God’s Justice and Mercy at Christmas

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Prodigal Son returning to his father to beg forgiveness.

I found myself praying for justice recently. Actually I have been fervently praying for justice since before last Christmas (See my 2019 Christmas article). But what if the gross injustice we see is part of a higher justice? It is a matter of faith that God is in control of all things as He tells us in His Word. However, God often uses evil to bring about His greater good purpose, and it doesn’t always seem like God is in control because for a time all we see is evil. The best example of this is the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus is the only human in the history of the world who never sinned against God nor man, but was convicted in an unjust trial and sentenced to die by crucifixion. God did not cause the evil, but He let sinful men do what sinners most want to do, which is to kill God. Yet God used that to accomplish forgiveness and salvation to all who believe in Him and who repent of their sins and trust in Him for forgiveness and rescue from sin and death.

If you find that your beloved child has become spoiled and rotten, what do you do? A loving parent will take away his toys and privileges until he cries. There may be nothing wrong with toys and privileges, because they were given out of love for the child, but if he begins to believe that he deserves them and can do with them what he wants, then it is time to teach him a lesson. If he has a temper tantrum and demands his way, then you spank him and make him cry even harder. “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” This is a paraphrase of Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Solomon also wrote in Proverbs 23:13-14 “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.”

What I was intending in my prayer for Justice was to ask God to let us do what is necessary to bring worldly justice to our nation and to the world. The power of the United States of America does not reside in the government, nor in its military, but in the citizens. We are clearly in the midst of an American Bolshevik revolution. It is relatively bloodless so far (though far from completely bloodless), but this is likely just the set up for a far bloodier affair if the past is a prologue to the future. Corruption in the United States is rampant, and it is obvious for anyone with the eyes to see. Many, however, have willfully blinded themselves to the obvious, but that is part of the problem. If even a fraction of the reports of voter fraud are to be believed, the American people expressed their power in an overwhelming desire for justice in reelecting President Trump. However, the Bolshevik Marxists could not let the will of the people get in their way and did what they thought was necessary to make it seem as if the Bolshevik party won even though their Manchurian Candidate seemingly won without hardly campaigning, and without even being able to draw a crowd on the rare occasions when he crawled out of his basement. The word “unlikely” doesn’t even begin to describe the outcome that we are being asked to accept without question.

“What is Past is Prologue” Inscription on this statue at the National Archives in Washington D.C.

The corruption seems to be widespread and deep. It is extremely likely that this is NOT the first time this has happened. They tried this in 2016, but didn’t fully anticipate the will of the good people of the United States. It likely also happened in 2012 when the worst President in the history of the USA was inexplicably (seemingly) reelected to office. The corruption is not just voter fraud. It is far deeper than that. We have a justice system to combat injustice and fraud, but it has apparently been thoroughly corrupted. We have a Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI) which ought to investigate domestic corruption, lawlessness, and treason, but the organization has been corrupted from within, and only occasionally works for justice. The FBI often participates in corruption and covers it up, rather than seeking to prosecute it. Who do you call for justice when the investigators are unjust and corrupt?

The judicial system ought to be the final arbiters of justice, though we have known for a long time that far too many judges do not rule according to the law, but according to their own whims they give out injustice in place of justice. We, the people of the United States of America, elected President Trump to bring justice and peace and prosperity back to our nation, and he has done what he could to work toward that goal. In the past four years over 300 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices have been installed to rule according to the law in order to bring justice back to our nation. It is not enough.

Despite the clear evidence of massive voter fraud in several states, unjust courts have turned a blind eye to the evidence and, following the lead of the lying mass media, pretended that the clear evidence of fraud doesn’t exist. For four years the Marxist Democrats have been claiming without any evidence that President Trump came to power fraudulently, and now that we have real evidence that the other side is really trying to steal power and take over the United States, they pretend that there is nothing wrong. Where is the justice?

We see in the Bible many times where there is injustice, violence and bloodshed, the people of God have called out to Him for justice, peace, and retribution against those who persecute good, honest people. God is a just God. He wants justice, peace, and prosperity for all people, but how He brings it about is often not what we expect. God doesn’t do what we think is good and right, instead God does what is truly good and right. God’s way is always better, though it doesn’t always seem so at the time.

God called Moses to lead Israel to freedom, but the people had to wait over 80 years for the fulfillment of their prayers.

When the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt they cried out to God to send a deliverer who would rescue them from their bondage and lead them to freedom in the promised land. God heard their prayer and sent them Moses – as a baby. However, a baby is not capable of freeing an enslaved nation and it wasn’t until Moses was 80 years old (!) that God sent Moses to Pharaoh with the message from God, “Let my people go,” and with the authority to call down plagues on the Egyptians when Pharaoh did not let God’s people go free. Eighty years, plus how many more years had God’s people been oppressed before Moses was born? God’s ways are not our ways, but God’s ways are always better.

In the days of the judges when the Midianites were oppressing God’s people they cried out to God to send them a deliverer. God gave them Gideon. This time they didn’t have to wait 80-100 years. Gideon sent the call to raise an army, and 30,000 soldiers answered the call. In worldly terms it was a sufficient army to defeat Midian, or at least make life hard for the Midianites, and free the oppressed people of Israel. However, God told Gideon that the army was too large. He said, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave.’” (Judges 7:2-3) Twenty thousand of the soldiers left and went home. These were good people who wanted justice, but really didn’t want to become killers. They were willing to do what was necessary, including to kill or be killed, but they really didn’t want to be there if they didn’t have to, so they left with God’s blessing. Ten thousand soldiers remained, but God said that was still too many. He set up an arbitrary test at a brook, and those who were chosen were only 300 men.

