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Representing God the Defender of the Helpless · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reformed thinking. I want you to picture a scene
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vividly in your mind right now. The year is 1799.
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It is springtime in India. The oppressive heat of the
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season is already pressing down heavily on the landscape, thick
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and, you know, just suffocating. Standing near the muddy banks of
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a river is a 37 year old missionary named William Carey.
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He's been living and working in India for over 5 years at this
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point. He's been sweating through the
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climate, learning the complicated regional languages,
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and laboring intensely to spread the gospel to a population that
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has never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
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But on this particular day, he encounters a scene unfolding by
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the Riverside that shakes him to his absolute core, something
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that defies every shred of human conscience.
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He sees a massive crowd of people gathered.
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Upon asking bystanders what is happening, they tell him they
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are preparing to burn the body of a dead man.
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Then Carrie notices a woman standing near a massive,
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terrifying pile of thick wooden billets.
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Resting on top of that wood is the lifeless body of her
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husband. She is the widow.
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Nearby is a basket of sweet meats.
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Carrie, horrified, asks if she's being forced into this.
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The locals insist it is entirely her choice.
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Carrie tries to reason with them, but reason fails entirely.
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He begins to shout with all his might, calling it a shocking
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murder, but the crowd simply tells him it is a great act of
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holiness. They even tell him that if he
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does not like looking at it, he should walk away.
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Carrie refuses. He declares he will stay, he
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will bear witness, and he will testify against this murder at
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the tribunal of God. He begs the widow not to throw
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away her life, promising her that no evil will come to her if
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she refuses, but she calmly mounts the pile.
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She dances on the wood with her hands extended, displaying the
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utmost tranquility of spirit. Her relative leads her around
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the pyre 6 times. She scatters the sweet meats to
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the crowd, who eagerly eat them as a holy relic.
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Then she lies down next to her dead husband, putting one arm
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under his neck and the other over it.
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Dry cocoa leaves and combustible materials are piled high over
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them. Ghee clarified butter is poured
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over everything. And then comes the most
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horrifying detail of all. Two large bamboo poles are
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placed over the bodies, and strong men hold those lovers
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down with intense, crushing force.
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The fire is lit, it blazes fiercely, and immediately the
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crowd erupts into a massive shout of joy, invoking the false
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deity Siva. The shouting is so loud that if
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the woman screamed, absolutely no one could hear it.
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And because of the heavy bamboo levers pinning her down, she
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cannot move or struggle to escape the flames.
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The missionaries protest the use of the bamboo, calling it undue
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force, but the locals claim it is only to keep the fire from
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falling apart. Carrie and his companions leave
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the scene filled with horror, exclaiming loudly against the
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absolute atrocity they just witnessed.
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Today we're taking a deep dive into an excerpt from the book
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Biblical Missions, Principles, Priorities, and Practices by
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Mark Tatlock and Christ Burnett. We are looking directly at how
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Christian missions intersect with true societal justice using
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William Carey's confrontation with the practice of widow
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burning, known historically as SAD, as our primary case study.
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Yeah, that scene is well, it is difficult to even listen to, but
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in our modern era, you are constantly bombarded with
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information campaigns and endless screaming debates
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regarding the concept of justice.
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The Internet, the news cycles and social media feeds are
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completely saturated with varying definitions of what
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constitutes right and wrong. You constantly hear arguments
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about how society ought to rectify its inequities.
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Looking back at historical missions through a strict,
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uncompromising biblical lens provides massive clarity for
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you. When we evaluate history, we are
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not looking at it through the shifting subjective morals of
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modern sociology. We're looking through the
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eternal standard of God's absolute sovereignty in his
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flawless character. In studying Carrie's reaction to
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Saudi, we see a stark demonstration of how a proper
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understanding of human depravity and the absolute necessity of
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the gospel must govern our response to societal evils.
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We gain a clear vantage point on how believers are supposed to
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act when confronted with absolute.
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Horror. OK, let's unpack this journal
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entry a bit more, because the contrast presented in the text
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is absolutely staggering. You have the widow who is
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described as mounting the funeral pyre in the most calm
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manner, dancing with her hands extended, showing the utmost
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tranquility of spirit. The psychological condition
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required for a person to willingly embrace being burned
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alive is terrifying to even consider.
