The ancient prophet Jeremiah lamented that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things” (17:9). Jesus refused to put any confidence in those who claimed to believe in him, “for he knew what was in man” (Jn. 2:25). Before being given a new nature by Christ, we all, as Paul taught, “were by nature the children of wrath”. That is, we were born with a nature which lived in such a way that the wrath of God was inescapable. Man is not basically good. He is basically so self-centered and ignorant of God that he thinks he's good. This is man. He cannot believe that he is as lost as he is because he does not believe God.

The things of God seem foolish to man; they are made to seem unsophisticated and unworthy of serious consideration. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God”, wrote Paul, “for they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them” (1Cor. 2:14). The brightest minds on earth at the time, the most revered souls, the highest ranking officials in both secular and religious realms, all agreed that Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord of all that is good, was worthy of death. This is man, who sees good and thinks it evil, who sees evil, and is praises it as good. Said King David, “verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Ps. 39:5). So far from righteousness is man's nature that Jesus said it is absolutely impossible for man to do anything to escape the coming wrath of God (Mk. 10:26-27). Only by God’s mercy will any man escape the damnation of eternal torment.

When we hear of men abusing children, we are seeing man as he really is. When we see brutality and wars, we are seeing man as he really is. When we see poisons dumped in our rivers, we see man. When we watch riots by sexually perverted men and women, demanding that all people respect their filthy lifestyles, we are seeing man. And when we see people honor those lifestyles, we are seeing man as he really is. Blind. Afraid. Sinful.

In the heart of every unconverted man and woman is such evil that he cannot imagine it. Murder is in the heart of every human, until Jesus removes it by the power of his Spirit. The world will crown as King the man who can give them a justification for expressing their horribly depraved nature. Adolph Hitler was one such man. Seemingly good people were persuaded to perform acts of incredible cruelty, not only upon Jews, but upon mentally retarded people, or people politically opposed to the Nazi regime, or upon anyone else who had no place among the “super race” of Aryans-including believers in Jesus who obeyed God rather than Hitler. The world is waiting now for another such man, a man capable of making cruelty socially acceptable again, and the Bible promises that he will come. And when he comes, there will be such viciousness and brutality that it beggars description.

It is in the heart of every man and every woman to behave as a cunning beast, whether you or I believe it to be true or not. It is there. And only the holy Ghost can get it out. Every good thing comes from God. Every good thing that men manage to accomplish, he accomplishes only with the help of God. “For I know”, declared Paul, “that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). That is a very good thing to know because knowing that will help us realize that we need God’s help. And God is ready to give help to those who call on Him for it. David praised God for restraining the beastly nature of man (Ps. 76:10). He was grateful that the nature of man was not set at liberty to express itself. The Bible, in other places, reveals God's methods of restraining that nature, methods for which we all may be very thankful.

These methods are what I call “Systems of Government”. All of them are from God, and all of them provide many benefits to those who acknowledge them. Among the most prominent of these restraining systems of government are the following:

Paul wrote, in Romans 13:1-7, “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. . . . For he is the minister of God.”

The governmental authorities in place in the world today have been placed there by God as a restraint upon the beastly nature of man. Were it not for the authorities in this country and others, life would be unbearable. The fear of punishment restrains man from doing what he would do, were there no authority watching him. This world would be in absolute chaos without earthly government. There would be no clean water systems, no sanitation systems, no electrical services, no safe places to sleep, no dependable economies, no successful businesses, no ownership of property. Men would be living in caves, wild as animals, unless God had given to men the desire, ability, and authority to govern themselves. For this reason, the saints are exhorted to pray for the governments of the earth, and to speak no evil concerning them. “ I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life. . . . Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man" (1Tim.2: 1-2; Tit. 3:1-2). How thankful we should all be for our government, and for the government of every nation on earth. Without them, the beastly nature of man would have no restraint.

Respect for the elders in a family unit is a form of government which the world can hardly do without. Cultures around the world have learned the great value of having order in the home, and the more closely the of families fits the order that God established in the beginning, the more stability that home and that culture have. “Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother” is a form of government that provides benefits for all peoples everywhere. A child who has no fear of his elders and refuses instruction “brings his mother to shame” (Prov. 29:15). At one point, God cursed Israel with children for leaders, and the result was tragic for the nation (Isa. 3:1-5). Another time, a woman ruled alone as queen over Judah, to the great harm of the nation (2Kings 11). The man is to be the head of the family if the family is ever to be as God planned. The apostle Paul described the family in the perfect order of God like this: But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God (1Cor.11:3). This perfect order cannot exist outside of Christ; nevertheless, wherever there is order in a home that comes close to this, there is a measure of peace from God. And where there is peace, children can learn. The entire world owes a debt of gratitude to God for the very idea of order. It is a gift.