In worldly terms, this was not enough to defeat the enemies and bring peace, but that was the point. If a great army had arisen and defeated the enemy then they would claim that they had triumphed, or that Gideon was responsible for leading them to victory and freedom. Then they would have taken pride in their own strength and power and they would have proceeded to become oppressors themselves. This is the trap of power politics: Use power to defeat the supposed “oppressor” then become the oppressor yourself until someone else comes along and defeats you. That way the bloodshed never ends. This is why power politics is the trick of the devil who seeks to destroy all that God loves, and all that is good.

Gideon and his 300 men blew trumpets just like Joshua did at Jericho but God defeated the enemies and gave the victory.

So Gideon and 300 men attack the Midianites with pots and torches and trumpets and a few swords, but it is God who fights against the Midianites, and turns their own weapons against them so that they mostly slay each other. The 300 Israelites do dispatch the few stragglers who remain, but it is God who fights and wins the victory and brings freedom to His people.

Likewise, in the days of the Roman empire and occupation of the Holy Land, the faithful remnant prayed to God for a deliverer who would rescue them from the oppression of the evil pagan occupiers. They were looking for a Moses or a Gideon or a David who would bring military victory and worldly peace and prosperity. But God had a much better idea. Jesus came amid reports that God was finally fulfilling the promise He had made over 4,000 years earlier to Adam and Eve, to send a Messiah who would undo the deadly effects of sin and death and bring peace and prosperity to God’s people. But Jesus was again not what the people expected.

As God incarnate, Jesus is the King over all worldly kings, yet He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus did not come to set up a worldly kingdom in a sinful world. That would just perpetuate the sinfulness and evil which is the cause of all of our suffering and sadness and dysfunctional angst. Instead, Jesus came to set us free from the bonds of slavery that is caused by sin. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36) Jesus came not just to set us free from evil people like George Soros and his minions who seek to enslave us and destroy all good in the world. Jesus came instead to set us free from all sin which separates us from God who loves us as His children and wants us to live with Him in holiness in His paradise in a new heaven and earth.

Jesus came in humility to drink the cup of God’s wrath over our sin, in order to redeem us

But Jesus could not do this by force of power. Power is a function of the law, and by God’s Law sin must be punished. If God punished all of us sinners as we deserve, then we would be destroyed. God does not play power politics because the result of that is only destruction. God must punish man for mankind’s sins, but God does accept a substitute on behalf of sinful man. If only there were a sinless man on earth who would be willing to accept God’s punishment for the sins of the world. The only problem is that we are all corrupted by sin. When Adam and Eve fell into sin all of their descendants were condemned to inherit that sinful corruption, and that is true to this day. “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10 and other verses as well as the rest of the Bible) The only solution is if God, Himself, became incarnate as a man and lived His whole life in perfect obedience to God the Father’s Laws, and then offered His life in place of sinners. What are the chances of that happening? Would God live and die as a man in order to redeem liars, cheaters, thieves, adulterers, murderers, and blasphemous idol worshipers? Such is the great love of God that He would do exactly that.

Jesus came in humility, not to conquer violent sinful men, but to take their place before the face of the almighty righteous God who must punish sinful men for their sins – or in the case of Jesus, punish the one righteous man who is God incarnate, in place of all the rest of sinful humanity. So Jesus came not to conquer, but to be conquered, that He may free us from the condemnation of sin and death. Jesus suffered the Father’s wrath over our sin, so that we may be rescued from that wrath which would destroy us. Jesus died to pay the price of sin, so that we may be freed from the sting of death. Yes, there still is death all around us, and we all may taste of death before Christ returns, but all that remains for God’s people is just a taste of death. Jesus drank the full cup of death so that the taste of death that we receive will not destroy us. Because Christ’s innocent death for us fulfilled God’s wrath over our sin, death no longer has a hold on us, as Jesus has conquered death and rose to life victorious over death.

Jesus suffered and died in our place to rescue us from sin and death

The death that Jesus died, He died to sin, so that the life He now lives He will share with all who trust in Him. For all who believe in Jesus have been adopted as children of God through the miracle of Holy Baptism. We have been redeemed by Jesus by His righteous life, and His innocent suffering and death on our behalf, and we have been washed clean of our guilt and sin by the shedding of His blood which is brought to us personally through the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the very Body and Blood of Jesus given to us in the Lord’s supper.

“Trust not in princes, in mortal men who cannot save.” (Psalm 146:3) Whether or not there is a political or military solution to the political corruption and attempted takeover of the United States, we still have hope. Our God rules both heaven and earth. Whether we live as free men or as slaves, we are God’s children. Christ has redeemed us and set us free so that we will live forever with Him in His paradise. The troubles of this world are only temporary, though we may have to endure them for a hundred years (may God forbid this, but even so give us the strength to endure what must come). We need not fear tyrannical governors. We need not fear catching a bad cold that only kills 5 people out of every 1,000 who are infected. We need not fear worse diseases such as cancer, nor murder, nor violence, nor any death.

As Christ lives, so we shall live, even if we die. Christ has won the victory over sin and death and all the consequences of death which cause us so much sorrow and pain. Trust in Christ and live in hope. Christ has won the victory not for Himself, but for you. Jesus lives so that you may live with Him forever. Pray for peace and justice in this world, but do not be surprised if it does not come right away. God disciplines His children as a loving father disciplines his unruly child. It is not a sign of God’s disfavor, but of His love – that we may turn to Him and give Him the praise for our rescue, and not some worldly leader. We live by faith in the redemption won for us by Christ Jesus. That is a sure thing. May Christ give you comfort and peace, both now and forever.

