Introduction
You will be happy.[1]
As we wind down the third decade of the twenty-first
century, many of us wonder where we go from here. In this post-modern,
enlightened, anti-racist, liberal democratic society, we try to imagine what
our children and grandchildren will experience when they begin to bear children
and grandchildren. Instead of the delights of technology, of freedom and
prosperity, we look at our present state and can only envision unspeakable
horrors which will naturally extend from the death, the filth, the perversion
that infests our society.
If we numb ourselves with SSRIs or Netflix or professional
sports or pornography or computer games, if we indulge in endless “hookups,”
provided to us at-will through handheld screens which hold our entire
existence, if we relentlessly pursue the attainment of wealth to pursue the
attainment of things and experiences, if we never sit still and contemplate our
very state, then we never contemplate the futility of not only our own
life, but the lives of every person who exists. Perhaps ignorance truly is
bliss. Perhaps this is the best possible outcome.
Perhaps we find religion, and in religion, meaning, but to
what end? Is personal satisfaction a worthy end? What about the world around
us? What about the people that we love and that love us? What about our
posterity? What about those we love that we will never meet? Will the religion
that satisfies me today bring them the same satisfaction in a world that has
long disintegrated into less than nothing?
Today, our religion claims that we seek a better home, that
is to say, heaven. We have heaven to look forward to as we witness the
destruction of this home that we have known our entire lives, that our parents
and grandparents have known, that we leave to our children and grandchildren
and great grandchildren. Our religion tells us that this is the best we can
do—wait and die. Our religion tells us to love and preach and die. What we
leave our children is not up to us, but to God. I do not believe this anymore.
After rising from the dead, conquering death and sin and
Satan, Christ said,
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.
Therefore go, and disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What in the world did he mean by this? If he has all
authority, what does this have to do with going, discipling, and baptizing? Did
he mean that each church in America sends out families with fathers, mothers,
and young children to hostile countries by themselves, to plant churches and
disciple entire nations by digging wells, raising homes, planting crops,
sharing rudimentary technology, handing out flyers, and giving weekly speeches
in a foreign tongue? Is that our best interpretation of this verse? Clearly,
Christ intends for us to have some significant effect on this planet, on the
people who live on it, but does reality bear witness to this?
I do not believe that Christ calls us merely to preach and
die. I do not believe Christ expects us to focus all of our attention on the Heavenly
City. I do not believe Christ commands us to leave this world and all of its
satanic filth for our children to wallow in, to suffer, to languish, to mourn
over while all the bloodthirsty third-world paganistic perverts overwhelm them,
ruin them, and destroy them. God loves my children. I love my children. But how
will this love play out? What is the love of God for this world? I believe in
his love, God commands his church to conquer this world in the name of Christ, his
people to lead governments and execute his law, and to do all of this through
kings and not through the wickedness of democracy.
The Great Commission
Fill the earth and subdue it.
First of all, what is the Great Commission, exactly? What
did Christ command his disciples between his resurrection and ascension?
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I
commanded you.[2]
This passage contains two parts, and the second part has
three imperatives. In the first part, Christ declares his authority, and in the
second, he commands his disciples to go.
All authority in heaven and earth.
Christ uses the word exousia (also translated authority,
jurisdiction, power, right) to describe his newly conferred status.
Elsewhere Matthew uses this word to describe the right which Roman officers had
over their men to order them what to do (8.9), and the authority or power
Christ has over evil spirits and illnesses (10.1).
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me;
and I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes,
and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
And summoning His twelve disciples, Jesus gave them authority
over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and
every kind of sickness.
Now, as the resurrected Son of God, Christ declares his
power and authority not only over evil spirits and illness, but over all of
Creation. The general sentiment here echoes the underlying thought behind the
Almighty’s sarcastic interrogation of Job.
Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you make Me know!
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know understanding,
Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
At the close of the book of Job, God himself answers Job’s
complaint, not by detailed explanation or justification for God’s action or
lack thereof, but by asking Job what he knows and what he has done. In essence,
the Almighty tells Job, “I am the Creator and Ruler over all of Creation, the
heavens and the earth, from every minute detail to every grand operation,
including things about which you possess no earthly comprehension at all.” This
is the identical scope over which Christ now declares himself Lord and Master.