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Yet that outward tranquility violently clashes with the
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brutal physical reality of the bamboo levers.
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The text is very clear that the bamboo was held down on her like
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the levers of a press. Kerry and his companions knew
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that regardless of her initial calmness, the instinct to flee a
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burning fire is a physiological absolute.
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When flames hit human flesh, the body reacts.
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The bamboo levers were there to ensure her death regardless of
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any change of heart once the fire actually began to consume
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her. And the dialogue between Kerry
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and the local people reveals a total linguistic and moral
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disconnect. Kerry looks at the scene and
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screams that it is shocking murder.
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The locals look at the exact same scene and call it a great
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act of holiness. Absolutely.
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That specific disconnect is the absolute theological root of the
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entire horrifying practice. Tatlock and Brunette highlight a
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thought from Carrie's great grandson and biographer, who
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later wrote that this cruelty was done in the name of
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religion, demonstrating a criminal ignorance of God on the
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part of India's priests. This ties directly into Reformed
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theology regarding the total depravity of the human mind and
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will. The Westminster Confession
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clearly outlined that humans are entirely defiled in all
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faculties and parts of soul and body because of the Fall.
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The human mind is so thoroughly corrupted that it will invent,
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rationalize, and perpetuate overt grotesque evil and then
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boldly label it as holiness. When a society possesses a
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criminal ignorance of the one true God, they do not just act
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neutrally, they actively suppress the truth and
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unrighteousness, leading to the creation of false religious
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systems that demand literal human sacrifice.
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The specific practice of widow burning, known as sati or siti,
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had an enormous historical scope.
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It reportedly dates back in India to at least the time of
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Alexander the Great. It was heavily believed to bring
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eternal blessing to those involved, securing paradise for
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the widow, her husband and generations of their ancestors,
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and is not an isolated horror. It sat alongside other accepted
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practices of the time, such as infanticide and the force
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drowning or burning of lepers. When human traditions are
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divorced from the knowledge of the sovereign God, there is
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absolutely no limit to the cruelty that can be justified as
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piety. I mean, I want to push back a
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little bit here, playing devil's advocate, because a modern
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secular listener might hear this story and think, wait a minute,
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the widow is doing this voluntarily.
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The locals said it was their religious tradition.
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Doesn't Kerry just look like a classic Western imperialist
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swooping in to forces cultural morals on an indigenous
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population? We hear that argument constantly
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today whenever someone criticizes another culture's
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practices. How does a biblical worldview
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handle that precise accusation? That is a brilliant question and
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is a very hurdle modern sociology stumbles over.
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If morality is just a cultural construct, then yes, Kerry had
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no right to intervene. He was just imposing a British
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preference over an Indian preference.
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But Carrie did not view the world through cultural
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relativism. He viewed it through the
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objective reality of a sovereign creator.
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The criminal ignorance of God means that cultures can be
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objectively wrong. They can be corporately
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deceived. Just because an entire society
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agrees that burning a woman alive as holy does not make it
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holy. Total depravity means that
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massive groups of people can establish systems of literal
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demonic cruelty and celebrate them.
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Kerry was not imposing British law.
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He was appealing to the absolute universal law of God, which
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states that murder is an abomination.
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The voluntary nature of the widow's actions does not lessen
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the horror. It actually magnifies the
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sinister nature of the false religion.
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It shows how completely the deception gripped her mind.
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She was willingly walking into the fire because a depraved
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system promised her a false paradise.
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The scale of that cruelty is almost impossible to comprehend,
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especially when you look at the statistics Carrie gathered.
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The excerpts outline the massive scope of this long fight against
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Sati. Carrie did not just witness one
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event, write a sad journal entry, and go back to
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translating the Bible. He vowed to hit this accursed
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thing hard. In 18 O four, he commissioned an
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actual rigorous investigation to gather raw data.
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He discovered that within a mere 30 mile radius of Calcutta, 438
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widows had been murdered in just one year.
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Think about the geographical density of that horror.