Justice at Christmas

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:5)

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for justice and for the benefit of God's people.

Justice means to act in accordance with what is good and right and in accordance with the law. This is especially true with God’s Law (summarized by the Ten Commandments), but also worldly, human laws which conform to God’s righteous commands.

Justice seems hard to come by by in our sinful world. The rich and powerful seem to pervert justice for their own profit and the accumulation of more power for themselves and their friends, while honest, hard-working people pay the price of injustice – sometimes with their lives. In 2019 it is even worse than that since there is a fad called “social justice” which purposely seeks injustice to further some imagined “greater cause” which no one has ever heard of before. Blatant racism is called “racial justice”; nearly every sexual perversion is given protected status in social norms, if not in law; and fascist violence is called “anti-fascism” and those who promote it commit violent destructive acts as the police stand by and watch. There is likely more, besides, but that is what I can think of off the top of my head. Those who promote “social justice” really aren’t interested in justice, but in destroying the foundations of society so that they can get away with doing what they want to do without fear of the punishment which they so richly deserve.

In the United States of America, President Trump is doing great work to appoint federal judges who promise to rule justly according to the law, and not make up new laws as they go along. This is an answer to prayer, as the Judicial branch of our Federal Government has been the most unjust of the three branches for many decades. There is no guarantee that even the best judge will give the best judgment in every situation because if they rule according to bad laws made by evil people they will return bad results, and also some judges can be corrupted by money and bad influence, but the problem with judges making up laws is that the citizens do not know from day to day what is legal and what is illegal because it changes on the whim of the false judge. So we are glad that we can have better judges who we hope will rule according to law, and not according to another unelected authority.

However, in the 2018 elections, the Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and immediately began to try to impeach President Trump even though there has never been evidence of any crime he has committed, much less an impeachable treasonous offense. President Trump has been amazingly open in his administration, but even when the documents are released to the public which exonerate the President’s actions, the Democrat leaders openly lie about what the documents say, even though we (who are able and willing to read) can clearly see that they are lying. The injustice is insane, though those who perpetuate the lies do so as if they don’t care who knows what they are doing. Their boldness is even more concerning because it shows how much lies are a part of their daily life.

A quick search of the Bible shows eleven dozen verses which speak of “justice” and more which similarly speak of “righteousness” and other synonyms of justice. God is greatly concerned with justice, and He is angry with those who pervert justice.

Justice means the Law applies equally to everyone.

In the days of Moses God gave His people just laws to live by so that they could live in peace with Him and with one another. For example, in Exodus 23:2-3 God says, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.” Similarly, Leviticus 19:15 says, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.” This shows that justice is a two way street. A just law applies to everyone equally. We ought not go along with the crowd or the "mob" just because they want a certain outcome, nor should we show favoritism to either the rich or the poor. Our tradition says that “justice is blind” in that it ought to treat everyone equally under the same law. There is not one law for the rich and another for the poor. There is not one law for the ruling class and another for the governed. We ought not to have a favored class and a disfavored class, nor a favored race, and an unfavored race – especially where what is favored changes as the wind blows.

God goes on to say in Exodus 23:6-7 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” A large part of justice is that the guilty are punished and the innocent are free to go about their lives and conduct business as they please. Honesty and integrity are virtues which ought to be rewarded while dishonesty and lies ought to be strongly discouraged by proper punishment. Furthermore, Exodus 23:8 says, “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.” Also, Solomon tells us in Proverbs 17:23, “A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice.”

Rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong … for he does not bear the sword for nothing. Romans 13:3, 4

Immigration and slavery also falls under the application of justice. Exodus 23:9 says, “Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.” This is also a problem in the 21^st century. President Trump is seeking to control our borders so that we know who is coming in to our country. This is vitally important so that we can keep out those who seek to harm our citizens, and also that those who come in to work are not taken advantage of by those who would enslave them under the threat of reporting their illegal presence to officials who would deport them. Here the 21^stcentury Democrats are going back to their 19^th century roots as those who would take advantage of the underclass for their own power and profit. Here also some Republicans are not very helpful either. There are some Republicans who also seek to take advantage of slave labor from illegal aliens, and block the government from taking the necessary action to deal with the invasion crisis. However, we call these liberal Republicans “RINO” or “Republican in Name Only.” They are part of the problem, also. Likewise, Deuteronomy 27:19 tells us, “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” When people are in our country illegally they cannot receive justice, as they could if they were legal visitors.

Christmas shows the justice of God in action. God’s justice is true justice, but it contrasts with the justice of the world. In some respects it seems unjust and strange that the God who created and sustains the universe would condescend to become one of His creatures so that He could suffer and die in our place so that we might be saved from the just punishment for our disobedience and rebellion against God. Yet, this shows God’s mercy and love, as well as His justice. It shows God’s justice in that “the soul who sins is the one who will die.” It is people who sin against God, so if we are to be redeemed from our sin, our redeemer must be a person just like us, except without sin. Since we are all corrupted by sin, the only person who could be our redeemer is God incarnate as a man. God didn’t have to do that for us. He would have been perfectly justified and right in condemning us all to die, and we could not rightly say anything against that judgment. But God loves us, and wants us to be saved and sanctified that we might live with Him in righteousness and purity forever in His new creation. The only way that this could happen is if God became a man and did the work of salvation Himself for us.

