[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

At War With The Laws of God

Some atheists have waged war against the Ten Commandments in recent decades, forcing monuments off public property wherever they find them. One famous case involved Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who placed a monument of the Ten Commandments in the judicial building rotunda in Montgomery, the state capitol.

This caused no small controversy.

After a lengthy legal battle, the monument was removed from the rotunda and Roy Moore was removed from his judgeship.

In another famous incident, a monument displaying the Ten Commandments at the Arkansas State Capitol was destroyed by a man who deliberately crashed his car into it less than 24 hours after it had been erected.

The same individual destroyed another display by the same method a year earlier in Oklahoma, but was this only an act of one crazed man?

As reported by the Associated Press:

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the removal of a Ten Commandments display from its Capitol in 2015, and the state’s voters in 2016 rejected an initiative aimed at allowing the monument to return (“Arkansas replaces Ten Commandments monument at state Capitol,” Times Record, April 26, 2018).

Some professing Christians are rightfully angered by the assault against this God-given code of law, yet surprisingly, the greatest enemy to the commandments is not atheists.

I’ll show you who that enemy is, and it may surprise you! So, stay tuned!

Is Lawlessness Really God’s Desire?

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World. On today’s program I’ll be revealing who is the greatest enemy of God’s Law and it may not be who you think.

I grew up in mainstream Protestantism and was taught the Ten Commandments as a child.

I was never much good at memorization, but I somehow managed to quote all ten well enough to receive a personal copy of the New Testament.

Imagine how surprised I was a few years later when I was told we no longer need to keep these laws!

Not by my atheist Uncle George, but by two professing Christians!

All that memorization time was wasted!

These were not the exact words they used, but were similar to those found on one website:

The 10 Commandments, the Law, the Blood(old) Covenant, and the Levitical Priesthood were given to the Jews in Exodus 19 through 34. They were not given to Gentiles then or ever (“Law or Grace?,” ClearBibleVerses.com).

The author of the site goes on to quote the pet scriptures that make it appear the law is indeed done away.

So what’s the truth? Is the law of God still in effect? Or has it been replaced by grace. Which is it? Law or grace?

In the remainder of this program, I’ll answer that question with five easy to understand keys that unlock the answer, but before doing so, let’s notice a few scriptures that are used by antinomians—that is, those who are against the law and claim we do not need to keep it.

Romans 3:28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Galatians 2:15–16: We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

When you’re seventeen years old and someone cherry-picks scriptures such as these, and doesn’t explain them, it can be very convincing that there is no longer any need to keep the law of God. To do so sounds like “salvation by works.”

But let’s look a little deeper into the subject.

The first of the five keys to understanding whether or not the Apostle Paul contradicted other apostles, and Christ Himself, is:

Key #1: Paul wrote some things hard to understand

The Apostle Peter warned us that people twist Paul’s writings, and even tells us who the culprits are.

Here is the warning, as found in 2 Peter 3:15–16. Breaking into a thought, he writes that,

… our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

But, who are these people who are untaught, unstable, and who twist Paul’s writings? Let’s continue.

You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked (2 Peter 3:17).

Other versions, such as the Revised Standard, the New English, and the New International, translate wicked as lawless men.

Consider for a moment what lawless means? Whether the translators use the term wicked or lawless, it is evident that those who twist Paul’s letters have a problem with law.

Think about that!

So our first key to understanding the Apostle Paul’s teachings on law and grace is that, according to Peter:

Key #1: Paul wrote some things hard to understand

The subject of law and grace goes further than the Ten Commandments. It is clear from New Testament scriptures that sacrifices, circumcision, and other ritual laws are no longer necessary, but there are statutes in addition to the Ten Commandments that Jesus, the Apostles, and the first century church of God observed, such as the biblical festivals and holy days.

Why is it dear friends that professing Christianity claims it is “salvation by works” to observe the days God spelled out in the scriptures, but not salvation by works to observe days originating and steeped in pagan practices?

Think about it!

And what is being lost by rejecting important biblical holy days?

Christ Forgives but Obedience Must Remain!

