Joy in Christendom

A Note to my Senator

Senator,

There are all ready plenty of avenues for such abuse to be reported.  There is no need and no legal right for the Federal government to needlessly intrude on upstanding families.  Your tired rhetoric is getting old.   Please stop using "the children" as an accuse to keep the Senate's own pockets full.  Who will protect us from governmental abuse?

Thank you for your time,

David.

> Dear Mr. Ehnis:
>
>         Thank you for contacting me regarding child abuse awareness.  I
> appreciate hearing your concerns on this very important problem.
>
>         According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, there
> were approximately three million reports of child abuse in 2009.  The
> abuse of children, in any form, is unconscionable, and I will
> continue to do all I can to ensure the perpetrators of such crimes
> are brought to justice.
>
>         It also is important to have a national hotline available for
> children that fall victim to abuse and for their loved ones. 
> According to its website, the Childhelp U.S.A. National Child Abuse
> Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD or 1-800-422-4453) is dedicated to the
> prevention of child abuse and is available 24 hours a day for
> victims, parents, or anyone else affected by this issue.
>
>         Child abuse is a problem that cannot and should not be ignored.  The
> victims of abuse deserve the right to know that their perpetrators
> will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately.  Victims also should
> have a place to turn for help.
>
>         Thank you again for contacting me.
>
> Sincerely,
> Carl Levin

It was a theocracy after all

One of the most improperly and overly used words in the reformed Church the last decade, maybe longer, has been this word "theocracy". Typically, it is used in conjunction with political debates between Christians, especially when one of the sides demands a Biblical standard for government.  The response is often something like "well, Israel was a Theocracy, after all, and we're not living in a Theocracy, therefore the Biblical examples of good government don't apply".  Besides fallacious reasoning, there are a number of problem with such a statement:

1. This reasoning is an implied form of dispensationalism.  The thinking goes that because most examples and exhortations to how a nation is to be governed are found in the Older Testament it no longer applies to Newer Testament Christians.
2. It assumes, categorically, that having God or a god rule a nation is but a choice among many options.
3. There is a notion that Israel's government was an improper combination of Church and State.
4. An improper understanding of things Spiritual.  It is said, "we are exiles in this world" and that therefore is to mean that the material world, with it's hardships, governments, and other heavy things are of no concern to the Christian.  It then follows that Christ is not Lord over all, but Lord only over our "hearts".

 Let's tackle each of these, with the following:

1. Christians must remember that the whole of Scripture is God-breathed and useful for every area of life (2 Tim 3:16, 1 Pet 1:13-2:3); not only useful but to be applied to all areas of life.  A simple antidote to a dispensational outlook, is "if God says it, only God can unsays it".  This is a simple, God-fearing hermeneutic.
2. It is impossible to escape the notion that "religion" or faith, belief of some kind rules a nation.  It is either a belief in God that will inspire a nation's Laws, or a belief in man that will inspire laws.  This is inescapable.  
3. The fear (and it is a good fear) for a softening of the line between Church and State does not remove the responsibility of the Magistrate to kiss the ring of King Jesus (I Kings 1:30, 8-11, Isa 42:1-4, Mic 4:2, Heb 2:8, Eph 1:21, Mat 28:18) and govern by God's Law.  An perverted understanding of both Church and State lead us to tyranny (a.k.a the Modern West).  The rule of God's Law leads to freedom.  Israel was a not a theocracy in the sense that there were no distinctions between the magistrate (did Israel not have Kings and Priests) and the Church. 
4. If Reformation and Revival will happen in our lifetime, dualism will be the big pillar that must topple.  The etherialization of the Church has been her biggest shackle in the last 300 years.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, impedes the Great Commission more than this hyper-individualization, hyper-"spiritualization" of the Scriptures, the church and her mission.  In a Revival, everything ungodly must be converted - and that includes our government and culture institutions.  Ecstatic utterances and cry-baby prayers are not the signs of true Revival, but Lordship certainly is proof that the Lord is at work in the hearts of men.

Our governments, as every other institution must bow the knee to Christ.  The magistrate today, just like in Israel of Old, is required by God's Law to enforce justice and righteousness.  A "Christocracy" ought to be the goal of every Christian, in every nation.

Christian Government vs. Pagan Government

I saw this post and thought I would share it.  It represents a pretty good compare and contract model of the 2 different kinds of governments.  I took this from here, which is excerpted from A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School; the Principle Approach.  I don't know anything about this site or book other then what I've pasted here.

The Christian Idea of Man and Government

Christian Idea of Man

INTERNAL (Causative)

1.  By the law of God, all mortal men have sinned and need a Savior: man's nature is corrupted.
2.  God created individuals with an independent distinct and special value; man is equal before God's law and love.
3.  Liberty is first internal and spiritual as God governs man by the Holy Spirit through the "perfect law of liberty." (James 1:25)
4.  Christian self-government is God governing by the consent or supernatural response of the governed.
5.  As Christ represents saved man before God, so man is God's representative on earth.  Christianity is representative in its doctrine and essence.
6.  Man exercises all three God-ordained functions of self-government and "shall be judged by the law of liberty." (James 2:12)
7.  God's government is by covenant with Christ and man's supernatural voluntary consent. Divine authority is delegated and flows from God to man under God's law.

