No — legislation cannot solve moral evils such as murder and drug addiction, because the underlying problem is the old Adamic nature, which is not subject to God's law and cannot be.
Les Feldick teaches that the old Adamic carnal mind produces deceit, corruption, bitterness, and violence, so a statute cannot change the source. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, it will not obey moral law. Real change comes only through the work of God in a person's life, not through legislation.
Romans 8:7 — Directly states that the carnal mind is at enmity with God and cannot be subject to His law, showing why legislation cannot change the heart.
Romans 3:10-18 — Describes the deceitful, murderous, and bitter behavior that flows from fallen human nature, not from a lack of laws.
Romans 3:10-18 describes fallen humanity: “There is none righteous, no, not one... their throat is an open sepulchre... their feet are swift to shed blood.” These are not mere bad habits; they are what man is by nature. Romans 8:7 then explains the root problem: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” The law does not cure this nature — Romans 3:20 says, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Even Gentiles who have an internal moral witness through conscience (Romans 2:14-15) fall short, because Romans 3:23 concludes, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Les Feldick says the carnal unbeliever “is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can he be,” and therefore “you cannot legislate Christian morality on the world.” He describes the old Adamic nature as being like a still that just keeps producing the problem; outlawing alcohol did not stop people from getting it, and the only effective approach was to destroy the source. The law was never given to fix this nature — it only reveals sin and shows man that he is naturally bent to steal, kill, and commit evil. Only the work of God in a life, not a statute, can change the heart.
Scripture says the carnal mind is not subject to God's law and cannot be, and Romans 3:10-18 spells out what that nature produces: deceit, cursing, bitterness, and feet that are swift to shed blood. Les Feldick stresses that all of this is “coming out of old Adam,” and old Adam just keeps putting it out, like a still keeps producing alcohol. The law simply shows that man is bent in these directions.
Les uses the bootlegging days of the 1930s as an illustration. Alcohol could be outlawed, but people still found ways to get it; the only way to really deal with the problem was to find and destroy the stills. In the same way, laws cannot stop the old Adamic nature — it simply keeps producing the moral problem. The desire has to be removed, not just the sale of the product.
Les describes the fruit of drug addiction as stealing, murder, and gross immorality — behavior he says will continue to mushroom until the whole world lives in that kind of environment. His answer is not a new law but the hope Scripture gives that there is an end to it.
Old Adamic nature described
Les reads Romans 3:10-18 as a description of the old Adamic nature — deceit, corruption, cursing, bitterness, and feet swift to shed blood all flow from that fallen nature.
Legislating Christian morality impossible
Les directly answers the question: the carnal unbeliever is not subject to God's law and cannot be, so you cannot legislate Christian morality on the world.
The bootlegging illustration
Les uses Prohibition to show that outlawing alcohol did not stop people from getting it; the only effective action was to get rid of the stills, because old Adam keeps producing the problem.
Drug-related destruction
Les describes how drugs drive people to steal, murder, and gross immorality, and says this will continue to mushroom until Scripture's promised end comes.
Law reveals sin, cannot fix it
Les explains that the law's only purpose is to give the knowledge of sin, showing man that he is bent to take God's name in vain, worship idols, be envious, thieve, and do all the things the law prohibits.
Conscience does not cure the nature
Les notes that even people without the Ten Commandments have a moral system based on conscience, but that does not change the fact that they too are fallen — uncivilized people may think nothing of murdering.
Law kills; Spirit gives life
Les says the law could do nothing but condemn and had no life-giving power; only grace through the Holy Spirit gives life, so moral transformation is not a legal matter.
All condemned under sin
Les highlights Romans 3:23 — every child of Adam has sinned and come short of God's glory, and no one can merit favor with God on his own, which is why external law-keeping cannot solve the human problem.
Romans 3:10-18: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
This is the biblical description of what the old Adamic nature actually produces — the very behaviors that laws cannot remove.
Romans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
This is the direct reason legislation fails: the fallen mind cannot be brought into subjection to God's law by any statute.
Romans 3:20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
The law diagnoses sin but does not cure it, so it cannot solve the moral problem at its source.
Romans 2:14-15: For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Even a built-in moral sense through conscience does not produce righteousness; everyone still falls short.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The universal judgment under which every child of Adam stands shows why human moral effort and legislation cannot fix the heart.
The Bible says the carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to His law, neither indeed can be. Les Feldick adds that the old Adamic nature is the source of the deceit, cursing, bitterness, and violence described in Romans 3, and a law cannot remove that source.
Les uses the bootlegging days to show that outlawing alcohol did not stop people from getting it; the only effective thing was to find and destroy the stills. That, he says, is the same way with old Adam — he keeps putting out the moral problem.
Les says the only thing that will work is to have the work of God in a person's life. The law can only condemn and reveal sin, but the Holy Spirit gives life.
Watch the Teaching: Carnally Minded Is Death — What Romans 8:5-8 Really Means