Before relating that the office of teaching was committed to
the disciples, Matthew says that Christ began by speaking of his power; and not
without reason. For no ordinary authority would here have been enough, but
sovereign and truly divine government ought to be possessed by him who commands
them to promise eternal life in his name to reduce the whole world under his
sway, and to publish a doctrine which subdues all pride, and lays prostrate the
whole of the human race. And by this preface Christ not only encouraged the
Apostles to full confidence in the discharge of their office, but confirmed the
faith of his gospel in all ages. Never, certainly, would the Apostles have had
sufficient confidence to undertake so arduous an office, if they had not known
that their Protector sitteth in heaven, and that the highest authority is given
to him; for without such a support it would have been impossible for them to
make any progress. But when they learn that he to whom they owe their services
is the Governor of heaven and earth, this alone was abundantly sufficient for
preparing them to rise superior to all opposition.[3]
Christ has authority over the heavens and the earth, and now
that authority supports his disciples as he commands them to go.
This authority not only echoes the power and right the
Almighty God possesses over his Creation, but that which he possesses over men
and their nations. In the prophetic books such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, we see
the sovereign hand of God as he leads nations to destroy Israel in mighty acts
of judgment, but in the psalms, we also see God’s authority to command them and
demand their worship and obedience. On the one hand, the nations serve his
eternal purpose unwittingly, consciously serving their own purpose, but
eternally and unconsciously the purpose of God, and on the other hand, the
nations serve him explicitly, by direct acts of conscience, volition, and
desire. In this Great Commission, we see the latter.
In Psalm 72, we see a similar conferring of authority as we
see in Matthew 28. While written of King David, it anticipates the coming
Messiah as it describes the ever-increasing and worldwide extent of his coming
Kingdom.
Give the king Thy judgments, O God, And Thy righteousness to
the king's son.
May he judge Thy people with righteousness, And Thine
afflicted with justice.[4]
In their commentary, Keil and Delitzsch tell us that here
God is implored to bestow upon [the king] his rights or legal
powers belonging to Him, the God of Israel…that he may exercise those rights in
accordance with divine righteousness.[5]
Minister Matthew Poole describes the messianic nature of the
psalm.
David, or at least the Holy Ghost, which dictated this Psalm,
did look beyond Solomon, and unto the Messiah, of whom Solomon was an
illustrious and unquestionable type, seems as manifest from divers passages of
this Psalm, which do not agree to Solomon, nor to any other king but the
Messiah… It must therefore be acknowledged, that, as many others are, this
Psalm is also a mixed Psalm, belonging to Solomon in part, and obscurely and
imperfectly, but unto Christ more clearly and fully; divers expressions being
designedly so ordered, that the reader might be led by them to the
contemplation of Christ and of his kingdom upon this occasion.[6]
The psalm describes the kingdom of the Messiah as extending
from “sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.”
Let the desert creatures kneel before him,
And his enemies lick the dust.
Let the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands bring a
present;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute.
And let all kings bow down to him,
All nations serve him.[7]
It describes exactly the authority which Christ claims in
Matthew 28—all authority, heavens and earth, not merely to ordain and direct
the unconscious action and will of man, but to command and compel his
conscious, willing obedience.
While David then began with his own son, and the posterity of
his son, he rose by the Spirit of prophecy to the spiritual kingdom of Christ;
a point worthy of our special notice, since it teaches us that we have not been
called to the hope of everlasting salvation by chance, but because our heavenly
Father had already destined to give us to his Son. From this we also learn,
that in the Church and flock of Christ there is a place for kings; whom David
does not here disarm of their sword nor despoil of their crown, in order to
admit them into the Church, but rather declares that they will come with all
the dignity of their station to prostrate themselves at the feet of Christ.[8]
To further belabor the point, Daniel describes the “Son of
Man” receiving a kingdom:
I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And came near before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory, and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not be taken away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.[9]
The kingdom of the Messiah, over all kings and all nations,
predicted by the prophets, Christ himself claims at the end of Matthew’s
gospel.
