“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.” Revelation 2:5 NKJV

The recent US elections have left many Christians deeply troubled about the moral and spiritual direction of the country. Others are celebrating the prospect of political change. But there is a question of greater importance for every Christian. Regardless of which side we might be on, have we placed our trust in political power rather than in God? Have we made an idol of government? See here.

Political action may restrain evil and remedy particular injustices, but it cannot resolve the spiritual condition from which so much of our nation’s wickedness arises. To place our ultimate confidence in political power is to give it the trust that belongs to God alone.

What, then, is the Christian to do upon recognizing his misplaced trust?

In His letter to the church at Ephesus, Jesus provides the answer. He commended the believers for their labor, perseverance, and refusal to tolerate evil. They had stood against false teaching and remained steadfast in the face of opposition. Yet something was terribly wrong:

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Revelation 2:4 NKJV

They were doing many of the right things, but had departed from what mattered most. Their outward faithfulness had not prevented an inward departure from their first love. And Christ’s instruction was unambiguous: Remember. Repent. Return to the works that marked your former devotion to Him.

There is a sobering lesson here for Christians troubled by the moral and spiritual decline of America. We may correctly identify the wickedness around us, faithfully oppose evil, defend innocent life, and work for righteous government. Yet in our determination to save our nation, we may have placed our confidence in political power rather than in God. We may be right about the evil we oppose and wrong about the object of our trust.

And if that is so, what must we do?

Repent.

Not merely acknowledge that we have misplaced our trust. Not simply resolve to be less preoccupied with politics. But confess our sin before God, turn from it, and return to Him in faith and obedience.

Returning to our first love is not merely a matter of doing more religious things. It is returning to Christ Himself: seeking Him in His Word and prayer, worshiping Him, loving Him above all else, and obeying Him because He is our Lord. Our good works are not a substitute for fellowship with God. They are its fruit.

The problems confronting our nation are not merely political; they are symptoms of an underlying spiritual disease. Laws can restrain evil, but they cannot change the human heart. Political reform may improve a nation, but it cannot reconcile sinners to God. Only God can do that. If we desire spiritual renewal in our nation, we must recognize that the Church itself needs to be faithful to God. And the call to repentance does not begin with the Church as some distant institution. It begins with each of us. With me. And with you.

But we must understand something else. We do not repent in order to secure God’s promise to restore America. He has made no such promise. We repent because we have sinned against a holy God. We turn to Him because He alone is worthy of our trust, our worship, and our obedience.

God may grant our nation a season of spiritual renewal. He may permit its decline to continue. His purposes are sovereign, and His ways are not ours to dictate.

Our responsibility remains the same: to remember where we have departed from Him, repent of our sins, return to faithful obedience, and trust Him with the consequences. We must continue to pursue justice, defend the innocent, oppose evil, and fulfill our responsibilities as citizens. But we must do so with our confidence firmly placed in God, not in the political instruments through which we act.

The spiritual restoration of America cannot be accomplished at the ballot box. And repentance is not another means of obtaining the national outcome we desire. We do not turn back to God so that He will save our nation. We turn back to God because He is our God.

The question is no longer simply whether America needs to repent. The question is whether we will.

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.” Revelation 2:5 NKJV