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“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

John 1:9

We live in a darkened world today. It seems that wherever we go darkness is invading our nation and our world. Whether it is violence, hatred, verbal abuse, greed, lying or stealing, evil is all too obvious and pervasive nowadays. Furthermore, what once was called evil is now called good. What once was considered sinful is now being paraded around as virtue. And all the while Biblical truth and Christianity are being blamed for many of our societal problems. Satan certainly appears to be having his way in the world today!

However, we must first recognize that the world began in darkness (Genesis 1:2) and there was no light until God created it (Genesis 1:3). Our world was created by God from nothing and all that exists was created by Him. The physical light in our world comes from the sun, and as the world revolves around the sun we have alternate periods of light and darkness. In reality, though, darkness is the absence of light. And anyone who has been to a remote area understands how dark it gets when there are no lights around. We stumble around at night in our homes until we can turn a light on. Many people fear the dark because we can’t see what’s around us that might harm us.

But there is also spiritual darkness. Before Christ came to earth, a spiritual darkness existed in the world. Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, the world had become a place of darkness and evil. There was murder, human sacrifices, sexual sin, violence, robbery and a host of other evil behaviors. Even God’s people rebelled against Him over and over again. When the Roman empire began oppressing the Hebrew people, the only hope left was the coming Messiah who had been prophesied in the Old Testament (“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the governments will be on his shoulders.” – Isaiah 9:6).

And when Jesus was born in the little town of Bethlehem just outside Jerusalem, the promised Messiah (Savior) had come! It was not a glorious beginning with lots of fanfare and celebration, but a humble birth in a cattle stall. And the first people to proclaim his arrival were not prominent or famous people of the day, but actually lowly shepherds. But it was certainly a world changing event! God had become a man and entered our world to save us from darkness and sin. Jesus was born to bring spiritual light to the earth! The Light has come!

1 John 1:5 says that “God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.” So, in order to combat our spiritual darkness, it was necessary for God to send His own Son Jesus into the world to bring that light to us. And that is true for all humanity, not just those who believe in Jesus. Sadly, however, there are still so many people who have rejected that light and have chosen darkness and evil instead. And most of them aren’t even aware they have done so! The Apostle John wrote in John 3:19-20, that “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”  Throughout the past 2,000 years, people who reject Jesus and His message of salvation for everyone continue to live in darkness instead of the light and therefore prefer evil over good.

Paul wrote to the church in Rome and told them to “be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (Romans 16:19) We must be discerning as well today about what is evil and what is good in our nation and in our world. Paul also said in Romans 12:9 that we should “hate evil and cling to what is good.” In other words, turn away from the evil that you see around you and instead run to what is good. We should heed Paul’s advice in Romans 12:21 that says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

So, with Christmas fast approaching, how should we as Christians respond to this growing darkness in our world today? How can Christmas help us to bring light into our darkened world?

Well, first of all, we should not despair or lose hope because the Light has already come and is still here! Jesus lives and reigns in our world whether or not other people think so. We know it and should live as people of hope. As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9, we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that (we) may declare the praises of Him who called (us) out of darkness into His wonderful light.” Christmas is the perfect time to remind people that the Light has already come!

Secondly, if we have the light of Christ, we should be able see the evil and darkness around us. That will help us to discern what is truly evil (not of God) and what is truly good. We need to be able to see things as they really are in order to be able to discern whether or not they are good and of God. In our world today there are very clever people who make virtuous sounding arguments that are in fact harmful to us if we pursue or follow them. The best weapon we have to stand against this evil is God’s Word. The Bible must become our armor to withstand Satan’s attacks (Ephesians 6:10-17)! Knowing God’s Word will help us recognize evil and avoid it. Reminding others of the true meaning behind Christmas can draw them to God’s Word as well.

Finally, we must accept God’s call to share this Light with others so they too can come out of the darkness and into the Light! Christmas is a wonderful time to do that as we celebrate the child who is the Light! We cannot just sit back and wait for pastors, ministry workers or others to share the gospel. Every Christian is a minister (1 Peter 2:9) and every Christian is a missionary (Matthew 28:19-20)! We must all continue to proclaim the gospel and the truth of God’s Word to a world in darkness! Christmas is a time where we can share God’s Word through the Christmas carols that we sing and the reading of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem from the Bible.

