Lawlessness is Increasing

September, 2006

by: Jack Hughes

• Spiritual Growth

Lawlessness Predicted

Jesus in His Olivet Discourse (Mt. 24-25) responded to the disciples’ question, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Mt. 24:3). Jesus said that we should expect earthquakes, wars, famines, false teachers, etc., and one of the signs or indicators that the end of the age was at hand is stated in Mt. 24:12 where Jesus says, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”

The Apostle Paul, speaking of the “last days” in II Tim. 3:1-7 describes them with these words, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We could also look at Lk. 17:26-29 where Jesus compares the days immediately preceding the Second Coming to the times of Noah and Lot where people were eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building in great wickedness when suddenly they were destroyed by divine catastrophic judgment from heaven. We see from these texts that the Bible predicts that lawlessness will increase as the end of the age or last days arrive.

Lawlessness Today

When you consider the texts above it should cause you to pause and think. As you read, watch, or hear the news, it is undeniable that our world is becoming increasingly more lawless. One example of this is illegal immigration into our country. There were great protests by illegal aliens for the right to continue to break the law. They feel it is their right to be able to sneak into our country, work, escape paying taxes, workmen’s compensation, social security, and then take the money they make back to their country to spend. And they are getting paid from employers in America who are breaking the law too. This has gone on so long and is so pervasive that when the government stepped in to do something about it, there was an outcry. And this is just one example of many that can be cited. Lawlessness has increased and people’s love is growing cold. The news is nothing but a perpetual string of catastrophes, sins, and rebellious deeds.

Recently in teaching through the book of Daniel we stopped to consider civil disobedience which are those times when Christians feel it is necessary to rebel against the governing authorities in order to obey God. One of the examples we considered was the abdication of the 13 British colonies from Great Britain and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Afterwards I had a conversation with a couple of men and we discussed a very serious irony in our country today. The founders of the United States of America drafted a declaration and constitution based on the Bible and biblical principles which provides for the separation of Church and State and a composite society where all men are considered equal and free to worship or not worship however they please.

Of course the founders believed in keeping the State out of the affairs of the Church, not keeping God and the Bible out of the State. The documents and speeches of the founders of our country and presidents prove this as they are sprinkled with references to God as the sovereign creator, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and our need to find forgiveness in Jesus Christ for sins. Our legal system and declaration are built upon biblical truth.

Here is the irony. In recent years many in our country are working hard at overthrowing God, biblical truth and biblical morality. And those who are doing this are using the freedoms they have received from God and the Bible to get rid of God and the Bible! They are sawing off the branch they are sitting on and if they succeed in cutting through it, they will fall along with the truth they have hated and despised. Society will then have no moral foundation and right and wrong will become a purely subjective matter determined by individuals, mobs, or majorities. Our country will either become like the times of the judges when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes,” or a new form of government will arise which will offer less freedoms, less justice, and less equity than the government system we now have. In other words lawlessness will increase. It is inevitable.

What we see today in our country and the world is not only prophesied but the increasing influence of lawlessness is the natural outcome of rejecting God and His Word. Biblical morality and lawlessness do not mix. If we decrease one, the other will increase. We can’t reject God and the Word of God and make things better. Jesus predicted that lawlessness will be pervasive right before His Second Coming.

Lawlessness Defined

We have seen that increased lawlessness is predicted in the last days as a sign of the Second Coming of Christ. We have been reminded that lawlessness is increasing in our day. But what is lawlessness? Peter in II Pet. 2:8 speaks of “righteous Lot” whose soul was tormented by the “lawless deeds” of the people of Sodom. Sodom is described elsewhere in the Bible as a place of great sin and wickedness (Gen. 13:13; 18:20-33; Isa. 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Lam. 4:6; II Pet. 2:6; Jude 7). These verses teach us that lawlessness is a synonym for sin. Sin is to disobey the law of God, the Word of God, the Bible. The Apostle John gives us a concise definition in I Jn. 3:4, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” So when the Bible speaks of lawlessness increasing, it means sin or godlessness will increase. As the Second Coming of Christ approaches, the world will become more sinful. This is what we are seeing today. The world is becoming more opposed to the will of God.

Lawlessness Cured

So what is the cure? Some think that government is the cure. Get government to create more laws, hire more policemen, and build more prisons. Yet more law is not the cure. Paul describing the purpose of the law in I Tim. 1:9-10 says, “realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.” The Old Testament had a perfect law system that was written by God himself but it did not stop lawlessness!

In fact the Apostle Paul tells us that law not only fails to stop sinners from sinning but actually motivates them to sin. He says in Rom. 7:7-12, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

Bottom line, when laws are increased lawlessness increases. Men are sinners by nature and their natural inclination is to disobey law, especially God’s law. While some feel we need more laws to hold back the tide of lawlessness, it is clear that law is not the cure. The cure is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The cure is individuals being transformed by the Holy Spirit and being born again one at a time. Each believer is like a grain of salt in society and if you have enough salt on something it preserves it and prevents it from rotting. Right now the salt in America is decreasing and so America is starting to rot. To change that we don’t need more laws and prisons but more people sharing their faith, praying, and God saving more people through the proclamation of the Gospel.

Once someone is saved they have the law of God to govern them which they desire to obey, a law that is higher and purer than any law system in the world. A Christian loves God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength and loves his neighbor as himself. These two great laws are to govern his life. Every Christian not only has the perfect law system he also has the perfect law giver, the Holy Spirit, dwelling within him so that he is both motivated and empowered to live by the perfect law of God. Thus by increasing the number of true believers in the world, we decrease the amount of lawlessness.

Many Christians lament the moral decay of our country and how far we have gone down hill since the birth of our country. Yet we must keep in mind that society during the founding of our country was composed primarily of Christians. The exact percentage is uncertain but let’s just say that 80 percent of the population were followers of Christ at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This would explain why the Declaration of Independence, our law system, and the Constitution of the United States are based on biblical principles.

Also consider for a moment that today things are reversed and we probably have 20 percent or less of the population who really know Jesus Christ and are saved. Because of this we cannot expect the majority of God haters to want to live by the Bible since they hate God and do not want to submit to the Word of God. Thus the cure is not to establish more law but to change hearts and souls of people so that they desire to live by the law of God. The only way this happens is through the preaching of the Gospel.

The Gospel is described by the Apostle Paul in I Cor. 15:1-4 with these words, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Here we have the essence of the Gospel or Good News explained.

First, we learn that the Gospel is to be preached or proclaimed. Second, we see the Gospel is something that must be received. Third, we see that if someone receives the Gospel they will be saved. Fourth, we see the essential truths of the Gospel are the person of Jesus Christ, the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, the burial of Jesus Christ in the grave, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days later. Paul says these truths are the essence of the Gospel.

So if you are tired of seeing our country decay into lawlessness, apply the cure. Start praying for the lost and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Every time someone believes you will be adding light and salt into the world. If there is a mass revival in our country, the result will be more people wanting to obey the law of God and lawlessness will decrease. Never give up hope. Remember that Nineveh was 45 days away from being destroyed by the judgment of God when Jonah preached a turn or burn message to them (Jon. 3:4). When they repented, God compassionately forgave them and the city of Nineveh was spared. May God make Calvary Bible Church a light house and a salt shaker in Burbank to hold back the tide of lawlessness.