The Christian, Politics, and the Government

What role, if any, should the Christian play in politics? All any man can know about the subject is what the Bible says and since it was written for the benefit and enlightenment of all men in all ages from the time it was first penned until the last day of this earth’s existence and for all cultures and under all the different kinds of governments it speaks to us not in specifics but in general statements on the subject. As it relates to specifics, it is sometimes hard to know exactly what one ought to do under some scenarios that arise but we have God given principles to guide us.

That America is a deeply divided nation, no one doubts. There are two very distinct trains of thought in our society about what the nature of our country ought to be, and it seems any middle ground has disappeared, leading to anger and bitterness on both sides. So where does a Christian fit in, what does he do, what should he do? What does the Bible teach?

First of all, it should be clear to all who truly want to be what a Christian ought to be that one’s first order of business is to be as much of a Christian as he/she can be every single day of his/her life. What does that mean? It means I should live a spiritual life daily. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23 NKJV) Just above this passage in Gal. 5:19-21 are listed the “works of the flesh” (V. 19) of which I would like to list two of those works as they pertain most directly to the topic at hand (politics), namely, “hatred” (v. 20) and “outbursts of wrath” (v. 20). The reader can clearly see the contrasts between the works of the flesh and those of the spirit.

Furthermore, there is a passage in Eph. 4:31 which also speaks directly to the issue, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” (NKJV)

When we Americans are so deeply divided over the issues, it is very easy for a citizen who is also a Christian to become bitter and angry and think and speak evil of others who are in opposition, and even reach the point where he/she despises them in his/her heart. Yes, the Bible teaches we ought to hate evil, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalms 97:10 NKJV, see also Prov. 8:13 and Amos 5:15) Hate the evil but love the person. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NKJV)

We ought to hate the evil a government does when it enacts laws that are contrary and supportive of evil (say, as examples, laws supporting gay marriage and abortion), and it must be admitted, for it cannot be denied, that government is made up of the men and women who make the laws. Yes, they are responsible for the evil a government may allow or do in its lawmaking and governing capacity, but in a democracy, we are also accountable in that we vote the lawmakers and the executive into or out of office. We, as a nation, will be held accountable, which means we need to vote for those candidates running for office who are most supportive of Christian principles.

We can and ought to hate laws that are contrary to God’s teaching in the New Testament, and the kind of thinking that leads to those laws, but yet have compassion for the misguided lawmakers who made them in that each has a soul that is worth more than all of the wealth of this world combined. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26 NKJV) Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mark 2:17 NKJV) That was his mission. What is the mission of his servants? Are we in the condemning them to hell camp or are we in the converting them to Christ camp?

If our reaction to ungodly laws that are passed is one of hatred, anger, bitterness, railing, and reviling against the lawmakers then we have done two things--(1) we have allowed politics to destroy our own soul and our hope for heaven and (2) we have ended any hope that those responsible can be converted due to our unchristian attitude and reaction toward them.

Do not misunderstand, the unjust are not going to heaven, which includes lawmakers who have promoted sin via the laws they have helped pass. The Bible does not teach that they are. It does teach, however, that the Christian’s job is to do his/her best to bring the world to Christ. We must teach the truth of the Bible on every Bible subject. If the powers that be in government reject the truth, God will deal with them on the last day. “'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV) As for the Christian God says, “give place to wrath” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV) or as the ESV translates it, “never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” (Rom. 12:19 ESV)

The Bible teaches we ought to pray for those in authority. “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4 NKJV)

One might say what do we pray for when we pray for them? We might pray a number of things. We might pray that they be given wisdom, that if there is need that they might be led to repentance, we might pray that God would work providentially in their life to help them see the light, we might pray for their welfare and that of their family, and as the text says, we should give thanks for them. We might say sometimes what is there to be thankful for in some men? Well, we ought to look for the good.

