EROSION OF GODLY
VALUES
INTRODUCTION
Erosion of godly values is a shift away from biblical principles towards secular and self-centered ideologies. It was noted that this trend is characterized by the decline of traditional family structures, moral values, and secularization; it is often driven by media influence, cultural pressure, and a quiet, daily "drip" of apathy.
Erosion of godly values has escalated in these latter days with a tendency to undermine the Word of God through a progressive social gospel that is taking root in our society. It was noted that any country grounded in Christian values cannot be overthrown until those roots are cut (Antonio Gramsci).
Erosion of Godly Values
Not a Myth
Erosion of godly values is not a myth but is as a flow of stench that rises and has a far reaching effect. Erosion is the process of wearing something down, a gradual decline, lessening it as an erosive force. In some places Christianity has seemingly taken a backseat as forces of evil begin to undermine any godly influence offered.
There is ungodliness issuing forth as a cancerous growth that seems unstoppable. There is a distorting of once held moral values, by a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks to fit into the flow of life that is contrary to the Unadulterated (Pure) Word of God. Jesus spoke of such: Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy angels (Mark 8:38).
Planned Destruction
The Psalmist wrote: Your tongue (the ungodly) devises mischief (plans destruction); like a sharp razor, working deceitfully (Psalm 52:2). The Apostle James wrote: The tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindles (James 3:5). The tongue can no man tame; it is unruly evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:8).
It was noted that the tongue is like a razor; the razor is but a small instrument, and the tongue is but a little member; the razor is sharp and cutting and so is the tongue. The tongue is a system (world) of iniquity that sets on fire the whole course of life by the adversary of one’s soul. We are witnessing adversity springing forth that is ungodly in nature (demonic); seeking to control and dominate, and it is the use of the tongue that promotes its continued livability.
Seared Conscience
The Psalmist wrote: You love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. You love all devouring words, O you deceitful tongue (Psalm 52:3-4). The Apostle Paul wrote: Now the Spirit (Spirit of God) speaks expressly, that in the latter times (which we are in) some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing (deceiving) spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared as a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
Having one’s conscience seared as a hot iron is being branded (scarred) in one’s conscience. We are witnessing an erosion of godly values through increasing disloyalty towards God’s Word, through teaching and preaching that would disavow the Unadulterated (Pure) Word of God.
Sound the Alarm
A legendary evangelist, Charles G. Finney, noted that preaching will bear its legitimate fruits; if immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours to a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of Justice the pulpit is responsible for it.
If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact; but let us lay it to heart, and awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation. Those words were penned in the First Great Awakening; as an erosion of godly values takes place is there not a need to sound the alarm today as well?
Chief Dangers
Sometime prior to his death, General Booth of the Salvation army, uttered this significant prophecy: I consider that the chief dangers that confront the coming century will be Religion without the Holy Ghost; Christianity without Christ; Forgiveness without regeneration; Morality without God; and Heaven without Hell.
Erosion of godly values was further noted in that we are living in a very permissive day when the religious world is so tolerant to most any and all kinds of standards and lifestyles. This permissiveness and tolerance is the result of a self-willed and carnal minded society.
There are many churches, and even denominations, which have altered their teachings, their standards, and even their interpretations of the Scriptures to please, to comply with and accommodate this permissive and tolerant society. Very few people this day hold to their heart’s convictions; they change to blend in with their environment.
Evil Abounding
Where there is no fear of God, no reverence for God, every evil can and will abound. It was noted that the idea that we humans will be good without God is a deceptive fallacy. When people are devoid of the knowledge and wisdom that come from believing God and having reverence for Him, they become morally corrupt, exceedingly evil, violent and destructive.
God having power and authority to create also has power and authority to destroy that which He creates. This was shown in the pre-Flood days of Noah. When humans become so evil, that every thought and imagination of the human mind and heart was only evil continually, God decided to destroy from the earth the humans He had created. To give life and take away life are both within God's authority.
We Have Forgotten God
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.
We have forgotten the gracious hand that preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own (Abraham Lincoln). Have those words been lost in the shuttle of remembrance of the past?
Repentance Required
God in His covenant with King Solomon, regarding the people of Israel, said: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
But if you turn away, and forsake my statures and my commandments (erosion of godly values), which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I pluck you up by the roots out of my land which I have given you; and will cast you out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations (2 Chronicles 7:19-20).
Nineveh Type Repentance
God’s wrath toward those who continually forsake Him (through erosion of godly values) is real; as well as His mercy, as displayed to Nineveh. Scripture reveals: The word of the Lord came to Jonah (a prophet of God), saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and preach to it the preaching that I bid (tell) you (Jonah 3:1-2). And as Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey; he cried (cried out) and said, yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (destroyed).
The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth (a sign of repentance), from the greatest of them, even to the least of them (Jonah 3:3-5). And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented (relented) of the evil, that he had said he would do to them, and he did it not (Jonah 3:10).
It was noted that God did not change in His ultimate intention toward the Ninevites; rather they changed in their attitude toward Him. On the basis of that change, God could deal with them in grace (mercy), rather than in judgment as their failure to repent would have necessitated.
Mercy Rather Than Judgment
Have some helped pave the way towards judgment, and erosion of godly values, by failing to identify sin? A Nineveh type repentance came through God’s man of the hour (Jonah) speaking what God ordained him to speak. No easing of the severity of it but point blank as given by God.
It was the sounding of the alarm, by God’s watchman (Jonah), towards repentance that resulted in a return to God; with the people of Nineveh receiving mercy and forgiveness rather than judgment. Erosion of godly values happens when there is failure to proclaim God’s Word to its fullness as in the days prior to Nineveh’s repentance. Salvation of the soul opens the door towards being obedient to God’s Unadulterated (Pure) Word of God.
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