What would one think of the Lord if He had said, “I don’t make decisions in public life based on religious belief.” Did the apostles refuse to take into consideration religious belief when confronted by public officials? Let us examine the Scriptures and see what God’s Word teaches regarding this matter. Jesus was constantly at odds with the Jewish leaders for making public decisions based upon the teaching of God’s Word. He confronted the Pharisees with Scripture when they accused His disciples of breaking the Sabbath by eating grain from the cornfields (Mat. 12:1ff). He confronted the ruler of the synagogue with Scripture when falsely charged with healing a woman of her infirmity on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). In alluding to His healing of the infirm man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5) Jesus says to the Jewish leaders, “I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof. Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath?” (John 7:21-23). When asked by the Pharisees if a man could divorce his wife for any cause Jesus did not declare, “I don’t make decisions in public life based on religious belief.” The Lord unashamedly said, And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery (Mat. 19:4-9).
The high priest told the apostles, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name: and behold, ye have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28). The apostles were
proclaiming God’s truths and did not consider them to be a private matter. In fact, the answer of Peter and the
apostles was, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). One has no rights except those rights given to him by the Word of God. God’s Word is true (John 17:17) and it should be our guide as we make our journey through this life (Psa. 119:105). The Bible clearly states that some things are wrong and some things are right. Sin is always sin and wrong is always wrong whether done in public or private. For the past few decades there has been a movement in our nation to approve and support sins and evils that God condemns. People have always longed to cast away the restraint of God’s Word. In the days of the judges it is said that “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 21:25). In Isaiah’s day the people said to the seers and prophets, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us” (Isa. 30:10-11). Nothing has changed today as many who claim to be our leaders do everything within their power to “cause the
Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” The religious section of the Saturday, January 31, 2004 Dallas Morning News revealed that “Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a Catholic...has been criticized by some in his church for supporting abortion rights and civil unions for gays.” In fact. Mr. Kerry is the one who said, “I don’t make decisions in public life based on religious belief.” Is one’s private life to be regulated by God’s laws but not his public life? Can one condone murder and thievery in public life while condemning them in private life? Anyone who can see through a ladder can see the inconsistency. The problem is that Mr. Kerry and those of his persuasion (whether Democrats or Republicans) desire to appease those who scoff at God’s laws. Abortion is murder and the shedding of “innocent blood”—one thing that God hates and calls an abomination (Pro. 6:17). Homosexuality is always condemned in the Scriptures (Gen. 19; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9). Whether private or public, abortion and homosexuality are always wrong and must be opposed by those who have moral convictions and are guided by the Holy Scriptures. This troubling statement by Mr. Kerry is not about separation of church and state. It is about choosing humanism over God. Our nation does not need a president who refuses to make decisions in public life based on God’s Word.

Marvin L. Weir, Paris, TX