No one was ever more unjustly mistreated by the government than Jesus himself. Pilate declared Jesus innocent when he said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matt. 27:24 NKJV) and then turned right around and had Jesus “scourged” (Matt. 27:26 NKJV) and handed him over to be put to death. Do you think that might have aroused bitterness and anger in most of us had we been in Jesus’ shoes or been a family member or close friend? Yet, Jesus “was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isa. 53:7 NKJV)

Peter says, “When he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.” (1 Peter 2:23 NKJV) God is the ultimate judge of all things and everyone. The government may do great evil, but the Christian answer is to follow the example of Jesus. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom. 12:21 NKJV) “Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19 NKJV)

That God judges governments (thus countries) cannot be doubted by anyone who has ever read the Old Testament prophets. It was not just Israel and Judah that God judged and brought to ruin because of their sins. If you read the Old Testament, you will read of nation after nation that God prophesied judgment against through his prophets and eventually brought them to their downfall.

Even before that, we can go back to the time when the children of Israel were given the land of Palestine after they departed from Egypt. Why did God drive out and destroy those nations that occupied the land before Israel? Because of evil, of sin, of wrongdoing. Moses speaking on behalf of God told Israel prior to their entry into the Promised Land that “it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.” (Deut. 9:4 NKJV) Every nation God brought judgment against in the Old Testament was brought to judgment because of its sin and evil.

A couple of points need to be made here. (1) Generally speaking, a country comes to be whatever its leadership leads it to be or allows it to be. Thus, in the Old Testament history of God’s people, we read of good kings and bad kings. When a bad king ruled, idolatry and other evils were in the ascendancy; when a good king came to power, a check was put on that and some, if not all, of the evil was rolled back. Leadership (government) is always for the better or the worse. (2) God will eventually judge a nation for its evil, even if the leadership led it to be that way, unless there is repentance. Needless to say, repentance is hard to come by. (The reader would do well to read Jer. 18:7-10.)

Unfortunately, from a human point of view, when God brings judgment on a nation, the just often suffer along with the unjust, even if it is only for a time. When Judah was carried away into Babylonian captivity for the sins of the nation, Daniel and his three friends had to go too, even though guilty of no sin themselves. The just became captives along with the unjust.

Romans 13 is the chapter that tells us our duties as Christians toward the government. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13:1 ESV) Paul goes on to say, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Rom. 13:2 ESV) Paul then goes on to explain that government is meant for our good, not to bring evil upon us. (Rom. 13:3-7) I think we all understand the need for government and how there must be laws, rules, and regulations for our safety and well-being. Try and imagine living in a world of utter chaos and lawlessness where there was no government at all and it was every man for himself.

There is also a passage in Titus we need to take note of, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” (Titus 3:1-2 NKJV) So, we are to obey the government, but there is more in this passage for our consideration. One who desires to get involved in politics ought to ask himself this question: Can I do it and obey the scriptures at the same time? Will it lead me to be peaceable, gentle, to be humble, and to never speak evil of another, or will it make all of that harder for me?

By getting involved, I am not speaking about running for office (although that would be included) as much as I am about becoming immersed in politics so intensely that it comes to be a major part of one's life and being. We need to be informed citizens and know the issues and the candidates, but when I become so immersed in politics through the news outlets and programs that it begins to dominate my life, almost like being possessed, that is what I have in mind and what I am talking about. Is that good for the Christian? Will it help or hinder you in developing the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

Does there ever come a time when government must be resisted? Peter answered that question in Acts 5:29 when he said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (NKJV) He was not speaking to the Roman authorities when he spoke, but rather to the Jewish authorities. Nevertheless, the principle would be the same. If our government were to fall into the hands of Islam and we were commanded by law to abandon the Bible and Jesus as Lord, do you think God would say okay, obey the government you are now under, become a Muslim? To ask is to answer.

