Holiness

Transcript of the segment on the Law and the State vs. the Gospel:

Here’s what Jesus says, what distinguishes you from them [good people] is the truth, the truth of God. You will find that Jesus says in this gospel that truth sets you free. Free to do what—free to swim against the current of popular opinion; free to be God’s different men and women. You know there are great moral movements in the world that try to make laws they believe are for humanity’s good and which may even conform closely to the Law of God. These movements are good. They are especially good in a democratic society like ours. It is the place of good government to uphold what is right and to punish what is wrong. But at the end of the day, all the State can do is negative. It can promote good things; it can punish evil things; but it cannot change a person’s heart. Only the gospel can do that. That is the limit of the State’s power. The church as the church, and the Christian as the Christian, must insist that the gospel, the truth of God, actually changes people. You’ve got to draw a distinction here between our faith in the power of truth and the function of law in society. The function of law in society is to curb bad behavior. The proclamation of the gospel is to create new people, who keep the Law of God from their hearts. Who are changed on the inside.