THE MORAL LAW

Today we must begin with the great observation of the Apostle Paul on the reality of the moral law. It is found in Romans 2: 14-15:

"when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them."

And upon this triple experience of Roman, Greek and Hebrew civilizations, there was established the English Common law which has served us well since Henry VII. Now let us be circumspect here in our admiration. Only the Hebrew code placed the understanding and worship of the God of heaven at an equal level with the regulation of human relationships. And one of the weaknesses of the English Common Law is that the system will only work with a population imbued with the ten commandments. That is why, the negation of the civilizing effects of the commandments in the sixties has destroyed the civilization that once guided and prospered the American experience.

Once again, the Jezebel's and Ahab's of secularism announce to their peasants that they are indeed above the rule of law. And how dare any independent counsel even ask the Supreme Court to rule otherwise! Again, unruly pagans would judge the American military code of Justice, because it allows people to actually be punished for the perceived "sport" of adultery! This is the great tragedy of American jurisprudence that we have lost even a righteous pagan's appreciation for the rule of law. Any aberrant decision by any liberal judge is used repeatedly to undermine the principle of law. Law and its interpretation has become about as predictable as psychological theory. No wonder not much works any more in our society.

Some years ago, I was involved in a legal case concerning property. That property was lawfully voted on at a meeting convened for the express purpose of deciding the future of that organization. After the meeting, part of the group called another meeting to which the whole body was not notified and voted themselves half of the property. Sadly to say, they got their way in an overloaded civil court which preferred to negotiate an illegal settlement by any standards of ancient law.

One of the greatest nerve wracking experiences in public education today is the absolute and total breakdown of holding any standard of performance. Even if some minimal standards can be negotiated, the rule of administrative arbitration is always final. Even the minimalist high school "scholars" of our time have figured out this lack of rule and so each student lives however they please! One student recently was given a court order to be in school every day. It was almost a week before that student gave lip service to that requirement. Written large across our culture, this is why we cannot attain any restrictions on the death of unborn children. There is no rule of law except the rule of those in power who are supported by the mediarians who believe they can profit from such an arrangement.

Providentially, Paul the Apostle lived in a time when even a pagan representative of the City of Rome could hear trumped up charges by the Jewish sect in Palestine! As we look in fascination at chapter twenty-four we see that the God of heaven will certainly make use of the rule of law even as it was understood by the corrupt judge Felix. I use the word corrupt here because we see in our last verse that Felix would be perfectly willing to accept a bribe in the case and thus set Paul free. But even though he is corrupt in that sense, he still will use his office to stop the lynch mob of Jewish radicals. This judge Felix had even familiarized himself with the peculiarities of the Christian Church which at that time was called "The Way". What is more he sends for Paul to hear him out.

For two years this goes on, then Felix is replaced and the case continues to be heard and eventually Paul is sent to Rome for a final appeal. In the meantime, the house arrest that Paul endures allows him freedom to work, write and confer with his many visitors. In spite of the spurious charges of the Jews, Paul is protected by the Roman legal system and allowed to continue his studies and work.

In Imperial Russia, the Czars for many years placed radical socialists on house arrest and sent them to places in Siberia where they too could write, communicate and even debate the justice of their sentence. When these same radicals come to power, they showed how little they had learned by not only destroying Czarist Russia but even the lowly members of every other political party! A couple of elections ago, before Geraldine Ferraro was selected as the vice-presidential candidate, another candidate was interviewed. While we may have concerns about the Ferraro families friends and connections, she was actually a better choice. You see the other more radical candidate had suggested in public speeches that Christians in this country should be locked up! In a similar manner, I heard an educational town hall discussion where a well known educational administrator argued that every conservative must be purged from the state's school system before the system could work the way it should.

A lot of law abiding Christians do not understand the true nature of our modern public square! The fact is being made clear that any moral law is considered suspect by the absolute anarchists in our midst today. Sincere law abiding Muslims, Jews and other assorted pagans of all types can be engaged in friendly debate over the nature of God's natural law even as Felix was enabled in our text today. The real challenge today is to debate those who belong to the lawless one because they do not recognize any form or substance of moral law!

Even aborigines in the most desolate places on earth comprehend the necessity for marriage contracts and the regulation of sexual activities, limited destruction of human life, the importance of family relations for the good of the little ones, an authorized chief or shaman, the validity of truth telling and limiting the covetous desires of tribal members. And what is that moral law known by all cultures with any minimal aspirations at civility. Next week we shall address the universality of the revealed law of our God in heaven.