“If the salt has lost its flavor…”
In September 1787, Benjamin Franklin gave his final speech of the Constitutional Convention. He stated…
I agree to this Constitution, with all its Faults… because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing to the People if well administered; and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a Course of Years, and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.
Note Franklin’s remarkable insight, shared by many Founders. It reflects a paradigm of human history explained in Scripture: “For the transgressions of the land, many are the princes thereof… (Proverbs 28:2a). Franklin tied the sins and corruptions of the people to the rise of Centralized government (Hebrew: “princes”/rulers). In contrast, when the righteous rule, people rejoice:
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn. -Proverbs 29:2
This lesson is repeated in all societies throughout history. If transgressions rise, government will centralize (hierarchy) and will grow as sin grows until bureaucracies and tribunals swarm the land: “When the wicked rule, the people mourn.” Tyranny, not “tender mercies,” is the result.
Sin is too powerful for the human heart to control. Pulpits must teach the transgressions of people, if left unchecked, ALWAYS move to despotism, no matter what government they erect over them. Scripture reveals this principle, i.e., as transgression increases, people ALWAYS turn to the idolatry of “statism” (socialism/collectivism). Government multiplies administrators, regulators, police, military, judicial and legislative enactments… all designed – Trojan Horse-like – “for our benefit,” we are assured.
The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. -Proverbs 12: 10b
Too many Democrats and Republicans are corrupt. Party distinctions do not generate righteousness. “More government” is invariably their mantra. No ultimate solutions can come from a political “fix,” yielding to statist “solutions.” It is so thoroughly ingrained from our education and upbringing, often the best of people feel they must look to government for life-solutions.
Christ explains what happens when God’s people fail as the “salt” of the earth. “The land is therefore good for nothing but to be trodden under the feet of men.” That is happening today. Christians today have too few solutions. Nonetheless, we are called to overcome the effects of sin and are required to destroy sin,[1] its effects, and its influence in individuals and society, thus “spoiling Satan’s kingdom” (cf. Matt.28:28-29) i.e., “defeating the gates of hell.” (cf. Matthew 16) …and, just as importantly, building new lifestyles.
It is not enough to preach the Gospel only. Churches are to equip God’s people for living (sanctification – Romans 7:7-8:14). Romans 8:7 specifically tells us the carnal state of man is opposed to the Law of God (Pentateuch). In other words, grace is not the opposite of the law of the Lord, carnal is! Grace uses the Law of God to OPPOSE and EXPOSE carnality!
Our Apostle Paul writes he “serves the Law of the Lord with his mind.” (Romans 7:25). “Pietism,” in contrast, is falsehood leading churches to be passive in the face of evil… “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” Pietistic Christianity explains away passages calling for faithfulness in EXPOSING, and lawfully, REPLACING evil influence. The Law of God is designed to teach us HOW to put a hedge around the Gospel, defend Truth, expose sin, explain “merciful judgment” called “repentance” and, BUILD a new kind of lifestyle, wrapping it all around the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.
An agnostic Benjamin Franklin was transformed as churches embraced the Law of God in the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, Davies, and the “Black Regiment.”[2] This preaching discerned the “transgression of the land.” The Great Awakening (America’s reformation) brought about repentance, sanctifying churches, individuals, and society through the “newly-REDISCOVERED Law of the Lord.”
The ONLY thing that can ultimately save America, like Nineveh under Jonah’s preaching, is “Repentance.” Repentance is the merciful form of God’s judgment (cf. I Cor. 11:28-32), whereby a person, upon examination (vs.28) is broken in heart for sin and justifies God seeing himself as helpless without Christ. The Law, by God’s grace, sanctifies Christians too through repentance (cf. Romans 7: 7-12) from a dead lifestyle unto the richness of a discipled life in God’s Word.
The Church is called by God to be THE Pillar and Support” of Truth (cf. I Tim.3), confronting transgression in people. Yet, too many churches terribly judge the Law of God, labeling it with carnal misrepresentations like “Pharisaic,” “judgmental,” “legalistic,” “unloving.” The fallout? Churches become “irrelevant” without the Law of God, failing at Repentance/sanctification. The culture is then trodden under the foot of man.
Hollywood and other culture influencers mock the Bible’s use of “Carnal.” Few in our divided society laugh at key “synonyms” for carnal: abortion, abuse, Biden, sexual exploitation, pederasty, drug abuse, living together, HIV, drunkenness, theft, child abuse, porn, deceit…And few understand “carnal” in more advanced deceits: inflation, securitization, monetization, democracy, redistribution of wealth, envy, welfarism, racism, Marxism, socialism, Fabianism, Nazism, Darwinism, environmentalism, Hegelianism…too many to list. Swarms of government agencies are “carnality enforced.” The Church needs to repent of it all…and teach people HOW to replace this idolatry by living in uprightness IN ALL FIELDS of life!
[1] Yes, but note I John1:8.
[2][2] Send for the first written article on the “Black Regiment” (1992).
(The second of four articles entitled the Four Trojan Horses. See the upcoming book by Mickey Paoletta and Dr. Wayne C. Sedlak.
Dr. Wayne C. Sedlak, Linguist, Historian, Graduate Professor, Pastor
Michael Paoletta, Expert on the Federal Reserve banking system and the Judiciary