Many people think the Apostle Paul explained away the need to keep the law of God. Is that so? As we saw in the previous portion of this telecast, the Apostle Peter warned us that:

Key #1: Paul wrote some things hard to understand

We’ll look in a few minutes at some of those writings that are twisted by lawless men to reject God’s laws, but first, let’s look at:

Key #2: You do not need grace where there is no law

Do you realize that if you do away with law, you do away with the need for God’s forgiveness?

Here is a point that so many fundamentally do not understand, and yet a child can easily understand: If there is no law, there can be no transgression. Let’s read that straight from the writings of Paul:

For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression (Romans 4:14–15).

Yes, the law does bring about wrath—the death penalty. But if you do away with the law, you of necessity do away with that penalty.

And if there is no penalty, there is no need for grace. Think about it.

This brings us to the crucial question, “What is sin?”

When was the last time you heard the Bible definition of sin? Here it is in 1 John 3, verse 4:

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law (King james Version).

So let’s sum up Key #2 with this simple equation:

No law = no sin

No sin = no need for justification (or forgiveness)

No need for justification = no need for a Savior

So let’s move onto our next key to understanding the subject of law and grace:

Key #3: The parable of the courtroom

This principle is found in the Scriptures, but I’ll put it in a modern parable to make the point.

A certain man went into a bar one evening, and after spending too much time at the bottle, he got into his car heading for home. Along the way he missed a stop light, crashed into another car, and severely injured its occupant.

Six months later he appeared before the judge who asked him, “How do you plead?” Feeling very remorseful, he pleaded, “Guilty as charged, your honor.” The judge then sentenced him to a $1,000,000 fine or one year in prison.

The man thought to himself, “I don’t have a million dollars and if I go to jail, who will care for my wife and children?” So he pleaded with the judge, expressing his deep regrets about what he did and proposed, “Your honor, I promise to never drink and drive again. I will obey all traffic laws, pay every penny I owe in taxes, and keep all laws as perfectly as I am able from this day forward.”

The judge replied, “That is what we expect of all people, but you broke the law and severely injured a man. Your keeping the law from this day forward will not undo what you did six months ago.

The man bargained further: “I’ll also do 10 hours of public service each week for the rest of my life.” The judge replied, “That will not heal the injured man. Choose: one year in prison, or $1,000,000.”

Now there was a man in the back of the courtroom who reasoned, “This man is truly sorry for what he did. I believe he will follow through with obedience to the law from this day forward. I’ll pay the fine for him.”

Do you realize this is what Jesus did for you and for me if we repent of our sins and accept His payment for us?

Now here are a couple questions to ponder.

Do you think the kind gentleman who paid the fine would do so if he thought the man would disregard the law that caused him to be brought before the judge?

And did the fact that the penalty was satisfied somehow do away with the law?

Yet, that is exactly what the “do away with the law” crowd teach—that Jesus did it all for us. Therefore they reason that the law, rather than our sins, was nailed to the cross and we no longer need to keep it.

And this brings us to key number 4.

Getting Right With God

 

So far, I’ve given you three keys.

Key #1: Paul wrote some things hard to understand

Key #2: You do not need grace where there is no law

Key #3: The parable of the courtroom

Now for crucial:

Key #4: The heart of the issue is the meaning of justification

The word justify is grossly misunderstood. Yet, many of us use the word all the time in word processing. We have a command in the menu bar that determines whether a letter or manuscript is left, right, or fully justified.

Left justification means the left side of a column is lined up.

Right justification means the right side is lined up.

And full justification means both sides are lined up.

Similarly, in the Biblical sense, when we are out of line or out of step with God due to sin, we need to be back in line, and Paul points to the only way to get in a right relationship with God. No amount of law-keeping will wipe away past sins.

That’s where the man at the back of the courtroom in the parable I gave earlier is necessary. That is where faith in the sacrifice of Christ comes in. He is that Man who pays the penalty for us.

Now let’s notice how this understanding makes clear what Paul wrote. Paul rightfully declared in Romans 3:28:

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified [had his sins forgiven] by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

All our past law keeping will do nothing to justify our sins, but what those against the law often fail to do is read the context.

