Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 11

Christian Virtues Weaponized

In a broadly Christian world, Christian virtues tend to get weaponized. We have seen this with concepts like justice and love and empathy, or the condemnation of being judgmental. Only a broadly Christian world says that being judgmental is wrong or that justice or love or empathy are good. But of course everything depends on definitions. When a judge vindicates the innocent and condemns the guilty, he is being judgmental in a good way. When someone finds a lost wallet and decides not to return it to its owner because the owner is an enemy, that’s unrighteous judgment. The Bible requires God’s people to be judgmental, but we are to judge with the standard of God’s word and remember that the measure we use to judge others will be used to measure us. 

We are required to love everyone, but love is treating others lawfully from the heart. Love is not going along with what anyone says makes them happy or caving or compromising simply because they say what you’re doing makes them feel bad. Likewise, justice is not making everyone happy. Justice is enforcing God’s law, which primarily consists of punishing evildoers. And while God does require us to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn, we must also practice self-control, which means that we are not to be ruled by our feelings or the feelings of others but by God’s Word.

In one sense, the fact that everyone, even those who hate God, keep appealing to these Christian virtues tells you that we are not yet as far from our Christian roots as some would have you believe. Pure paganism doesn’t care about justice, love, or empathy. But of course, if we continue down this current dark path, apart from the grace of God, we will end up in a paganism that ceases to care about any virtue.

But all of this is why worship on the Lord’s Day is at the center of all that we do. In worship we renew covenant with our Lord. Romans 12:1 says that we accomplish this reasonable service as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices. And in the next verse, it says that we are not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. As we renew covenant in worship, God renews our minds, correcting, teaching, training, and changing us from glory to glory. 

Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

Reformed Politics

What is Reformed Anyway? Part 6

Introduction 
One of the marks of the Reformed faith was a great political reformation. This is why it is sometimes called the “Magisterial Reformation.” The Pope and Roman church had slowly claimed political power, but the Reformers insisted that Scripture clearly taught that all power was given to Jesus Christ and therefore, He is the One who directly delegates it to magistrates, pastors, and parents for particular tasks by Him. Nations, churches, and families receive their authority directly from Christ, not any other earthly authority. 

The Text: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world’” (Mt. 28:18-20).

Summary of the Text
This text at the end of Matthew’s gospel is called the Great Commission because it was the final charge that Jesus gave the disciples before ascending into heaven. There is an indicative statement of fact which drives the command, followed by a final promise. The indicative statement is “all authority/power is given” to Jesus in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). The same word for “power/authority” is used in Romans 13:1-2 to refer to political rulers and magistrates and again in Titus 3:1. His disciples are to “therefore” go (Mt. 28:19). The disciples of Christ are to go and disciple the “nations” because Christ has been given all authority in heaven and earth.

Some point out that “nations” (ethne) can simply refer to Gentiles/non-Jews and therefore dispute the political ramifications of this Great Commission, but the same word certainly also refers to specific nations (e.g. Acts 2:5, 10:35, 13:19, 17:26). When the apostles were persecuted by the Jewish authorities, they quoted Psalm 2 which describes the nations and their kings gathered against the Lord and His Christ, and they refer to Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel (Acts 4:25-27). The disciples were commanded to go and disciple those nations by two means: baptizing in the triune name and teaching everything Jesus has commanded (Mt. 28:20). And the promise is that Jesus will be with us until the whole mission is done.

The Regulative Principle of Power & Limited Government
Since all authority has been given to Jesus Christ, all earthly authority is delegated authority from Jesus Christ. This is why wherever Christians are urged to submit to and obey earthly authorities, it is always “in the Lord” or “as to Christ” (Eph. 5:22, 6:1, 6:6-9, 1 Pet. 2:13, Heb. 13:17). No earthly authority is absolute (e.g. Acts 5:29, Dan. 3, 6). This means that all righteous government is limited by God’s Word, which is the foundational argument for Lex Rex (“the law is king”). 

Since the primary task God has given to the civil magistrate is a ministry of violence: the sword of justice to punish evildoers (Rom. 13:4), it is especially important that civil government be limited. Political rulers who reject the limits of God’s Word are arrogant and act like beasts and monsters (Dan. 4, 7). This is what happens when civil governments begin meddling for example in markets, healthcare, and education. Just outside the hospital, he looks like a nicely dressed man who just wants to help, but as soon as the magistrate disobeys and enters, he grows fangs and turns into a monster. You can’t disobey God and not turn into a monster — we let the magistrate run our schools and now children are having healthy body parts cut off (the same is true of the other governments: disobedient pastors turn into wolves, etc.). A righteous ruler really is like rain coming down upon mown grass and delivers the poor and needy, but he does this by establishing equal weights and measures and punishing true criminals (Ps. 72). 

Covenant Theology and Civil Government
The Reformers noticed that in addition to the great Covenants of Grace, there were also political covenants in Scripture: Abraham made a “covenant” with Abimelech (Gen. 21:27), Isaac did the same (Gen. 26:28), and Jacob made a covenant with Laban (Gen. 31:44). Later, Jonathan and David made a covenant (1 Sam. 20:16, 23:18), as did Ben-Hadad and King Ahab (1 Kgs. 20:34). Therefore, the Reformers reasoned that nations exist as covenant entities before God, established on particular constitutions or customs between rulers and people. It was on this basis that Christians generally teach submission and honor to civil authorities, and at the same time, as may occasionally happen in a marriage covenant, certain high-handed abuses may warrant the people dissolving the covenant and forming a new one.

The rudimentary elements of this system of government were worked out in the feudal arrangements of the Middle Ages, with increasing formality, as seen in the signing of the Magna Charta in 1215 and the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, claiming independence from England. The Scottish Presbyterians under John Knox worked this covenant theology out in the 16th and 17th centuries to the point of being called “covenanters.” It was many of these Scots-Irish who colonized America, and took issue with King George breaking his covenant-charters with the colonies, resulting in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution of 1789.  

Conclusions
America was founded as a distinctly Protestant Christian Republic. When the War for Independence broke out, King George referred to it as the “presbyterian revolt.” The prime minister of England, Horace Walpole said in Parliament that “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson,” apparently referring to John Witherspoon, presbyterian minister, signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of the presbyterian college Princeton. 

