The Bible is very clear about the dangers of being involved with corrupt government officials. And yet I fear we, as Christians, can be pretty blasé about it. We read these scriptures and think they were written thousands of years ago, or that these verses have nothing to do with us. In II Tim. 3: 8, according to Pauline thought, people of corrupt minds are resisted by the Holy Spirit. The example of Jannes and Jambres is mentioned here who resisted Moses because they were people of corrupt minds. To Paul, corruption is Godless behaviour which is one of the signs of “The Last Days”
But how wrong is that? When you look around the world and see countless examples of corruption at all levels of government, from petty thieves to presidents, it should be clear to you that we need to take warnings against the sin of bribery very seriously indeed. What does God say about bribery? The Bible strongly condemns the evil practice of bribery. God commanded Israel: “And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.” (Exodus 23:8). In the book of Job, it is written: “… and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery” (Job 15:34).
The Bible not only warns against corrupt leaders but also provides a framework for identifying and addressing their actions. These verses highlight the characteristics and behaviors associated with corrupt leadership. They also serve as a reminder that God desires righteous leaders who uphold justice and fairness. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” (Rom. 13:1-3a).
Bible Verses About Corrupt Leadership
Corrupt leadership is a prevalent issue in today’s society, and the Bible provides guidance on how to identify and handle corrupt leaders. Here are 12 Bible verses that shed light on this important topic:
1. Proverbs 29:2 (NIV)
“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”
2. Isaiah 1:23 (NIV)
“Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.”
3. Micah 3:11 (NIV)
“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.'”
4. Matthew 23:27-28 (NIV)
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
5. Luke 22:25-26 (NIV)
“Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.'”
6. Proverbs 16:12 (NIV)
“Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.”
7. Proverbs 28:15 (NIV)
“Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.”
8. 1 Timothy 3:2-3 (NIV)
“Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”
9. Romans 13:1-2 (NIV)
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
10. Titus 1:7-8 (NIV)
“Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.”
As these verses show, the Bible condemns corrupt leadership and calls for leaders to act with integrity and righteousness. It is important for Christians to pray for their leaders and hold them accountable to God’s standards.
Bible Verses on Bribery and Corruption
Bible Verses:
- Proverbs 17:23 - “The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.”
- Proverbs 29:4 – “By justice, a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down.”
- Exodus 23:8 – “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.”
- Deuteronomy 16:19 - “You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.”
- Proverbs 15:27 – “Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.”
The Bible strongly condemns bribery and corruption. These verses emphasize the negative consequences of engaging in such practices and the importance of pursuing justice. They remind us of the corrupting influence of bribes and the importance of standing against them. By examining these Bible verses about corrupt government, we gain valuable insights into the nature of corrupt leadership, bribery, and the consequences of these actions. We are encouraged to pursue justice, uphold righteousness, and pray for godly leaders who will govern with integrity and wisdom. In a world where corruption is prevalent, these biblical principles provide guidance and encouragement for all believers to navigate through such challenges.
Bible Verses About Corrupt Government
We are living in a corrupt world that will only become more corrupt. Christ came to set us free from sin. We must repent and trust in the blood of Christ. Believers are not to conform to this corrupt world, but we are to model our lives after Christ. We are seeing more and more of this world infiltrating Christianity, which is causing unbelievers to slander the true believers.
Scripture clearly warns us that we will see corrupt churches, pastors, and many false converts. It is only going to get worse from here so we must expose evil and spread the truth.
Deceitful people from this evil world are coming into our churches, spreading lies and false teachings about Christianity.
While there are corrupt churches in America, there are also many biblical churches as well.
We should never let corruption, which is a scheme from Satan cause us to lose focus on Christ.
We are not to let it cause us to make excuses. Even though corruption is all around us, let’s walk by the Spirit and continue to grow in Christ.
Quote
“The world’s corruption is a result of its defiance.” Warren Wiersbe
What does the Bible say?
1. Hosea 9:9 They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.
2. Isaiah 1:4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
3. Galatians 6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Corruption in the world.
4. Genesis 6:12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.
5. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.
6. Deuteronomy 31:29 I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the LORD’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”
7. James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Escaping the world through Christ. Repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation. He will make you new.
8. 2 Peter 1:2-4 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These assurances give you access to his divine nature and free you from the corruption that human desires have brought about in the world.
9. 2 Peter 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
Put off your old self: True faith in Christ changes your life.
10. 1. Ephesians 4:22-23 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
11. Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
12. Proverbs 4:23 Above everything else guard your heart, because from it flow the springs of life.
Scripture warns us that there will be many false teachers.
13. 2 Peter 2:19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
14. Romans 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
15. Romans 16:17-18 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause dissensions and obstacles contrary to the doctrine you have learned. Avoid them, for such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.
16. 2 Peter 2:2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.
17. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
Greed is the cause.
18. 1 Timothy 6:4-5 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
19. Proverbs 29:4 A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.
20. 2 Peter 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
Corruption in speech.
21. Proverbs 4:24 Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Reminders
22. 1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
23. Psalm 14:1 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.
24. Revelation 21:27 Nothing unclean, or anyone who does anything detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the lamb’s Book of Life will enter it.
25. Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Bible Verses on Bribery And Corruption
Corruption is a state of decay, pollution, or incorrectness. In the Bible, corruption is one of the effects of sin that resulted from the fall of man. In the beginning, God created a perfect paradise, free of sickness, pain, and death. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world, spoiling its perfection. That sin also brought contamination and decay to Adam and Eve and to the human nature of every person born after that (Romans 5:12). Thus, corruption in the Bible is the state of moral contamination and spiritual decay expressed through disobedience toward God.
Corruption is closely related to spiritual death. God told Adam that, if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would “surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Adam didn’t die a physical death that day but a spiritual one that involved separation from God (Ephesians 2:1–3).
By the time of Noah, the corruption of mankind had been amplified: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways” (Genesis 6:11–12).
The Bible describes sinful humanity as corrupt: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:1–3; see also Psalm 53:1–3; Isaiah 1:4).
In the Old Testament, corruption can refer to literal, physical decay (Job 17:14; Psalm 16:10), but, most often, corruption is used figuratively for moral corruption and depravity (Exodus 32:7; Hosea 9:9). The prophets boldly took a stand against moral decay among God’s people: “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption” (Ezekiel 9:9, NET).
The Bible teaches that the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Living in a state of moral corruption brings about eternal separation from God: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). This wrath will eventually result in God’s judgment of sinners and their final, irreversible separation from Him (Matthew 25:41; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9; Revelation 20:11–15).
The power of corruption is broken by the divine power of the gospel of Jesus Christ: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:2–4).
When we come to know Jesus Christ, we embark on a personal relationship with Him. The more that relationship grows, the better we understand who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. We start to grasp what His divine power accomplished for us. One of Jesus’ promises to us is the empowering and purifying ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer (John 14:15–17; 16:7; Acts 1:4–5, 8). The Holy Spirit empowers us to obey God, reversing the curse of corruption and making us partakers of God’s divine nature.
The book of Galatians likens the process of spiritual development in the child of God to sowing and reaping: “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8, ESV). As the Holy Spirit undoes the effects of corruption and decay, we reap the rewards of eternal life.
One glorious future day, the curse of corruption and decay will be lifted for all eternity: “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Romans 8:19–21, NLT; see also Revelation 22:3).
Biblical Response To Corruption
The Bible Condemns Corruption
No man or nation should be corrupt. God persuades the wicked to turn away from their evil ways, stop conforming to worldliness but be transformed in their hearts (Romans 12:1-2). The Apostle Paul refuses to condone corruption because he wants to do the will of God.