Our Problems Are Spiritual, Not Political

We must always keep in mind that our nation’s problems are spiritual, not political. Ultimately, they can only be solved through spiritual means, not political strategy and maneuvering. This is so because of the spiritual condition of each and every citizen who serves in our government and lives in our country.

J.C. Ryle writes of this condition in Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots:

“I admit fully that man has many grand and noble faculties left about him, and that in arts and sciences and literature he shows immense capacity. But the fact still remains that in spiritual things he is utterly “dead”, and has no natural knowledge, or love, or fear of God.

“We can acknowledge that man has all the marks of a majestic temple about him—a temple in which God once dwelt, but a temple which is now in utter ruins—a temple in which a shattered window here, and doorway there, and a column there, still give some faint idea of the magnificence of the original design, but a temple which from end to end has lost its glory and fallen from its high estate. Nothing solves the complicated problem of man’s condition but the doctrine of original sin and the crushing effects of the fall.”

The only answer to this fallen condition is the gospel—hearts and lives changed through faith in Christ and His work on the cross and minds renewed through the Word of God. Political activism apart from the gospel can do nothing to deal with the root cause of our individual and national problems.

Let us keep this truth before us as we consider our priorities in the days leading up to the election.