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That is more than one burning every single day within walking
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distance of his home. Over the next quarter century,
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Carrie continued to publish these death rolls.
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By the time the practice was outlawed, Kerry's team reported
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the burnings of approximately 6000 widows over a 10 year
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period in just one single province.
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The authors point out that when you consider the practice had
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been prevalent across India for more than 2300 years before it
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was outlawed, the historical total of the victims is
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completely inconceivable. We talking about hundreds of
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thousands of lives and the fight to stop it was a bureaucratic
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nightmare. It took decades of continuous
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petitions to the government, publishing factual records and
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maintaining a clear, undeniable Ledger of the dead.
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It was not until nearly 30 years later, on December 4th, 1829,
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that the British Governor of India and his council finally
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declared the practice both illegal and criminal.
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Kerry fought an entire lifetime to see this happen.
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What's fascinating here is the distinct biblical motivation
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that SHIELD carry through those grueling 3 decades of continuous
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bureaucratic and cultural. The source points directly to
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his reliance on Proverbs chapter 24, verses 11 and 12, which says
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deliver those who are being taken away to death and those
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who are stumbling to the slaughter.
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Oh, hold them back. If you say, behold, we do not
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know this. Does not he who weighs the
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hearts understand and does not he who guards your soul?
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No, and will not He rendered to man according to his work?
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Carrie understood that God is sovereign and omniscient.
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Ignorance could not be used as an excuse once the reality of
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the slaughter was exposed. This specific scripture gave
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Kerry the theological mandate to actively push against the
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societal evil he was witnessing. And this brings the issue
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directly to you, the listener. How does Kerry's conviction
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challenge the apathy of the modern era?
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It is very easy for you to observe atrocities occurring
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around the globe through a screen and scroll past them
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mentally, citing a lack of resources or geographical
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distance as an excuse for an action.
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But Proverbs 24 challenges the heart's posture.
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It asks if you recognize that God wave your internal
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motivations and understands your knowledge of the afflicted.
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Right. And that raises a really
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defining question that we need to answer before we go any
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further. In a world that constantly
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argues over human rights and social equity, what actually is
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justice? If you ask 10 different
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sociologists today, you will get 10 different answers based on
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varying cultural frameworks. Some say justice is equality of
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outcomes. Some say justice is dismantling
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traditional structures, but Kerry did not fight Satul based
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on a Western cultural framework. He fought it based on a biblical
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mandate. So how do Tatlock and Brunette
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actually define justice? The definition provided is very
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clear. Justice is not a human
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construct, it is not a shifting cultural consensus, and it's
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certainly not something negotiated in the university
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sociology department. Justice is the perfect,
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absolute, righteous essence of God himself.
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To speak of God's justice is to speak of His inherent holiness.
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Because God has a perfect nature, He alone establishes the
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standard. The authors cite Deuteronomy 4.8
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and Psalm 9.4 to demonstrate that God's standard is the only
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metric by which all people must comply.
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True justice, therefore, is the practical, experiential,
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outworking, and demonstration of God's righteousness in specific
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situations. It is acting as a representative
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of God, who is explicitly named as Scripture, as the defender of
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the helpless. You cannot divorce the concept
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of justice from the character of God.
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If you remove God from the equation, you were left with
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nothing but competing human preferences, which inevitably
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leads back to the depraved rationalizations we saw with the
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priests of India defending murderous piety.
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The linguistic breakdown the authors provide is really
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helpful for understanding how this plays out in the text of
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Scripture. We often throw the English word
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justice around, but looking at the original languages add so
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much clarity. Let's look at the Hebrew and
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Greek words used for these concepts.
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The first primary Hebrew word from the Old Testament is
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mishpat. Can you break down how the
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source defines that specific term?
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Yes. The word mishpat is defined as
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referring most often to a right and proper adjudication of
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individual claims. It deals with rights and wrongs
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in a highly specific legal sense.
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The plural form mishpetum refers to specific adjudications or
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case law functioning somewhat similarly to appellate law in
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modern legal systems. It is about making correct,
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righteous rulings based on God's established law.
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If someone steals an ox, mishpat determines the exact restitution
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required. It is the objective legal
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standard of fairness applied to a dispute.
