In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve decided to ignore God’s boundaries, self-government failed. Over the course of time, God instituted the Ten Commandments for people to govern their actions. The law eventually proved that man’s nature does not change by external rules.
Finally, God sent His son, Jesus, to give us a new nature. He taught us that true transformation occurs when our heart changes through repentance. When we ask for forgiveness and accept His work on the cross, the regeneration process begins. Jesus offers us a fresh start and teaches us how to walk with God. He redeemed what was lost by Adam in the Garden. The change is not a religion but a relationship that continues to change us from the inside out.
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments in the above two commandments. Those who are born-again have the power to be self-governing by following Jesus and His ways of doing life. There are no laws that can legislate the above two commandments effectively; they are the most powerful two commandments that can shape the nature of any society or nation. The change always begins with us and its ripple affect impacts those around us. True self-government begins when we fear and love God!
We can look at a simple example of traffic laws and the impact of violating them on the society. While we have law enforcement that holds individuals accountable to traffic violations, the system is designed with the assumption that most people will be self-governing and will follow the traffic laws. If everyone in a city decided not to follow the traffic laws, chaos would ensue in the matter of hours. There would be numerous accidents and the police force would not be able to handle all the traffic violations and accidents. When people don’t honor the law, it creates an unsafe and insecure environment for everyone in the community.
In every sphere of society, we are dependent on men and women who are willing to follow the laws of various institutions and do right in order to protect themselves and others from harm. It used to be that the the lawlessness was equated with those marginalized in society. However, nowadays, lawlessness is embraced as a sign of intelligence and political engagement in some circles, and those in power encourage the average person to be lawless. While unjust laws should be challenged through the right channels, we cannot have a society where people just decide to be lawless whenever something doesn’t meet their expectations. This pattern of behavior creates anarchy, and it threatens the security of every innocent person. We are all accountable to the Lord in how we conduct our lives, and we should not condone lawlessness as trendy or smart!