The birth and life of Jesus shows God’s love and justice in action.

Jesus fulfilled God’s justice in two ways. First, He lived a perfectly obedient life as a man, and kept all God’s laws perfectly His whole life in His thoughts, words, and deeds. Second, Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice in payment for the sins of the world. Jesus, in effect, said, “Punish me instead, and let my brothers and sisters go free.” This was acceptable to God, the Father, and this is how Jesus won our salvation, so that everyone who believes in Him as their savior from sin is forgiven and has eternal life. Those who reject Christ’s forgiveness have still been forgiven, but they don’t benefit from the gift because they have rejected it by their unbelief. In this way we see how salvation is completely Christ’s doing, for which He is praised forever, and the damnation of the unbelievers is entirely their own doing and fault, for which they will regret forever.

In the justice of the world either you get what you deserve, which is punishment for your sin, or there is no punishment at all for sin, in which case sin and violence and death are rampant because there is no threat of punishment to curb the wickedness of sin. Neither of these situations is desirable. They both sound like hell to me. God’s merciful way of salvation is much better in every respect.

Solomon writes in Proverbs 28:5 “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.” It doesn’t make sense that God would die for His rebellious creatures, but love doesn’t always make sense. Yet, Jesus lived and died as a man out of love for all sinful people, that they all may be rescued from the punishment for their sin. It is wonderful and praiseworthy that Jesus would suffer and endure all the wrath of God for the sins of the world so that we might be saved from our sin and could live with Him in Paradise forever.

 

The Problem with Democracy

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God's Heavenly Kingdom is not a democracy

God rules perfectly for the joy and benefit of all.

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Several years ago in a Bible Study at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Michigan, our current senior Pastor, Joel Baseley, paraphrased Plato’s The Republic when he said something like this: “The problem with democracy is that a simple majority can approve whatever they want. If one vote more than 50% agrees to approve something immoral, then what is immoral becomes law, and the society deteriorates.”

Pastor Baseley’s brilliant paraphrase is even more remarkable when you read The Republic. Because of the question-and-answer style of the prose, Plato is not easily quotable. The first time I read through Book 8 on Democracy I did not see where Pastor Baseley got his quote from. Only a closer reading showed that it is accurate, though Plato’s reasoning is subtle. Plato’s character of Socrates looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Democracy from many different points, and evaluates each one in depth. Also, maybe it is just me, but I frequently found it hard to follow. Sometimes the Socrates character would seem to ask questions which would lead to obvious false answers, but it is possible that he was just exploring the assumed truths of his day in order to show them false.

Nevertheless, in The Republic, in the dialogue between Socrates and Adeimantus (in Book 8), Socrates also notes, “see how sensitive the citizens become; they chafe impatiently at the least touch of authority and at length, as you know, they cease to care even for the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one over them. … Such, my friend, I said, is the fair and glorious beginning out of which springs tyranny.” Here Plato shows that as long as the majority in a Democracy are willing to elect and submit to good, wise rulers then things will be fine and good, but once the majority refuses to submit to the benevolent elected rulers then they will elect tyrants to rule them. It might seem counter intuitive at first for this to happen, but like all the great ancient philosophers, Plato had a very good understanding of human nature, and his conclusions still explain people’s behavior 2,500 years after he wrote it. This is why modern people ought to read the ancient classics (in addition to the Christian Holy Scriptures).

Our national motto ought to be a way of life for all people.

There are some (mostly Americans) who think that democracy is the same as freedom, but that is not even close to being true. In the rare cases where democracy upholds freedom it is because other societal influences help make democracy work. We saw the failure of democracy when U.S. President George W. Bush conquered Iraq after the attacks of September 11, 2001. President Bush was naïve to think that democracy would solve all the problems of that predominantly Muslim country which had been ruled for decades by a tyrant. For anyone paying attention it was clear from the start that democracy was never going to work there, and it would quickly devolve into an Islamic hell (i.e. hell for everyone, including the followers of Islam), which it did. One of the problems there was that Islam isn’t just a religion, but it is also a system of government. Those who follow Islam have already given up their freedom to their religious leaders, and the citizens will not rule themselves wisely.

Americans have found that a system of democracy in a predominantly Christian nation with well educated and informed citizens is the best way to ensure freedom and prosperity. But the problem with democracy is that it only takes one vote more than fifty percent of the populace to turn freedom into tyranny and slavery, and prosperity into poverty. Though in practice, it may take far less. In the United States, it apparently may take as few as five votes to take away our freedom. Five people out of three hundred million, and we no longer live in a democracy, but a tyrannical oligarchy. It only takes five people if those five are Justices of the Supreme court, and their grab for power goes unchecked.

Another problem is when the government keeps secrets from the people about things which they need to know. In a democracy, we, the people, must have enough of the relevant information in order to make wise decisions, and when we don’t have it, or have the wrong information, then democracy is thwarted. Likewise, when the news media keep vital information from the people, or gives them false information, then the people cannot make informed decisions, so the majority makes ill-informed decisions. This is why wise people are so upset by “fake news”, which are news companies pushing propaganda instead of news.

Another of the major flaws of Democracy has to do with lawmaking. In a pure Democracy a simple majority (one vote more than half the voters) can determine what is legal and what is illegal. This would work fine if a majority of the people have the good of all people in mind when they make the laws. However, we live in a sinful world, and sinners are naturally selfish. Selfish people tend to want what they think is profitable for them, but is not necessarily fair for all people. When such selfishness is codified in law this creates not only an inequality in the society, but it creates an injustice. If someone desires to make something immoral legal, then all they need to do is convince a simple majority of the voters to vote for it, and it becomes law.