Notice this clear statement four verses later where Paul asks a crucial question and answers it.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law (Romans 3:31)

Yet, that is exactly what some misguided people think—that the law is voided by faith!

Why don’t they believe what Paul wrote?

Now let’s ask the question, how does faith establish the law?

Well, simply put, the fact that we need faith in Christ’s sacrifice means there is a broken law, the penalty of which needs to be satisfied. Let’s notice another passage used by antinomians—that is, those people who are against the law—Romans 6:14:

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Ahh…“not under law, but under grace.” Now, taken out of context this may appear to say we don’t have to keep the law, but is that what Paul is saying? Why don’t people read the next verse?

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:15–16).

How can I fail to mention one more scripture that the “law is done away” crowd loves? Galatians 3:13:

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).

The man who seeks justification—seeks to have his past sins forgiven through law keeping—will fail. The law is meant to define sin, not justify past sins. Only faith in the sacrifice of Christ can do that. Now notice that the above passage does not say the law is a curse. Paul even tells us in Romans 7:12:

Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

The curse, as shown in the passage from which Paul quotes Galatians 3:13 is the death penalty.

Read it for yourself in Deuteronomy 21:22–23.

The law is not the curse, but disobedience to it brings a curse—death.

And that is why we need a savior to pay the penalty for us.

A True Change of Heart

There is a fifth key to understanding what the Bible teaches about law and grace.

Key #5: Understand what is behind hostility to the law

Mankind from the beginning has had a hostile attitude to the law of God. Adam and Eve chose to determine for themselves right and wrong rather than listen to their Creator.

And Paul speaks of this hostility in Romans 8:7:

Because the carnal mind [that is the fleshly mind apart from God’s Spirit] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

But does that mean that we are to remain hostile to the law? Certainly not!

Paul continues:

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Romans 8:8–9).

So what does the Spirit of God do for you?

God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel on what the New Testament refers to as the day of Pentecost. Nearly fifteen centuries later, God poured out the Holy Spirit on His fledgling Church. Is there any connection between those two Pentecosts? We read right after the restatement of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:29:

Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Do you realize dear friends, that hostility to the law is the problem the New Covenant is to rectify? A change of heart is what the New Covenant is about.

Read that in Hebrews 8:10:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The law was given on Pentecost when Israel came out of Egypt, but they didn’t have the heart to keep it, so God gave the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost after the resurrection to effect a new attitude of heart and mind. Under the New Covenant, not only does the law still exist, but it’s even more difficult to keep, because we are to keep the spirit, or the intent, of the law as well as the letter, and this is shown in Jesus’ sermon on the mount.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27–28).

Perhaps you’ve been told that the law of God is burdensome, but is that what the Bible says? Listen to the Apostle John in 1 John 5:3:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Here is the dirty little secret: most rational people are not against ALL of the commandments—just the ones they disagree with, and the one they disagree with the most is:

Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

They are fine with nine but conclude that God made a mistake with one and sent Christ to correct the error!

In effect, they claim all ten are voided but nine are resurrected in what they call the “law of Christ.” Of course, they also want to get around the biblical holy days so they can substitute holidays that are steeped through and through with pagan customs. Apparently, keeping Sunday and pagan holidays (according to them) is not burdensome, and not trying to save yourself by your works, but resting on the day God chose at Creation—that is—the seventh day, and keeping His holy days IS burdensome and trying to save yourself by your works.

Is that what you think my friends? I hope for much better from you, our Tomorrow’s World followers.

Thank you for watching!

If you found this video helpful and want to understand more about God’s plan for mankind through His Holy Days, order your free copy of The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan. All you need to do is click the link in the description, as it is completely free. And remember to subscribe to our channel so you can continue to learn the plain truth from the pages of the Bible. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Fall of the West?

In many ways, Western Civilization seems to be experiencing its death throes!

Its most respected institutions of government are increasingly mocked, its values are now up for grabs, and its citizenry, in some nations, seem absolutely dedicated to taking their country into civil war. And in our intertwined, global society, what happens to the West will inevitably impact the entire world.

How did we find ourselves on the precipice of such chaos and self-destruction?

