However, many Christians today rightly conclude that these days are evil (Ephesians 5:16), not simply because the moral infrastructure has been obliterated, but because our culture elevates and promotes the individual’s personal values as sacred and that any and all virtues are archaic and obsolete. This is at the core of our country’s decay, as we wallow in unquestionable decadence. We are “slouching towards Gomorrah”1 while the Liberal culture shrieks how dare we question their depravity.
Who Can Save Our Country ?
So what is God’s plan for curing the sickness of an evil culture? He has chosen to use mature, alert believers as His witnesses for the gospel; so that many might believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and enjoy His eternal life and not end up in the Lake of Fire. Faithful believers going about His work, can be influential in changing the course of human history and provide prosperity and protection2 to our nation; revitalizing and rescuing it from experiencing God’s judgement. For this is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are to be the “salt of the earth,” the instrumental preserving and cleansing factor representing Our Lord. We are also to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14) to enlighten our fellow citizens with the gospel of salvation so that the nation may experience the blessings of God.
Our Course of Action
Since the spiritual battle for our nation is in the hands of believers of Jesus Christ, we have two options to choose from: to despair or to advance.
First, we could choose despair, meaning we would retreat from our Divine responsibility by rejecting the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to a fallen world (Acts 1:8). Looking at all the cultural decay and corruption it is easy to exclaim: “We’re finished!” and give in to what appears to be hopeless. On a larger scale we have never had to contend in our country with what the early Apostles underwent. Consider what the Apostle Paul believed in the midst of his trying times:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8–9)
And expressed how he was confident that,
Who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:10)
To despair is the sin of unbelief—the embracing of hopelessness and the false notion that God is powerless to deliver. Note how the Psalmist came to realize how wrong he was to give in to despair “against an ungodly nation” (Psalm 45:1):
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 43:5)
Second, if we indeed believe that we are in a battle, the best plan of action would be to advance upon the opposition. A great strategy in military battle is to advance to high ground—a position of superior advantage. For us to take the high ground we demonstrate the belief that we are on God’s side and have confident expectation that He can and will provide the victory (Proverbs 21:31; 1 Corinthians 15:57).
The high ground for the believer is not marching and demonstrating in the public square; there are no Scripture to support this type of activity. The Apostle Paul described exactly what our battle consists of:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
And since this is our struggle, Paul explains how we are to array ourselves for battle:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil...Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:11 & 13)
What is often missed when reading these verses is the phrase “having done everything, to stand firm” and then repeated as a command to “Stand firm” (v.14). Once we have done everything necessary in preparing for battle we are to stand firm with great resolve and confidence, without becoming despondent. This is exactly what Moses told the Israelites when confronting the Egyptians: “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13a).
In the following verses of Ephesians 6:14-17 he summarizes the armor we have been given. All but one is designed to defend ourselves. The final piece of armor is meant to be used offensively: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v.17). Marching on Washington D.C. or local protests will never defeat the evil enemy. We are to use our knowledge of God’s Word as the only authorized weapon against the dark forces confronting us in our culture.
The Struggle on Two Fronts
We must face the fact that our struggle is on two fronts: the unbelieving world and liberal Christian denominations. The unbelieving world holds to arbitrary “truths” that vary from one individual to another; while liberal Christians pick and choose the Biblical truths of their penchants, often ascribing their own slant on them according to their emotional sentiments—much of the time to appease cultural dictates.
For the unbelieving world has no view of Scripture, and rejects it outright; whereas the liberal Christian has a weakened view of Scripture, rejecting the absolute authority and reliability of God’s Word. Therefore they both end up in the same place having no final objective authoritative truth, where everything is relative and everyone invents their own “truth” standard.3
Since the battle is an assault upon the absolute truth of Scripture, the obedient Christian must utilize the only weapon that can counteract untruth: the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God. It requires that we know, understand and are able to accurately handle the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15); speaking and living His truth into our culture—with humility and confident of God’s victory.
Are we willing to do the hard work of studying daily to be prepared?
Conclusion
Never let it be forgotten: Jesus Christ is our Savior—He controls history, for He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 21:6). Donald J. Trump is not our savior. Even though he my lead our country back to political and economic greatness again and he may even ensure that personal freedom and liberties be restored along with the freedom of religious expression. But he will never single-handedly spiritually revive our nation—that is the commission invested to all believers of Jesus Christ.
[1] Bork, Robert H. (1997). Slouching Towards Gomorrah, New York, NY:ReganBooks.
[2] Thieme, R.B., Jr. (2022). Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, Houston, TX: R.B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, p. 197.
[3] Schaeffer, Francis A. (1985). The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 4.335.
Excellent! including caution, admonishment and encouragement. On to glory, one thought at a time...Thank you!
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