As the United States of America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, let us be reminded of this important truth: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). The Founders of this nation acknowledged God as the basis for our rights in the Declaration of Independence they signed a quarter of a millennium ago. Their other writings show they often put forth the Bible as the basis for righteousness and regarded the Christian religion as far superior to any other worldview. Today, many people talk about their rights but give no undergirding reason for those rights. Nowadays rights are often assumed to belong to people based on what those in power deem to be equitable. This rationale has proved to be deadly many times for many nations throughout history.
Romans 1:18-32 is a passage which describes the downward spiral into which men plunge when they remove God from His rightful place. Paul was describing the Gentile world in his time, but this passage is a fitting description of some aspects of American society today. Large swaths of our population are bent on removing God from public life to pursue their own concepts of freedom. Their view of freedom is a license to sin. Political liberty is different than the freedom from sin Christ offers (John 8:31-36); nevertheless, the Bible notes the proper use of liberty. Christians who have freedom from sin in Christ are instructed to not use this liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but instead to serve others out of love (Gal. 5:1). The inspired apostle Peter, who gave priority to obeying God over men (Acts 5:29), noted our general responsibility to obey government:
Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Pet. 2:13-17 ASV.)
The Christian uses his freedom to serve God. When God blesses man with freedom, man must use that freedom properly or else disaster comes. This is not only true of freedom from sin in Christ, but also of political freedom from oppressive governments.
Woe is pronounced on governments and societies that have good and evil mixed up (Isa. 5:20). Being thus confused, they will not punish evildoers and praise those who do well as 1 Pet. 2:14 prescribes. Psalm 12:8 says, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” Psalm 12 speaks of a time when appearances suggest that the wicked seem to hold all the power because the people praise that which is vile. Psalm 12:1 pleads, “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” God acts in judgment on societies that exalt sin. Consider the men of Sodom who belittled Lot for judging them (Gen. 19:9) in calling their actions wicked (Gen. 19:7). God’s punishment of Sodom serves as a warning to every society that becomes ungodly (Gen. 19:24, 25; 2 Pet. 2:9; Jude 7).
When God is removed, a nation is in trouble. The United States is not guaranteed to see another 250 years. What else should we expect when we remove the eternal God from our educational systems and the values that shape public policy? Not every atheist is immoral, but society in general becomes debased when people no longer feel accountable to God, no longer have eternal purposes in their lives, and live primarily for present pleasure. Though these individuals profess to be wise, they become foolish (Rom. 1:22). Their hearts are bent on fulfilling their twisted lusts (Rom. 1:24-28). They applaud and approve of any lifestyle that shakes a defiant fist at Almighty God (Rom 1:32).
While God’s kingdom, the church, is everlasting (Dan. 2:44), earthly empires come and go. To this the words of a hymn Henry R. Trickett wrote agree: “The kingdoms of earth pass away one by one, but the kingdom of heaven remains.” We should be so thankful God has richly blessed America, but future blessings are not guaranteed. The nations mentioned in the explanation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—had their time in the sun only to be eclipsed by other nations. Psalm 9:17 states, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” The Hebrew word translated “hell” in the KJV is she’ol; it is synonymous with the grave. The consequences of evil coming back on those who practice sin is what is under consideration in Psalm 9. As an act of divine justice, all nations that forget God will die. Many nations have gone to the graveyard of human history because they have rejected God. God uses nations, even nations that are ungodly, for His purposes (Isa. 10:5-7). God raises up nations and brings down nations, “to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Dan. 4:17).
That Christians must live in ungodly societies is nothing new. The Bible has very applicable instructions for how we should behave righteously when the world around us revels in wickedness. Peter wrote, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11, 12). If God would have spared Sodom if ten righteous souls could be found there (Gen. 18:32), then perhaps God will spare the United States for the righteous who live here. The godly example of each child of God who lives in this nation is crucial. Each of us can do our part to influence those around us for good. Jesus never held a political office, but the influence on the world Christ exerted through loving others and teaching the truth has far surpassed any decision Tiberius Caesar made as emperor during that time.
When the world becomes darker in wickedness and sin, then the Lord becomes more noticeable as the light of the world (John 8:12; 1 John 1:5); moreover, those who follow Him stand out and shine all the brighter in reflecting God’s glory (Matt. 5:14-16; Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15). Our ultimate aim is not to arrive at utopia by political success here on earth, but to point people to a treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21) where our primary citizenship is (Phil. 3:20). We must put God in His rightful place and live righteously so that we may have “right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city” (Rev. 22:14).