Christian Idea of Government

EXTERNAL (Effect)

1.  Civil government is ordained by God to restrain sinful man and to "praise" or value those that do good.
2.  Man is superior to the state he constructs to protect his God-given value.  Men are equal before the laws they make.
3.  Christian (spiritual) liberty of conscience gave rise to religious, civil, and economic freedom protected by law.
4.  Christian civil government is a reflection of Christian self-government and local self-governing homes, churches and communities.
5.  Christian civil government is representative of the governmental spirit and form of its constituent homes, churches and schools.
6.  The three functions of civil government are separated and limited to "settled, known and established laws" consistent (I would and "and derived from") with God's moral code.
7.  Christian civil government is a voluntary compact between consenting citizens; political power flows from self-governing men to elected representatives limited by law.

The Pagan Idea of Man and Government

The Pagan Idea of Man

INTERNAL (Causative)

1.  Man is a higher form of animal, a product of evolution.
2.  Man is incomplete, having neither a whole nor distinct existence, but is a temporal, passing species having no identity with the past or the future.
3.  The stronger of the species survive and adapt.
4.  Man appears to move up the chain of sophistication: from polytheism to monotheism, from monotheism to eventual atheism.
5.  Man is a social creature and being with the "herd instinct" for his livelihood and security.

The Pagan Idea of Government
EXTERNAL (Effect)

1.  Man is governed according to animal, natural, physical instincts.
2.  Man is governed according to the moment, the current fashion, the present, without vision and foresight, only to be gradually conditioned to circumstances.
3.  Man is governed by a supreme elite in an inequitable society organized to eliminate the weak or nonconformist; he has no liberty of conscience; might makes right by the rule of the majority; society legislates, not representatives under law.
4.  Man is governed according to man's primary need: welfare for the physical, material existence in the Welfare State.
5.  Man is governed by a search for the benevolent dictator to lead the group or collective, union is by force.

Scriptural Proof for Theonomy

I recently received a question: "perhaps you could provide some Scriptural proof for your stance [on theonomy]".  The friend didn't use that word, but I provide it to give it some broader context within Christendom and an easy "handle." The point of this post is to provide some of that proof.  I will note that this post is painfully short on the topic - I don't want to delude anyone that this an all-inclusive treatment on the matter.  There are much better texts on the subject and will gladly recommend further reading as requested. However, this post should serve as a succinct definition and an introduction to the biblical position.

"Theonomy" states that God's Word is the sole source of all ethics.  Therefore, the standards  of the Old Testament are still morally authoritative today along with New Testament teaching.  This position is wholly Covenantal in that its stance is firmly rooted in the truth that there is great continuity between Old and New Testament moral principles and regulations until God's revelation tells us otherwise, and therefore, the Old Testament law continues to offer us an inspired and reliable model for a Biblical civil moral code.

Theonomists assert that:

1. All scripture is God-breathed and profitable. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
2. There is no area of thought or life to which Christ does not lay claim. Matt. 4:4
3. Any command given in the Old Testament is profitable and binding until God repeals it in the New Testament. Deut. 4:2, James 4:11-12, Matt. 21:43, Rom. 4:13; 1 Peter 1:4.
4. Special revelation supersedes any claim of natural revelation or any ambiguous appeal to natural law. Rom. 7:7; Rom. 1:32; 2:14-15; Rom 3:19
5. The Law defines sin and Christ is (and has ever been) the only means of favor with the Father. 1 John 3:4, Rom. 10:4; Gal. 3:24; 1 Peter 1:16
6. A low view of the Law always brings Legalism - a high view of the Law makes a man a seeker after Grace. John 14:15, 1 John 5:3, Rom. 7:22

Those who do not favor taking God's law as the ultimate standard for civil morality and justice will be forced to use some other text to provide that standard - is that what we're supposed to be about as Christians? Deut. 4:8, Matt. 15:3-4, Acts 25:11, Heb 2:2

Biblical Warrant for Covenantal Church Government

"What is the Christian to make of 'Independent' Churches; are they biblical and should we seek independence?"

I am currently in the "application" section of the book "The Greatness of the Great Commission" by Dr. Gentry. I highly recommend the book as a whole and am really gleaning some very useful information from the application section of the book thus far.

One key aspect of the Great Commission is the mission of setting up and organizing Church Government as expressed in the Bible.  According to Gentry, Scripture has ordained a covenantal government of elected hierarchical rule in the church.  We see this patterned in the Old Testament (Exe. 18: 19-23; Deut. 1:13-15).  Elders of the Church possessed "jurisdictional" authority (Exe. 12:21, cp. v. 3) and were organized into levels (Deut. 1:15).

Similarly, the New Testament adopts the office of Elder (1 Tim 3).  We also read that the New Testament enforces the plurality of Elders (Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5) and they are charged with the authority that was not given to everyone in the congregation (a higher calling) - our Lord gives these keys to men (Matt. 16:18-19) but not all men (1 Tim. 3:1,2,6; 5:19).

The Scriptures also ordain a system of higher courts, outside of the local body, into a denomination, as seen in Acts 15:

"There we discover the Church functioning hierarchically to resolve a doctrinal dispute in a particular church at Antioch (Acts 15: 1,2).  The matter was sent by representatives to a trial before a joint
council in Jerusalem (Acts 15:2). The matter was debated before the entire council (Acts 15:419).26 The conclusion of this non-local court action was sent back down to the court of original jurisdiction (Acts 15:20-23). lt was considered binding upon the Antiochian church (Acts 15:28) and was sent to other churches for their instruction (Acts 16:4)."

"Lord, we pray that you save your Church from the hyper-individualism that is plaguing us today.  We thank you for giving us your Word on this matter, we pray for rapid Reformation in the Church Universal, at all levels, and revival in the Land.  Amen."