One of the most important scripture verses for the founding of our country and more specifically the writing of our constitution is Jeremiah 17:9.
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
What this verse meant to our founders with regard to civil government was that man cannot be trusted with power. Men left to themselves become tyrants because power corrupts. There are many checks and balances in our Constitution to account for the deceitfulness of the human heart. Men (and women) can justify almost anything when they have just a little bit of power.
Careful consideration of this verse leads to a few conclusions:
1) Men are in darkness and need the light of the Word of God to think correctly about anything.
2) True liberty and the law of God go together. As men move away from God’s will and lean on their own understanding, all three forms of government, family, church, and civil become corrupted. Either licentiousness or tyranny will rule the day because of the deceitfulness of the human heart.
3) The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope for curing man’s heart problem. Fathers, church leaders, and politicians cannot solve man’s heart problem with programs, education, religious ceremony, or entertainment. Truth is the solution for deception. Righteousness is the solution for wickedness. Truth and righteousness are only found in Jesus Christ and His words, the Bible.
What is the solution for a man with family problems? Be transformed by the Gospel and preach the Gospel to your family. What is the solution for an impotent church? It is for the pastor to believe and preach the whole counsel of God. What is the solution for fixing a tyrannical government? Elect people who have had their hearts transformed by the life giving power of the Holy Spirit. The number one question to ask anyone in authority is have you been born again by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.