Make disciples of all the nations.
Here in this second part many theologians and pastors fail
completely. They interpret this as Christ commanding his disciples to convert
individuals, or to preach so that individuals become believers. Robert Mounce
mentions little about nations, but assumes like many others that the command
only refers to converting individuals. He says, “The disciples are to teach the
new converts to obey all that Jesus has commanded them” [emphasis
added].[10]
Longman and Garland make a similar assumption, largely ignoring the nations
aspect of the command when they say, “The aim of Jesus’ disciples, therefore,
is to make disciples of all people everywhere, without distinction.”[11]
In Christ’s command, however, the verb “make” is not
present, and neither is the noun “disciples.” The command literally reads as
such: matheteusate panta ta ethne, or disciple all the nations. “Disciple”
is the imperative verb in the command, and “nations” is the object. So if the
question is, “What does Christ command?” and “Who or what is the object of his
command?”, the answer is “disciple” and “all the nations.” Christ’s command perfectly
matches the prophecy we examined earlier—all kings and all nations will bow to
Christ.
Christ, the Mediator, is setting up a kingdom in the world,
bring the nations to be his subjects; setting up a school, bring the nations to
be his scholars; raising an army for the carrying on of the war against the
powers of darkness, enlist the nations of the earth under his banner. The work
which the apostles had to do, was to set up the Christian religion in all
places, and it was honourable work; the achievements of the mighty heroes of
the world were nothing to it. They conquered the nations for themselves, and
made them miserable; the apostles conquered them for Christ, and made them
happy.[12]
The modern interpretation also raises one major question—how
do we, as disciples of Christ, make converts from within the nations? To
convert is to change hearts. It is more than just preaching. In Luke, Christ tells
his disciples that “repentance for forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in His
name to all the nations” (Luke 24.47), but he does not command them to
“convert” or “make disciples.” Nowhere else in scripture does God command us to
convert men, as if we possess the power of the Holy Spirit to give life to the
dead. Why would Christ assume we have this power here, in his singular command
to his disciples? But Christ does not assume this, for he does not command us
to convert individuals, but to disciple entire nations. Conversion is
not within our power, but discipling is.
A person is called mathetes when one binds oneself to someone
else in order to acquire practical and theoretical knowledge.[13]
Christ commanded his disciples (mathetes) to disciple
(matheteusate) the nations. This relationship between disciple and
master requires submission. While a disciple may voluntarily submit to a master,
Christ’s command does not assume a voluntary relationship. In the gospels, Christ
called his disciples and they followed him voluntarily. They spent time with
him, they obeyed him, they imitated him, and they listened to his teachings.
Not all of his disciples believed in him, however. I believe Christ commands
the same with respect to the nations, but in our case, he does not wish us to
merely call to them, and wait for a response. I believe God commands his people
to disciple the nations by subjugating them, not merely by preaching to them
and waiting for individuals to respond favorably to the Gospel. I believe the
Great Commission echoes God’s commands to Adam and Joshua—Adam’s call for his
descendants to multiply, subdue, and rule the earth, and Joshua’s call to
remove all forms of pagan idol worship from the land promised to Israel.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to
Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God
blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”
We see a similar pattern in Genesis 1, in the so-called
“dominion mandate.” God gives Adam authority as his representative, then he
commands Adam to rule over Creation. In the image of God, Adam ruled over
Creation, a type of king. God commanded Adam to rule over every creature, to
fill the earth with his descendants, also sons and daughters of God, and if not
for the Fall, Adam would have been the first king of earth.
Dominion was given to man in order that he might, in a
certain sense, act as God’s vicegerent in the government of the world.[14]
What did God command Adam? What was the core of his command
to the first human son of God? Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. God
repeats the same command to Adam in three different ways, to emphasize the
importance and the necessity of it: bear children and bear so many children
that they fill the earth. God commanded Adam, his first believing son, to fill
the earth with believing children. God commanded this with his blessing, with a
command to rule over the earth, and God did not say that his creation was now
good, but very good.
