Social Improvement Plan
Conspicuously absent from the New Testament are such terms as "social service," "the social order," or "the social gospel." When here on earth our Lord did not attempt to overturn the social order of that day by some new system of ethical instruction. He always dealt with the individual. In His work with persons, God always begins inside. God showed that personal sin is the root of all the trouble in the world, and our Lord did not attempt to reform the sinner. He came to save and give a new life instead of trying to help the human race to better its condition.
Some of the most difficult problems in society today are crime, welfare, illegitimacy, and broken families. Government has to do with all its citizens and control is from the outside. Believers are a good influence in any nation and their presence does better the social order. This is the result, but not the primary purpose. The purpose of God is to take believers out of the world. Meanwhile, we are left here to represent Christ. In 1 John 2:6 it says, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." And Peter tells us, "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps." 1 Peter 2:21.
Christ came to bring in an entirely new creation through the regeneration of individual sinners. In the measure in which those who possess that new life walk as Christ walked in the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be a consequence of improved social conditions. The important thing is to keep first things first. Preach the gospel to the individual (all individuals), and then they can seek the salvation of their neighbors.
This is God's work which begins inside and works out. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. Have you read the little book of James recently? He tells us, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
If ethics are needed in this world, the book of Proverbs is a book of ethics, and, if practiced, will benefit the general public. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Rom. 12:21. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. 4:18. In Matt. 5 the Lord Jesus taught His followers, "Ye are the light of the world.... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." In these ways believers are a good influence in the environment in which they live. Ed.