As we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus this year, “let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Let us overcome the evil in our world with God’s goodness that is found in a little baby named Jesus!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

“Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Galatians 5:16

America is very sick. Unfortunately, many citizens don’t realize it or even recognize what’s really wrong with us. To many Americans, we are headed towards a more fair and just society. However, they are actually unaware of the precipice we are on and the dangers that lie ahead for us if we continue on this course. We all know that in many ways things just aren’t right in our country. But the cure we seek for it must be based on an accurate diagnosis of the problem. As every doctor knows, they must first accurately diagnose the problem to properly decide on the treatment for it. If they make the wrong diagnosis, the treatment that they prescribe to fix it may end up causing even greater harm. The same is true for our society.

The Problem

So, what are we sick with? What’s our problem?

To many Americans, they see our sickness as racial division, hatred towards other members of our country, unequal distribution of wealth, misinformation, homophobia, hate speech, police brutality, and religious zealotry. They often proclaim these as our illness when in reality they are only our symptoms. Underlying all of these symptoms is the illness of sin. When we look more closely, we see that these symptoms are caused by greed, anger, envy, laziness, lust, gluttony and pride. In other words, the seven deadly sins! This is the real problem in our nation and we must find solutions that will effectively deal with them.

Sin is also an individual problem. It is a problem built into every human being from birth. It cannot be eradicated by well-meaning social programs that target groups of people rather than individuals. Instead, it can only be treated individually. Just like a medical illness, no two people are exactly the same and so each individual must receive the proper treatment targeting their specific illness and circumstances. Consequently, each citizen must fight this illness of sin every day and seek treatment for it to keep it from harming themselves and others. There is also no immunity from it.

Another issue is that many Americans do not even recognize their sin, or the sins of others, as the underlying illness to our societal problems. On the contrary, they don’t see it as sin at all. Why? Because they have either rejected God entirely or have fallen away from Him and no longer read or trust in His Word. Consequently, they don’t know or recognize what sin is. So, if our leaders misdiagnose the problem as something other than sin, we end up with a treatment that is not effective. That appears to be what is happening today in America because the problems in our society are not going away despite our government’s attempt to treat them. Instead, the treatment they are applying often ends up encouraging more sin rather than reducing it.

Throughout history, governments have failed to effectively treat the problem of sin because it is an individual illness and not a societal illness. Governments can have effective economic, political and social policies that govern the lives of people in general, but those policies cannot remove the individual sins of its citizens. While governments can punish individuals for bad behavior (sin), that is not a treatment but rather a deterrent. The bad behavior (sin) persists because it has not been treated.

So, in reality, our problem in the United States is that our leaders have misdiagnosed the problems we face and have been applying policies that try to treat the symptoms rather than the real illness of sin.

The Cure

So, what is the treatment for sin? Is there a vaccine for it?

In Romans 8:23, Paul writes that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He is declaring God’s truth that we are born sinful. In 1 John 1:8, John writes that “if we claim to have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So it is clear that we all are infected with sin. And if we are honest, sin is at the heart of all of our problems. We also cannot get rid of sin in our earthly lives.  Sin will always be in us. Our only hope is to treat it and keep it from killing us (“For the wages of sin is death.” – Romans 6:23).

The only treatment that exists for sin is God’s Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16 that we should “live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” When we live by His Holy Spirit, it acts like a vaccine that does not allow the sin in us to destroy us. Like a medical vaccine, it gives us some level of protection and lessens the harmful effects. But it does not remove our sin nor cure it.

Is there a cure for sin? Fortunately, yes there is! It is faith in Jesus Christ! Only Jesus’ death on the cross can remove our sin. Jesus declared that he came to save the world from sin (John 10:9) by offering himself as the sacrifice for sin. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we are freed from the consequences of our sin when we put our faith and trust in Jesus alone! However, the cure cannot be experienced in this life, only in the life to come. In our earthly life, we have the treatment and the promise of the cure, but only if we put our faith and trust in Jesus!