There is a funny scene in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie (“At World’s End”). The pirates convene a court, and the rule is a simple democracy, but with a stipulation that the pirates can elect a king. The winner of the election doesn’t need a majority of the votes, but whoever gets the most votes wins. It is explained that the pirates have never elected a king because all the pirates only vote for themselves. This is a major fault with democracy. If people only ever vote for themselves and their interests over the general good of the society as a whole, then they will choose unwisely and make foolish decisions, and the society will suffer. A society of pirates is dysfunctional at the best of times, but when the whole society has a pirate mentality then that is bad for all of us.

The residents of this house have filled their brains
with strange chemicals and aren’t thinking clearly.
Voting for yourself is selfish,

and leads to a society full of pirates.

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This “pirate mentality” illustrates the Biblical doctrine of Original Sin. Original sin is the sin we all inherit from our parents going all the way back to Adam and Eve. We sin because we are corrupted by original sin. Though some Christians would deny it, it is clearly taught in the Bible, and it is easily seen in society. No one has to teach children how to be selfish, it comes naturally because they have been corrupted from the time of their conception. In Psalm 51:5, King David noted, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This did not distinguish David from anyone else on earth (except Jesus), but it is common to us all. We see the result of original sin in the corruption and violence of the people who lived before the great flood in the days of Noah. In the early days (see Genesis 6), the people were distinguished between the Sons of God (those faithful to God) and the children of men (the unbelieving descendants of Cain), but gradually even the believers were seduced to wickedness and unbelief. The result of their unbelief was great violence upon the earth (Genesis 6:11). The people did what they wanted to do (see my August 2018 article, How to Avoid Going Your Own Way to Hell) which was democratic in its way, but it resulted in violence and evil. Original sin makes simple democracy end in tragedy sooner or later.

Our inherited sin (Original Sin) corrupts all our governments and all our interactions with people.

In the Bible God does not prescribe any particular form of government for all people. We are encouraged to submit to the worldly authorities as much as we can, though, in case of conflict with God’s law, “We must obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29). If we are forming a government ourselves, then we can take some lessons from how God organized Israelite society after the Exodus in the days of Moses. We should be careful how we do this, however. Many of the laws and ordinances of Ancient Israel were unique to them, and were prophetically and typologically pointed to their fulfillment in Christ, so that the Israelites (or those in Israel who still believed God’s Word) would recognize the Messiah when He fulfilled them. Once Jesus fulfilled the prophetic laws (such as becoming the One, true, atonement sacrifice which paid for the sins of the world) then those laws were no longer required to be practiced by believers.

When God first gave the Ten Commandments to the people, He began by saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3) Here God was telling the people to obey Him first of all. There is no democracy in this. We don’t get to choose what is right and what is wrong. God created us and knows what is best for us. God’s Law is right and best, and when our laws are in line with God’s Law then they are good and right. If our laws contradict God’s Law, then it doesn’t matter if the whole world elects to approve something immoral, it is still wrong.

If all the people and all the leaders put God first, above all else, then we would have a truly good and just government, and a peaceful, obedient, productive citizenry who govern themselves well. Citizens who govern themselves well are well governed. However, citizens who do not control themselves well require a much stronger government to maintain peace and prosperity. Note also that when God gave His commandments He reminded the people of His love for them. God is the one who rescues His people from slavery and captivity. God’s primacy in our lives, and in our governance isn’t just because He is our creator and God (though that is sufficient), but that He cares for us and rescues us from tyranny and oppression, along with sin and death, too.

There will always be inequality in society because people have different abilities, capacities, talents, desires, and the like. If the law is fair to all people, then people can prosper in a fair way according to their abilities and desires, even if it is not all equal, and that is enough to make people content. If the law unfairly favors some people over others, then those who are favored will prosper out of proportion with their abilities, and others will fail to prosper while working much harder to make a living. This is always unjust, and results in slavery, or serfdom, or oppression.

If we live by God’s Law then we can rule ourselves wisely first, and we can likewise choose wise people to govern us.

Sinners like to imagine that if they were God they would make laws that only benefited them and enslaved all other people. God’s law doesn’t work like this. God is holy and just and righteous and loving, and His law is good for all people. God does not need, nor does He desire, to make us His slaves. It is true that there is much talk in the Scriptures about serving God. For example, Psalm 2:11 says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” But because God loves us and wants what is best for us, serving Him results in our freedom from worldly oppression and enslavement. Psalm 37:28-29 says, “For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” It seems counter intuitive to our sinful, selfish minds, but serving God not only makes us free, but it results in our salvation from sin and death. Although God made us to serve Him, He loves us as His children, and it was out of that love that God became a man in Jesus Christ and lived a humble life of service to God, the Father, and us, in order to redeem us from our sins.

Sinners often rebel against God’s law because they imagine that they would be better off serving themselves than God. However, the sinful nature is a wicked taskmaster, and the person who is his own master actually enslaves himself to his base desires and is much worse off than the person who serves God. It is a paradox, but the one who serves God is free, while the one who serves himself is enslaved. Psalm 34:9-10 says, “Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

In the United States of America we have been fortunate that our founding fathers were wise in creating the laws of our land to make them fair, and instituting checks and balances on abuse of power so that they would stay fair for a long time. This, combined with a basis of Christian (or Christian influenced) rationalism which encouraged strong education, made sure that the voting citizens made and kept good laws which were generally fair.