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And then the text pairs that with another Hebrew word,
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sadaqa. This word is described as being
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more abstract, referring to community, loyalty and specific
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deeds of justice. It notes that in post biblical
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Judaism it even took on the specific sense of charitable
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alms. What is incredibly interesting
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is how these two terms are frequently coupled together in
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some of the most prominent passages regarding divine
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justice, the authors cite Isaiah 5.16, Amos 5.24, and Jeremiah
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9.24. In those passages you see the
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adjudication of rights, the strict legal mishpat, and the
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practical deeds of loyalty and charity that Sedaka bound
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tightly together to form a complete picture of God's
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expectations for human society. You cannot have true biblical
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justice with just cold legal rulings.
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You also need the active, loyal charity toward the vulnerable.
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We see a similar linguistic precision when the focus shifts
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to the New Testament Greek. The terms for justice build on
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the root word Dick, which relates to righteousness.
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But to communicate injustice, the Greek language adds an alpha
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prefix to that root. This prefix functions as a
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negation. Therefore, the literal,
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grammatical definition of injustice is the absence, lack,
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or perversion of God's rules. Injustice is not simply doing a
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bad thing. It is the act of negation of
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God's perfect righteous standard.
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It is a void where God's character should be manifested.
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That linguistic definition perfectly connects to the root
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causes of injustice outlined in our sources.
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Injustice and human action results directly from lacking
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the fear of God and from disregarding human dignity.
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Specifically, it is the absolute failure to treat people as image
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bearers of God. The authors use Luke chapter 18
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verses one through 8, alongside passages from Deuteronomy, to
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show how partiality completely perverts God's standard.
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When a society shows partiality based on ethnic, social or
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economic status, they are engaging in injustice because
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they are negating the inherent value God placed on humanity at
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creation. The priests in India viewed the
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widow not as an image bearer of the sovereign God, but as a
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disposable commodity in their false religious system.
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She was a prop in their theological theater.
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That disregard for human dignity is a direct symptom of human
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depravity. When the fear of God is absent,
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the restraining grace that keeps societies from devouring the
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vulnerable is lifted. This is why the authors define
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injustice as a broad concept, referring to societal practices
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fomented by unbiblical doctrines and evil motivations toward
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those who are vulnerable, in need, and without protection.
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The widow in India perfectly embodied the vulnerable and
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unprotected. Kerry's response was a direct
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application of both Mishpat and Sidaka.
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He sought legal adjudication from the British government to
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stop the murder, fulfilling the requirement for righteous case
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law. And he demonstrated intense
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loyalty and charity toward the victims of his community by
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spending his life fighting for their physical protection.
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Let's shift our focus to the intensely practical side of
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things. We have established the
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historical and theological foundation looking at Kerry in
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the 18th century. But how does this apply today?
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This is the believer's dilemma. How should you, the listener or
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modern missionaries on the field today react to massive systemic
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evils like human trafficking, extreme poverty, or modern day
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slavery? Our reading brings up James
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4.17, which states that to one who knows the right thing to do
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and does not do it to him it is sin.
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This establishes a clear culpability for knowledgeable
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inaction. When you know an atrocity is
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occurring. Doing nothing is not a neutral
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stance. It is a sinful omission.
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But you also cannot just run out into the street swinging a
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sword. You need a strategy.
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The authors provide a very structured biblical framework
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for fighting injustice, broken down into four specific
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criteria. The first criterion in this
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biblical framework is to consult pertinent scriptures the authors
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reference. Take a Timothy 3.16 and 17,
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affirming that all Scripture is God breathed and profitable for
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equipping the man of God for every good work.
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Before taking any action, the primary question must be, does
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the historical grammatical exegesis of any biblical passage
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provide an application that directly addresses the
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situation? Scripture is the absolute
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primary lens through which any response must be evaluated.
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Carey did not rely on his own emotional revulsion to satiny.
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If he had, his critics could have easily dismissed him as
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overly emotional. Instead, he relied on the fact
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that the practice directly contradicted biblical teaching
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on how to treat widows. He knew the Scriptures commanded
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the protection of the vulnerable, making his
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opposition to the practice a matter of biblical obedience.