When governments try to treat the illness of sin with social program and policies, the end result is that very little changes and the situation often gets worse. It is because they fail to even consider that our problem is spiritual and not physical. As a result, they ignore God and the spiritual solution He offers and thus fail to pursue the needed course of treatment for our problems. They are blind to the truth of both the cause and the cure!

So, when it comes to treating or curing the sin in our culture, it is necessary that each individual get the treatment for sin and accept the cure for it. The government cannot do that for them, nor can anyone else. It also cannot be mandated like a vaccine, but must be chosen voluntarily by each individual.

We as Christians need to speak this truth into our culture and lead people to Christ, the only treatment and cure for sin that exists!

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

Ephesians 3:17-18

In our world there are three physical dimensions – length, width and depth. However, most often we only think of only two dimensions. For every top there is a bottom. For every left there is a right. For every front there is a back. There is nothing in our world that doesn’t have an opposite side. There are also opposite sides in non-physical things such as politics (liberal versus conservative), economics (capitalism versus communism), and law (legal versus illegal). But perhaps most importantly, it seems to also be true in people’s beliefs about reality (absolute truth versus relative truth).

When it comes to truth, there is only truth and falsehood. Many people try to rationalize the truth and come up with their own opinion or interpretation of what may be the truth. But in the end, there is truth and there is falsehood. They are opposites. Something cannot be simultaneously true and false. The question then ultimately becomes the source of that truth. Is it from God, or is it from our self or someone else? And this is where the spiritual dimension comes in.

God is spirit and sovereign over both our physical and spiritual world. And as our Creator, He sets the standard for truth in our world because He is the Truth. Isaiah 45:19 says, “I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” If humans get to determine what truth is, then it will ultimately depend on what every individual person thinks it is, or what the majority of people think it is, and therefore it cannot be a standard for all people. It is plainly obvious that humans cannot set the standard for truth. It must come from our Creator! He is the only One capable of determining what truth is for everyone.

But there are other opposites in our world where without God and the spiritual dimension there also is no standard. For example, let’s take light and darkness. In our world there is light and there is darkness. Darkness is defined as the absence of light. There is no in between. A little light is still light. From God’s Word we know that “God is Light; in Him is no darkness.” (1 John 1:5). God’s desire for mankind is to live and walk in His Light (1 John 1:7). But our world loves darkness (John 3:19). Without God, men will dwell in darkness!

Similarly, there is good and there is evil. Something cannot be both good and evil at the same time. God’s nature is goodness. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!”  God’s standard is good, not evil. The world is sinful, corrupt, and filled with evil. So without God there is only evil. If evil becomes our standard then we are in deep trouble! We need God to prevent that. As Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

God also sent his Son Jesus into the world to be His standard for salvation (John 14:6). Jesus was sinless and took our sin upon Himself to enable us to receive God’s gift of eternal life. It is His grace alone that saves us. Ephesians 2:8 says that “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.”  In our world many believe the opposite, that they can earn salvation by doing good works. Every religion other than Christianity holds to that belief. But in that belief salvation is not from God, it is from man. Therefore, it varies and is not a standard we can depend upon!

When it comes to beliefs, however, many people choose to believe something in the middle. Although there are opposite sides to every issue, we often forget about the space between each side. A coin has two sides, but there is a space in between the two sides, however small. And that leads to the 3^rd dimension of depth.

In our world of beliefs, the depth between opposites is usually a measure of one’s conviction, either weak or strong, about that belief. For example, you might not know for sure if something is true or accurate and so you have a certain level of belief that it is. People also have different experiences and perspectives which result in varying levels of attitudes towards an issue. Unfortunately, that does not result in clear choices between two opposites. Instead, people end up choosing the option that more closely fits their beliefs. That is often most clearly represented in surveys that we take, choosing along a scale as to whether we agree, disagree or are in the middle somewhere with what we think about a particular statement.