Having blessed them with excellent natures, and heavenly
gifts and graces, he further blesseth them with a special and temporal blessing
expressed in the following words: replenish the earth.[15]
Later, when Joshua enters Canaan, we see these same themes
again: authority, command, and conquest.
Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the
LORD that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all
this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just
as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the
great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as
the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory. No man
will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been
with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong
and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I
swore to their father to give them.[16]
Moses has died; therefore his authority falls on Joshua. But
authority to do what? God then reiterates Israel’s claim to the land of Canaan
which he promised to Abraham in Genesis 12, and he commands Joshua to lead
Israel to conquer the land and drive out its pagan inhabitants. God himself
describes the details of Joshua’s conquest, and the basis of Israel’s right to
do so:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the
Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When
you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all
the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured
stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;
and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the
land to you to possess it.’”[17]
The land did not belong to the Canaanites, for God had
promised it to Abraham and his seed forever. However, God did not miraculously
remove the pagans from the land. He commanded the Israelites to do this. In
taking possession of the land, or “inheriting the land,” God commanded Israel
to drive out the inhabitants and destroy all the physical means of their pagan
worship. In Deuteronomy, Moses tells Israel, “You shall consume all the peoples
whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor
shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you” (7.16). Calvin
comments,
This precept, therefore, corresponds with the others, where
He dooms in like manner these nations to utter destruction. The vengeance which
God exercised against these obstinate and ten-times lost people cannot be
ascribed to cruelty. For since 400 years ago, it had been said to Abraham that
their iniquity was not yet full, they could not be treated with severity equal
to their deserts, when they had so licentiously and wickedly abused God’s
long-suffering. But we must take notice of God’s design in so particularly
enjoining on the Israelites utterly to destroy whatever should be found there;
for besides that He had once doomed them all to the destruction they merited,
He would have the land also, in which His name was to be invoked, purged from
all pollutions. Now, if any of the old inhabitants had survived, they would
soon have endeavored to revive their corruptions, and since the Israelites were
otherwise more disposed than enough to superstition, they would easily have
been attracted to the worship of idols. This, then, is the reason why God
forbids them to shew these people any humanity or clemency, as I have reminded
you to be clear from the context; for these things stand in connection, that
they should not spare the nations nor worship their gods. The reason which is
subjoined, “for it will be a snare or stumbling-block to you,” must be extended
to the whole context, viz., that it would be fatal to the Jews if they should
spare the nations which would allure them to impiety.[18]
If we combine this with the command to Adam, we see that the
conquest of the Kingdom of Christ contains a number of elements, namely, the
land of the Kingdom, the authority of the King, the children or seed of the
King, and the removal of the pagan inhabitants. In every passage we see the
same kind of language referencing the authority of God’s people and the land
promised to them:
|
Authority |
|
|
Let us make man in our image... Let man rule over the fish
and the sky and the earth…Subdue the earth |
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise… |
|
The Land of Promise |
|
|
Rule over the sea and the sky and the earth. Fill the
earth and subdue it. |
Arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the
land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which
the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to
Moses. |
The command differs slightly in Matthew 28. Christ claims
authority in heaven and earth. He claims not only the material but the
spiritual realms. Then after declaring his authority over all, he says,
“Therefore, go,” sending his disciples out under his authority, or in other
words, “All the nations belong to me, and by extension, all of you, but you
must conquer [disciple] them.”
I believe that when Christ gave his church this command, he included
every other command to conquer within it, and that “discipling the nations,”
properly speaking, must include bearing many children, driving out the pagan inhabitants,
destroying their means of pagan worship, and baptizing and teaching the word of
Christ to all, without exception.
God has abolished nothing in the previous commands to his
people. He still commands his people to bear children. He still informs us that
the land promised to his people, now the entire earth, does not belong to the pagans,
but to his people.