A republic is a representative form of government with constitutional checks and balances – or what you might call a civil form of presbyterianism. This goes back to the nation of Israel which chose rulers over 1000s, 100s, 50s, and 10s (Ex. 18:21), and when the early Americans read the political theorists of Greece and Rome attempting various forms of “mixed government,” they saw the same thing in presbyterian polity: seeking to balance the tendency to veer between anarchy and tyranny. 

Our mission remains the same as when Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven: disciple all of the nations, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. While we have fallen a long way from the broad Protestant consensus of early America, and we might wish for a more explicit acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus in our land, our Constitution is not as “godless” as many claim, since it does acknowledge Sunday as the Christian Sabbath and the birth of Jesus Christ, the “Lord” of these United States and all nations. 

Jesus died and rose from the dead, and all authority was given to Him. Psalm 2 says: ask of me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession. Christ did ask, and all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Him. And we therefore go. 

Porn, Marriage, & Politics

Logos Assembly March 2024

Introduction
Porneias is the Greek word for sexual immorality. Pornography is any writing or images intended to encourage or stir up sexual immorality. Pornography can be found in books and stories, magazines and images, shows and movies. Fornication is the general name for the sin of sexual immorality, and can refer to sex prior to or outside of marriage. Not all nakedness or references to sex are pornographic. A doctor may help bring healing without sexual immorality, and the Song of Songs is a book of the Bible that describes sexual intimacy without any immorality. But you must still be on your guard. 

In the beginning God created man and woman in His image, and the Bible says that they were naked and not ashamed. But after Adam and Eve sinned they knew they were naked and attempted to sew fig leaves together to cover themselves and tried to hide in the bushes from the Lord. Because of sin, we feel shame about our bodies and sexuality. But in marriage, a man and woman have a taste of that original goodness. The marriage bed is honorable and undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers, God will judge (Heb. 13:4). Sexual union in marriage is good and holy and blessed, but God will judge those who mess with marriage.

Sex & Marriage as a Nuclear Reactor
We live in a world that hates God and how He has created the world, and so it is actively at war with marriage and God’s blessing of the marriage bed. This is because God made marriage and family to be a nuclear reactor. In sexual intimacy, God gave the potential to create new human life, new human beings that bear God’s image. There is nothing in all of creation as powerful as the image of God in men and women. Human beings are immortal souls that will live forever. If one of your neighbors told you they bought some uranium off the internet and they were planning to play with it in their basement, you would rightly object. And you wouldn’t care if they protested that you shouldn’t care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home. But that’s exactly what people have been doing with sex. We are living in the nuclear fallout of the sexual revolution. 

Pornography and all sexual immorality is playing with the nuclear family. When we obey God and honor his design, there is great power and blessing, but when we try to re-wire the reactor ourselves, there is only misery and pain.

God made the woman from the man, and the woman was created to be the glory of man (1 Cor. 11). This means that part of the glory of being made a woman is being made beautiful. A woman’s glory is her beauty. It is no sin to notice this. But when a man sins, he tends to lust after a woman’s beauty, and when a woman sins she tends to try to provoke that lust. A woman sins by trying to get the wrong kind of attention, and a man sins by giving the wrong kind of attention. This can begin as immodesty in speech, immodesty in dress, but like many sins, it can have a way of wearing down your guard. Taylor Swift can gyrate half naked on a stage in front of thousands, and piles of Christians go along with it since she’s still wearing *some* clothes. But a generation or two before us would have called that pornographic. While many girls and women do not intend it, they are being groomed by fashion designers not to feel shame in spandex and underwear. And many Christians make a very weird exception when there’s water within 50 yards. Pornography has deadened the senses of many. 

The Lies of Porn & Lust
“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:3-4). This means that prostitution (and pornography is often just electronic/virtual prostitution) is presented full of lies. The magazine cover looks attractive like honey or oil, but what it is actually advertising is death and destruction. But the lies multiply. To a woman, the lie is that you have to look at least a little bit sexually alluring in order to look pretty. You have to look a little bit like the celebrity prostitutes or else you’ll like a frumpy toad. But that’s a lie. God created woman to be the glory of man, and that in part means you should desire to be beautiful. But you should not allow the sexually immoral world teach you what true beauty is. Don’t take fashion tips from porn stars.

Another lie is that you are missing out, that everyone else is having fun, and if you don’t act now, you’ll never have any fun either. If you don’t watch that show, that movie, read those books, you’ll soon be an old dud with no friends. But those who look at pornography or seek out sexual immorality are not really having fun. They might have a brief taste of honey, but the end is bitter. The end is regrets, shame, hurt, pain, plus sometimes diseases, pregnancy, abortion, adultery, divorce, and broken families. 

Forgiveness
One of the other most significant lies of the Devil is that sexual sin is the unforgivable sin. Satan says, it’s too late. Nothing can be done. But Scripture says, “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). 

There is no sin that is so foul that you cannot be forgiven. Jesus was stripped naked and crucified in great shame because our sin has been very shameful. But everyone who confesses their sins will be washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Have you looked at sexually immoral images or read stories that have stirred up lust? Confess your sin to God and tell your parents. Get clean and get accountability. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).

Conclusions: The Politics of Marriage versus the Politics of Pornography
What kind of world are you seeking to build? Honoring Christian marriage and the marriage bed is building a particular kind of world. Honoring Christian marriage is practicing a politics of freedom. This is because the blessings of freedom are enjoyed by those with self-control and self-government, those who keep their promises and build strong, loyal families. But pornography and all sexual immorality produce a politics of slavery. This is because a people governed by their lusts and appetites cannot be trusted to keep their promises or tell the truth and must therefore be governed by outside forces. 

Photo by Luis Tosta on Unsplash

Covenant Force Multiplier

The covenant is a force multiplier. The covenant multiplies blessing or cursing. The covenant is a greenhouse, and whatever you’re growing grows faster and stronger. If you’re growing healthy vegetables and fruit, the covenant multiplies the fruitfulness. If you’re growing mold and mildew, the covenant will multiply that as well.