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But wait, what happens when a modern issue is not explicitly
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mentioned in Scripture? The Bible does not have a
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chapter on modern cryptocurrency scams that exploit the elderly
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or international cyber trafficking rings.
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How does a believer consult pertinent scriptures when the
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exact mechanism of the injustice was invented in the 21st
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century? That is where the rigorous study
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of biblical principles comes into play.
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The Bible might not mention cyber trafficking, but it speaks
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volumes about the prohibition of kidnapping, the exploitation of
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the poor, and the requirement to pay a fair wage.
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The believer must extract the timeless sovereign principle
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from the text and apply it to the modern mechanism of sin.
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Total depravity guarantees that the methods of exploitation will
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evolve, but the core sins, greed, lust, pride and hatred
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remain identical. Consulting the Scriptures means
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finding the theological category of the modern injustice falls
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into and then applying God's standard to it.
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That makes perfect sense. The second criterion provided is
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to consider problems case by case.
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The author cite Proverbs 18.13, which warns that answering
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before listening is folly and shame, and Proverbs 19.2, which
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states that acting without knowledge is not good.
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You simply cannot rush into a complex societal issue without
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gathering facts. Action requires accurate
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knowledge. We saw this perfectly
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demonstrated by Kerry. He did not just stand by the
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river and yell for 30 years. He systematically commissioned a
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factual investigation to gather the death tolls.
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He spent a quarter of a century publishing accurate data.
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He took the time to fully comprehend the massive scope of
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the problem before he petitioned the government.
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Think about how countercultural that is today in our current
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era. The moment an injustice is
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reported, the immediate expectation is to post a
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reaction online within minutes. We act on massive emotional
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impulses without knowing the facts.
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The modern demand for immediate outrage is completely contrary
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to biblical wisdom. Proverbs demands careful
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investigation. When a missionary or a local
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church encounters systemic poverty or abuse, they must
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study the local laws, understand the cultural history, and
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identify the actual perpetrators before taking action.
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Rushing in with a simplistic, emotionally driven solution
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often causes more harm to the vulnerable people you're trying
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to protect. The third criterion focuses
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heavily on the character of the messenger, conserve credibility
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in the local context. We are pointed toward First
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Timothy 1.5, which focuses on a pure heart and a good
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conscience, and 2nd Corinthians 5 point none, stating we must
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all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.
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The actions a missionary takes or fails to take directly impact
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their credibility and reputation.
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The text raises a highly salient question.
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Can a gospel worker in good conscience do nothing to fight
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overt injustice? The answer is no, because
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ignoring extreme cruelty stains the character of the minister.
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But, and this is a massive point to consider, there is a severe
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warning presented here regarding the balance of those actions.
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This brings us to a crucial tension.
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The authors make a remarkably blunt statement that completely
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crystallizes this point. Good deeds without the good news
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are, in the end, of no good use. That summary perfectly captures
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the danger of prioritizing social action while neglecting
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gospel proclamation. If a missionary goes into a
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region, builds hospitals, stops trafficking and feeds the
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hungry, but never preaches the necessity of repentance and
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faith in Jesus Christ, they have ruined their credibility as a
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minister of the gospel. They've acted as a humanitarian,
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but failed entirely as an ambassador for Christ.
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Conversely, credibility is equally damaged if a missionary
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preaches about God's love for the oppressed, but does
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absolutely nothing to help them when it's within their capacity
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to do so alongside the local church.
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OK, let's unpack this. So what does this all mean for
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the logistics on the ground? This leads directly into the 4th
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criterion. Conduct cautious first steps
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when action is clearly warranted.
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The logistics of that action must be carefully evaluated.
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The authors ask whether a missionary should work directly
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under the oversight of their sending agency or church, or if
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they should partner with non governmental organizations and
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local secular governments. There is a massive warning here
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about unequally yoking with secular entities.
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You must be extremely cautious with secular collaborations.
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Even if a secular organization is doing good humanitarian work,
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partnering with them can easily appear to the local population
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as a spiritual alliance. A missionary must ensure that
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their actions remain above reproach and fulfill the
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specific expectations defined by their sending.