Similarly, there is also a spiritual depth to our faith and beliefs, even though God’s standards for truth, light and good are absolute and don’t change. He wants us to adhere to His standard and live according to it. But we can’t. It is because as people we are sinful and our nature is to do what we desire, which is evil and the opposite of good. So, in order to meet God’s standard of good, He sent His own Son Jesus into the world to die on a cross and become the standard for us. Consequently, we are only able to meet God’s standard when we place our faith in Jesus.

Furthermore, God sent His Holy Spirit to enable us to not only believe in Jesus, but to also trust in God’s Truth and live in God’s Light. The Bible says we must “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) and “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:16) But when we don’t live up to His standard, because of Jesus, He forgives us, and we are cleansed so that we can once again meet His standard (1 John 1:9).

Finally, it is worth mentioning the 4^th dimension of time. Many scientists often add time to the other 3 dimensions in our world. We can be in the same place but at a different time, and that could also have relevance to our lives and change our thinking. For example, you could go back to a place that you once lived a long time ago, and while it might look the same, it would not be the same. It is because of changes in the people who live there, changes in the culture, physical changes in the neighborhood, or other changes over time. People’s attitudes and beliefs also change over time. So, time impacts our world – the way people see it and what they believe.

But God is timeless, and His standards of truth, light and good never change (Malachi 3:6). Truth will still be truth. Light will still be light. Good will still be good. And His grace will still be available, as long as Jesus has yet to return as promised in Scripture. We are warned to be ready for that day, lest we find ourselves without His standard for salvation due to our unbelief (Matthew 25:13).

Without the spiritual dimension of God in our lives we are destined for destruction. So, let us have faith in Jesus (John 3:16), accept God’s Truth (John 8:32), walk in God’s Light (Isaiah 2:5), and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). And not only right now, but also in the time we have left!!

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”

Matthew 12:25

There currently exists a crisis in the American Church. Do you know what it is? Are you aware that it is not just recent but has been around for many years? It is a crisis that has plagued the Church throughout history, but seems to be manifesting itself with tremendous strength in America today. It is the crisis of division caused by apostasy.

You probably don’t know what this word means as it is not commonly used today. Apostasy means “the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.” For the American Church, it means the abandonment of the Bible as the authoritative truth of the Christian faith. According to a recent study by George Barna, over 50 % of American evangelical Christians do not believe the Bible is inerrant or trustworthy. A stunning 74% of them believe that people are basically good instead of sinful, 43% believe that Jesus sinned during His lifetime, and 58% believe that the Holy Spirit is not a person but rather a symbol (American Worldview Inventory 2020: Final Release #12, Arizona Christian University, January, 2020).

In other words, secularization has crept into the beliefs of the American Church. Previous commonly held core beliefs with regard to sin and salvation (law and gospel) are now being replaced by secular views. As a result, some churches and denominations now more closely conform to a pagan, secular culture. And their numbers are not small. Most every mainline Protestant Church has a denomination within it that rejects some Biblical teachings. They include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PC-USA), and the post separation United Methodist Church (psUMC). And there are many others that are following the same apostasy. They are rejecting Biblical Truth for secular views, most of them having to do with sexual freedom, identity and behavior.

It appears that Christians who have secular or “progressive” views think that abortion is acceptable, a person can choose their gender, and that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. All of these do not conform to Biblical teaching. God’s Word says that “He knit us together in our mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13) and that we “should not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Abortion is the murder of a human being, someone God alone created. Abortion also results most often from the sin of adultery (sex outside of marriage). God’s Word also says the “He created us, male and female” (Genesis 1:27). God chose our gender. We have nothing to do with it and we cannot change it. God’s Word also says that “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). It’s called marriage, and it’s clearly only between a man and a woman. The Bible also condemns sexual contact in any other context (Exodus 18:1-30). The Bible is very clear on these sexual matters, yet there are some Christians who reject these Biblical teachings in favor of their own secular beliefs. This is apostasy.