To answer that question, we first need to understand a key element in the birth of Western Civilization to begin with, because you can’t understand what is happening to the West until you understand its changing relationship to the word of God, the Bible.

Join us right now on Tomorrow’s World as we look at “How the Bible Built Western Civilization.”

Biblical Foundations of a Culture

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World—where we make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible.

Today, we’re going to examine what’s going on in Western Civilization from a point of view than you will see in most analyses.

Our program is broadcast all over the world, and citizens of many nations, small and great, tune in to Tomorrow’s World to find real answers to the most important questions of life. And these days, many people all over the world are asking themselves, “What is happening to Western Civilization?”

In some of the very democracies and republics that have been considered models of lawful, orderly, peaceful government, scenes of disorder, lawlessness, and conflict have become common sights in our newsfeeds and cable broadcasts.

To be sure, it wasn’t always like this.

While many great civilizations have existed throughout history, in many ways, Western Civilization has created the modern world in which we live.

Now I don’t say this as universal praise. The history of Western Civilization is a spotty record, to be sure. The same nations and cultures that have given the world many gifts that are enjoyed by so many today have also been sources of conflict, subjugation, and warfare. Many nations that were once colonies of Western nations may find that they benefit from their association with Western culture and civilization, but that doesn’t mean they always did so. And many of the West’s accomplishments were financed in part by the wealth and resources it obtained from OTHER nations.

So, please don’t take today’s program as universal praise for Western Civilization.

Only one civilization in all past or future history will be blameless—and we’ll mention THAT civilization at the very end of our program.

However, too many today fall into the trap of criticizing the West as if its culture and civilization has been nothing but a blight on the world since its birth in Europe and its spread across the world.

While virtue signaling to one’s enlightened peers by sneering at the West is extremely fashionable today, it is also ill informed and, frankly, ironic. Because often the very values the critics of the West apply in their critique are values that were disseminated into the world BY Western Civilization!

Rather, the West has, historically, been a wellspring of advances in culture, civil government, science, technology, economic production, and human liberty and freedom that have shaped the modern world in which we live. Think of what music would be today without the gifts of Bach, Mozart, Handel, Chopin, or Beethoven. Or imagine a world that has never experienced the art of Michelangelo, Monet, or Rembrandt.

The Industrial Revolution that brought advancements in production in Great Britain, Europe, and the United States eventually helped to raise the standard of living for millions upon millions of people all across the globe. Scientific discoveries and technological innovations that began in the West have transformed our understanding of the world and virtually every aspect of our day to day lives. And principles of personal liberty, limited government, individual rights, and the rule of law—born in the West and found amongst the words of the Magna Carta, the Articles of the U.S. Constitution, and the enduring legacy of English common law—those have been an inspiration for governments and peoples around the world who long for freedom and rights of their own.

Where did those values truly originate?

Some will point to the spirit of the Enlightenment or the so-called “Age of Reason” in 17th and 18th century Europe. Many today like to point to how the “founding fathers” of many nations of the West studied the cultures of Greece and Rome, and to be sure, those influences are real. But they aren’t sufficient to explain the growth and enormous influence of the West in global history.

What is often ignored concerning the origins of Western Civilization is the influence of THE BIBLE. That time-honored collection of writings of the ancient Hebrews and first-century Christians is the one book without which THERE WOULD BE NO Western Civilization.

Now that may be hard for some to swallow, but it’s true, and understanding that fact provides insight not only into the success of the West, but also into its current decline into madness.

A System of Law and Equity

We said that the central source of Western Civilization—of far more importance than the ancient Greeks or Romans, or the ideas of the so-called Enlightenment, though they had their influence—was the BIBLE.

And in this segment, we’ll illustrate why that claim is true.

Now, before I do, I need to make plain that no part of Western Civilization has truly conformed itself to the WHOLE of the Bible, and those portions of its ancient wisdom the West HAS adopted, it has often grasped half-heartedly.

The major religions of Europe that claimed the name “Christianity” have been, throughout their history, mixtures of biblical and heathen elements, with more connections to the ancient Babylonian mystery religions than many of their priests, pastors, or preachers would care to admit. In fact, many of the powerful of Europe and the West through the centuries have often taken the words of the Bible and twisted them to support their own abominations and abuses.