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from
before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them
will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will
trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I
will do to you.[19]
Are they no longer a thorn in our side? Will they not
trouble us as they troubled the ancient Israelites? If we disobey, will God not
do to us what he does to them? Though we possess the Gospel and Christ grants
forgiveness to those who repent and believe, the Gospel does not annul justice
for murderers, rapists, sodomites, adulterers, and pedophiles, etc. The Law
remains in force today.
Roughly seventy years ago, five young men waited in the Ecuadorian
jungle to meet a tribe they hoped to evangelize. All five met their deaths,
some leaving behind wives and children, abandoned in this pagan land. Many
Christians celebrated their deaths, believing, as Tertullian said, “The blood
of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Though many came to Christ, today
the region boasts roughly 20% “Christ followers,”[20]
but the exact numbers are disputed. While every conversion is praiseworthy and
every soul is significant, Elisabeth Elliot herself admitted that the story of
the Auca/Huaorani people did not turn out as “blessed” as many expected.
For those who saw it as a great Christian martyr story, the
outcome was beautifully predictable. All puzzles would be solved. God would
vindicate Himself. Aucas would be converted and we could all “feel good” about
our faith. … The truth is that not by any means did all subsequent events work
out as hoped. … There were arguments and misunderstandings and a few really
terrible things, along with the answers to prayer.[21]
But for all the celebration and fanfare (movies,
documentaries, books) surrounding the incident, can we honestly say that the
deaths of these men led to the “making of disciples”? More people have celebrated
their deaths than souls converted to Christ. The son of Nate Saint, Stephen
Saint, suggests that while the older, or original generation appreciated the
aid that the missionaries gave them, the younger generation is less interested
in Christianity, and even the church services remain unfocused and somewhat
chaotic.[22] Is
this what we should expect after so great a sacrifice? Did God truly bless the
deaths of these men? Was Tertullian correct? Did the Church disciple this
nation? I don’t believe we did and I don’t believe at all that this model of
sending young vulnerable families into a wild land filled with murderous pagans
is anything near what Christ intended when he said, “Disciple all the nations,
baptize them, and teach them what I commanded.” I believe the model that Christ
intended resembles colonization much more so than sending individuals or
families with wives and children. Honestly, the current missionary model is
utter madness.
Romans 13
The ruler is a minister of God.
In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8, intended
to ban same-sex “marriage” in the state. Despite this approval, federal courts
overturned the measure and declared it unconstitutional. In April 2015,
homosexual James Obergefell brought his petition before the Supreme Court to
allow him to posthumously “marry” John Arthur. Obergefell, along with other
same-sex couples, argued that state bans on these unions denied them their
constitutional rights. The court granted them their petition and statewide bans
were declared unconstitutional. While the state validated homosexual unions, scripture
clearly forbids homosexual activity, and yet evangelical leaders tell us that
Paul commands us to submit to all government authorities.
In Romans 13, Paul tells us that “whoever resists authority
has opposed the ordinance of God.” Commentator Douglas Moo says, “When we rebel
against what [political authorities] tell us to do, we are rebelling against
God himself, and judgment will result.”[23]
Moo also tells us that this passage assumes a secular, or godless government.[24]
Harrison and Hagner venture even further:
It is probably significant that the name of Christ does not
appear anywhere in this passage. The thought does not move in the sphere of
redemption or the life of the church as such, but in the relationship to the
state that God in his wisdom has set up. … The state cannot be identified with
the world, no matter how “worldly” its attitude may be.[25]
While the authorities that we have do not force us into
same-sex unions, nor do they force us to abort our children, we certainly
cannot say that they “uphold the ordinance of God” nor that they are a minister
[Greek diakonos] of God. We know this because scripture forbids same-sex
relationships as clearly as it forbids murder.
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist
are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the
ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon
themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil.
Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have
praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you
do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it
is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices
evil.[26]
Does Paul here advocate for a purely neutral, secular
government? If Christ said, “He who is not with me is against me,” (Matthew
12.30), did he exclude governments and all the authority and power they
possess?
Paul makes a number of things clear in this passage:
·
Every Christian should subject themselves to the
authorities.