God’s Commandments do not bring us salvation, but they are given to us for our good and can lead us to lead peaceful lives with our neighbors.

The laws of the United States were never perfect, but it was our laws that made the American people free enough to become the greatest country on earth in the 20^th century. It actually took a great deal of effort, however, to get there. The practice of indentured servitude in the 18^th century colonial period eventually became permanent slavery in some of the states, though not all. In the states that permitted slavery the majority of voters determined that it would be profitable if a minority of the population would be a permanent slave class. In some sense, this profited the slave owners greatly, and even some of the free men who didn’t own slaves may have profited to a lesser degree. However, when it came to the Civil War, the North won because it had prospered much more than the South because all citizens were free. The Union not only had greater wealth and manufacturing abilities, but it had a population who cared enough for the concept of freedom and “justice for all” that large numbers of their men were willing to volunteer to fight and to die to bring freedom and equality to all people in the Confederate states, not just a certain class of people. It is also true that, after the war, poor Federal oversight allowed Southern Democrats to keep some vestiges of oppression and slavery alive for a full century after the Civil War in the “Jim Crow laws”, but even then, the impoverished citizens were free to migrate north and prosper in the boom times of the 20^th century.

The last verse in the Biblical book of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” In America we might be tempted to think that this is the democratic ideal, but in truth this is democracy gone wrong. American history shows that our forefathers rebelled against a tyrannical king and set up a better government in place of King George III, and that government included a form of democracy. However, the refrain in the last four chapters of Judges that there was no king in Israel is not a statement of what was right in Israel, but it is a condemning statement. God was Israel’s king, but the people kept turning away from God so that He sent their pagan neighbors to harass them and steal their food and belongings until they repented and turned back to Him as their true King. Also, everyone doing “what was right in their own eyes” is not the democratic ideal, but it is anarchy.

Doing “what is right in your own eyes” is sure to bring calamity on yourself. When we live righteous lives according to God’s law then we can live at peace with others.

In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, when the U.S.A. was prospering, they did not do “what was right in their own eyes”, but they generally did what was right. When the evil of slavery became too entrenched in the economy of the South, tens of thousands of free white men from the North answered the call to take up arms against their brothers in the South and fought and died to make all men free. This was not doing “what was right in their own eyes” because none of the men who were maimed or died in the American Civil War wanted to lose their arms and legs or die. It was not profitable to be permanently disabled or dead, but they did what was right because it was the right thing to do in God’s sight. It was also the right thing to do for their children and their descendants who followed them. If Americans could enslave a whole class of people just because of a particular shade of their skin, then they could enslave other classes of people such as those of a different shade of their skin (as some 21^st century American racists are now openly calling for!) or for any other reason.

The Southern slave owners in 19^th century America (and those who secondarily benefited from the free labor of the slaves) only did what was right in their own eyes. It is much more profitable to hire a slave than to pay the man what his labor is truly worth, so that seems right in the eyes of sinful people. It is not right in God’s eyes, however, and we can see that, in a way, the American Civil War was God’s punishment of the U.S.A. for allowing the evil of slavery to endure for too long.

Even worse than the evils of slavery is the evil of abortion which goes on in the United States to this day (as I write this). God have mercy on the United States when He calls our people to account for the evil of abortion. Under slavery, it was neither common nor profitable for slave owners to murder their slaves or their children. However, the evil of abortion is that many Americans think they have the “right” to murder their children so that they can use the money and resources they should be using to raise their children for their own profit instead. This was not enacted democratically, but by the illegal fiat of seven tyrants on the Supreme Court. However in the 46 years since that wicked decision, no democratically elected President, nor Congress, nor subsequent Supreme Court, nor Constitutional Convention has seen fit to right that wrong. As a result, our country is divided as it has not been since before the Civil War. As the beginning of God’s judgment, our country is being invaded by illegal aliens and neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have the will to stop it because they both have significant factions who want to enslave the illegals, or otherwise take advantage of them. There are growing signs elsewhere that the United States is headed towards another Civil War, or worse. Though that may yet be far from a necessary conclusion, we still seem to be heading on that path in 2019 as I write this.

In the days of Noah, the people did what pleased them, but this brought God's condemnation on them. Noah submitted to God and was saved.

When sinners do “what is right in their own eyes” they are sure to commit evil, wickedness, and sin. That is what the corruption of sin does to our human nature. The result is anarchy, rather than benevolence and prosperity. The genius of the American democracy for the first 175-200 years or so of our nation was a great education system based on Christian principles. The U.S. Constitution makes allowances for people’s sinful nature by putting into place checks and balances on all levels of the federal government. When that works it does not let any one branch of government (neither the Judicial branch, nor the Executive branch, nor the Legislative branch) act in a tyrannical way over the other branches. When the Constitution does not work (due to corruption or ignorance of those in power, or even those citizens who participate in the democratic process) then evil abounds and democracy cannot rescue the people from tyranny because the power to do what is right has been taken out of the hands of good people. Plato is quoted as writing, “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” This is why we have checks and balances in our constitution.

God has certainly blessed the United States in the past 250 years. We ought not to take that as an endorsement of democracy. God had His own purpose for our nation, and if we continue to rebel against Him, then He could easily turn His back on us and let us destroy ourselves in civil war, or let a foreign power conquer us or otherwise take control. If God sent the ancient Assyrians to conquer the 10 tribes of Israel and the survivors were so dispersed and assimilated into the peoples of where they were sent that they have disappeared as a distinct people since ancient times, then God would have no problem doing something similar to an unfaithful America. In that case democracy will not be our salvation, but it could be our undoing.

