7 Important Bible Verses About Corruption

Here are seven important Bible verses relating to corruption.

Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

We don’t have to look very far to find historical accounts where corruption brought down a nation. Just prior to the fall of Rome, there was so much corruption, that few even cared to hide it. It was even joked about. Is there any doubt that political, governmental, and corporate corruption are at an all-time high? There are so many loopholes in the tax laws that lawyers have no trouble finding them. Members of our Congress do all they can to avoid paying taxes, yet these are the same who want to raise taxes. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security’s cash deficit is expected to reach $361 billion in 2025. Compare that to what it was in 2014 at “only” $74 billion in 2014 and there are cuts coming in 2017. Friends, that’s malfeasance if ever there were. Congress’ care of Social Security has been a violation of the public trust. Has our nation reached the point of no return? Is the economy really just a “house of cards” waiting to fall?

Ephesians 5:11 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

It’s not all Congress fault; it takes two parties to pay a bribe or receive a kickback. The Bible is absolutely clear about how Christians must react to such things when exposed to them (at work, private, wherever). We are to have “no part” or take no part in it, meaning not even a little, and tiny part. Having “no part” means avoiding the “works of darkness” altogether, and that means avoiding those who do them. In fact, we’re told to expose them, because whoever breaks man’s laws, also breaks God’s laws (Rom 13:1-5), and if you break God’s laws, in time, they’ll break you (and me) too. Even though we’re not saved by keeping the law (Eph 2:8-9), which we couldn’t keep even if we tried, we’re not to be arbitrarily breaking the law.

Isaiah 1:4 “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly!”

If there is anything more evil than taking a human life, I don’t know what it would be. Imagine a nation which permits (and indeed in some cases, funds!) the slaughter of babies. That’s about 60 million babies dying since Row v Wade in 1973. How corrupt can you act? Is it any wonder that the children have grown up to be corrupt too? They’re only taking up their father and mother’s sins, even outdoing them in some cases. Isaiah 1:4 is where God rebukes the nation of Israel, but the same applies to any nation whose people are laden with sin. God is no respecter of persons or nations and what He did to Israel in His righteous judgment He can do to any nation. The consequences for Israel would be the same for any nation that is laden with iniquity; it will lead to God’s judgment; unless they repent.

Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

When Jesus was speaking about the end of the age, He mentioned that it will be like in the days of Noah and said, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37-39). Could you have imagined how hard doing business would have been in Noah’s day when all that they thought about was evil, continually, and every intention (business or otherwise0 was always with a wicked heart. Do you see similarities today? Everyone’s going about their business, just as in Noah’s day, when the flood of God’s judgment came sweeping them all away.

Hosea 9:9 “They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.”

The “days of Gibeah” are like those of today. When a “Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead” (Judges 4-6), so the days of Gibeah are like those we live in today with increasing violence in American cities and suburbs. The point Hosea makes is that God “will punish their sins” and no one will get away with anything on Judgment Day (Rev 20:12-15).

Ephesians 4:22 “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”

When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we must put something else off, and that’s the old self. That old man and woman has passed away and now we are new creations in Jesus Christ (2nd Cor 5:17) with new desires to obey God and new passions to serve Him, but our former way of life (still is for many) was a life lived in corruption and deceitful desires. Now that the old man or woman is put away, the new is come to live within us.

Proverbs 28:15 “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.”

This is a great proverb because that’s what it feels like when wicked rulers are governing the land and it seems to be what’s happening today in many cases. Proverb 14:34 says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” and that’s what this nation and many other nations are before a holy and just God; a reproach. The late President Ronald Reagan once said that the most frightening words ever heard were, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help.” When the wicked are in power, it’s often a judgment of God, just like He did with ancient Israel. It’s like the nation gets the leadership they (and we) deserve and so He may be using evil rulers as part of His holy judgment against the nations.

Conclusion

When a nation exalts God, God will exalt that nation, and it’s obvious that He has the United States for hundreds of years, but has that ever changed. Today, we exalt ourselves as a nation before other nations and we’re often telling other nations what they ought to do, when we can’t even keep our own house in order. Pray for God to send repentance to this nation so that revival can begin in the churches and spread into their neighborhoods, into their cities, throughout the state, throughout the nation, and even spreading around the globe. It is God Who “removes kings and sets up kings,” (Dan 2:21) and the nations are nothing to Him, so let us pray for God to send His Spirit through this land so that many might be saved…before another judgment comes, not with water this time, but with fire and by then, repentance will be too late.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.