Changing Laws does not Change Hearts

"On the issue of social justice, it is important to remember that changing laws does not change hearts. Changing a law may get you compliance, but it will never get you repentance, which is--or should be--the goal (at least for those who profess to be followers of Christ). Unjust laws are the by-product of unjust hearts (Mk. 7:17-23). As Christians, we must not only desire that people *do* right, but that they *be* righteous (Rom. 12:2)." - Darrell Bernard Harrison

The new social justice movement has very little (if any) understanding of human nature and the degree of our corruption as human beings. If they had free reign to enact every law and educational reform they wanted, do they honestly think it would solve the worlds problems? It would not even scratch the surface. Our problem is much, much deeper than that. The problem with humanity is pre-political. It is a spiritual problem.

This inherent denial of total depravity in the movement reveals a complete lack of self-awareness. Jesus did not come to die for good people but for sinners. The kingdom of heaven is not for people who think they are righteous, but for those who know they are not. When you can only see other people's sin and not your own, you do not even have a basic understanding of the gospel. Forgiveness towards others is not possible for people who think they need no forgiveness. And since the social justice movement will never solve all the world's problems, they will always remain unforgiving and demand justice now. 

While we all ought to work for justice, we should be under no illusion that we are wise enough as fallen human beings to bring it about perfectly, or even well. That is over-realized eschatology. God calls us to be patient. He will repay. (Rom. 12:19) Our inner biases mean we ought to be careful when we do justice since we are prone to error ourselves. The social justice movement self-righteously declares that "others are evil and I am not". It says, "I know how to dispense justice because I know better than others what is good and what is the best for the world and best way to bring it about." Such hubris is the essence of self-deception and is the basis for much of the tyranny that has taken place in the world.

No doubt biblical justice is clearly a necessary by-product of hearts which are redeemed and minds renewed by the Spirit of God. Preaching the Gospel and seeking the establishment of just laws are not mutually exclusive. But pursued as an end in itself "social justice" is ALL LAW and no gospel. This kind of moralism ends up being whatever people say it is - usually based on pure emotivism and is currently sweeping the gospel out of churches, and if we are not careful, will become a cult.

Only by affirming that we are all sinners in desperate need of grace will we all fully embrace each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We can forgive others because we know how much we ourselves have been forgiven.

Thu, 02/07/2019 - 13:15 -- john_hendryx

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