Nations have beginnings. America’s was with the Mayflower compact which was drawn up and signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower on November 11, 1620. In this document, one of the stated purposes for the voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia is stated as being “for the glory of God and advancements of the Christian faith”. Even earlier under the Virginia Company Charter in 1607, colonists at Jamestown, Virginia erected a cross, knelt, took communion, and made a covenant declaring, “We do hereby dedicate this land, and ourselves to reach the people within these shores with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this land, along with England, be evangelist to the world.” Indeed, the Virginia Company Charter of 1606 assigned land rights to colonists for the stated purpose of propagating the Christian religion.

After the colonists gained their independence and selected George Washington as president, he laid the foundation for the country in his inaugural address. In his first official act, he acknowledged that every step toward independence and the form of government established was by the hand of God. Furthermore he stated that success as a nation is dependent on the blessings of God, but his blessings “can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” These eternal rules of order and right are of course in God’s Word, the Bible.

While our nation as a whole followed these rules of morality, justice, and righteousness, God’s hand of blessing was upon us. Consider the miraculous victories from the war for independence to World War 2, protection from foreign invasion, and unheard of prosperity as a nation. We were prosperous and protected, but we became complacent and arrogant. We apparently decided that our status was of our own doing, and as a declaration of our independence of God we expelled Him from schools and banished His rules of order and right from America. Now we are reaping an abundant harvest of violence, immorality, disease, debt, and lawlessness from the seeds of national sin.

The first step away from certain death of our country is to love God, and if there is lack of love for Him, to ask Him to help us love Him as we should. Love for God translates into obedience to God, and obedience produces blessings while disobedience produces curses. God has made it clear that He is the only God and the only way to Him is through His only son Jesus Christ. This means acknowledging that we have sinned and are worthy of eternal punishment, and then accepting that Jesus is God’s son who paid the price for our sins on the cross.

God does not “evolve” in His thinking. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. One of His rules of order and right that Washington spoke of in his address is found in Exodus 20:3, where God says, “Do not have other gods besides Me.” So while everyone is free to choose whether to believe in the gospel, we must declare as a nation that any other form of religion is a false religion and will not be honored by the only true God. Not that we kill or confiscate to root out non-Christians, but a Christian nation cannot tolerate idolatry any more than it can tolerate abortion, homosexuality, or any other sin. Therefore among religions in America, only Christianity is entitled to tax exemption, recognized as legitimate in public meetings, and otherwise protected by the First Amendment.

God’s hand of blessing and protection will be on us as a nation and individually only when we honor and obey Him. We dishonor Him and disobey Him when we individually or as a nation equate false gods and false religions with the only true God and His gospel. It is frustrating to know what needs to be done to return America to righteousness, and the task is so overwhelming that it is impossible apart from God’s power. What individuals can do in the strength, ability, wisdom and courage that God gives, is to first of all be a saint and not a sinner. Be holy because God is holy (1 Peter 1:15, 16). This seems to be another impossible task, and it is when we attempt it apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. He knows our hearts’ desires, and if we want to be holy, He will give the grace for it. Saints are not infallible. We just do not willfully sin, and praise God for His mercy and forgiveness if we do. However, He does know our intentions and He will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7). We must love God and his ways, and hate sin. If we don’t then we must ask Him to help us in this.

Second of all we can take a stand for righteousness. Don’t participate in what is evil and rebuke it when led by the Spirit to do so. We need to view sin as God views it; the ugliness and wickedness of it. Forget about going along to get along with unbelievers or people of false religions. Love them but recognize the evil of their idolatry. As nice as they may be, they are serving a false god, which is either Satan or is of Satan. We are not confronting the people themselves, although this is how it appears. We are actually confronting the evil that is manifesting in the people (Ephesians 6:12).

As we are witnessing our once free and godly nation slip away, it is now or never for us to take our stand for righteousness. We will be held accountable for our part in what we leave for our children and all those to come. 2 Samuel 23:9 and 10 tells of one of David’s warriors called Eleazar who stood his ground against the Philistines while the others fled from the battle. After fighting until he gained the victory, Eleazar was weary to the point of not being able to let go of his sword. We must never let go of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). As Galatians 6:9 exhorts us to “not get tired of doing good”, may we in the strength of the Lord stand our ground and never drop our sword.

For some views of the Founders concerning Christianity in America, go to:  http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=8755