So how did this division and crisis in the Church come about? To begin with, sadly, it has always been in the Church. We only need to go and read the New Testament to confirm it was happening back in the early Church. Paul warned the Churches in Rome and Corinth to “watch out for those who cause divisions” (Romans 16:17) and that “there be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10). The New Testament also condemns the practice of sexual immorality that was common at the time (Acts 15:20, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 13:4, and Jude 1:7). Even Jesus Himself spoke out against sexual immorality in Matthew 15:19. Since the Bible also declares that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1 and 1:14), He was obviously referring to all forms of impure sexual relations. Since its beginning, the Christian Church has had to fight off pagan practices and influences that have attempted to corrupt the Church and defy its teachings. It is no different today, although perhaps a bit more pervasive now.

So, why has this crisis re-emerged so strongly? I believe that it has been brewing since the 1960’s with the development of the pill and the emergence of the sexual revolution (sex between consenting adults). These two developments have led to an explosion of sex outside of God’s boundaries of marriage and have resulted in millions of abortions, escalating divorce rates, and the wider acceptance of homosexual behavior for the past 50 years. But it seemed to have gained an extra boost in 2008 with the election of Barack Obama and the subsequent change in public attitude and government policy towards gay marriage and gender identity. Unfortunately, this acceptance by our society has also crept into the Church in the form of cultural and secular beliefs that are contrary to Scripture.

So, what can the Church do to counter this secular influence? Perhaps the first and most important question the Church must ask itself is this – “Is this the result of our own lack of discipleship?” Have we not taught Biblical values (or in some cases avoided it) because the topic was “too sensitive”?  Have we allowed the culture to have more influence than God’s Word amongst our church members? Have we created a generation of church attenders and not disciples of Jesus Christ and His Word? I think the Church needs to take a good hard look at itself in this regard. It’s not too late for the Church to refocus on discipleship and teaching Biblical truth. It must take the culture head-on and not allow its secular beliefs to be tolerated or accepted in the Church! If it doesn’t, then the Church will continue to be divided in America and lose its ability to impact our nation for Christ.

Jesus told his disciples that while we are to be in the world, we are not to be of the world (John 15:19). Peter wrote that we are “aliens and strangers in the world” (1 Peter 2:11). Jesus also called us to be “salt & light in our world” (Matthew 5:13-16). Consequently, we are called to be separate from the world and not like the world. If the Church is like the world then it cannot influence the world to be different than what it is. And if the American church wants to influence our nation for Christ, then it must be unified in both Biblical belief and practice. As Jesus said in Matthew 12:25, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”

But we must also be aware that God is sovereign and will bring about His purpose through this crisis by His Holy Spirit. Could He be preparing the Church to make more disciples by reinforcing the teaching and acknowledgement of Biblical Truth? Could He be calling the Church to revival and restoration of God’s authority in our nation?  Could He be sending His Spirit to reveal the apostasy to those who engage in it and bring them to repentance? Only time will tell.

For those Christians who acknowledge Biblical authority, who “hate evil and cling to what is good” (Romans 12:29), and who witness for Christ and His Word, God will use them to bring the Church in America back to its Biblical foundation. This apostasy must be confronted and removed from the Church in America if it is to come together in unity in order to effectively proclaim the gospel and the truth in our nation.

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15

The United States of America has been on an increasingly secular path for over 50 years. I wrote about the decline in morals and biblical values in my book, About Face: A Call to Turn America Back to God, which was published in 2015. During this past year we have seen tremendous division in our nation covering many different issues including the economy, the pandemic, healthcare, immigration, race, justice, climate change and abortion, just to name the most obvious. Having grown up in America, I have witnessed this growing division and the abandonment of biblical principles and values in our nation. I have also experienced its impact on our society. And it is not good.

The United States of America has been a “shining city on a hill” that people from other nations long to visit and live in because of our freedoms, especially speech, religion and economic opportunity. I know this from my own experience visiting many other nations. The United States is a nation like no other in the world. It was founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles and our Constitution guarantees these freedoms for all of its citizens. It was also established as a nation that would govern itself. But as John Quincy Adams clearly pointed out in 1789, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” In other words, without a biblical foundation, self-government will ultimately fail.

As I survey the landscape of America today, I can’t help but notice this departure from biblical and moral values that President Adams spoke of at the founding of our nation. The division we are experiencing in our nation today is caused by the different attitudes and worldviews of our own people. It is the age old conflict of God’s way versus Man’s way. Today, fewer Americans believe in God’s Word and the principles and values for life that it contains. Instead, many Americans are putting their trust in science and man’s intelligence.

