There is anger on both sides of the aisle this morning.
The right is angry with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they refused to comply yesterday with a congressional subpoena to testify in an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. They published a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer calling his committee’s attempts “legally invalid.” In response, Mr. Comer said he’ll begin contempt of Congress proceedings against them next week.
The left is angry with the Trump administration after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell. Prosecutors are looking into the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project. However, critics believe the action is intended by the administration to pressure the central bank to aggressively cut interest rates.
Whatever our partisan beliefs, both stories illustrate the significance of checks and balances in a democracy.
Congress must be able to investigate current and former presidents so as to hold them accountable to the law. The Federal Reserve was similarly created by Congress in 1913 as an independent agency so it could set interest rates without political interference from Congress or the White House. According to the Brookings Institution, “Central banks in nearly all major capitalist democracies are similarly insulated.” The article explains that politicians could otherwise lower interest rates now at the expense of greater inflation in the future, harming the overall economy.
“The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul”
Forging systems of accountability is not only politically wise but biblically realistic. The psalmist lamented:
The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lᴏʀᴅ. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.” . . . He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity” (Psalm 10:3–4, 6).
As a result,
He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net (vv. 8–9).
All the while, “He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it’” (v. 11).
The psalmist therefore prayed, “Arise, O Lᴏʀᴅ; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. . . . Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” (vv. 12, 15). He can ask this because “the Lᴏʀᴅ is king forever and ever” (v. 16) and will “do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (v. 18).
In other words, God provides accountability for the actions of those who are otherwise unaccountable for their crimes. He often does so in this world, such as his judgments against wicked kings in the Old Testament and rulers in the New (cf. Acts 12:20–23). But he always does so in the next world, assuring us that “vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19, quoting Deuteronomy 32:35).
“We have no reason to be angry”
Is God justified in holding us accountable for our actions in this way? After all, his word states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
However, as St. Basil the Great (AD 330–79) observed,
We have already received from God the ability to fulfill all his commands. We have then no reason to resent them, as if something beyond our capacity were being asked of us. We have no reason either to be angry, as if we had to pay back more than we had received. When we use this ability in a right and fitting way, we lead a life of virtue and holiness. But if we misuse it, we fall into sin.
This makes sense: God cannot be just and judge us for sins we had no ability not to commit. My voice professor in college was frustrated that I did not sing Italian arias as he wanted, but his (unjust) reprobation could not change the capacities (or lack thereof) of my voice.
At the same time, does trying harder really produce holiness?
“Far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”
John warned us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). From David, a man after God’s “heart” (Acts 13:22), to Paul, the greatest theologian in history, all have struggled with temptation and the sin nature of fallen humanity (cf. Romans 7:21–24).
The answer is found in the logic of grace:
- God holds us accountable to his highest intentions for us because this honors his holiness and leads to our best (1 Peter 1:15–16).
- At the same time, he knows that we are unable to achieve this standard in our fallen capacities (cf. James 3:2).
- So his Son died to pay the debt for our sins so his Spirit can now indwell us and empower us to be like Christ (Romans 8:29).
As Paul testified, God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). The apostle testified that he served Jesus by “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). Struggling translates a Greek word meaning to “do one’s best to compete and win a battle.” But Paul did this with all his energy—“according to all God’s action and power”—which God powerfully works within me this very moment.
Thus, we should say with the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, “Save thy servant, that hath none / Help nor hope but thee alone.” But we should also “work heartily in all we do, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).
As we work, God works. As we give our best, God gives his best.
Consequently, as I noted on Monday, you and I are as much like Jesus as we want to be today.
Imagine a world like this
Imagine a world filled with Christians living in the holiness of Jesus by the power of Jesus. Imagine the impact on evangelism and missions, war and crime, poverty, racism, and injustice.
Such a world and nothing less is what God wants for and through each of us.
Is this what you want today?
Quote for the day:
“One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.” —Elisabeth Elliot
Our latest website resources:
Denison Forum
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 