Of course no one in the covenant is perfect. Only Christ is perfect. But the covenant is a covenant of grace, a covenant for sinners who know they are dependent on God’s grace. And God has always made provision for humble sinners. He covered Adam and Eve in the skins of animals. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham was reckoned righteous because he believed the promises of God. And God brought Israel out of Egypt by His grace and gave them the sacrifices so that they could dwell in His presence. And even though David’s house was not at all perfect, God graciously promised to build him a house that would stand forever. And all of those types and shadows point to the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus. 

Faithful covenant keeping is simply trusting the Word of God and humbly obeying. Jesus said, this is the good work that God requires: believing in the One God sent (Jn. 6:29). And so that is the charge and the promise. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of Me, or do this as My memorial. And that simply means, when you come to His table, come believing that Jesus is the Son of God given for your sins so that you might walk in newness of life, so that His grace might multiply your humble efforts. And therefore, do not hide any sins, do not lie about any sins. Jesus is here, and He will multiply whatever you bring: if you come in pride and arrogance, He will resist you. And let me assure you that cannot win. But if you come in humility, determining to repent and obey by His grace, He will lift you up. So come believing, come in faith, and come and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

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Masculine & Feminine Repentance & Virtue

One of the ways the heresies of egalitarianism and feminism have seeped into the church has been in our assumptions about what piety and repentance look like. Frequently, we have made feminine piety and feminine repentance the rule for what real piety and repentance are. And if a man or a boy doesn’t look like a woman or a girl while repenting, we tend to be doubtful. But when men and women put off the old man and put on the new man in Christ, they ought to do so as men and women, male and female. 

Of course repentance is fundamentally just complete humility before God and so we really shouldn’t overthink it. But for example, when a man humbles himself before God and repents, he begins taking responsibility for himself and others, which in some ways will make him more assertive than he was before. Humility doesn’t mean mousiness. When a woman humbles herself before God and repents, she begins caring more about true Christian beauty and hospitality than before. But of course, you might mistake the responsible assertiveness as pride in the man, and you might mistake the concern for beauty and hospitality as vanity in the woman. And of course it could be.

But for a husband who repents, putting on Christ will mean loving his wife more like Christ loves, which is truly sacrificial and efficacious, but isn’t necessarily doing whatever his wife prefers. Likewise, when a wife repents, putting on Christ means that she respects her husband, looks up to him, admires him, praises him, and maybe when it would appear to some close friends that not a lot has changed with him. 

But virtue and piety and repentance are not dependent on other people changing. Putting on Christ is something each individual does before God, as a man, as a woman and in so doing, you become what God created you to be: a man, a woman, male and female in His glorious image. There certainly are common elements to repentance: true hatred of sin, true sorrow over sin, real zeal for change and new obedience. But those realities will often look different in men and women, boys and girls. As God renews His image in us, He is not renewing a sexless, androgynous image. He is renewing something radically more feminine, more masculine than any of us can imagine. 

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Christian Nationalism & Chastened Kuyperianism

Introduction
The challenge with these things is naming, which includes actual definitions, plus connotations and denotations. If Christian Nationalism is the QAnon Shaman from January 6th, then no thanks, deal me out. But if Christian Nationalism is simply the idea that among our tasks as Christians is to disciple our nation, teaching it to obey everything that Jesus has commanded – what all Christians everywhere believed until about 15 minutes ago, then every Bible-believing Christian is a Christian Nationalist. 

But we need to recognize that our enemies are constantly trying to get us to slip and fall: either by backing into something that is unbiblical or else by backing away from obedience because of our fear of being associated with zealots that wear buffalo hats. So our task is to be obedient and faithful in both directions. We must not back into disobedience, and we must not back away from obedience, even if Simon the Zealot joins our church, and he has two gigantic Trump flags flying off the back of his F-350. 

Scottish Presbyterian John Buchan who served as a member of parliament for the Scottish universities and later as the Governor General of Canada wrote in the 1920s: “I believe as firmly as ever that a sane nationalism is necessary for all true peace and prosperity, but I am equally clear that an artificial nationalism which manifests itself in barren separatism and the manufacture of artificial difference makes for neither peace nor prosperity.” This establishes both the credibility of a “sane nationalism,” which we assume would necessarily be very Christian, as well as the possibility of an artificial nationalism that is utterly barren and belligerent.

Bible-believing Christians are behind the eight-ball, and we have our work cut out for us in this land. We are not likely to be in significant positions of power nationally any time soon, although we may have opportunities locally to work for the peace and prosperity of our local cities and counties (and perhaps some states). The first and primary question when it comes to this topic is simply whether Jesus is Lord of the public square. Does He in fact have all authority in Heaven and on earth? If so, that should be publicly affirmed in the public square, and it must not be an empty affirmation. It must mean that whatever Jesus says, we will do. This is nothing less than the Great Commission. To explain away this clear commission as only applying to individuals is simply disobedience. And regardless, what happens when the individual you’re discipling becomes a senator or president?

A Chastened Kuyperianism
Jesus says in the Great Commission that our task in addition to preaching and baptizing is teach every convert to obey everything He has commanded. I want to argue that this means that we must embrace what I would call a “chastened Kuyperianism.” Abraham Kuyper Dutch Reformed theologian and statesman of the 19th century famously asserted that there is not one square inch in all of creation over which the Lord Jesus does not cry, “Mine!” 

The problem is that some of Kuyper’s descendants (and maybe Kuyper himself to some extent) seem to have had a far too optimistic view of human nature and not enough of a biblical-cynicism (or theonomic backbone) to keep human hubris chained to the rock of God’s Word. Remember, the house that is built on the rock is built by the man who hears the Word of God and obeys; the house built on the sand is built by the man who hears the Word of God and does not obey (Mt. 7:24-29). These houses equally apply to nations, churches, and families. 

What Kuyper helpfully pushed forward is the notion of division of powers and sphere sovereignty. The founders of our nation had already established this in our civil government, and this was because they already had a strong notion of the other spheres (family and church). Since Jesus is Lord, all other human authority is derived and delegated power – all power is from the Lord Jesus. And therefore, the particular assignments Jesus gives are essential to obeying Him. Only Jesus has absolute authority. All other authority and power is limited by Him. 