Those Americans who favor Man’s way have a secular worldview that focuses on man’s intellect and ability to reason out all things. To them God is irrelevant. They view people as basically good and that everyone can have their own morals. There is no standard of behavior and little belief in personal responsibility. They say people aren’t the problem, society is! The Bible clearly contradicts this view and says in 1 John 1:9 that “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Believing that we are basically good is a false premise. Proverbs 3:5 also tells us that we should “Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.” According to God’s Word, trusting in our own knowledge and wisdom will only lead us to disaster.

On the other hand, those Americans who favor God’s Word and have a biblical worldview know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9) and that we are sinful by nature (Romans 3:23). They recognize that the problem is not society, it is us! If society is failing, it is because we as individual citizens are failing. Believers in God know that He is good and His moral standards are best for society because man will sin and eventually mess things up if they do things their own way. If nothing else, history proves this to be true. Man without God is inherently evil and will do very evil things to their own people under the guise of making a better society. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot are just a few examples.

So, America is at a fork in the road. There are two paths it can follow. It can continue to choose to follow its own intellect and Man’s way with its historically tragic consequences, such as communism, genocide and slavery. Or it can turn back to God and follow biblical standards and His way, which produces prosperity, generosity and compassion.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrews were given a similar choice when they came to a fork in their road. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 records the choice that God gave them. He said, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Sadly, the Hebrews only followed God for a short time before reverting back to their worship of other gods and their own desires, which eventually brought destruction upon themselves (the curse).

America has the same choice today. Before it lies a blessing or a curse. However, the path America chooses will also have an impact on the rest of the world. If America chooses a path of relying on man’s intellect it will surely decline morally, economically and militarily. It will no longer be able to provide for the needs of its own people or other nations, defend itself or its allies, or remain a stabilizing force for good in the world (the curse). If America chooses to follow God’s way, it will prosper economically, socially, and spiritually. And that will enable it to continue to fight evil in the world, produce food for the world, and provide security for the world (the blessing). As the leading nation in the world, what it chooses will impact other nations either positively or negatively.

Although the impact from this choice may takes many years to materialize, it is critical for the United States to make the right choice today so it can stop its slide down the path towards its own destruction. This will ensure a prosperous future for the United States and the world!

It is also a choice that we as individuals must also make every day to avoid our own spiritual death. Proverbs 14:12 says that “There is a way that seems right to man, but it only leads to death.” If we follow our own ways it will surely lead to our destruction. So, we must put our trust in God to receive the blessing in our own lives. Proverbs 28:25 says that “He who trusts in the Lord will prosper.”

There is no other way to create a better future for ourselves, or our own nation, than to follow God’s way!

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Romans 6:22

For most of us, we are living in unprecedented times. There are only a few people old enough who still remember the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Today, we face the global COVID-19 virus pandemic with its restrictions, closures, lockdowns, and requirements. Millions of people have lost their jobs, some businesses have permanently closed, freedom of travel has been severely restricted, and churches have been unable to meet together. At this point in time, there appears to be no relief in the immediate future from the impact of the corona virus.

Consequently, there are many who feel as though their lives are being held captive by the virus. Some go so far as to claim we are losing our constitutional right to freedom. But are we really in captivity during this pandemic?

To answer that question, let’s first look as what it means to be a captive. The dictionary says that the word captive means “one who has been captured: one taken and held usually in confinement.” We can generally be considered captive, therefore, if we are confined against our will somewhere, such as in a prison cell, as a prisoner of war, or if we have been kidnapped and held for ransom. 

That hardly describes our situation today with the virus. There are certainly restrictions being placed upon all of us, but we still have some level of independence and movement. In some US States and in other countries, the restrictions can either be more or less severe depending upon local circumstances. But in reality, no one is completely confined or held captive to the virus (with the exception of those who have been hospitalized with severe life threatening symptoms).