There is much good about the democratic system of society, but it is not in itself the answer to all problems. It is much better at recognizing basic human dignity and personal property than socialism or communism. It is much more free than a monarchy or tyrannical dictator. It is much safer and prosperous than anarchy. Democracy gives people a chance to participate in their governance, and lets them convince others of the rightness of their cause, but without other controls in place, a democratic system can be turned into tyranny when a majority of voters act in ignorance or malice, as sinful people are likely to do.

I should also note here that democracy is not equivalent to protesting. Marching for a cause to inform voters about the rightness of your cause can possibly aid democracy, but it is not necessary for democracy. Just because people are marching in protest for something, it doesn’t mean that their cause is worthy or right. Depending on your cause, the informed voters may reject your cause as being immoral, or otherwise not good for society. You can protest all you want, but if your cause is wrong the voters are free to reject your cause as immoral. That is democracy working as it ought.

The scriptures are clear that believers always have to fight against evil and for what is good, right, and proper. Often the fight begins within ourselves against our own sinful nature. It is not natural for sinful people to want to do good and work for the benefit of others. It was not easy for Jesus to win our salvation either, yet He did it. Though He is the almighty, eternal, creator of the universe, He had to live a humble life and endure the scorn and hatred of His sinful people, and let them nail Him to a cross and crucify Him until He died. But, in doing so, Jesus paid the punishment for our sins, and won for us life and salvation forever. Fortunately we didn’t get a vote to say if we wanted that or not. Both Jew and Gentile sinners turned against Jesus and had Him put to death, but God used that to win our salvation so that Christ gives life and salvation as a free gift to all who trust in Jesus to forgive them from their sins. God’s vote is the only one that counts, but He has elected to save us from our sin, rather than to punish us as we deserve. This is not a bad deal at all. It is the best deal in the world. If people insist on rejecting God’s gift of forgiveness in Christ, then He will let them condemn themselves to torment in hell, but why would anyone do that? It is much better to receive the gift of Jesus and all the eternal blessings which go with it. Whatever we may suffer in this wicked world is small and fleeting compared to the blessings of eternal life in paradise with Jesus.

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See also my article on “The Problem with Socialism”  

See also my article on “The Problem with Sexual Politics”

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You can read The Republic by Plato online at 
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html

The Chapter on democracy is here: 
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.9.viii.html 

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The Good Samaritan

by Pastor Paul Wolff

A certain man fell among thieves A Samaritan had compassion on him A Priest and a Levite passed by

 
Luke 10:33-35
Jesus said, “A Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where (the injured man) was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

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People are afraid of the Law, and think the Law is evil because the Law condemns us as sinners. However, the Law of God is not the problem. God’s Law is good, as God is good, and the Law shows us what is good for us to do to love God and love our neighbor. Sinners think the Law’s condemnation of sinners is bad because we don’t want to be condemned. Sin blinds us to the reality of just how wicked we really are, and how much we really deserve to be condemned.

Remember what happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. God made the whole world good and gave it to Adam and Eve for their benefit and enjoyment. The only thing forbidden to them was the fruit of one tree – one tree in the whole world. In effect, God was saying, “This tree belongs to me. Don’t eat its fruit. If you eat the fruit of this tree you will die. But look, here is another tree. This is the tree of Life. You are free to eat from this tree and anything else in the world that you wish to eat. I am your Father and I love you, and I want you to live and enjoy all the good things that I can give to you forever.” God gives us good things, and forbids us from doing things that will hurt us.

The problem isn’t God’s Law. The problem is that people rebelled against God’s good Law and chose sin and death instead of righteousness and life. Sinners despise what is good, and we twist and distort God’s Word to make the Law seem to say what we want it to say, instead of receiving it as God has given it to us for our good.

It is no coincidence that the man who tested Jesus was a teacher in the law. He knew the law, but he asks the wrong questions. If you ask the wrong questions you will get the wrong answers. However, in telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus gives us both the right question and the right answer.

Inheritance is a matter of Law, but you can only receive it as a gift.

The first question the lawyer asks Jesus is, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question isn’t all wrong: It recognizes that eternal life is a matter of inheritance. It is a gift, not a right. However, the question is ridiculous. Can you imagine someone going up to Donald Trump (for example) and saying, “What must I do to inherit the wealth of your estate?” Most of the time the inheritance of an estate is given to the children. If you are not born or adopted into the family then it is unlikely you will inherit anything.

Since inheritance is a matter of law, and the man asking about it was a teacher of the law, Jesus asks him what the law says about inheriting eternal life. The man answered by quoting from Deuteronomy where God summarized the two tables of the Commandments. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This was a good summary of the Law, as Jesus points out, but the man forgot that the Law cannot save sinners. The law condemns sinners. Since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, all people (except Jesus) have inherited the corruption of sin. This is our inheritance – according to the law.

Luke writes that the teacher of the law wanted to justify himself. To justify yourself is to make up excuses for your sin which will make you feel like you are doing right when you are doing wrong. It is a wicked thing to try to justify your sin, but sinners are always looking to justify themselves. I do it. You do it. Everyone does it, but that doesn’t make it right. It just means that everyone sins in justifying themselves.

So the teacher of the law asks, “Who is my neighbor?” This doesn’t seem like a bad question, but why would you ask it? Your neighbor is everyone you come in contact with in your various vocations, including those whom you try to avoid, like an injured man lying on the side of the road when you have somewhere else to go. If you have to ask, “Who is my neighbor?” then you may be really asking, “Who isn’t my neighbor?” or “Who can I ignore because they are not my neighbor.” So Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan

Jesus told a story about a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho who fell among robbers. The robbers should have been neighbors to the traveler, and protected his life and property, but instead they beat him and stole his belongings, and left him for dead on the road.