When I say that under such circumstances we ought to resist the government, I do not mean by taking up arms. Christians do not go to war to fight, kill, and maim, but we ought to do as Peter and the other apostles did. What did Peter and the other apostles do? They simply continued to go on about their business of being Christians and doing the Lord’s will. Now I grant you some Christians did die because of it (Stephen and later James come to mind) but they were to “rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings.” (1 Peter 4:13 NKJV) “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful creator.” (1 Peter 4:19 NKJV)

The Christians in the church of Smyrna were told, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10 KJV) Here is an example of the government throwing Christians into prison (who else had that power) and possibly, if I understand the passage correctly, ending in their death, although the phrase does not have to mean that. It is certainly, however, an admonition to faithfulness even if death is the result.

The Bible does not teach that every single government that has ever existed has been good and done what is right. If so, why did God destroy the nations he did in the Old Testament? If so, why were Christians murdered by the Roman government in the first two to three centuries after the Christian faith came to be? It does teach us to submit to government and only resist in the way I have spoken of, and only do that when the laws made by men violate the law of God. The resistance consists of living as a Christian despite what the government demands.

The God given purpose of government is for the good of man. However, as long as men are the governing body, men will be men, which inevitably means there will be some ungodliness in them. That is not God’s fault but man’s.  Both David and his son Solomon were great kings but both also proved to be sinners.

So, to what extent should a Christian become involved in politics? I will ask a better question, one that is also easier to answer and is more personal. To what extent do you think you can do so and still maintain the fruit of the Spirit and be the person God would have you to be?

When I answer that question, I know it sets some severe limits on my involvement. As a Christian living in a democracy and having been given the right to vote I feel I have the duty to go vote, even if it means for the lesser of two evils, so to speak. Beyond that, I think I need to leave it with God for my soul’s sake.

If we believe God is still an active God in the affairs of man (I believe the Bible teaches he is) then he is going to work it all out eventually in the way that is in accord with his will and righteous nature. Yes, that may mean sometimes evil men rule, but they rule for a reason if they do (God knows why). But always bear in mind God is in charge. Daniel talks about a decree made against King Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4:17 and says it was made, “In order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever he will, and sets over it the lowest of men.” (NKJV)

God is in charge. Evil governments may arise for a time but they shall be punished for their evil eventually. If you think your government is evil and doing wrong, and you are right about that, God will take care of it in due time, one way or another, unless there is repentance. Sin never goes unpunished unless repented of and forgiven. But the question is for me as an individual--what do I do as it relates to politics and the government? The answer is I live as a Christian. 

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Confirmation Sunday No Bibles Required

Our local paper has an article in it this week by a woman pastor/preacher from one of the nearby denominations entitled, "What is Confirmation?" which she wanted to explain since they have a confirmation Sunday planned. Needless to say, since I have never read of such a thing in the Bible and have known many people in this particular denomination over the years I ended up reading the piece knowing all the while that the silence of the Bible on a subject has never stopped a denomination from its own inventions and desires as pertains to its faith, worship, and practice.

After reading the article I went to my e-sword concordance and searched on the word "confirmation." I did find it in 2 locations. Paul spoke about "confirmation of the gospel" in Philippians 1:7 and the writer of the book of Hebrews spoke of how an "oath for confirmation" (Heb. 6:16) is for men an end of all dispute making an observation about secular matters among men to make a greater point about the confirmation God has made to man. Another search on the word "confirm" only brought up 2 hits (Rom. 15:8 and 1 Cor. 1:8), and like the references above, neither has relevance for the practice of a "confirmation Sunday," a thing unknown in scripture.

So what are we doing here? Are we free to just make up worship practices to suit ourselves? The lady says in her article, and I quote directly from it, "Confirmation is a rite done in the church during worship." You cannot find such an animal in the New Testament, but you can find it in this denomination which went outside the New Testament for its practice and authority. Who has such authority? I would think it would take a bold person to say I'll bring into the worship whatever I want whether I can find it in the New Testament or not.

