepted the merciful intervention of the Paraclete. We, those whom He has chosen, are vested with the responsibility to obey His Law and to work to bring His creation under His dominion.
Sin might be described as a behavioral virus. It not only infects the person who commits the sin but it pollutes the entire society and the land on which it resides. Nature is fallen and when our Framers referred to the law of nature they were using a humanistic term. God’s Law is perfect, nature’s law is fallen! God’s use of capital punishment stems the progress of generational sin allowing the social order to progress in righteousness. When humanists from within the church or without destroy Go
d’s legal system by allowing their own opinions to override God’s Wisdom they contribute to a degenerate society and God’s judgment.
If a teen refuses to obey his parents it is their duty to bring him before the magistrate who, for incorrigibility, has authority to impose the death penalty. Just as it is impossible to teach when the classroom is disrupted by unruly students, a society cannot be peaceful and prosperous when it contains incorrigible citizens. God’s Law is perfect. It allows both the individual and the entire society to progress toward sustained peace and prosperity.
God is the exclusive sovereign and His name and position are sacrosanct. Sins that defy His authority or malign His Person also require the ultimate penalty. Parents have authority over their children and physical resistance to parents is a capital offense. The objective is to create a society that uses freedom properly under the authority of a just and merciful sovereign.
God’s plan through obedience to His Law has been purposely defied by His rebellious creatures and they have paid dearly for their rebellion. Our jails are overflowing with prisoners that justice would have eliminated. Losses suffered by victims of crime are never restored and, to double the injustice, victims are taxed to house the perpetrators. It is our rebellion that allows this injustice to continue. We will not allow Jesus to rule over us by obeying His Commandments. Instead we devise our own standards and brag about our brilliance. We ignore God’s Law and write a Constitution. Christians, both Reformed and Evangelical, prefer to support a legal system devised by men rather than seek obedience to the perfect Law of God.
The Bible sets forth a clear association between God’s people and land. Humanity is sustained by the land and when that association is distorted the peaceful progress of humanity is threatened. The industrial revolution has removed us from contact with the land and allowed humanity to reproduce without a direct connection to our sustenance.
Modern farming techniques have succeeded in producing more food than is needed but the procedures used to produce this over abundance have used up our supply of fresh water and depleted that quality of the soil. God’s formula would allow the land rest at seven year intervals but the need for revenue streams that pay taxes and sustain income have replaced God’s wisdom. Humanists have determined that God’s standard is inferior. The seventh day is no longer a day of rest for people, the seventh year is no longer a year of rest for the land, and the 50th year is no longer the year of Jubilee. Wealth continues to accumulate in fewer and fewer hands, the land continues to be blown away by the wind, and people have forgotten that God, Himself, rested on the seventh day.
God’s Law is mocked by His enemies. Seeking the death penalty for desecration of the Sabbath is met with jeers. The act of condemning pacts with the Devil is sneered at, Homosexuals are now championed and humanists are seeking to limit the population of the earth by forbidding procreation. We are ruled by psychopaths bent on turning the entire world into a neo-Tower of Babel; avaricious humanists who, in a Godly society, would have been apprehended long ago. We can struggle and fight and seek political solutions but we resist in vain, our problem is not political, our problem is disobedience.
Christians continue to forsake God’s Law in favor of failing Constitutional government and patriots continue to support an ill-gotten, illegal war forgetting that the downward slide of our nation is a result of God’s judgment of our sin and the only solution to our dilemma is repentance and a change in our behavior.
The distance between living a life that pleases the God we claim to worship and living a life that creates His judgment is evident in this quote from an article by popular writer Frosty Wooldridge: “What if America disallowed women’s rights, women’s voting, women’s education, women’s choice of a husband, women’s rights to dress as they pleased, women’s choice of sexual orientation, women’s rights to drive and women’s rights to run for public office? What if the United States of America allowed female genital mutilation, honor killings, stoning of women for adultery and beheadings of women for not obeying their husbands? What if that cultural paradigm mandated everyone kneeling on a prayer rug to bow to Mecca five times a day?”
Americans are shocked at the thought of living under Sharia law but, unfortunately, they are equally shocked by the prospect of living under the Law of the One True God. There are major differences between Sharia law and God’s Law but there are also similarities. Wooldridge’s expose will be greeted with “amen” by most American pew sitters. We have stayed so far from God that we consider His demands an abomination. We seek God and His blessing but we do not want His dominion – that we reserve to ourselves.
Wooldridge goes on, “It is amazing and alarming how many of our sisters and daughters attending American Universities are now marrying Muslim men and submitting themselves and their children to the Sharia Law.” He is amazed and alarmed that women are marrying Muslim men. He should not be! We were created to live under God’s Law and some women seek the security of men who are committed to predictable behavior and who are restrained by an overarching legal code. They seek to know and obey the One True God and when the Christian religion becomes a sham they find a better quality of worship in other religions.
I recently received a well choreographed video recommending 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” It has been a popular Bible verse for more than a decade but little action has resulted from its popularity.
When that verse was written wicked ways meant disobedience to God’s Commandments – that is still the correct meaning. We are wicked because we are disobedient and we are disobedient because we refuse to allow Jesus to rule over us by obeying His Commandments. Obedience requires humility. The evil self must be submitted to the righteousness of God. Confirming our humble willingness to obey requires a verbal commitment before the Throne of God. Like the worship we give to the God of the Bible, the verse is popular but the requirements are not.
Until Christians understand this, Muslims will continue to win.
America has been betrayed by its elected officials, it has lost much of its high paying industry, its moral standards have been devastated, homosexuality and abortion are openly promoted, the God of the Bible is mocked and His servants are portrayed as buffoons. The humanistic Constitution our politicians take an oath to uphold is secretly considered anachronistic and is progressively ignored. The government is secretive, dishonest, manipulative, and increasingly tyrannical. These are all sure signs of God’s judgment.
Christians must understand that illegal wars begun under false pretenses, conducted with false objectives, and fought with evil intensity are an abomination to God and must be disavowed and condemned if we expect God’s blessings. We must also acknowledge that our nation has been involved in past illegal wars and invasions that were responsible for killing millions of people – all made in God’s image. We must realize that we cannot support troops who are engaged in an illegal war and who are being used to bring an illegal hegemony over land and people. If we expect God’s blessing the war must be stopped and our troops must be brought home.
Read the following description of how the people of Nineveh humbled themselves, prayed, sought God’s face and turned from their wicked ways. Christians who quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 must understand what it means and begin to walk the walk.
“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of The Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. Then tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands.” (Jonah 3:3-8 RSV)
If you do not believe our nation is under God’s judgment you have probably been brain washed by the unsuccessful Christian political movement which is seeking to secure God’s blessing on the secular government they have elected. You are wasting your time. God cannot and will not bless our bravado for an evil government and its equally evil war.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”