Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: math1h3@jetson.uh.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: I AM DISGUSTED! Message-ID: Date: 18 May 91 04:40:54 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Houston Lines: 112 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , jclark@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (John Clark) writes: > There have a been a couple of postings during which I have though > the following: > "if civil laws reflected the Biblical moral laws, would any more > people receive salvation?" > > It would seem from a number of postings, that some people beleive > that if certain 'temptations' were not available, the less people > would 'fall'. This seems to be in contrast to the statements that > everyone is in need of the 'saving Grace' independent of what type > of sin is involved. You raise an interesting point, and it's one that I have pondered occasionally. There have been a few postings lately on the purpose of the law, and I think this topic is closely related to your question. Lutherans describe the Law of God as serving three purposes: 1. To maintain external discipline against unruly and disobedient men (as a 'curb against unrighteousness') 2. To lead men to a knowledge of their sin, (as a 'mirror') 3. After they are reborn, and although the sinful nature still resides in them, to give them a definite rule according to which they should pattern and regulate their entire life. (as a 'guide'). (paraphrased from the Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VI). When we speak of the civil laws reflecting God's law, we ought to be thinking in terms of purpose # 1, and maybe #2. We ought not to be thinking about regenerating people through the law. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do that. I think there is a definite place for the civil law to be used to uphold God's law. Certainly God's law against murder and theft must be enforced by the government. The question before us, however, has to do with things like abortion, divorce, adultery, and homosexuality. First of all, we ought not think that by enforcing laws against such sins we are making people into better people. Those opposed to such laws are usually quick to point this out. But I do not think that this is sufficient reason to abandon laws regarding sexual morality. Even though the law does not make people any better, it still serves a valid purpose as a curb against unrighteousness, keeping society orderly. The law reflects society's disapproval of offensive behavior, and (IMHO) more people would take their marriage vows more seriously if they knew that society disapproved divorce. I think more young men and women would avoid homosexuality if society were more disapproving of it. Not all would avoid it, but some would. If society really disapproved of premarital sex, we might see fewer single mothers and illegitimate children. As it is, our schools are swamped with significantly under-parented children. I think this, more than anything else, is going to be the ruin of the USA, and perhaps we will deserve it. We have to also consider that a sinner who feels society's disapproval may be more likely to repent, and seek forgiveness at the cross of Christ. There is another side to this: too many people who call themselves Christian really only mean that they are good citizens who obey the law. This is where the church has to do a better job of preaching the law, so that even the outwardly law-abiding citizens realize that they are only wretched sinners in God's eyes, sinners who are saved by God's grace alone. It has been rather interesting to me that at the same time our society has backed away from laws governing sexual morality, we have been quite happy to tie ourselves in bureaucratic knots with laws against discrimination. Now I am opposed to racial and religious discrimination, and I live in a city that has a lot of racial discrimination. I live in a neighborhood that, ten years ago, one might have called 'integrated', and now, most would call 'black'. Why the change? Because too many white people are afraid to live in a neighborhood with 'too many' black people-- and so they run away. I would say that racial discrimination (and not black people) has cost me about $20,000 in property values -- value that I can ill afford to replace. I would dearly love to wipe out racial discrimination. Yet I have grave reservations about anti-discrimination laws. To a certain extent, these are laws that are designed to change people's attitudes-- something that I believe only the Gospel can do. There is a certain amount of the 'curb against unrighteousness' in them -- you shall not burn crosses on your neighbor's lawn, you shall not make black people sit in the back of the bus, etc. But we run into real enforceability problems in other areas, particularly employment or housing discrimination. 'Why did you hire Bob instead of John?' 'I liked him better'. And so, in order to totally stamp out this evil, we make various employers collect data, and thoroughly justify any employment decision, which means more paperwork and expenses. Yet we still do not wipe out the sin. A case in point is the famous Grove City College case. The college refused to comply with the requirements of a federal civil rights law, asserting that since it accepted no direct federal funding (other than student scholarships), it was not subject to the law. The government never accused the college of discriminating; the complaint was that the college refused to do the paperwork. The courts decided in favor of the college; subsquently after a few years the Congress passed a 'Civil Rights Restoration Act' (I think that is the name) to 'rectify' this 'injustice'. We have arrived at this silly state of affairs because we think we can change people's hearts by enforcing laws. When they remain disobedient and sinful in our eyes, we pass more laws. We do this because we fail to understand the purpose of the law. Now we are seeing anti-discrimination laws used to defend sin (homosexuality, unmarried couples 'living together') rather than suppress it. Thus the civil law not only fails to reflect God's law, and not only is it used where it cannot succeed, but it is being used in opposition to God's law. Maybe it's time to move to a different neighborhood? :-) David H. Wagner a confessional Lutheran. My opinions and beliefs on this matter are disclaimed by The University of Houston.