Jesus himself said, "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24 NKJV) Since God's word is truth, "your word is truth" (John 17:17 NKJV), and I "must" worship in truth, it seems to me I need a little truth (word of God) for what I practice in worship to God. Where is this truth, confirmation, found in God's word? I looked for it but could not find it. Am I to assume this group does not care about finding any word of God for their practice?

The lady attempts to give the history of confirmation so people like me can get a handle on it, but guess where she starts with that history. Are you guessing the New Testament and the first century? Better guess again. She starts not in the first century but in the third, approximately 200 years after the New Testament was signed, sealed, and delivered as God's new covenant or law for man "once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3 NKJV) She thus goes outside the word of God to the word of men to get her “confirmation Sunday.’’ Of course, I already knew it was not in the New Testament, as you also know if you have ever read it.

The lady says in the early church, early perhaps but not in the first-century church, not in the New Testament church, confirmation was associated with baptism. I understand from what she wrote that a bishop would confirm a new convert after his/her baptism, and sometimes quite a long while after that baptism. Confirmation consisted of some formula of words a bishop would utter in some kind of formal church setting or service, according to her, to symbolize the presence of the Holy Spirit in baptism and says it involved laying on of hands and anointing with oil.

I did a ChatGPT search on the topic and it seems to agree with what she said. I quote it: “The sacrament of Confirmation involves a person, often a young adult, receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by a bishop or a priest, usually accompanied by anointing with chrism (sacred oil).’’ The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “It increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us.” At a site called aboutcatholics.com, I found this, “It is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.”

No, it is not. Confirmation does not grant you the power to speak in tongues, perform miracles, or teach infallibly, let alone raise the dead.

The lady goes on to say, "Up until the Reformation the Church retained Confirmation as a sacrament but gave, over the centuries, many explanations." Amen to that. I doubt not the truth in that. When you invent ways to worship unknown to the word of God many explanations as to what you are doing and why are likely. God is owed an explanation as well as man. If you are giving many stories (explanations) how do you decide which one to give to Jesus on the Day of Judgment when he asks you what this was all about and why?

The lady preacher (???) goes on to say that in her denomination that confirmation has become an educational event. It is a rite done in worship she says. I ask by whose authority, man's or God's?

The Bible says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Col. 3:17 NKJV) It is a little hard to see how one can do things in the name of the Lord Jesus about which the Lord Jesus said nothing. Can we invent things to do in the name of the Lord Jesus? Can we just make up things in our worship and say we are doing those things in the name of the Lord Jesus and have his approval? Is that how it works? It is certainly clear historically that Confirmation was a man-made invention. It did not come from scripture. However, if you can just make things up and claim you are doing them in the name of the Lord Jesus I guess anything goes. Perhaps we can have Christian ballet or Christian pantomime and who knows what else.

She says it is a public expression reconfirming the baptism received as an infant. Book, chapter, and verse, please? Don't hold your breath waiting for scripture. You will die of old age before you ever get scripture for this, for it does not exist in the word of God.

As for infant baptism, it is another topic for another day. If an infant can be baptized scripturally I do not see why Tator, my basset hound, cannot be baptized as well, for there is as much Bible authority to baptize him as there is an infant who can know no more than Tator does about what is going on and why. The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6 NKJV) The infant cannot go to God in faith or act by faith nor does he/she need to as one is accountable for sin only when he/she has sinned.

The infant is born sin-free, not born in sin. If you say the baby is a sinner, name the sin. Sin is not inherited. “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father.” (Ezek. 18:20 NKJV) An infant can inherit a lot of things, but sin is not one of them.

There is sin involved in baptizing the infant, but not on the infant's part. It is on the part of those who put the infant through this and then allow him/her, when they come to an age of accountability, to be deceived into thinking they obeyed God in baptism. You lie to them. The child never obeyed anything as an infant, nor could he. It was impossible, and what is impossible God does not require. Yes, God requires baptism but not of babies.

I have no idea why people want to be in a denomination that has no more respect for the Bible than this one. The reality is they do not need a Bible for they have created their own religion and just adopted as much of the Bible as they want, leaving the rest alone, and have added the commandments of men to what they have adopted.