·
God has established every authority that exists.
·
If you resist this authority, you resist God.
·
Every authority that exists upholds the
ordinance of God.
·
Rulers inspire fear to discourage evil behavior and
they praise good behavior.
·
The authority is a minister of God.
·
The authority bears the sword and executes God’s
wrath.
While I have no problem with any theologian who says we must
subject ourselves to government authorities, I have a serious problem with any
theologian who tells us that (1) an authority can be neutral, and (2) an
authority should be godless. There is no authority that acts as a mere autonomous
reflection of laws, culture, practice, norms, etc., in society. The authorities
in place are not robots, completely capable of neutral thought, without
emotion, desire, or bias, and neither are they mere abstract concepts,
completely disconnected from the culture, the language, or the passions of the
people who inhabit their domain. The authorities that rule are composed of
individuals who sin and who have hearts which sin. These individuals create and
change laws as either they see fit, or in submission to a mass of other sinful
individuals who exercise their democratic rights. Hence, gay “marriage,”
abortion rights, no-fault divorce and a myriad of other wickedness which our
society has approved. Neutrality in government is a lie.
In the great quarrel between Christ and the devil, no peace
is to be sought, nor any such favourable construction to be made of any
indifference in the matter; he that is not hearty for Christ, will be reckoned
with as really against him: he that is cold in the cause, is looked upon as an
enemy. When the dispute is between God and Baal, there is no halting between
two (1 Kings 18.21), there is no trimming between Christ and Belial.[27]
If the authority that rules a nation legalizes the murder of
unborn children, whether through democracy or dictate, then that authority does
not serve God but Satan, and if the believer submits to this authority, he does
not submit to God but to Satan. This is the nature of authority. Paul said, “whoever
resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God,” meaning, “If you resist
the authority established by God, you resist God.” The inverse is also true: if
you submit to the authority that defies God, you defy God.
While these theologians believe that we should always and in
every instance submit to the civil magistrate, I do not believe Paul intended
this at all. Though Paul says that “every authority that exists is established
by God,” he goes on to describe these authorities that exist. They (1) uphold
the ordinance of God, (2) discourage evil behavior and encourage good behavior,
(3) bear the sword of God’s wrath, and (4) are ministers of God. Clearly every
government that exists does not bear these characteristics. We have believed
that just because a civil magistrate exists, that it ministers God’s will. Why?
Does the text actually say that? Or have we just read it backwards? Yes, God
has created the concept of civil government, but does that mean every civil
government is a valid minister of God? On what basis do we judge that?
Also, how do we define the “good” and “evil” behavior which
God commands the magistrate to encourage and discourage? Does democracy define
this? Does the civil magistrate define this? Absolutely not. Scripture defines
this. For everything the civil magistrate praises or condemns, discourages or
encourages, he must uphold the Law of God, and to do so, he must believe
in the Law of God. How can anyone effectively uphold that which they deny? The
civil magistrate must believe in Christ to be a minister of God and uphold the
ordinance of God. He must believe in Christ to bear the sword of wrath. Why
would we want an atheist, an agnostic, a pagan, or a satanist to bear the
sword? Are we insane?
Calvin explains the general purpose of civil government:
It aims to see that idolatry, blasphemies against God’s name
and his truth, and other offences against religion are not openly promoted and
spread among the people; that the public peace is not disturbed; that each
person keeps what is his and that men live together without injury or
dishonesty; in short, that among Christians there should be an open expression
of religion, and that in society, humanity should prevail.[28]
Specifically, he explains the relationship between God and
the civil magistrate:
Briefly to prove our point, all who are raise to pre-eminence
are called ‘gods’ (Exodus 7.1; Psalm 82.1,6), a title of no small consequence.
It shows that they have a commission from God, that they have authority from
him and are in every way his representatives, being in a sense his deputies.