In the last few decades, we have witnessed a deterioration in the respect of authority in public schools, in the main because the fear of the teacher has been removed. Authority figures in the school have little real authority. Man has forgotten that the nature of man must first be disciplined and restrained before education can take place. Where the beastly nature of man is not disciplined, classes are disrupted and ignorance prevails. In some schools, teaching is a secondary goal because the students are so wild that the maintaining of discipline is the primary consideration. If the school day passes without a fight or incident of vandalism, the “teachers” have had a successful day. Homes without order makes schools without order. Schools without order makes for societies without order. And societies without order makes for anarchy on earth. Men begin in this life as fools, and nothing but stern discipline will ever remove foolishness from him. Solomon said it: Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.

The most potent and effective restraint for the filthy, beastly nature of man is the world's various religions. Karl Marx was exactly right when he called religion “the opiate of the people”. Religion numbs the perverse spirit of man into submission. Man himself recognizes that lofty religious creeds draw men to a plane of existence above their animalistic desires and behavior. We should all be grateful for the religious Systems of Government that exist in the world. Without them, man would degenerate beyond reason and beyond hope. Those systems serve to control the beastly nature of man, preventing him from degenerating to the point that he sells himself completely to sin. All those systems were built up with much labor and good intention, and much will be lost if they are destroyed by anyone other than God. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Christianity, and virtually all other religious systems demand that men aspire to a nobler life than what man is able, alone, to live. Christianity in particular speaks well of Jesus, and so is a benefit to the entire human race. However, it is only one of the religious systems of earth. They are all human systems of religious government, and none of them will suffice for the saving of a single soul. None of man's religions can save man. Only the way of Christ will do that.

The gospel of Christ is not concerned with restraining the beastly nature of man, as man’s religions, including Christianity do. Rather, the way of Christ is a way for man to become a new kind of creature, with a new nature that does not need to be restrained. The way of Jesus is a way, the only way, of removing the beastly nature of man and replacing it with another, pure nature. Peter said that the saints are made “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” The holy Ghost, given to man only in Jesus’s name, takes the commandments of God and “writes them in our hearts”, so that the will of God becomes how a man wants to live and can live.

Every soul who submits to the truth of Christ and is baptized with the holy Ghost is given a new nature. It is such a new nature that our minds cannot fathom it. Time is required in order for us to understand our new selves, our calling, and to grow in the grace of God, to mature in faith, meekness, and goodness. Paul said that once a man is converted to Christ, not only does he become a new creature but that “all things become new”. How true that is! Life becomes new and exciting. Merely to indoctrinate and restrain the unruly nature of man is the way of man’s religions; to slay the old nature of man and start over is the way of God in Christ. Paul was thankful for God killing “the old man” in him. He enjoyed his new life to the fullest, testifying with great joy to the saints, “I die daily.” The “new man” that we become in Christ is a happy creature, full of love and wisdom and faith. You can enjoy this new life, too!

When we are baptized into the kingdom of God by the holy Ghost, we become such new creatures that we do not even understand ourselves; we must be taught. But we can never learn about who God has made us unless there is enough order in the body of Christ to give God's children peace so that they may grow and learn. There is an order ordained by God for His congregation that, if adhered to, will result in great blessing for the saints of God. Pray for the government of God to be in the body of Christ, my friends. Pray for the government of the Spirit among the saints. Pray for a government that rewards righteousness and condemns covetousness. Pray for a government that inspires faith and denies worldliness. Pray for the will of God to be done in the congregation as it is in heaven. Little ones in the kingdom of God need a place where there is order, not strife, where holiness is the standard and sin is reproved, where sickness is healed and death isn't feared. Pray for the government of truth to be restored to the congregation. Pray for the body of Christ to become again a place where the saints can come to a knowledge of who they are in Christ, so that they will no longer be used, abused, and confused by entanglements with the world and its religious systems.