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Church collaboration might be efficient, but it carries heavy
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theological risks if the gospel is compromised or overshadowed
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by secular philosophies of social reform.
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If a Christian organization partners with a secular group
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that promotes unbiblical views on gender or family structures,
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the local community will assume the Christian organization
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endorses those unbiblical views. The gospel gets diluted by the
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secular agenda. Moving from the criteria for
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action, we now arrive at the ultimate priorities for
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establishing biblical justice. The authors divide this into two
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main priorities. Priority number one is local
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church proclamation and prayer. We are drawn to Acts chapter 6,
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verses one through 7. This is the famous account of
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the crisis regarding the Greek speaking Jewish widows in the
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early church. The Hellenists were grumbling
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because their widows were being neglected in the daily
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distribution of food. This was a massive problem,
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exposing a potential issue of partiality and ethnic division
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right in the middle of the newborn church.
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The response of the apostles in that situation is the definitive
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blueprint for balancing social action and ministry.
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The apostles did not ignore the injustice.
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They fully acknowledged the legitimate need to care for the
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widows. However, they categorically
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refused to abandon their primary calling.
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They stated that it was not right for them to give up
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preaching the Word of God to manage the food distribution.
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They maintained that their priority was the ministry of the
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Word and prayer to solve the social crisis.
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They instructed the congregation to appoint 7 qualified men to
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handle the distribution. The authors apply this directly
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to the modern context. Fighting societal evil must
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always be a support ministry to the gospel, never a replacement
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for it. True justice work reinforces the
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ministry of the Word by applying biblical truth to the local
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context, but it must never usurp the primacy of preaching and
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prayer. That transitions us into the
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second ultimate priority, repentance and belief.
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The source makes a massive claim here, stating that secular
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action has firm, undeniable limits.
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Unbelievers can accomplish a significant amount of social
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good in the world, but the value of that action is strictly
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limited because the world's problems are entirely temporal.
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The reading points to Isaiah chapter 2, verses 2 through 4 to
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show that final absolute justice only arrives at the return of
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Jesus Christ. Until then, every social fix is
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a temporary bandage on a mortal wound.
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This is a cornerstone of Reformed thinking.
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Because humanity is totally depraved, society will
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perpetually invent new ways to exploit and harm the vulnerable.
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You can eradicate one specific unjust law, as Kerry did with
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Saudi, but the wicked human heart will simply manifest its
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cruelty in a different way. The British outlawed widow
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burning, but human depravity quickly found other avenues of
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exploitation in India and around the globe.
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Only spiritual conversion spares a person from eternal suffering,
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and only the gospel addresses cosmic injustice at its root.
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The authors insist that spiritual transformation must
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precede temporal justice. True, lasting justice is a
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byproduct of regenerate heart submitting to the sovereign law
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of God. If you attempt to enforce
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temporal justice upon a completely unregenerate
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population without preaching the gospel, you were trying to
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produce fruit from a dead tree. You might staple some fake
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apples to the branches for a season, but the tree is still
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rotting from the inside. Here's where it gets really
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interesting. The authors illustrate this
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exact, well, this precise point, with an incredibly obscure yet
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completely fascinating historical narrative from the
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Old Testament, the story of Ebed Melek in Jeremiah chapter 38.
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We need to set the scene here because it is highly dramatic.
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The prophet Jeremiah has been thrown into a deep, muddy
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cistern by corrupt nobles. He spoke the truth of God, and
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the political elite hated him for it.
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So they lower him into this pit and leave him there to sink in
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the mire and die of starvation. He is completely helpless,
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abandoned in the dark, and out of the entire Kingdom of Judah.
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The person who steps up to advocate for him is a man named
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Ibad Melek, a servant of King Zedekiah.
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Ibad Melek goes directly to the sitting monarch and boldly
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argues against the injustice being done to God's prophet.
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We have to unpack the identity of Ibad Melek to fully grasp the
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sheer audacity and weight of his actions.
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The text identifies him as an Ethiopian foreigner.