Then a priest was going down the road and saw the injured man. The priest represents the first table of the Law where we love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. The priest served God in his vocation, but he was under the law. The ceremonial law said much about blood and how to deal with it. It would not do for the priest to show up for work with bloody hands from helping an injured man. He would likely be considered unclean. Now, uncleanliness wasn’t too big of a deal. All people would do things in the normal activities of life which would make them unclean. I think that was the point of the cleanliness laws. They reminded people that our sin makes us unclean and that we need to be cleansed of our sin.

The priest could have helped the man, but then in order to be fit for his priestly service he would have had to wash and make a sacrifice and wait until sundown to be considered clean again. It was an inconvenience, and somewhat costly, but he could have helped the injured man, and should have. The people who would benefit from his priestly service would have understood, but the priest justified his inaction by telling himself that if he helped the injured man he couldn’t carry out his service to God. This was a misuse of the law, but this is what sinners do to justify themselves. So the priest walks by the injured man on the other side of the road.

Likewise, a Levite came and saw the injured man lying in the road. He represents the second table of the Law where we must love our neighbor as ourselves. The Levites were those members of the tribe of Levi who were not priests, but who served as laymen in the church. Levites were the elders, ushers, acolytes, trustees, groundskeepers, altar guild, board members, and similar laymen who serve the church. He could have helped the injured man, but he was under the law also. He could have helped the injured man, but would then be unfit to serve in the congregation for a time, and so he justified his actions in the same way as the priest. He also misused the law to justify his unmerciful actions. So he, too walked by on the other side of the road.

Then a Samaritan came down the road and saw the injured man. The Samaritan was not under the law in the same way that the priest and Levite were. He was not above the Law, certainly, instead he was outside the Law. He was not bound by the Law in the same way that the priest and Levite were, nor could he hide under the Law to justify unmerciful inaction. In a way, the Samaritan was free of the Law’s demands, but because he was free of the Law’s demands, he was also free to help his neighbor without having to worry that the Law might condemn him in some other way (unless he also ignored the injured man and left him to die). So he had compassion on the injured man and treated his wounds and took care of him.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan who paid the costly price to give you His inheritance.

You should note that what the Samaritan did was also costly. Besides the time and effort of cleaning and treating the wounds, he also paid the entire burden of the injured man’s health care. It was a sacrifice, but because he was free from the law’s burdens, he willingly paid what was necessary to help his neighbor.

Jesus ends His parable by asking the teacher of the Law, “Which of these was neighbor to the man injured by the robbers?” He answered, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said, “You go, and do likewise.”

Now, if you have a wrong view of the law, you might think that Jesus was just giving the man another law to live by. But that would be a wrong understanding. Jesus was, in fact, doing the exact opposite. Jesus was not even giving a new law that supersedes the old law, as if you could use that to justify breaking any of the Ten Commandments. Instead, Jesus was declaring the man free from the law, just like the Samaritan was free from the law, and used his freedom to have mercy on his neighbor.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan. As the Son of God, Jesus was free from the Law’s demands. Jesus was not just free from the Law, He was above the Law because He created the Law. Though, in a way, Jesus was also bound by the Law in ways that we are not. God created the Law to reflect His very nature, so when Jesus obeyed the Law, He was only acting according to His nature, not against it (as we are when we obey the law). Yet, in His mercy, Jesus submitted Himself to the Law for our sake to redeem us and free us from the Law’s demands and its condemnation.

Jesus was, of course, a Jew, and not a Samaritan, but it is interesting in John 8 some of the Jews said to Jesus, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.” It is interesting that Jesus confessed that He did not have a demon, but He did not deny the charge of being a Samaritan. Although the Jews thought they were insulting Jesus by calling him a Samaritan, Jesus was not ashamed to be called a Samaritan. Jesus came to save Samaritans and other Gentiles as well as Jews. The Samaritans were His neighbors as much as His own people.

When Jesus says, “Go and do likewise” He is not putting us under the law, as if he were saying, ‘you can’t be saved unless you make up for your sin by doing good and showing mercy.’ Instead, Jesus is setting us free from the law’s curses. You are free to serve your neighbor because you no longer have to worry about fulfilling the law’s demands yourself. Jesus fulfilled the law for you. You are free. Not free to sin (for that would put you under the law’s curse), but free to serve your neighbor instead of trying to serve yourself.

Jesus set Zacchaeus free because he trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins.

Scripture says in Romans 6:22-23 “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus fulfilled God’s Law completely in our place so that through Jesus we are freed from the Law’s demands and can serve our neighbor in freedom as the Samaritan had mercy on his injured neighbor. This freedom we have in Christ is given to us as a gift by His mercy.

This gift is our inheritance as Children of God through Baptism and faith. Scripture says in Galatians 4:4-7, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

What must you do to inherit eternal life? Of course you can’t do anything, but Christ has already done it all for you. He has redeemed you from your sin, and adopted you as His children, and He gives you the inheritance of His eternal Kingdom as a gift – as all inheritance is given. Like the Samaritan in the parable, Jesus paid the great price to make you His child and heir. St. Peter writes, “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a (sacrificial) lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Praise be to Christ, who is your Good Samaritan who sacrificed His life to rescue and heal you from the wounds of sin and death, and who gives you life everlasting.