Yet, Western Civilization as we know it would not exist without the Bible. And however imperfectly its teachings have been used and mishandled, the most significant and beneficial values and principles of Western culture have their origins within its God-breathed pages.

There are too many such values to mention them all, but let’s look at just a small sampling.

Popular historian Paul Johnson once noted in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that the concept of “the rule of law” in Western culture—the idea that no human being, no matter how powerful or wealthy, is above the law—was “the greatest public achievement of the second millennium” (“Laying Down the Law,” Wall Street Journal, March 10, 1999).

And it is the Bible that provided the West with its most significant basis for “the rule of law.”

For instance, Deuteronomy 17, verses 18–20, highlight how kings are not above their people, and how they, too, must obey the law. Passages such as Leviticus 19:15 say that rich and poor must be treated equally under the law, and Leviticus 24:22 says that both foreigners and native-born citizens must BOTH live under the same laws.

And when the law is broken, the West has a deep tradition of ensuring punishment is FAIR and BALANCED. We see that value reflected in Chapter 14 of the Magna Carta or in the U.S. Bill of Rights’ prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.” Again, we see the genesis of this value in Scripture and its regulation of punishment:

… you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe (Exodus 21:23–25).

Modern commentators try to characterize this statement as cruel, but legal historians have recognized it for what it really is: A condemnation of the idea that kings and authorities can impose whatever punishment they want, no matter how cruel, but, instead, must guarantee that punishment is fair and just, fitting the crime.

Yet, the Bible’s influence on Western culture extends far beyond legal foundations.

In a world where human life was often considered cheap, the Bible taught early philosophers and reformers in Europe that human beings had a special dignity, placed in them by no less an authority than God, their Creator.

We see this in Genesis 1:26–27.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Consider, too, the sciences.

Many point to Western scientific advancements and the scientific method of empirical experimentation as a key to the West’s rise in the world. Yet when you study those who MADE those advancements, even in the beginning of the Enlightenment, it was belief in the law-giving God of the Bible, who designed the world of His own free will, that stirred those scientists to study the Creation and expect to find order in it.

As Isaac Newton, a passionate student of the Bible, once wrote:

This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being…. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all… (“General Scholium,” isaac-newton.org).

Newton was not alone in this, and Western science owes its existence to the belief of early Western scientists in an orderly, lawful Creator of nature, as described by the Bible.

The stability in the West of monogamous marriages—of one man and one woman rearing children together—was influenced by the New Testament commands concerning marriage and family. And it was the teachings of the Bible concerning mercy toward widows, orphans, and those in need that spurred the development of charitable organizations in the West that blossomed into orphanages, hospitals, and institutions designed to care for the elderly, the hungry, and the homeless.

Truly, the Bible makes its presence felt in virtually every area of Western Civilization’s foundations.

The Underpinnings of a Moral Society

But the fashion today is to DENY the Bible’s role in Western culture and understanding.

For example, the late Christopher Hitchens, famous for his militant atheism, boldly declared in the title of one of his most popular books God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

Author David Bentley Hart demolishes this pretentious claim in his book Atheist Delusions, where he examines Western Civilization and addresses Hitchens’ claim that somehow religious beliefs, like those of the Bible, have poisoned “everything,” writing,

Does he [that is, Hitchens] really mean precisely everything? Would that apply, then—confining ourselves just to things Christian—to ancient and medieval hospitals, leper asylums, orphanages, almshouses, and hostels? To the golden rule, “Love thine enemies,” “Judge not lest ye be judged,” prophetic admonitions against oppressing the poor, and commands to feed and clothe and comfort those in need? … Surely it cannot be the case that, if only purged of the toxin of faith, these things would be even better than they are; were it not for faith, it seems fairly obvious, most of them would have no existence at all (Hart, David Bentley, Atheist Delusions, Yale University Press, 2009. pp. 219–220).

Yet, the spirit of Hitchens’ conclusion is increasingly common in the West.

