The Spirit of God recognizes the need for human dignity. The Christians have led the world in good works of all kinds, whether in the area of the abolition of slavery, feeding the poor, the betterment of children, or the humane treatment of casualties of war. All the worthy goals of humanism are achieved as the natural outgrowth of the redemption in Christ. Good works are the fruit, not the tree of the Divine salvation.

The Spirit of God speaks of Christ, of the blood of the cross, of the self-denying worship and service of God, of the coming of the Kingdom of God into the earth. These are the elements that perfect the Body of Christ. The result of the coming of Christ in His Kingdom will be that human dignity, justice for the oppressed, and every other good work will be brought into being.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment [justice] in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)

The Servant of the Lord is Christ—Head and Body. When the Body has been made ready, the Head will descend upon the Body. Then justice will be brought to the nations. This is why the main emphasis of the Christian churches must be on the preparing of the Body of Christ.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)

The gap of lawlessness contains the ingredients for the coming brief reign of Antichrist. The confusion that always results from an attempt to mix Christ's teachings with human government, to put man as the head of the Kingdom of God, may be observed as the systems of justice of some countries are deteriorating because of the attempt to mix Jesus' teaching concerning mercy with the administration of criminal law.

The extraordinary protection of the "rights" of criminals in imitation of the compassion of Jesus is an attempt to utilize those aspects of the Gospel that appear to promote the welfare of the individual. Without the iron strength and clear wisdom of the Spirit of God, such efforts lead only to chaos.

The resulting rise in the number of persons who must be incarcerated has so overloaded the jails and prisons that in some instances the inmates kill each other because of the lack of decent, orderly supervision. The effort to promote human welfare apart from the Lord leads only to human destruction.

An even more amazing deception is the practice of abortion. In the effort to secure the rights of the mother, the fetus is murdered. The "rights" of the mother supposedly were protected, but what about the rights of the child?

In the world, it is impossible for any individual to enjoy perfect liberty and happiness without depriving someone else. Every adult who bears responsibility understands this well enough. For example, the father has the choice of sacrificing his own liberty and happiness for his child, or preserving his own liberty and happiness at the expense of the child by getting a divorce, refusing to support his family, and spending his time on his own interests while ignoring his child.

To be continued.