While we grant that there will be matters that fall on the line between jurisdictions, or where there are legitimately overlapping responsibilities, the Lordship of Jesus begins with centering our assignments in the clear instructions given by the Word of God. The explicit commands given to the three main governments are as follows: the church is tasked with the government of worship through the Word and Sacraments (Mt. 28:16-20); the civil magistrate is assigned the ministry of criminal justice through punishment of crimes (Rom. 13:1-5); and the family is assigned the ministry of health care decisions, mercy ministry, and education (Dt. 6, Eph. 5-6, 1 Tim. 5). This is a “chastened” Kuyperianism both because it insists on beginning with the explicit commands of Jesus and because it acknowledges that this cannot account for every need of human society and some matters will need to be figured out by “the light of nature and Christian prudence” as the Westminster confession says regarding worship. 

Theonomic Federalism
Theonomy simply means government by God’s law. Although some caricatures imagine that this must mean copying and pasting Deuteronomy into the local municipal code, everyone who favors some form of theonomy recognizes that the particular laws of the Old Testament code were applied to a particular culture and nation and must therefore be applied as principles or what the Westminster Confession calls the “general equity.” 

On the one hand, many theonomic types are more like engineers than pastors, seeming to imagine that if we only get the right laws, utopia will break out, while many among the current Christian Nationalist types seem to be too much like modern politicians than pastors. And the reason why I press the contrast between these and “pastors” is because it is the God-given task of pastors to disciple the nations by teaching them the whole Word of God for all of life. Far too many theonomy types are perfectionistic idealists and don’t understand the real life needs and challenges that face communities, but far too many Christian Nationalist types haven’t spent much time studying biblical law in detail to see what it has to teach modern civics. If we take biblical law seriously, we will arrive at something that will sound a lot more libertarian than many modern conservative statists think is possible, but if we take biblical law seriously it will have plenty of covenantal poison pills for true-blue libertarians who are often just as perfectionistic and idealistic in their own ways. So the church must return to teaching, preaching, and declaring the whole counsel of God (Genesis-Revelation): All of Christ for all of life. No problem passages. No apologies. Obedience to all of the commands of Christ, with the full authority of Christ. 

Conclusion: Self-Government & Self-Control
Often, the missing element in all our theorizing and theologizing is the foundation of all the governments: self-government or self-control. Part of what often paralyzes Christians with fear and despair is the feeling that nothing can be done. What can ordinary people with ordinary jobs and ordinary families do? But the answer is here: Obey your King. Is He the King of America? Is He King of the World? Than trust Him. Believe Him. Begin with you. Confess your sins to God and anyone you have wronged. Is Jesus Lord or not? Do you want your leaders to change? Do you want them to repent? Then show them how. Walk in repentance. 

The joy of the Lord is your strength. And the joy of the Lord flows principally from forgiven hearts and walking in the Light. But you cannot have the joy of the Lord and walk in the light with a backlog of sin and guilt (Ps. 32, 1 Jn. 1). When you are walking in sin, you are walking in the dark, and you can’t see clearly. You can’t see yourself, you can’t see the people around you, and you can’t see our world clearly. Jesus says you have a California Redwood lodged in your eye, and you’re swinging your chainsaw around at other people. First remove your own log. Confess your own sin. And this includes your bad attitudes about other peoples’ sin. If you’re fussing and fuming and angry; you can’t see clearly. Whether it’s your children or your spouse. 

Then in that joyful clarity, teach others the way (Ps. 51), beginning with those closest to you, in your family and church and business. And when God blesses those endeavors with growing joy and fellowship and productivity, and you get accused of being “Christian Nationalists” then just grin and shrug. If that’s “Christian Nationalism” then let’s have some more. 

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Self-Defense & Just War

Introduction
The most basic principle that lies at the foundation of just war and righteous self-defense is the image of God and the prohibition against the illicit destruction of that image. While there is a sense in which we may speak of the “sanctity of human life,” it is more properly the sanctity of God and His Word and His image that is to be held in high esteem. Therefore, with God’s permission, human life may be taken for the protection of human life and the righteous retribution for life that has already been unjustly taken. Failure to defend human life may therefore itself be a failure to honor the holiness of God, His Word, and His image. Our duty to God includes pursuing this justice. 

The Death Penalty
While God intimates the first death penalty in the Garden, threatened for Adam’s disobedience, the initial theological lesson is one of grace (Gen. 2:17, 3:21). Likewise, God spares Cain for his fratricide, but the blood of Abel cries out from the ground for justice (Gen. 4:10). When God destroyed the world with the flood, it was for the great wickedness and violence that had filled the earth, and it is therefore presented as a just death penalty (Gen. 6:11-13). Therefore, it does not seem like an accident at all that it is after the flood that we have the first explicit statement of the human duty of protecting human life and punishing those who take it unjustly: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Gen. 9:6). The institution of capital punishment is therefore a societal-cultural commitment to self-defense and the protection of human life, and the wholesale abandonment of capital punishment is likewise a cultural abandonment of self-defense and the value of human life. Arguably, the same principle is the ethical foundation of the right and duty to personally defend our lives and families as well as for communities and nations to defend themselves, with lethal force if necessary. 

Castle Law & Proportionality
“If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double” (Ex. 22:2-4). 

Here, God establishes several additional principles related to self-defense in particular and just war in general. In the case of a break-in, there is an ordinary presumption of guilt on the part of the trespasser and innocence on the part of the home owner. There is no blood guilt if the home owner defends himself and the trespasser is killed. However, the law adds that if the sun is risen, the home defender may be held liable for the blood shed of a thief, since justice demands restitution for theft not a death penalty. The principle is one of knowledge of intention; this is what is meant by the “sun be risen.” If the guy is loading a box of your power tools into the back of his truck, you may not shoot him dead. However, if it is unclear what his intentions are (“the sun is not risen”), and a home owner may reasonably fear for his safety and/or the safety of his family, there is no blood guilt, if the trespasser is killed or harmed. This principle is applied in Western law codes under the name “Castle Doctrine” and can apply to wherever people have a right to privacy and security and may reasonably fear for their safety.  The Fourth Amendment is our constitutional witness to this principle.