And, frankly, there has long been a tension between the recognition that Western values originate in Scripture and the desire to base society on something OTHER than Scripture—on some sort of secular basis that can be open to all beliefs, not valuing any one set of beliefs over another. As a result, some see the best means of EXPANDING freedom is severing the ties between the culture’s values and the Bible, completely.

For example, in debate on the floor of the U.S. Congress in February 2021, Florida Representative Greg Steube read from Deuteronomy 22 as part of his defense that women’s sports should be reserved for biological women and against the idea that individuals can simply choose their own sexual gender identity.

The Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler responded plainly, “Mr. Steube, what any religious tradition ascribes as God’s will is no concern of this Congress” (“Rep. Jerry Nadler: ‘What Any Religious Tradition Ascribes as God’s Will is No Concern of This Congress,’” CNSNews.com, March 1, 2021).

Of course, many were outraged by the statement in the United States, and understandably so.

Yet, do we want our civil governments imposing their own interpretations of the Bible on us? On the other hand, if God’s will no longer plays any part in the values and morals we maintain, then on what basis do those values and morals have any real authority in our culture at all? What will be the results of a society that tries to found its values on something OTHER than God’s authority and sovereignty?

Frankly, we are beginning to experience those results today.

Instead of marriages being understood as God’s binding of one man and one woman, now marriages are treated as mere contractual arrangements between ANY two persons, to be made or broken at will, with families suffering as a result.

In fact, even God’s design of “male” and “female” is being essentially outlawed in many Western jurisdictions, as women are forced to share bathrooms and bathing spaces with biological men who identify as women, and young girls in sports competitions are being crushed by biological males with physical advantages no woman will ever match.

Without the adamant and transcendent standard of the Bible, we are lost in a sea of chaos in which every man’s opinion is as good as any other—and our halls of government and the streets of our cities are increasingly filled with the angry voices of people who are determined that THEIR opinion will rule the day.

What is the result of trying to run Western Civilization according to the vestiges of values from the Bible but WITHOUT the Bible’s divine authority? A world that corresponds very closely to that described by the Apostle Paul to the young evangelist Timothy. We see that description in 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 1:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power… (2 Timothy 3:1–5).

If you don’t recognize our current world in Pauls’ description, you are blind and need to anoint your eyes.

Will Western Society Repent of Abandoning the Bible?

So, what can Western Civilization do?

In our global society and economy, what impacts the West impacts the entire world.

How can the West reverse course and pull itself back from the brink of self-destruction?

As my good friend and frequent Tomorrow’s World writer, Dexter Wakefield, likes to note: “The causes of society’s problems are spiritual. The results are social and political. The solutions are biblical.”

Building our civilization on ANYTHING LESS than a complete embrace of the Bible as God’s own revelation with divine authority over all aspects of life and society will always have the same eventual results: Moral chaos, social conflict, and civilizational collapse.

One of America’s founding fathers, John Adams, understood. Speaking in 1798 to militia members in Massachusetts, then-President Adams noted that if the United States were to begin to seem virtuous only on the surface while the character of the American people began to degrade, the U.S. would become, in his words, “the most miserable habitation in the world.” Why? He answers:

Because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other (“From John Adams to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798,” Founders Online, Founders.archive.gov).

In fact, Bible prophecy speaks of a profound SPLIT that will come to Western Civilization when it does NOT repent of its half-hearted approach to biblical values—resulting in the fall and divine punishment of many nations of the West, specifically the British-descended nations of the world, and the rise of a dictatorship among the other nations that will eventually grip the entire world in its clutches.

The result of these developments will take the world to the brink of self-annihilation, as Jesus says, Himself, in Matthew 24:

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:21–22).

Yes, thankfully, those days WILL be shortened. The world will be saved from itself and will begin its journey into the 1,000-year peace of Jesus Christ and the reign of His saints. That peace will not be brought about by a return to “Constitutional norms” of the values of the West, with its hybrid spirit of biblical values, heathen philosophies, and secular sentiments. Instead, Christ will teach the entire world to embrace the Bible as a whole—without reservation. Indeed, His teachings and the law of GOD, not man, will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for Western Civilization to get its act together and begin embracing the book of books on which that future will be built. You can begin building YOUR life on that book TODAY.

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