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He's not an Israelite. Furthermore, he is a eunuch in
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the ancient world. Becoming a eunuch in a Royal
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Court heavily implies that he or his ancestors had been victims
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of human trafficking, mutilated, and forced the servitude in a
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foreign land. He is the ultimate marginalized
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figure. He has zero political clout, 0
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ethnic ties to Jeremiah, and zero reason to risk his own
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neck. Yet this marginalized foreign
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servant risks his own life to petition the king.
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The authors compares action to a modern legal petition for a writ
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of habeas corpus challenging the unlawful detainment of a
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prisoner. Ebidma, like walks into the
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Royal Court, looks at the king who allowed this to happen, and
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says these men have acted wickedly.
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He secures an order from the king, takes 30 men with ropes
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and old rags to protect Jeremiah's armpits, and
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successfully pulls the prophet out of the mud.
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This is the only recorded instance in the entire Old
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Testament of anyone acting as an advocate for a Hebrew prophet
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before a sitting monarch. Why in the world would a foreign
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eunuch risk his life to pursue justice for Jeremiah, especially
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when Jeremiah's own people, the Israelites, were the ones trying
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to murder him? The answer is found in the very
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next chapter, Jeremiah chapter 39, verses 15 through 18.
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God speaks to Jeremiah and tells him to find Eben Melek.
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God promises to deliver Eben Melek from the coming Babylonian
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destruction of the city, and God explicitly states the reason
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because Eben Melek trusted in him.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, Eben Melek is the
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absolute prototype of what Tatlock, Chuck and Burnett are
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arguing for. His motivation for fighting
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against a massive state sponsored injustice was his
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active trust in the one true God.
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He was a regenerate person fighting temporal evil using
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God's strength and God's standard.
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The reading states that a genuine and prolonged concern
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for justice will naturally characterize a person who has
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embraced true saving faith. Ivan Melek's actions were the
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outward fruit of his inward spiritual regeneration.
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That is the precise ethos that guided William Carey in India
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centuries later. Kerry saw the widows as Satan's
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spiritual captives, and his fight against Soddy was an
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extension of his intense desire to see them spiritually
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liberated by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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As we look at the legacy left by William Carey, the authors bring
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up his most famous quote. Expect great things from God.
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Attempt great things for God. Kerry's life proved that these
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great things are not mutually exclusive categories.
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They include faithfully proclaiming the Word,
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relentlessly calling men and women to repentance, translating
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the Scriptures into multiple languages, and, when faced with
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atrocious societal evils, seeking temporal justice in a
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balanced, biblically grounded way.
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Kerry opposed Sati infanticide and other horrific abuses, all
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while maintaining the absolute unyielding priority of the
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gospel. He never confused political
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lobbying with soul saving, but he recognized that a saved soul
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desires to see God's righteous standard reflected in society.
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The conclusion of the reading points out that missionaries
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fulfill the law of Christ when they actively love their
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neighbors as themselves, referencing Matthew 22.
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When facing an endless horizon of desperation, cruelty, and
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atrocities committed by lawless sinners, believers need this
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clear biblical framework to extend genuine love to the
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unloved. Believers are called to act as a
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light in a crooked and perverse generation as Philippians 2.15
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commands, but they must always operate with a core conviction
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that true freedom is never found in social reform alone.
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True freedom comes only through the precious blood of the Lord
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Jesus Christ. Referencing first Peter 1, it is
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the prayer of the authors that those who labor for biblical
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justice will receive their reward in heaven, hearing the
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righteous judge declare Well done, good and faithful slave.
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This leaves you with a final, highly provocative thought to
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ponder as you go about your week.
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Think about everything we have discussed regarding total
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depravity, the perfect justice of God, and the necessity of the
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Gospel. If you, as a Christian, truly
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believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the absolute only
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instrument capable of enacting permanent cosmic justice, how
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should that belief radically alter the way you live your
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life? Think about how you will spend
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your time, how you will allocate your money, and the nature of
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your daily conversation starting tomorrow morning.
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Does your daily routine reflect a quiet expectation that
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politicians, secular NGOs, and social programs will provide
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temporal fixes to a dying world? Or does your life actively
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reflect a consuming expectation of eternal reconciliation
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through the blood of Christ?