The other principle at work in this text is that of proportionality and restitution based on the lex talionis: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Ex. 21:24-25). Lex talionis means law of reciprocity: what was intended to be done to you is done to the perpetrator: since he intended to deprive you of your table saw, he must return your table saw and be deprived of the same item or its equal value (double restitution). This principle is therefore one of proportionality: if some guy steals your table saw, you may not justly hunt him down and shoot him. If he knocks out your tooth, you may not take off his head. Therefore the lex talionis limits vengeance and blood feuds and restores an approximation of societal “balance” after a crime has been committed. This is symbolized in images of Lady Justice with scales in her hand. 

The Duty of Home-Defense
The duty of protecting human life is enshrined in the Sixth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” The death penalty is mandatory for murder, and a possible maximum penalty for other crimes, including adultery, manstealing, sodomy, rape, and high-handed abuse of the elderly (Mal. 2:16, Mk 7:10, Dt. 24:7, Rom. 1:32). Therefore, while not always required, we should understand those crimes as often approaching the same harm as murder and therefore may sometimes be justly defended against or punished with lethal force. However, even during the days of Moses, God was phasing out familial criminal punishment (e.g. Avenger of Blood) and establishing civil magistrates and judges to bear the sword, for example in the law that allows the death penalty for a rebellious son, a father may not take a criminal penalty into his own hands, but must together with his wife take the matter before the judges of the city (Dt. 21:19). 

Related, is the duty of a man to love his wife as himself and his own body (Eph. 5:28-29). Likewise, raising up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord includes providing for them and keeping them safe (Eph. 6:4). A man who does not provide for and therefore protect his own household is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8). By extension, under certain circumstances, our duty to love our neighbors, may include our common defense of our neighbors and nation. 

Just War Theory
The criteria are often divided into two categories: jus ad bellum (“right to go to war”) and jus in bello (“right conduct in war”). While Aristotle considered this topic, Augustine is widely recognized as the first to give it serious thought, focusing primarily on the necessity of just cause and authorized magistrates. While individuals are the magistrates of their own home and familial safety, God has authorized civil magistrates to bear the sword of His wrath (Rom. 13:4, 1 Pet. 2:13-14). Thomas Aquinas came later adding a third principle of personal intention to promote good and avoid evil. Other criteria often included: war should be a last resort, the force/violence/cost ought to be commensurate to the threat/evil committed (principle of proportionality), the violence should avoid non-combatants, and some have added the necessity of some measure of hope for success. Finally, during the Reformation, the doctrine of the lesser magistrate was also developed, arguing that lower magistrates had not only a right but also a duty to defend the populace from tyrannical and abusive higher powers. 

Conclusion: A Couple of Common Objections

What about Jesus’ teaching about turning the other cheek?
Christ’s teaching must be held together with all of Scripture. Jesus also teaches that we must hate our families to be His disciple (Lk. 14:26). When the soldiers asked John what they must do, they were not prohibited from continuing their military duties (Lk. 3:14). Putting these passages together, it has widely been concluded that Jesus is talking about our personal dispositions (no hatred, bitterness against even enemies and honestly wanting their good) and wise/prudent action when we are in positions of weakness willing to suffer but not prohibiting self-defense, just punishment by authorized magistrates, or just war. Parents may not take personal offense at their children, but this doesn’t prohibit judicious corporal punishment. Romans 12 prohibits Christians from taking vengeance into their own hands and requires personal charity, and then Romans 13 immediately explains that magistrates are God’s ministers of wrath. Likewise, Hebrews 11 describes those who “by faith… subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness… waxed valiant in fight… and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance… had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings… were stoned… slain with the sword.”

What about the whole sale destruction of cities in Canaan?
The Bible teaches that God commanded the entire destruction of cities in Canaan for their hard-hearted wickedness and evil (Gen. 15:16). However, the Old Testament teaches that God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked (Gen. 18:23-32). And even in Canaan, Rahab and her family escaped the destruction of Jericho, and Achan was utterly destroyed for acting like a Canaanite (Josh. 6-7). This indicates that the utter destruction of certain cities was on entirely moral and ethical grounds, and therefore it was not ethnic genocide but supernatural just punishment. Joshua says that none of the nations that were utterly destroyed were interested in peace but their hearts were hardened like Pharaoh’s so that their destruction was thoroughly just (Josh. 11:20). And even in the conquest God made a distinction between the cities of utter destruction and ordinary just war (Dt. 20:10-18).

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Punching Partiality

Introduction
A number of folks on the right are waking up to the way much of our American system has been rigged at least since World War 2 and in various ways prior to that. And basically it has been rigged by a pile of disingenuous refs and a rule book that is hard distinguish from “Calvin Ball.” Conservatives, and Christian conservatives in particular, have long assumed that we were all playing by what used to be known as “rules.” You know equal weights and measures and that sort of thing, where the same standard applies to everybody. Turns out the Left was happy to pretend that and let us think that, but in reality, they only cared about the rules when it condemned the right and when some darling on the Left broke the rules, there was always some excuse, some explanation, and why are you being so judgmental, you bigot. And since it was believed that “being judgmental” was against one of the rules, the Right has generally tended to slink back into their corner, tail between their legs, feeling a bit sheepish. And the Leftists have generally carried themselves with such prodigious moral indignation, this has gone a long way toward covering up the fact that under those sanctimonious skirts is a foul, hypocritical rot.

But a number of folks on the squishy right have essentially bought the narrative that the Right really is cranky, judgmental, and divisive, and while the Left has their issues, they are elites, the gatekeepers, and the aristocracy, and therefore if we want to “engage” with our culture, they say, you have to cozy up to the Left. They may not always be right, but you have to (what did the apostle say?) become all things to all men in order to win some to Christ. And so the Russell Moores of the world express their deep appreciation for various Lefty causes that, if you squint, you might be able to get them to look vaguely like something you can find in the Bible (also, if you’re squinting and not looking too closely). Meanwhile, in order to really win their confidence and approval, these same squishy so-called conservatives believe they must also signal their disdain for the masses of benighted fundamentalists with their guns and Bibles and obsession with Donald Trump. So the modus operandi has been “coddle left; punch right,” “comfort left; kick down the stairs right,” “wash the feet of the left; throw into the path of a speeding train right.” And this has also included cancelling speakers, doxxing certain figures, and exerting pressure not to read, share, or endorse the writings of whoever-must-not-be-named.