Nor is that a gloss thought up by myself; it is Christ’s own interpretation:
‘If Scripture,’ he says, ‘called them gods to whom the word of God came…’ (John
10.35. What else does it imply but that they have a duty and mandate from God to
serve him in their office and—as Moses and Jehoshaphat said to the judges whom
they appointed over every town in Judah (Deuteronomy 1.16-17)—to exercise
justice, not in the name of men but in the name of God?[29]
Paul exhorted the Romans to submit to the governing
authorities, but he also expected all authorities to not only submit to God and
to his word, but to believe in him. Paul made no allowance for pagan
governments and he certainly did not believe in the idea of a “neutral” secular
government.
That Christian scholars advocate for the notion of a purely
secular state seems awfully foolish, not just in light of the struggle against
the filth and death of our twenty-first century culture, but in light of biblical
testimony. In Scripture, we have
multiple examples of believers who attained political power and wielded it for
the welfare of both believers and unbelievers, to bless and to deliver from
evil.
After his brothers sold him into slavery, and after spending
a number of years in prison, falsely accused, God raised up Joseph, a believer
in the coming Christ, to ruler over Egypt, second only to pharaoh, of the
greatest country on earth at that time. Did Joseph decry this newfound
authority, as any pious and godly evangelical leader would do so today? No. He
received it, as a man who believed that God does his will in all the earth and
he willed to deliver his people from the coming famine and use Joseph to do so.
Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went
through all the land of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty the land
brought forth abundantly. So he gathered all the food of these seven years
which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he
placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. Thus Joseph
stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped
measuring it, for it was beyond measure.[30]
The psalmist writes of the work of God in elevating Joseph to
judge the people:
[God] sent a man before them,
Joseph who was sold as a slave.
They afflicted his feet with fetters,
He himself was laid in irons;
Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord tested him.
The king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
He made him lord of his house,
And ruler over his possessions,
To imprison his princes at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.[31]
Calvin mentions the diligence Joseph demonstrated in caring
for the Egyptians:
He manifested also his fidelity, and his extraordinary care
for the public safety, in this, that he did not become wear by the assiduous
labor of seven years, nor did he ever rest till he had made provision for the
seven years which still remained.[32]
Likewise, Esther cared for her people as well, as God raised
her up to deliver the nation of Israel while living under the reign of Ahasuerus
in Persia. God did not deliver them miraculously, but through the wisdom and
courage of a woman and her cousin, Mordecai. He also did not allow the
Israelites to suffer persecution, as many of our evangelical leaders exhort us,
but providentially arranged for the destruction of Haman (the adversary of the
Jews, 9.24) and also the destruction of all who wished to murder his people.
Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword,
killing and destroying; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.[33]
Besides other examples scripture gives us of Moses, and
Joshua, and the judges, and many godly kings, we have David the King. Of all
the men of the kingdom of Israel, who did God elevate to the throne? A shepherd
yes, but also the one man who challenged and destroyed the wicked
idol-worshipping pagan Philistine, Goliath. The women sang to him, “Saul has
slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands,” (1 Samuel 8.7). The second
book of Samuel, tells us that David conquered other kingdoms, killing thousands
of Philistines, and Moabites, and Arameans, and it also says, “The Lord helped
David wherever he went” (8.1-14). The Lord helped David to destroy the pagan
nations in the land.
So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered
justice and righteousness for all his people.[34]
Is this a condemnation of political power? Is this a
condemnation of believers using the sword to further the kingdom of Christ? Hardly.
We suffer under ridiculous men.
The Westminster Confession, since the 17th
century the confessional creed for Presbyterian, describes the relationship
between the civil magistrate and the church in the twenty-third chapter:
God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained
civil magistrates, to be, under Him, over the people, for His own glory, and
the public good: and, to this end, has armed them with the power of the sword,
for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment
of evil doers. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of
a magistrate, when called thereunto in the managing whereof, as they ought
especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome
laws of each commonwealth; so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the
New Testament, wage war, upon just and necessary occasion.
We have the word of God. We have examples. We have
standards. Christ commands us to rule men. Does he give wisdom to pagans? Does
he give grace to those who worship idols? Do we rejoice when the wicked rule?
