For a nation to be great the people of the nation must have a guide for personal conduct and the government must have a set of documents that give it the limited authority to enact laws to guide the nation, but that authority must flow from the people who are guided by a higher power than themselves. Paul wrote in Romans about government: 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Clearly government is ordained of God and therefore is to be followed. But he limits government in verse 3: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: Paul then wrote that rulers have a responsibility since they are ministers (agents) of God: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Then Paul explains the necessary conduct of the citizen relative to godly rulers: 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

In those verses we can see the higher power who guides all, both the citizens and those who are in public and appointed office. The power is external to both and both have the responsibility to follow God. Inherent in the words of Paul are the duties of government, but they are limited by the principles of God and to the dealing with the wrongdoers of society. It is obvious that the founders of the nation understood the need to follow God and the need for setting forth the limited powers of government when they created the United States Constitution.

We are at a crossroads in this nation. We either return to the government the founders gave us and the pathway of God, or we shall continue down a path that only leads to destruction. It is recognized that certain forces don’t like rules and want to do as they please. At one time the people demanded the death penalty for acts that took human life in a premeditated wanton manner. Now much sorrow is exhibited for the criminal and very little it any for the victim and the victim’s family.

The killing of the unborn (sometimes it is done after birth) is now a right, but it isn’t in the Constitution as has been pointed out. We aren’t respecting life and as such, the higher power of God is ignored enabling man to do as he or she pleases. An adherence to God’s principles will stop abortion in its tracks, but it will take a godly people who will return to the old paths.

The Constitution wasn’t some notion by a group of old men. Rather it is a document that was put together by men who loved God so that the people of the nation could live in freedom and liberty with full rights as given from God. We have departed from those ways to our peril and the peril will only increase as we continue to ignore God and the limits on government.

Hear the words of Thomas Jefferson: "I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the
people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition."

It is my prayer that the readers will have gained some insight into how the Bible is reflected in the Constitution through the principles contained therein that follow scriptural teachings. By them the nation was made great. By once again honoring both God and the inheritance the founders gave to us, the nation can return to greatness.

© 10-01-2007 DEC