All Things Good Uses of the Law: A Foundation for Justice and Goodness (6)

All Things Good

Uses of the Law: A Foundation for Justice and Goodness (6)

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. Romans 13:3, 4

Ask any public official whether he wants to do what is good for the people, and he will certainly respond, “Of course.” But how can we know what is good? Do our public officials mean by this only what is expedient? What is economically feasible? What they consider to be good? Or what is “good enough” to keep them in office?

We must demand of our public officials that they commit publicly to a particular idea of what is good, explaining that, in God’s eyes, they are His servants to do good as He defines it.

The Law of God is good (Rom. 7:12). Since the Law of God is good, that public official who wishes to serve God for good must seek to learn the wisdom and understanding which that Law encodes. Ours is the duty to instruct them, by communicating openly and privately, recommending policies consistent with the teaching of God’s Law, setting forth candidates schooled in the wisdom and understanding of God, and expressing our opposition to all policies and all politicians whose views do not reflect the holy and righteous and good Law of God.

We must not be shy about this. We hue to a standard of goodness that is fixed and unchanging. Our contemporaries cannot say this. Instead, they trade on a general sense of “good” which seems to get them by, largely because it is never challenged, but which begs more precise definition. They may attack us for our forthright stance on the unchanging Law of God. But we must show them that they lash out at our position from the shifting and unstable sands of relativism, political expediency, or mere self-interest.

In the end, for the well-being of the nation, the only definition of “good” that matters is that which God has prescribed.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Bookstore, then Church Issues.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.