July-September 2010 - Secrets Unsealed > Home

Reflections on the Manhattan Declaration, Part 2
by Stephen Bohr
The religious leaders who signed
the Declaration are to be commended
for their desire to uphold
high moral standards in society.
I believe that their intentions are
sincere. In many ways the document
has laudable aspirations. For
example, it calls “upon believers
and unbelievers to defend the sanctity
of human life, the dignity of
marriage and the rights
of conscience and religious
liberty.” The
document affirms that
these truths are “inviolable
and non-negotiable.”
What genuine
Christian could argue
with such a statement?
Most Seventh-day Adventists
would heartily
agree that the life
of the unborn and the old and the
sick should be zealously protected
by the state. They would agree that
marriage should be between a man
and a woman and that religious
liberty should be protected. Yet,
the critical question that needs to
be answered it this: How can these
worthy objectives be reached? Is
it by appealing to the arm of civil
power or does true and lasting success
lie elsewhere?
How is a moral society created
and perpetuated? A moral society
can only exist when it is composed
of truly moral persons. And what
lies at the very core of truly moral
persons? The answer is that in the
new birth God gives people a new
heart and then writes His moral
law upon it (Ezekiel 36:26, 27;
Jeremiah 31:31-34). As a result it
will be a delight for the converted
child of God to obey the moral law
(Psalm 40:7, 8). In fact,
the Christian will cry
out with David: “How I
love your law”. It is impossible
for a Christian
to speak about morality
without reference
to the Ten Commandments
because they are
at the very foundation
of a truly moral society!
Yet many religious leaders in the
United States have taught that the
law of God was nailed to the cross,
that it is impossible for Christians
to keep it this side of heaven, that
Jesus kept if for us, (which is true
in justification!) that we are not
under law but under grace, that we
are not under the letter but under
the Spirit (true if understood correctly)
and that observing the law
is legalism and has nothing to do
with our salvation. How can we expect
a moral society when church
8 Secrets Unsealed News • 4th Quarter 2010