Proverbs 14:34 states, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." So what is this thing called righteousness? Basically, it is defined as rightness, and justice. How do we know what is right and just? We know through reading God's word. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." In short, the word of God is what defines right and wrong. 1 John 3:10 states, "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." When we abandon God's definition, we find ourselves in the situation as identified in Judges 21:25 where every man did that which is right in his own eyes, and we will be a nation void of counsel, neither will we have understanding (Deuteronomy 32:28). 

When irreligiousness, profaneness, and impiety became the rule in Israel, God told them, "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" (Malachi 2:17). Have we not heard those very words in our own country? That which God has called evil in His word is called good or else we say where is God with His judgment if this is so wrong? I fear that we are heading to the point where we are being described as in Psalms 52:3, "Thou loveth evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness." Have we reached the point where we cannot receive the love of the truth, and as we are told in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 

You might be saying at this point why don't you just shut up and leave me alone? If we don't tell you, God tells us in Ezekiel 33:8, "When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand." Whether you accept the truth or not is up to you. However, you have been warned, and we each have the power to change. For we all (both those who are required to warn and those that are to be warned) will have to face the righteous judgment of God (Romans 2:5). 

Charles Royal, Decatur AL