Which Law? - Acts 5:29

“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”
 - Acts 5:29

    As Christians, we are held to a higher standard than the latest laws of our legislators and decisions of our activist judges. In fact, for a true Christian, it is as difficult for us to navigate the twists and turns of human law as it is to chase down a chicken in a barnyard. Our words are often held against us as are our resolutions to avoid conforming to the world. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” - Romans 12:2.
    So the immediate question arises: to whom then do we owe our obedience, God or man? A very basic primer in truth is that we all need to grasp the importance of discerning the eternal difference between the laws of man and those of the one true God. The following are a list of the characteristics of man’s laws and a list of God’s -
    Man’s Laws are: temporary, unreliable, changing, imperfect, arbitrary, discriminatory,
capricious, malleable, and corruptible.
    God’s Laws are: Eternal, Wise, Unchanging, Perfect, Righteous, Just, True, Holy, and Incorruptible. Obviously, these two lists are not exhaustive.
    Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of God’s law is the freedom and liberty man enjoys in it. With men, we are free to do as we please; with God we are free to do as we should.
“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” - 1 Peter 2:15-16.
    With man’s law there are always the traps of subjectivity and relativity, quaking and shifting beneath our feet like a viscous mud-pit, without a solid anchor point of surety. While God’s law provides us with a rudder to steer us to the rock of His will - His will, not ours, and to a foundation like no other. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10.
    The rock of God’s holy will provides us with the liberty to stand for truth and righteousness in the face of doubt and ambiguity. His will provides us with the liberty to resist temptation and to shun iniquity. This rock is a mighty fortress indeed! “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness . . .” - Ephesians 6:14.
    From the moment God dictated His commandments to Moses over 3,000 years ago, His law has remained unchanged. Murder is still murder; theft is still theft; falsehood is still falsehood, and sexual sin is still sexual sin. Man’s law changes as the breeze blows. What was wrong yesterday suddenly becomes right today and visa versa, as it suits us. As often as we can change our minds, we do so. Therefore, to seek the North Star of truth and righteousness we need to stand before the face of God, not an activist judge. Man’s law is born from a humanist agenda based upon political expediency, with an eye on accommodation and inclusion rather than upon the will of God. And while many of these activist judges may believe they are like gods, rest assured - they are merely imperfect men whose self-estimation exceeds both their discernment and the truth. “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” - Galatians 1:10. “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men . . . .” - Ephesians 6:5-7.
    May God grant us the ability to obey the laws of man as long as they do not insist that we break His holy law. And may He grant us the wisdom to know the difference and to comply with His will above all others.