“TO THOSE WHO have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). “In the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” is a phase of being in Christ—the phase of righteousness which we find in Christ. This is important. Grace is primarily in Christ, but underlying that grace is a basic righteousness. This righteousness is seen in the words “a faith of equal standing.” Everyone has an equal standing before God and therefore before men.
This is the basis of democracy: equal before God and therefore equal before men. When a faith of equal standing is lacking, then democracy becomes halting or impossible. That is one reason why in purely Roman Catholic countries democracy is not found. There is no faith of equal standing, for pope and cardinals and priests are a hierarchy of privilege before God and man. Hence Roman Catholic countries turn naturally to dictatorships—that is inherent in their faith. That is the reason S. Kurusu, Japanese special ambassador to Washington before Pearl Harbor, said to me after the war, “Japan will never become a democracy until Japan becomes Christian.” He saw that the Shinto faith provided for difference, not a faith of equal standing. That is why democracy in India is pulling against the undertow of caste and will not really be established until caste goes. That is why there can be no political democracy in Islam, for the God of Islam is an autocrat, doing as His will decides. Pakistan, a Muslim state, is working well under a dictatorship; it worked badly under democracy. That is why atheistic communism is a dictatorship, for it has no God, therefore no faith of equal standing before God, hence no democracy. The only faith that can sustain a democracy is the Christian faith, and that faith interpreted by evangelical Christianity.
O gracious Jesus, Thou dost not only offer grace, but basic equal justice as well. Many of us are willing to be kind, but unwilling to be just. Save us from patronizing kindness that refuses basic justice. In Thy blessed name. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Starting with the basic attitude of a faith of equal standing, I will treat all with equal treatment.
