As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:10–24)
Our nation witnessed another horrible school massacre with numerous elementary school students murdered. Those who are older know that in the past such horrific mass shootings never took place in our society. Yet, in today’s world they are becoming common.
The key problem is not guns, and it is not school security. In the 1950’s, for example, people could readily purchase guns, and it was very easy to enter school buildings. No, it’s a moral problem. Here are but some of the contributing factors:
- The Ten Commandments are rarely being taught to our young people, including the sixth command: “Thou shalt not murder.”
- A large percentage of Americans do not attend church services regularly and sadly most churches do not faithfully preach the Bible.
- Capital punishment (Genesis 9:6) is not practiced in America; murderers are not put to death. The purpose of capital punishment was to remove the murderer from the earth and to cause others to fear.
- There is a breakdown of the family unit.
- There is a diminishing respect for human life. Most are horrified by young children being shot, but many have no problem with the cruel slaughter of the unborn.
- Most children are not taught values by loving parents but get their education from social media, television and Hollywood movies which abound in violence and filth. Children are not trained to focus on that which is true, honest, just, pure, and lovely (Philippians 4:8).
- The depravity of man is expressed with few external restraints: “Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:14-17).
- The ultimate problem is a spiritual one: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18).
– – Reprinted with the kind permission from George Zeller:
www. Middletownbiblechurch.org
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