As for the lady preacher, Paul said (but does it matter with them?), "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man." (1 Tim. 2:12 NKJV) Yes, everyone is entitled to their own religion but just be truthful about it. Don't say it is Bible based when it is not. At least the Catholics were honest enough to try and burn Bibles and those who translated them, or in some cases those caught with them. There is some consistency there. As for me, I want nothing to do with either the denominations or the Catholics. "And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 7:7 NKJV)

(This was written many years ago, revised just a tad, a little added, but still as applicable today as when it was first written.)

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Does Sin Even Exist

“I will certainly judge you because you have said, ‘I have not sinned.’” (God speaking through Jeremiah to Judah, Jer. 2:35b HCSB)

In a nation that is increasingly rejecting Christianity and the Bible, one must ask the question “what then becomes of sin?”  If sin is, as the King James Version of the Bible reads, “the transgression of the law” (John 3:4) but there is no validity to the Bible which is supposed to be God’s law what then becomes of sin?  Does it cease to exist?  Do those who reject the Bible as the word of the living God totally abandon the concept of sin?  If they do not then upon what basis do they propose to define sin?

If sin is not to be defined by God’s word and if sin is something other than the transgression of God’s law then:  (1) What is sin and how is it defined; what are the rules that if broken constitute sin?  (2) What authority decides these things?  (3) On what basis does that authority exist, that is how is authority established?  Is it political and/or military power that makes the authority so that sin is defined by power?  How is such authority obtained?  If the God of the Bible and his word are taken out of the picture then the authority cannot be of Christian origin so what is its origin?     

Without the acceptance of the New Testament as the authority for defining sin, the reality is there is no other alternative but man himself becoming the authority either as an individual or as a ruling party or institution made up of men.  The problem then becomes what man or what group of men for we know not all are agreed.  A democrat and a republican are likely to have far differing views on a whole host of issues that call for moral and value judgments. 

Likewise, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao had vastly different values than did Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan so who becomes the authority?  Who decides?  When Christianity is removed from the field whose ideology or worldview do we follow?  Is it communism, Islam (Isis?), Hinduism, where do we go, what ideology or religion rules us?    

If we proclaim a world without sin since we reject Christianity, God, and the New Testament as God’s word, then the only lawman can break is manmade and solely dependent on the fist, the hand of power, for enforcement.  Why then should I obey your set of values even if you enshrine them into law when the only reason you were able to do so was that you had the power that I lacked to enforce your will?  Political and legal power that comes from man does not equate with moral superiority; it never has and never will.  Why is one individual to be respected over another as an authority figure on values if there is no God? 

In such a world, much like the one that seems to be developing here in the West, sin becomes whatever some man or group of men or even the culture itself says it is but men do not live forever.  A generation is soon gone and the next one takes its place.  What the prior generation called sin now becomes righteousness under their new rule.  Is this not exactly what we had with the gay marriage issue?  So will this present generation who is determined to have its own way minus God be praised by the next or will it be the case that it, in turn, will be denigrated for its narrow, restrictive, judgmental view on polygamy?

Liberalism once it gains momentum is hard to stop short of license.  Just because one has not yet arrived at his destination does not mean he never will.  A world without God is just that.  There is no moral persuasion, no fear of God, to hold a man back.  Only the gun can do that in a world without God.  Liberalism given time to reap what it sows eventually ends up in an ungovernable society.  When that happens democracy is lost either by revolution or force of arms by the party that has the might to step in and restore order.

Once we reject Christianity, the word of God as found in the New Testament as our guide for life, for the development of a set of values by which we will live, we have no firm ground to stand on for human values are ever-shifting.  Compare how Americans felt about such subjects as abortion, divorce, shacking up, having children out of wedlock, and homosexuality in the 1950s and compare it with how they feel about those same moral issues today.  Human values change with time unless they are based on that which is unchangeable – God’s word.

