Have you ever thought about what kind of a world this would be if God had not given explicit rules as to how we are to live and govern ourselves? If you have, you may have come to the conclusion that it would pretty much reflect Eastern civilization, since they live as though the God of the Bible is non-existent, and prefer to invent their own gods. Western civilization, which has been influenced by Christian missionaries to incorporate God’s rules into our civil law codes, is marked by more personal liberty and personal freedom. Some of the “fruits” of our biblically-based civilization are:
· Capitalism works, and socialism doesn’t.
· A representative republican form of civil government, with its “checks and balances” between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, protects against state tyranny much better than a pure democracy.
· Private property rights and copyright protection leads to increased productivity and encourages business expansion.
· Belief that we are special creations of God lead to the origin of hospitals, and a concern for the protection of citizens, which includes not only police protection but research into the cures for diseases.
Obviously, a person doesn’t have to be a Christian to enjoy the benefits that God’s laws produce for a society. For example, there are many scientists who proclaim that there is no such thing as absolute truth, yet are able to successfully carry out their scientific experiments because they “borrow” God’s rule that certain actions will produce certain (“absolute”) consequences. If they based their experiments upon their being a “random” universe that came into being on its own, they would have no reason to expect that predictable results would come from their scientific work.
In addition, God’s Law informs non-Christians of the holy nature and will of God, [1] and of their responsibility to obey it. [2] It also convinces them of the impossibility of their obeying it perfectly, [3] with the intent of humbling them to repent and turn to Jesus so they can depend upon His perfect obedience to it. [4]
Of course, the benefits of God’s Law to Christians are many. Not the least of which is that it enables us to realize how much we are indebted to Jesus for His perfect lifestyle and for paying our sin debt. [5] This motivates us all the more to conform our lifestyle to His Word. [6] History also provides us with the proof that God’s rules work and man’s don’t, witness, again, the success of Western civilization, that is based upon biblical principles, and Eastern civilization, which is based upon man’s principles.
Excerpt from Buddy Hanson's (Lord willing) upcoming book, Making your Daily Reads: Volume Three.
Learn about Making your Daily Reads: Volume One
NOTES
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(Passages are from NKJV) (some Scripture quotes may be paraphrases)
[1] Leviticus 11.44-45; 20.7-8; Romans 7.12
[2] Micah 6.8; James 2.10-11
[3] Psalm 19.11-12; Romans 3.20; 7.7
[4] Romans 3.9, 23; Galatians 3.21-22, 24; Romans 10.4
[5] Romans 7.24-25; 8.3-4; Galatians 3.13-14
[6] Luke 1.68-69, 74-75; Colossians 1.12-14; Romans 7.22; Titus 2.11-14
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