The challenge to live godly has always run squarely into conflict with an ungodly world. The revelation of God defines morality for those who live godly, who, by definition, are followers of God’s laws and thereby God’s morality. Many societies once embraced the general morality of God even if they did not honor God. What happens when societies begin to actively promote immoral acts?
Take, for example, theft. The society that has theft but believes theft is wrong, or at least that theft should not be allowed, is not a hostile place for a Christian who believes one should not steal (Eph. 4:28). But there is a vast difference between a society that has theft and a society that tolerates theft. The existence of theft in a society that believes it is wrong, means individuals are failing to live up to the expectations of that society. But imagine the impact on a society that says, “We will no longer prosecute those who choose to steal.” The videos of groups of people brazenly stealing everything out of a delivery truck or of the carnage left behind after whole trainloads of goods are stolen is shocking to all lawful citizens. Especially when the accompanying voices are also calling to “defund” our police.
Eleven years ago a sitting president of the United States declared his intention to overthrow the federal law known as “The Defense of Marriage Act.” DOMA, as the statue was known, was passed in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton, specifically because a judge in Hawaii ruled that marriage between members of the same sex was protected under Hawaii’s state constitution. The federal law said marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s also what God says (Mat.19:4-6; 1 Cor. 6:9; Rom. 1:26-28). Those who are godly will neither practice nor promote that which is sinful.
The Greek word anomia occurs 13 times in the New Testament and it literally means “lawlessness.” As defined in one major Greek dictionary, anomia means “to behave with complete disregard for the laws or regulations of a society — ‘to live lawlessly, lawlessness, lawless living” (Louw-Nida Lexicon). The nightly news show video evidence of mass illegal border crossings, groups stealing and looting brazenly, gays fighting for the “right” to parade their homosexual drag shows in front of schoolchildren. American voters have voted people into office who allow this ungodliness.
Lawlessness will grow worse until moral men and women vote for morality.
Tim Orbison