The Bible describes many times that people were held captive. In the Old Testament, Joseph was put in prison by the Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis), the Jews were in held captive as slaves in Egypt (Exodus), and the Israelites were taken into captivity to Babylon (2 Kings). In the New Testament, the early Christians were put in prison by Paul and even Paul himself was in prison for Christ (Acts). These are clear examples of confinement against one’s will.

Today, we are not confined against our will because of the virus, but simply restricted for a time in what we are allowed to do until the virus passes.

However, we are still being held captive to another, far more dangerous virus. It’s called sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), every human being is born with this virus. And no matter what we do, we cannot rid this virus from our lives. There is no medicine for it. There is no treatment for it. And no doctor can remove it. The Apostle Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). In our church’s corporate confession we say that “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” Another way to state that is that we are “captive” to our sin. Our sin holds us, confines us, and keeps us bound in it chains!

Yet, there is an antidote to counter this virus. An antidote is defined as something that relieves, prevents or counters. That antidote is faith in Jesus Christ, who went to the cross and sacrificed His life in our place to release us from the captivity of sin! His mercy and grace gives us freedom from the virus of sin. We no longer need to be slaves to it or in bondage to it. Jesus did not have this virus of sin, and His perfect life is the only antidote to the virus of sin that exists. There is no way to counter this virus in our lives other than through faith in Jesus Christ!

How do we get this antidote for the virus of sin in our lives? We receive the antidote in the form of the Holy Spirit when we are born again through faith in Christ. Paul said that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24) The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to relieve, prevent and counter the harmful aspects of this virus of sin.

Now, it is important to note that this antidote does not remove the virus from our lives. We are still sinful by nature. But this antidote gives us the power to counter the evil effects of sin and to live lives free of its deathly grip. The virus of sin no longer has the power to take our life! When we place our faith and trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit works in our lives to counter our sinful nature and relieve us from its consequences. And that enables us to live lives that are holy, righteous and pleasing to God.

Our failure to take this antidote, which is provided free to us through Christ’s sacrifice, leaves us vulnerable to the ravages of sin that only leads to death (Romans 6:23). How sad it is that so many people in our world do not even know that there is an antidote for our sin. And worse yet, there are some people who don’t want the antidote and instead prefer to live with sin and its deathly consequences.

As Christians, we have the obligation to let others know that they don’t have to be held captive by the virus of sin and its damage to their lives. They can receive the antidote to sin by simply putting their faith and trust in Christ. It’s free and carries with it a lifetime guarantee!      

While we all wait for an antidote to the corona virus, let us not hesitate to remove our captivity to sin by putting our faith in Jesus. Let us also share the antidote to sin that Christ gives freely to everyone who calls upon His name!

“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying, ‘Lord save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”

Matthew 8:23-27

The above Scripture is about faith and fear. The disciples (and Jesus) faced a dangerous situation in the form of a furious storm and they became afraid. What were the disciples afraid of? According to this passage they were afraid of death, specifically drowning! They had woken Jesus and said, “Lord save us! We are going to drown!” I suppose that we would have said the same thing if we were in that situation. However, notice what Jesus said to them. He said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” For you and I the answer is obvious. They were afraid because they feared death. I’m certain that would have been our reaction as well.

But what was the faith Jesus was talking about? He was talking about faith in Him and His promise of eternal life that He had spoken to them about many times. I suppose the disciples didn’t make the connection at that time. They were still learning from Jesus and perhaps not as fully aware of what Jesus himself would provide to them through His sacrifice on the cross. In this circumstance, the disciples chose fear over faith.

But today, we have no such excuse. We know what Jesus did for us on Calvary. So, if our faith is based on Jesus and what He did on the cross to give us eternal life, why should we fear our earthly death? To fear our death would be to deny our faith in Christ.

We are currently faced with a worldwide pandemic from the spread of COVID-19, a new strain of the corona virus. So, how should we approach this new danger in our lives today? Should we, as Christians, be fearful of its consequences? Should we heed all of the governmental warnings to protect ourselves and stay away from others? Should we put our trust in medicine, doctors, medical equipment or hospitals to save our lives?

I’d like to share three points that can help us clarify what our response should be as followers of Christ.

