Where is the Reliance on God?

I have started reading Greg Bahnsen’s Theonomy in Christian Ethics and in the introduction are some quotes (pgs 12-13) that are very relevant to our times. These quotes reveal what turning from God’s standard’s to anything else looks like.

“Everything for the State, nothing outside the State, nothing above the State” - Mussolini

“The State dominates the nation because it alone represents it” – Hitler

“The State embraces everything, and nothing has value outside the State. The State creates right” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“…[God} is teaching us that we must live as men who can get along very well without him.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What these quotes show is reliance not on God but on man to deal with life. This shows the government (State) to be the perceived messiah of man and nothing can be further from the truth. While most would not claim Mussolini or Hitler to be a believer Bonhoeffer’s quote is disturbing as it comes from one that is often held in high regard within the Christian community.

In today’s culture there is a great deal of antinomianism and within the church this is often just as prevalent. Many may not claim to be antinomian but actions and words often reveal quite the opposite. It needs to be realized that if one does not live by God’s standard, as reveled in ALL of His word, one is left with a standard that is truly no better than anyone else’s.