It is said of Josiah, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”
Josiah upon hearing the Book of the Law began to reform the nation of Judah of which he was King.  And well that he should as king of a theocratic nation ruled by YHWH. And yet, by the end of his reign, the people had not truly turned to God. They ran through the rituals imposed by the government, but God’s unwillingness to repent of the destruction he had promised let’s us know of the state of their hearts.
We no longer live in a theocratic system, but yet people believe that by reforming legislation to place it in line with God’s word, we will reform our nation in a God-pleasing way. Not likely. Oh such changes are in general beneficial to society, but only connection to the living God through Jesus causes reform in individuals, and only reform in individuals provides true God pleasing reform in a nation. We cannot legislate faith, and we do not make America a Christian nation by changing laws. We make it a nation of Christian by leading people to know of the Christ.
If legislative reform did not work for Josiah in a theocracy, it certainly will not work in a democracy.
