They Need to Know! – The Kingdom Curriculum III (6)

They Need to Know!

For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Matthew 14:3, 4

One of the effects of consistent living and teaching about the Law of God will be to heighten the awareness of sin on the part of our contemporaries. This is one of the important purposes of the Law of God (Rom. 7:7). Just as in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, our example and instruction about the righteousness of God will cause others to consider their sin, in many cases, for the first time. Sin, after all, isn’t a malady limited to the people of God, the followers of Jesus Christ. Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), all need to know that their behavior is offensive to God (Rom. 6:23). Whether or not people believe in Him or consider His Law to be relevant or true is irrelevant; they still need to know. A day of judgment is coming, and God has placed His people on the wall of men’s souls to cry out against unrighteousness and to urge men to turn to the Lord (Ezek. 33:1-9). This will not always be pleasant or easy duty, but it is our duty nonetheless.

John the Baptist shows us the truth of this by speaking to the pagan king, Herod. Herod had violated the Law of God, taking his brother’s wife (Lev. 20.21), and John was insistent that this was not pleasing to God. In fact, the construction of the text in Matthew 14:4 indicates that John declared this witness to Herod over and over. Sin has consequences (Herod: check with Nebuchadnezzar), and it was not out of meanness or spiritual arrogance that John preached the Law to the pagan government of his day. It was out of concern for the wrath of God.

As followers of Jesus Christ we must study and obey the Law because this is the way we grow in the righteousness we already possess in Jesus Christ. We are also called to live and proclaim the Law as a way of strengthening our witness by seeking the welfare of our nation and calling others to consider the wisdom and goodness of God. But we must not lose sight of the fact that our God will by no means clear the guilty nor wink at their persistence in sinful ways. Are we concerned that the wrath of God might fall on our nation? Probably not; or if we are concerned, we probably consider it a remote possibility. But it is not a remote possibility. The wrath of God is even now being revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men (Rom. 1:18ff), and a day of greater, even eternal wrath, is fast approaching.

If we see our nation mired in sin, we need to speak up. Our rulers and neighbors may not believe or even welcome our exhortations and admonitions, but that is quite beside the point. Like John the Baptist, for the sake of truth and out of love for our neighbors, we must not remain silent when the Law of God is being broken.

But, wait a minute, didn’t that cost John his freedom and ultimately, his head? Yes, but Jesus promised us that, just as the world hated Him for revealing their sin, so it will hate us (Jn. 15:18-25). We do not seek to provoke our neighbors, only to alert them, and to call them, by the example of our lives and the persuasiveness of our speech, to turn from disobedience and to seek the Lord with us.

Order your copy of The Law of God today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, Waxed Tablet, to place your order and take up the Kingdom curriculum of our Lord.

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is 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.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.