The Constitutional Convention that resulted in the founding document of the United States began in May 1787 and lasted until September of that year. At the conclusion of those meetings, Elizabeth Powell, a well-connected political socialite, reportedly asked Benjamin Franklin, “Do we have a republic or a monarchy?” Dr. Franklin responded, “A republic if you can keep it.”
In the following decade, in October 1798, John Adams penned a letter to the Massachusetts Militia, explaining that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people; it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” Franklin and Adams recognized the document’s frailty to govern a people who lacked the spiritual capacity to govern themselves. The founders hoped that we would remain a religiously strong and moral country where everyone would practice their faith publicly.
What Franklin, Adams, and even Elizabeth Powell had not considered was that a once Judeo-Christian society would turn its back on the God of the Bible to serve another god, the god of self.
In contrast, while abandoning a biblically moral framework, the United States has not become less religious since its founding; instead, the vast majority of its citizens have traded Christianity for hedonistic self-aggrandizement. We’ve moved past the idea that feelings should take precedence over facts and are now worshiping feelings as a form of religion. This sad and devastating reality is having a tremendous impact on individuals and families. But a country is overrun and destroyed when a political party adds to its problems by making public policy based on the wishes of a small minority of its people.
While abandoning a biblically moral framework, the United States has not become less religious since its founding; instead, the vast majority of its citizens have traded Christianity for hedonistic self-aggrandizement.
For Franklin and Adams, this reality, even then, was apparent.
When a Society Chooses Perversion
The fundamental building blocks of any society are a man and a woman who become husband and wife. While secular feminism has destroyed God-ordained gender roles, society has abandoned the absolute definitions of “male” and “female,” instead promoting gender theory. In an ongoing attempt to overthrow God’s created order, society has elected a pseudo-scientific gender-fluid model leading to confusion and disorder.
A woman who sacrifices her child’s life (abortion) favoring instead professional career advancement, or unrestrained sexual pairings is the direct result of a society driven by self-centered narcissism.
Following God’s design for creation ensures that the covenantal union of one man and one woman, committed in a monogamous relationship for life, produces children. When a culture seeks to demolish this crucial pillar through abortion, it disregards natural design, embracing instead selfish and self-serving life choices. The care and nurturing of children contribute to society’s advancement by civilizing and maturing both husband and wife.
However, a woman who sacrifices her child’s life, favoring instead professional career advancement or unrestrained sexual pairings, is the direct result of a society driven by self-centered narcissism.
In contemporary culture, sacrificing a child’s life is not limited to abortion. The practice of child mutilation, viewed as gender-affirming care, serves as a form of postnatal child sacrifice.
The Wrath of God’s Judgment
Those who adhere to a biblical understanding of mankind, marriage, and reproduction comprehend the general framework of God’s plan for the spheres of power in a fallen world. This understanding extends to the role of government.
While the role of government has been debated, Scripture has been clear:
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. 2 Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1–2)
We are to be subject to governing authorities as God has established them. But for what purpose? Scripture explains that government is,
“…not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:3b–4)
Clearly, the government is “God’s servant for your good.” The Greek word translated servant is the word diakonos. It can be translated as a servant or minister and is defined as “one who executes the command of another, the servant of a king.” In other words, the government is to serve as an extension of God to minimize evil and protect those who do what is good.
What occurs when a government labels good as evil and evil as good? According to the Old Testament, God dealt with the Israelites first by warning, then by acting in judgment (Isaiah 5:20–21, 24–25), pouring out his wrath.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the believers in Rome, explains the wrath of God as the judgment of abandonment when he writes,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
The abandonment of God is then witnessed in the following verses: Romans 1:24, 26–27, and 28
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.
For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
God expresses the judgment of abandonment by granting the sinner their desires and leaving them to the self-assured destruction brought on by sin.
A “Red Wave” Is Not Enough
We are witnessing the judgment of abandonment as politicians and political parties advocate for child sacrifice, child mutilation, and the codification of gender confusion into our laws.
“This is the most important election of your life,” it’s often said during an election cycle. While it is critical to vote for and elect leaders who share a biblical worldview, much more needs to be done.
Cultural transformation does not begin with electing your favorite elected official and declaring victory. It all starts with a changed heart of an individual citizen. Pastors must take the lead in this regard and preach God’s unfiltered word. Christians must follow Jesus’s command to:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19–20)
With each election cycle, those with conservative convictions would like to believe that a “red wave” will solve all of culture’s problems. The founders recognized the nature of our republic’s problem.
“Our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