No Enemies to the What?
Now a bunch of true blue conservatives have had it up to here with these games, and a bunch of them have determined to have “no enemies to the right” (NETTR) and have taken oaths to only punch left and never punch right. But if you’re paying attention at home, you should recognize this motto as a sort of inversion of exactly what the Left has been doing to us over the last 75 years. Turns out, they’ve been playing Calvin Ball with the unspoken rule of “no enemies to the left” (NETTL). Now, I have no problem with conservative shrewdness, choosing battles wisely, and I don’t even have any problem with tricking our enemies into doing what it is right.

But if the problem is partiality, putting your fingers on the scale for some folks, using a broken scale for others, then the answer is not another form of partiality. You can’t fight partiality with more partiality. That only encourages them. That is what Jesus would call returning evil for evil, cursing for cursing. And good guys do not have the option of using the evil tactics of bad guys as though we can do so and remain good guys. In a strange twist, it’s just another form of squishy conservatism, acting like leftists, only with more angst and foam. And it really doesn’t matter even if someone says that this is a temporary necessity in order to grow and consolidate “the movement,” and assuring you that they only do this with “bad guys” and people who don’t fight fair.

This was all addressed by God many centuries ago: “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a case to decline after man to wrest judgment: neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause… thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor in his cause” (Ex. 23:1-3, 6).

It’s striking that these prohibitions all come together in this one place. Slander and spreading questionable reports are not acceptable whether the person is on the Left or the Right. Christians may not follow a multitude to do evil, not even if that particular “multitude” promises to overthrow the deep state. At the same time, Proverbs says not to grab a stray dog by the ear, and sometimes stray mobs may run by you on their way to burn down the FBI and you are not morally obligated to try to stop every stray rabid dog. But there’s a massive difference between getting out of the way and joining the mob. And when you get out of the way, you should be under no illusions that you are safe for very long. This is because rabid dogs are well trained in the DEI handbooks and are therefore equal opportunity attackers and because you have to realize that the deep state and all of its corrupt machinations *is* a mob in slow motion. The revolutionary fervor is like the two daughters of the horseleech, and they are never satisfied (Prov. 30:15).

Not Even For the Poor
But the other point worth making from Exodus 23 is the fact that immediately after that general prohibition against joining mobs to do evil, it specifically prohibits doing injustice on behalf of the poor. Conservatives have rightly decried socialistic and statist policies levered off the backs of the poor for decades. The Left has run this play so many times and has slowly but surely coerced America into the harsh shackles of a semi-welfare state, all in the name of helping the poor, the elderly, and minorities. And of course this has all resulted in the enslavement, mistreatment, and abuse of the poor, the elderly, and minorities. God established the government of the family as the central institution for caring for the health, welfare, and education of individuals and churches and private charities as the fallback safety net (Eph. 5-6, 1 Tim. 5). Civil government was never intended by God to provide for the poor and needy, apart from guaranteeing them the same principles of justice that apply to the rich and powerful. Civil magistrates deliver the poor and needy when they refuse to allow the rich and powerful to take advantage of them.

But now that we live in what Aaron Renn calls “negative world,” a world in which Christians and white evangelical Christians in particular are something of the hated, despised, poor, and minority class, the temptation is to “countenance a poor man in his cause.” And the Bible prohibits that. Of course Moses comes right back a couple verses later and insists that the poor man’s cause not be perverted. But this is what is called impartiality. Good people, God’s people, are required by God to be impartial. God hates unequal weights and measures. He hates all perversion of justice, whether the perversion that favors the poor white evangelicals and gives them a pass because they’re poor white evangelicals or the perversion that despises the poor white evangelicals because they’re poor white evangelicals. And participating in either form of perversion is just joining the socialistic statists.

No Respect for Persons
Elsewhere Moses puts it like this: “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s” (Dt. 1:17). The temptation is often to prefer the “great,” but when the great are in power and oppressing the “small,” it is the temptation of the “small” to prefer whoever else they perceive as being “small” like them. The temptation in other words is to have “no enemies below” or an unjust commitment to never “punching down.” But justice means not respecting persons in judgment. Justice means punching all partiality. And I’m happy to make a distinction here between natural affections, knee-jerk loyalties, and friends on the one hand, and our natural enemies, opponents, and adversaries on the other. But those natural loyalties may not be the basis for our dealings in the public square as we fight for true biblical justice. Again, this is something that God specifically prohibits: “If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers… thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him” (Dt. 13:6, 8, see also Dt. 19:15-21).

Notice that litany of prohibitions: you shall not consent, you shall not listen, you shall not pity, you shall not spare, and you shall not conceal. Now wisdom certainly requires us to understand the difference between the multitude of sins that Christian love covers routinely (nickel and dime infelicities) and the kinds of sins that must be addressed (deep seated hatred, deception, theft, infidelity).

Conclusion
None of this is meant as playing anything remotely coy about what we are aiming for. We want a Christian Republic that publicly acknowledges Jesus as Lord. We want His law clearly reflected in the laws of our land. It is a great blessing when Godly Christian men are in power. But if we want true justice in the public square and in the laws of our land, we must be men of integrity now. We must be like David whose conscience smote him when he cut the edge of the wicked king’s robe. No doubt there were some sons of Belial gathered at the cave of Adullam who thought David was just trying to cozy up to the king, appease the elites, and maneuver his way back into the good graces of the palace. But David cared about true justice, and he knew that it was possible for him to turn into a Saul if he was not determined to play by God’s rules.

If Jesus is Lord, and we are seeking to honor Him as a nation, then we must honor Him now and we must honor Him in how we take this nation back. Jesus was no respecter of persons, and He is still no respecter of persons. And all the governments are upon His shoulders. He is establishing true justice in the world, and you cannot win if you find yourself fighting against Him, even if you’re on the right. This is because the judgment is God’s.

