It’s often debated whether or not America was founded as a Christian nation. My own belief is that there can be no doubt that it was.

Although the history of early America is not as explicitly Christian as it could have been, it’s evident that those who founded this country shared basic Christian convictions. This is apparent in the structure of our government, the many references to the Bible in our nation’s capitol, and even by the fact that the U.S. Constitution is dated “in the Year of our Lord.”

In one respect, however, the question whether America was founded as a Christian nation is irrelevant. That’s because whether we were founded as a Christian nation or not doesn’t change the fact that we remain accountable to live by God’s standards today.

Those who argue that America was not founded as a Christian nation seem to believe that if they can prove this point, we are somehow no longer obligated to serve the Lord God with our lives. But nothing could be further from the truth, because God has provided the standard for all nations.

To deny this is to be like the like the little child who thinks that if she just covers her eyes her daddy will not see the wrong she is doing.

One way to see that God’s standard of righteousness is universal is that it applied not just to Israel, but to the nations that surrounded her as well.

Just about everyone will grant that Israel was obliged to follow God’s standards. But what about Israel’s unbelieving neighbors? Well, they were accountable to God, too, whether they liked it or not.

If God did not hold Sodom and Gomorrah to his standards, He would have had no reason to judge them. If the great city of Nineveh was not bound to God’s law, He would not have called the people to repentance as He did. But these lands were obligated to God, and so are the cities and nations of our own day.

The Bible tells us that the rulers of the earth take their stand against the Lord and against His Anointed (Jesus Christ). They do so because they do not want to be accountable to Him (Ps.2:6).

The Bible further tells us that all authority has been given to Jesus Christ, and that the nations are to learn to obey Him (Mt.28:20).

All of this is relevant to us today.

As our own nation continues to unravel socially and economically, it’s becoming all the more apparent that there’s a price to pay for flouting God’s standards. It’s becoming increasingly clear that we need to change our mind about our course. (The Bible calls this change of mind repentance.)

Every institution that God has ordained – family, church, and state – needs to rediscover that God’s standards apply to them, today.

Our nation’s hope lies in such a recovery.