We have an amazing opportunity to fine-tune our appreciation of the “simplicity that is in Christ.” The world is struggling to find its way under intense pressure exerted by a worldwide crisis. Throughout this process we have been able to see for ourselves the working of the human mind without input and direction from God. Observing the difference between a mind fueled by the power of God’s Holy Spirit and the natural mind of man should embolden us in pursuing a more separated life from what the Bible refers to as “the world.”
The glaring weaknesses of man’s systems are being exposed. Our form of government is failing under the pressure to perform even the basic tasks of providing safety and a healthy environment for its citizens. Many of the organizations set up to oversee disease control, world health standards and medical safeguards are found to be riddled with corruption and self-serving administrations.
Intellectually we know that all the ways of man will fail because they have left God out of the picture. They rely on themselves and their own wits, believing they can order life. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons we can observe is how the serpent who deceived Eve by his craftiness – adroitness, trickery or sophistry – has continued to employ this tactic to lead man into a box canyon. Man is actually being led to his own destruction, but all the while Satan induces man to think he is getting better and better by utilizing his “enlightened” mind.
Here is an outstanding example of what it has meant for man to “eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. The letter that follows was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 29, 2020. It was titled, Respect the Natural Law:
As our economy and political landscape operate in disarray, perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic can serve as a sincere wake-up call. It is time we must return to respecting the natural law. Any person with religious appreciations can recognize the abandonment of traditional values that pervades throughout today’s post-modern culture.
Church attendance has declined, childbirth out of wedlock has increased and substance abuse has skyrocketed. Today’s citizenry has taken matters into its own hands, liberating itself from thousands of years of tradition, assuming that it is enlightened enough to define the meaning and bounds of a good life.
This post-modern notion is extremely appealing to many, as it enables each individual to live licentiously, pursuing whatever sensual pleasure one so desires. Although the relativist view on human nature is tempting, its praise does not justify its legitimacy. This is becoming more apparent each day. Suicide rates suffer all-time highs, nearly half of Americans report that they sometimes or always feel alone, and one in five feel as though they rarely or never feel close to anyone. If you look around, it is clear that the post-modern ideology has failed miserably. We cannot escape the objective truths of the natural law.”
Sounds good doesn’t it? There are some correct observations that many of us would nod our heads in agreement with. However, focus on the offered solution – “the natural law.” What is this natural law he refers to?
As the name implies, natural law is the belief that “nature” could be the source of moral or legal norms. The theory, in philosophy, says that humans possess an intrinsic sense of right and wrong that governs our reasoning and behavior.
After outlining valid societal problems, the solution offered by the writer (which sounds so good by comparison), is to tap the inner goodness of human nature. Many sincerely believe it is within man to be able to establish laws that will “define the meaning and bounds of a good life.” In biblical terms it is man doing what is right in his own eyes. Man’s “natural law” underpins many, if not all, of the disciplines in our society.
When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they took to themselves the right to define what is right and what is wrong. God, and the spiritual enlightenment that His Spirit provides, was rejected. Man has been relying on the law of nature ever since.
You have a truly enlightened mind! “…Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12).
Closely watch the developing world scenario and observe how man with the spirit of the world is floundering and unable to navigate a course that would produce peace, safety, good health and a stable environment. Observe, be thankful and work to protect the sound mind that God has given you.
We do not operate by the natural law. We live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We need to respect – not the natural law – but the beautiful law of God that proceeds from His mouth.
Brian Orchard