First, Life is Dangerous!  The disciples faced a dangerous storm, but we also face dangers in our lives every day. We first faced danger when we were conceived. From the moment of conception we faced dangers in the womb from genetics, disease, or miscarriage. We also faced dangers in our delivery, such as being still born or having birth defects or abnormalities. Then as we began our lives outside the womb we faced additional dangers like cancer, poverty, unemployment, natural disasters, accidents and crime.

The fact is we face danger every minute of every day. There are dangers we see and dangers we do not see. According to the National Safety Council, here are a few of the odds of dying in America from various causes:

• Heart disease & cancer    1 in 7
• Motor vehicle accident    1 in 114
• Assault by firearm            1 in 370
• Drowning                          1 in 1,188
• Airline accident                1 in 9,821
• Cataclysmic storm            1 in 66,335

These statistics do vary by nation, but notice that from these numbers a storm is one of the least likely things to cause our death (although drowning is a greater possibility)! 

We know that danger is all around us, whether we see it or not. It is part of life and cannot always be avoided. And often the dangers can be random or sudden, not giving us time to react thoughtfully or carefully. We just don’t always think about these dangers unless we are staring one right in the face. The point is, no human being is free from danger or risk. We typically only react however when we can see it or are directly confronted by it. And this leads to my second point.

Secondly, Our Physical Response to Danger or Death is Fear. Fear for our physical lives is part of our human nature and has both positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, our fear can warn us of potentially dangerous situations and give us time to react. These are things like smoke from a fire, snow on the roadway, threatening clouds, or the sound of sirens. These get our attention and enable us to take precautions to protect ourselves. This is why we should heed the warnings and instructions from our government about the corona virus. It is for our protection and instituted under God’s authority (Romans 13:1-5).

On the negative side, however, fear can also cause us to run away, hide, act irrationally or not be able to function at all. These are fears such as confrontations, terror threats, political unrest, or epidemics. These are situations that we believe we need to avoid at all costs. We can see some Biblical examples of this, like Jonah running away from Nineveh (Jonah 1:3), the disciples hiding from the Jews after Jesus’ death (John 20:19), and Peter denying knowing Christ (Matthew 26:69-75).  It is natural to fear danger. It can protect us from harm. But it can also paralyze us or cause us to panic unnecessarily.

So, what should our response be to danger if not fear?  Point number three is that Our Spiritual Response to Danger Should Be Faith. Faith is trusting in God in all things. That means we should trust Him to see us through the dangers that we face. There are three reasons why we should trust Him. First, God is Love. He loves us unconditionally and He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Second, God is Truth and in Him there is no falsehood. He is trustworthy and He keeps His promises to us (Hebrew 10:23). Third, He sent His son Jesus to die in our place as a sacrifice for our sin. Jesus bore our sin on the cross and through His death and resurrection we have been given the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). He faced death and overcame it for our sake. Knowing what God did (and still does) for us, how can we not trust Him when we face danger or death?

I suppose there are those who might argue that we do not possess Christ’s courage. But that is not true! We have the same power that gave Jesus His courage – the Holy Spirit! His Holy Spirit will give us the power to trust in God and the courage to face the dangers of this world, even those that may lead to our death. And because of Jesus’ resurrection we also have hope, the hope that there is life after death and that death is not the end. When we put our faith in Jesus, we have hope, power and courage to face every danger, even death!

Should we trust the medical community to protect or help us when we face danger? Of course we should. They are God’s instruments to bring healing and recovery to our body (1 Corinthians 12:6). But they are not perfect and we should never trust them more than our Heavenly Father. They may be able to care for us between conception and death, but they do not determine either of them. God alone has power over life and death (Genesis 1:27, 3:19)!

We are all facing danger and death in our lives whether we realize it or not. Today it is the corona virus that is on the top of our minds. But tomorrow it might be something else. And there are also other daily dangers that we continue to face apart from the virus. So if we must inevitably face danger and death in this world, let us respond with faith and not fear. As Christians, we must trust God to protect us and see us through our trials through faith in Jesus. Let us not succumb to our fear of death but instead live in the hope of eternal life given to us by Jesus!! Let us choose faith over fear!