Through Christ

July 29

Our nation is close to abandoning compliance with the ‘law’ in favor of deferring to individual rights and preferences. Without advocating a return to stringent edicts such as the one that bans spitting on the sidewalk (perhaps we don’t need laws like this one because of our heightened awareness of good hygiene) we might want to consider the consequences of our folly.

More disconcerting than our abandonment of the rule of law in favor of deferring to the preferences of individuals, is the underlying basis for our doing so. By individualizing the concept of law, we are negating the right of the Ultimate Law Giver to require our adherence to the dictates He has issued to us. In so doing, we are dismissing the idea that laws are beneficial because the Author of them desires what’s best for us.

If we will agree that the original basis for law in this country was the perception that God is the Author and Giver of rights, we must further conclude that He is also the Author and Giver of responsibilities. Allowing this, we can conclude that the collapse of this perception must be rooted in our decline from acceptance of His authority over us.

We want to shirk our responsibility to acquiesce to the will of God so we dismiss His authority entirely. When we do this in the political and societal realm, we do it also in the spiritual realm, leaving ourselves without a savior. We forget that, “Through Jesus Christ the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2) and no longer avail ourselves of the wondrous gift of salvation.