Sovereignty (2)

Most citizens of western nations do not acknowledge God. That is their choice. However if there is no god, there can be no absolute standard of right and wrong. We are then left with moral relativism; with each persons opinion being as good as another. In this situation any consensus on correct behaviour will be impossible.

Even if a broad consensus could be achieved, it would have no coercive power. In a society which values pluralism and tolerance any person would be free to opt out of the consensus. Today, we seem to have enshrined relativism as a god. However relativism provides no basis for coercing people to a particular kind of behaviour. Only if people return to God, and acknowledge his standards, will we be able to have a code of behaviour that can be enforced.

The most serious problem with modern democracy is that it makes the civil government the centre of the moral universe. It implies that we are accountable to the government and not to God for our moral behaviour. This is incorrect. We are accountable to God, not to the civil government. God is our creator. He is our judge. Each one of us will have to give an account of our life to him. We are not required to give an account for our behaviour to the civil government. God is sovereign.

The Lord is our judge;
The Lord is our lawgiver;
The Lord is our King;
It is he who will save us.
Isaiah 33:2

Tags: Sovereignty, Democracy