Afghanistan has fallen! Sharia Law is now reimposed as the Taliban eagerly reestablishes what they consider to be God’s, or in their minds, Allah’s standard of righteousness. The conundrum of standards has been in question among every culture, and cultural clashes have erupted over standards. Competition erupts as to which standard ought to be upheld or imposed upon the people, while there are some who do not consider standards for a people group as being essential. As long as the person is true to his or her own beliefs, that is all that matters. Yet there are those who believe that standards are being violated and are willing to take whatever measures necessary to restore the standard to its rightful place.

Then there are many who still believe that God sets the foundation and pattern from which standards are to be measured. If God is the measure, then what is His standard of righteousness? The Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory (righteous standard) of God.” Islam is an Arabic word meaning “submission to the will of God.” It is derived from the Arabic word “sal;m which literally means peace. His will, if not clearly defined, would then be left to interpretation. His Word would rely upon the accuracy and the integrity of the translators if God alone was to speak free from all errors. The same would hold true for Christians, as submission to God produces peace among mankind. Yet any departure from His Word would create chaos and confusion. His Word is the Law to govern the behavior, but without its enforcement, every person will do whatever is right in his own eyes. The divisions of righteousness have become the source of civil wars with every people group seemingly being right in their own eyes.

The problem of right and wrong must be traced back to man’s original sin. When Eve partook of the forbidden fruit through deception and Adam sinned against God by willfully eating of the same, sin entered into the world. The wages of sin is death. As a result, all were born in sin and fashioned in iniquity, and all are deserving of death. To agree with God’s standard of righteousness, whether one is Christian, Muslim, or Jew, all must first agree with God that His sentence of death upon all is just. There are some who think of themselves as the righteous to carry out the judgment of God upon the infidels, yet they disagree with God’s penalty of death measured against their own sins. As it was with a righteous God to have mercy on whomever He determined to have mercy and to have compassion on whomever He will have compassion. He chose Noah before the Flood, Abraham as the Father of faith, and Moses as the Lawgiver. Later in Scripture, He chose David as King from whom the lineage of Christ would come. Beforehand, it was His prerogative to protect His Seed and measure judgement upon all who had not submitted to His will.

The Word of God became flesh and dwelled among us. The perfect translation of God’s intent was manifested to the world. Then the sins of the world were placed upon Jesus Christ as sinless sacrifice on behalf of sinful man. He absorbed the totality of the wrath of God against sin. A jihad or a war to vindicate God is the same as fighting for God while standing against Him. Only the sinless qualify to vindicate the righteous. Then our part in the work of God is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ that His sacrifice was sufficient for my sins. Then submitting to His Lordship.  The Lord will vindicate the righteous. Those who are righteous are not righteous on their own. Their righteousness is the gift from identifying with the One who is Righteous and Holy—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.