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Faith Abounding in Thanksgiving

Why have Reformed churches been so weak and impotent over the last hundred years or so? With some striking exceptions, the Reformed and Presbyterian churches have repeatedly capitulated to the cultural winds, from feminism to no-fault divorce to the sexual revolution, how do Reformed churches so often end up ordaining women and flying rainbow flags? 

One of the central reasons has been a failure to apply God’s Word to specific issues in our churches and in our culture. Reformed pastors and teachers have failed to do this out of fear and cowardice: once you start applying God’s Word, you run the risk of offending people and getting in trouble, like in the book of Acts. But that kind of fear demonstrates a failure of nerve, or a failure of faith. And so the question is: what is it about our faith that has been lacking?

It’s striking that Jesus repeatedly points to young children as the models for the kind of faith His people need. Unless you become like a little child, Jesus said, you cannot enter the Kingdom. While it is certainly not true for all, many in the Reformed churches have effectively said the exact opposite: unless you become grown up and mature, you cannot come to the Lord’s Table. 

And the defense for this reluctance to welcome young children is fear that they might not believe, fear that they might not really understand, but Jesus says that they understand better than many adults. I suspect that this same fear and doubt is why many Reformed types are reluctant to apply God’s Word to all of life. What if it doesn’t work out? What if we’re wrong?

But God promises to be our God and the God of our children after us. And faith means simply saying, “thank you.” In Colossians 2:7, Paul warns against being tricked by enticing words (think of feminism or Marxism), and says that instead we must be rooted and built up in Christ, established in the faith, abounding in thanksgiving.

And so this is the charge, come with believing faith: which is to say, come with faith abounding with thanksgiving for the way God promises to work in the details of your life: your kids, your family, this world. And so come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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In Which Joel McDurmon and a Bunch of Reformed Dudes Defend Slavery

Introduction
Well this certainly feels a bit awkward. Usually, it’s the Moscow crew that’s being accused of defending slavery, but now the shoe seems to be on the other NAPARC foot. Here I am arguing against slavery just like we always have here in Moscow.

On Friday, I tweeted “A “Reformed” ministry that is not regularly preaching against the bloated idolatry of the state, the self-deification of government programs, welfare, and redistribution of wealth — the pagan shrine of our day — that ministry is not Reformed in any meaningful sense of the word.” 

Among many distraught replies, was a thread from Joel McDurmon, quoting approvingly one “Ann” who lamented my tweet thusly: “This absolutely frustrates me because SOOOO MANY in his “camp” receive “welfare” that is obtained through wealth redistribution. I have posted before about being shocked to learn so many in the MAGA crowd, the CREC crowd, so so so many families with stay at home moms and 4+ children are getting government funded healthcare for their children, WIC, food stamps etc…”

McDurmon polished his PhD for a dozen tweets or so in order to clear his throat and point out that in his vast reading of Reformed pastors, very few of their sermons have been taken up with government welfare policies. To which I would simply say that is utterly and entirely beside the point. I doubt one can find many references to iPhones either. The center of “Reformed” theology is the Lordship of Jesus Christ mediated through the supremacy of His Word. Many glorious truths were recovered during the Protestant Reformation, but the central, driving engine for the whole project was the unleashing of the Word of God into every area of life setting men free. In those days, the Great Slaver of Babylon was the Roman Catholic Church, buying and selling the souls men at her pagan shrine of the Mass.  

Jesus & the Idols
The central proclamation of the gospel is Jesus is Lord, which is a slightly shortened version of Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. And of course someone out there in my replies (maybe with a PhD) will point out that the Bible does not say anything about Supreme Court justices, Presidents, Prime Ministers, or Attorney Generals. To which, I will smile serenely and carry on like a happy mallard on a placid pond. To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to Him. Someone else in my replies will no doubt pop up to say that they’re going to need a citation for that tenuous claim and someone else will arrive breathlessly to say that the Bible says that “nowhere.” Many such puffs of brilliance have appeared in my replies over the last few days. But my primary concern is with those within the Reformed Tradition who want to preach a “gospel” that does not collide with any idols, at least not any idols that exist in our day, not any idols that the idols themselves haven’t given us permission to object to, and certainly not any idols that have any physical manifestation in our world. Perhaps the bravest of my detractors will occasionally stand for a tentative objection to some shadowy idol in somebody’s heart (somewhere), but always phrased with qualifiers like “maybe” or “perhaps” or “consider.”

But Jesus Christ died and rose again in order to set the captives free. The center of that freedom is the forgiveness of sins, the gift of a new heart of flesh (regeneration), and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And for the three Reformed OPC Bros who are about to accuse me of the “Federal Vision” boogey-man: these gifts are irrevocable, are entirely grace (having nothing to do with our works whatsoever) and are not tied to the moment of baptism. But the point is that when this new life comes into existence it immediately collides with the works of the flesh, the machinations of the world, and all the tyranny of the devil. And what are the works of the flesh, the machinations of the world, and the tyranny of the devil? I’m glad you asked. It looks like sin – every want of conformity to the law of God: lack of conformity in sexual ethics, economic ethics, political ethics, theological ethics, and everything in between. “Jesus Christ is Lord” means war with every humanistic impulse: from the toddler’s pitched fit in the Walmart toy aisle to the gyrating drag queen in Dodger Stadium to the concupiscent politician crushing the faces of the poor through confiscatory taxation and so-called welfare programs to the angry ruling elder gnashing his teeth on the social media formerly known as Twitter. 

Jesus said that He came in order to bind the Strong Man and plunder his house. It is not “off the point” when the gospel collides with idols. It is not “off point” when the resurrection of Jesus Christ collides with false gospels. The central most blasphemous idol in our land is the idol of the state, the false gospel that the government will save you, the government will provide for you. If “Reformed” means anything, it means the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the necessity of submission to His Word in every area of life. Unfortunately, many in the Reformed Tradition treat the doctrines of grace and the Lordship of Christ as museum pieces to be polished and kept behind glass. But if Reformed Theology is just the faithful systematic summary of the truth of God’s Word, then Reformed Theology is a sword, a weapon, a cannon for firing at all unbelief, every form of humanistic tyranny. The Reformed museum curators have been polishing the Canons of Dort for the last century or two, but it is high time we started firing those babies. But of course we have now come into a different captivity: the church and God’s people are held captive by a new Babylon, our Leviathan Welfare State, our modern anti-Christ. 