Not all change in societal values is bad for in the matter of attitudes about segregation change has been positive but when one builds his life on the public consensus of what is culturally correct at any given point in time he/she is building a life while standing on shifting sands that cannot be depended upon for stability.  Those same sands are sure to shift under you with time and are shifting inconspicuously under you as you stand on them in any given year.  And, as regards segregation, there would never have been segregation had the scriptures been followed.

One might wish to argue that Christians themselves have changed their views on moral issues over the years so that if you just take the word of God alone as your basis for building a moral life you are no better off than anyone else.  Sounds like a good argument but is it?

If I take a passage of scripture, say 1 Cor. 6:9-10, and quote it to you I ask has the wording of that passage when correctly translated changed in the last two thousand years?  Here is the passage:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV) 

Have some men who call themselves Christians rejected parts or all of the passage?  Surely so but the teaching (wording) of the passage itself is set in stone and will never change until the earth itself ceases to be.  Each individual either has to accept what it says, reject what it says, or take a smorgasbord approach to it taking this and leaving that but it says what it says.  (Yes, all men can repent.  The passage is talking about the unrepentant.) 

The word of God itself is never changing.  “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.  The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” (1 Peter 1:24-25 NKJV)  The Bible says what it says whether men will accept it or not.  The words endure forever. 

For the man who is willing to accept the word of God as a foundation for building a set of life values by which to live he can be assured he will not be building on shifting sands.  The word of God is written as if in stone even if what men do with it or decide about it is not.  Men get into trouble with the word of God when they begin to doubt it and that is generally brought on by pressures that develop within them, often unawares, from group or societal thinking or family pressures. 

Here is an example from my youth.  When I was young in the 60’s religious people were generally dead set against divorce and remarriage in my part of the world but when their children, people my age, the baby boomer generation, began marrying and divorcing and remarrying I noticed that the attitudes of the older generation were changing.  Had the word of God that they once believed on the subject changed?  No, but family problems got between them and the word of God so that they could no longer read it the way they once did and have peace of mind with regards to their children’s spiritual state.  They began to see things “differently” even though the word they read had not changed one iota.  

We are all constantly being pressured to read the Bible in a way that justifies what the Bible, as written, will not justify—justify the sins we do not want to be sin.  If we succumb to that temptation we end up cutting and pasting scripture and making a Bible that suits us.  We pick this scripture over that one, have the Bible writers in disagreement with one another, and we contort and distort it until we get it to read the way we want it to read.  But it does not have to be that way. 

Man can build a life (a value system) on the solid bedrock of the New Testament (the new covenant of Christ) if he is willing which is the very thing that cannot be done when building upon cultural consensus.  He can read the text and say “that is what it says” and so that is my foundation, the value I must incorporate into my life no matter what the culture of the time is. 

Even if all of society justifies you in building upon the cultural consensus in the time in which you live the very next generation may vilify you and your generation for the values it held.  Seeking justification from society and the approval of the society in which you live means what?  Well, in the 1930s and 40s in Germany it would mean you were a Nazi.  A society’s values should not necessarily be your own.  They must be weighed in light of God’s word. 

One cannot condone those religious bodies who call themselves Christian but whose doctrines change with every shifting cultural wind, who seemingly are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, who one day believe this until it becomes unpopular in the culture and then the next day proclaim they believe just the opposite but a Christian does not have to follow the crowd, even the religious crowd.  He can follow what is in print, what will not deviate, nor leave him, nor forsake him but will be solid rock under his feet.  He can build a life built on a solid foundation, on the New Testament scriptures. 

Your blueprint for life is not the so-called history of Christianity, the doctrines of the church, or of church councils, but the always enduring, never changing New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  That is your solid foundation, not the ever-changing traditions of the Roman Catholic Church or of any other religious body or the values of the culture in which you live. 

And, rest assured, no matter what modern man believes about it Jesus would tell you that yes, sin still exists.

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