It’s certainly true that the 16th century Reformers teamed up with their magistrates to throw off the shackles of the Papist Ecclesiocracy. Where the Pope had become anti-Christ assuming totalitarian authority and power over the lives of Christians, the Reformers defied both the theological as well as the social and political claims of that beast. And they often did so by urging civil magistrates to assert their God-given authority. At various points, the earliest Reformers over-corrected, which is completely understandable when you’re in a pitched battle. Yes, I’m fully aware that you can supply me with quotations from Luther and probably Calvin that invite the magistrates to do things the Bible does not actually invite them to do. This is partly because the Protestant churches and families and magistrates needed to team up against the Papal beast (all three were being crushed), and this is partly because Reformation is messy and it often takes time to untangle jurisdictions. I certainly wish they had built some stronger firewalls at various points. But our Puritan forefathers developed the separation of powers and jurisdictions even further in Great Britain, and by the time of the founding of America, the jurisdictions of family, church, and state were far more clarified. 

A Few Representative Objections
Objection #1: The Bible has no conception of the modern welfare state. Ha. It also has no conception of race-based chattel slavery. So what are we going to do? I would insist that if we can find the biblical grounds for abolishing the latter (which we can), we most certainly have the biblical grounds for abolishing the former. 

Objection #2: This is hatred of the poor. No, it is not hatred to preach freedom to the slaves. It is not hatred to see the manifest malfeasance and incompetence of the DMV caring for our elderly, orphans, and widows. If the C0v1d clownery taught us anything it’s that government bureaucracy can only be trusted to lock our grandparents in their rooms until they’re dead. Closely related, I certainly do want to lay a large portion of responsibility for this state of affairs at the feet of families and churches. The church has not preached the whole counsel of God on these topics, and families have abdicated their responsibility to provide for themselves. To Ann’s point above, anybody advocating for large families and expecting them to be supported by the welfare state is just a socialist shill.

Objection #3: There is nothing about welfare in the Bible. Again, I say ha. The Bible teaches that a man who does not provide for his own family is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5). And that is in the context of the church considering the possibility of caring for widows. The first line of defense is the family, and the church is the backup (see also Acts 6). Likewise, Jesus cites the Old Testament death penalty when confronting the Jews for how they had arranged their building fund campaigns to displace the ordinary care of children for their aging parents (Mk. 7). The particular culprit is the “traditions of men” that subvert the Word of God. By that same principle, our modern traditions of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, and food stamps have done the same thing. And Jesus calls this a murderous path of disobedience. Again, see Covid nursing homes for Exhibit A.

Objection #4: But if you abolish welfare slavery, the slaves will be homeless and starve. First off, I’m not sure you want to defend slavery like that, but second, I’m not advocating a revolutionary abolition of welfare slavery overnight. I’m advocating that government slaves work for their freedom by taking responsibility for their own families, by working hard, and gradually gaining as much freedom as they can. Many Christians are banding together to help pay one another’s medical bills through healthcare sharing programs and some doctors and surgery centers are beginning to opt out of the insurance pyramid scams in order to provide direct primary care at an enormous cost savings, all part of the great welfare prison break. And in some situations, the Egyptian insurance plan will be your only recourse, but that doesn’t mean you should want to stay in Egypt (or go back). Families caring for their own parents and relatives, with occasional church assistance as needed, is obedience to God and the foundation of true Christian love and liberty. 

Conclusion: The Regulative Principle of Power
One of the great restorations of the 16th century Protestant Reformation was the Regulative Principle of Worship, the crucial biblical principle that we are only to worship God in those ways prescribed by His Word. While there are certain narrow readings of that principle that I differ with, the principle is entirely correct. Worship should be according to God’s Word.

And we are in dire need of a new magisterial reformation in which the same principle is embraced with regard to all earthly power and authority. If Jesus Christ is Lord of all lords, if all authority and power belongs to Him, then all earthly authority is limited by the Lord Jesus Christ. No earthly power has unlimited authority. That impulse to unlimited earthly authority certainly is anti-Christ, denying that Christ has come and therefore that Christ is Lord. Only Jesus Christ has all authority. This means that all earthly authority is delegated by Jesus Christ – all power is from God. Therefore, every human authority must understand exactly what authority has been delegated to him. To say that you have authority to do “whatever you think is best” as a pastor, a husband or father, or magistrate is to already be on the slippery slope of imperial monstrosity, the certain path of blasphemous self-deification and slavery, even if you do it in the name of conservative or Christian values. 

In one of my replies, I pointed out that in the Bible, political power is often pictured as a monster full of fangs and horns. Pharaoh is pictured as a sea dragon that God holds by the tail and wields like a rod (pictured by Moses’ staff). And the kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome are likewise sketched as beasts that rise out of the sea of the nations full of horns and teeth (see the book of Daniel). And of course John sees the same imagery in Revelation. While there are some glorious images of righteous civil rule (see Psalm 72), the humane rule of civil government quickly turns to beastly madness with the flick of humanistic hubris and pride (see Nebuchadnezzar). The righteous duty of civil magistrates is to wield the sword of justice, punishing evil doers, and thereby protecting and delivering the weak and the poor from their “benevolent” slavers. 

When civil power is limited by God’s Word, it wields that sword of justice in righteousness, but when that power begins to be abused, usually in the name of “compassion” and “prudence” and the “general welfare,” the beast is beginning to emerge. All human power must be chained to the Word of God. This is the regulative principle of power. The Bible teaches that our submission to legitimate authority is only “in Christ,” and that means in obedience to Christ. But where authorities defy the Word of God, Christians must obey God rather than man because Jesus is risen from the dead (Acts 5:29). Every inch we get away from God’s Word, the more enslaved and less free we become; but the opposite is also true: every inch we can further embrace and apply God’s Word, the more free and less enslaved we become.

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