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but
when a wicked man rules, people groan.[35]
God does not command godless men to rule. He commands his
people to rule and to rule by the Law. Many of our leaders believe that the
only use of the Law today is in preaching, to convict men of their sin through
verbal persuasion, but God gave the Law to the Israelites to direct their
behavior and to judge them by it when they disobeyed him. Our leaders
completely disregard this use of the Law, as if men no longer need any
directive from God to guard their behavior or execute judgment on the wicked.
Why do we need God’s law when we have democracy?
[The law] is a unique, full and certain rule of things to be
done and avoided by each of us as well towards God as his neighbor. Thus there
is no work truly and properly good and acceptable to God which does not agree
with the law and is not prescribed by it.[36]
Today, however, our leaders only preach the Law. Our civil
magistrate does not enforce it, and so who understands it? Who knows what God
condemns? Who obeys the Law? Who knows that God hates divorce, abortion, blasphemy,
sodomy, usury, and murder? Who cares that God commands children to honor their
parents? Who knows that God hates? Only the small minority of believers who
attend church on Sunday and hear the word of God preached. God commands all men
to obey his law but we refuse to acknowledge that it obliges all of us. We
wonder why men do not come to Christ at the same time we deny its power to
convict the hearts of the wicked and judge them. Our leaders say they do not
want “cultural Christians” but we are surrounded by cultural satanists, as
every man does his own will and becomes a law to himself. If the Law is our
“tutor to lead us to Christ”, why do we only preach it on Sunday? We have the
means God has given us to lead men to Christ, but we refuse to use it because
we believe we have found a better means.
First, when we compare the righteousness of the law with the
life we lead and when we see how little we comply with God’s will, we recognize
that we do not deserve to keep our place and position among his creatures,
still less to be reckoned as his children. Second, in weighing up our
strengths, we should regard them not only as incapable of fulfilling the law
but as non-existent. Accordingly we are bound to distrust our own powers and to
feel distress and trepidation of heart, for conscience cannot bear the burden
of sin without at once envisaging God’s judgment, and the thought of God’s
judgment brings with it the dread of death.[37]
In the Old Testament, we see images of lightning,
earthquakes, fire, etc., all meant to inspire the fear of God in the Israelites.
Scripture uses these images to remind men that God is a terror to the
wicked—when he judges them, he kills them. But our society does not destroy the
wicked—it tolerates them, either in prison or worse, out of prison. What do
they have to fear from the civil magistrate, a minister of God’s wrath?
Absolutely nothing. Why should they turn to Christ to deliver them from his
wrath if it does not exist?
The Law not only guides the civil magistrate, it guides us. We
are the salt and light of the earth, salt to preserve from death and
corruption, and light to guide. Have we preserved our society from death and
corruption if women in America aborted over a million children last year?[38]
Has the church preserved America from the perversion of same-sex unions when
over 600,000 couples reported living together as of 2019?[39]
For years our professors and pastors have taught us that the Law has general
principles for us in understanding scripture, but “no ongoing application.”[40]
Puritan minister Thomas Watson describes how exactly Christ has abolished the requirements
and curse of the Law:
(1) In respect of justification. [Believers] are not
justified by their obedience to the moral law. Believers are to make great use
of the moral law, but they must trust only to Christ’s righteousness for
justification. … (2) The moral law is abolished to believers, in respect of its
curse. They are freed from its curse and condemnatory power. ‘Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.’ Galatians
3.13[41]
The Westminster Confession tells us that the judicial law
has expired, but the “general equity” of the Law still demands our obedience,
and that all who disobey be held accountable:
To [Israel] also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial
laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging under
any now, further than the general equity thereof may require.[42]
And because the powers which God has ordained, and the
liberty which Christ has purchased are not intended by God to destroy, but
mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretence of
Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it,
whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God. And, for
their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are
contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether
concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or,
such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the
manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace
and order which Christ has established in the Church, they may lawfully be
called to account, and proceeded against, by the censures of the Church, and by
the power of the civil magistrate.[43]
The Law shows us how we are salt and light. It commands us
to live and behave in a certain way, and it prescribes judgments and
consequences when we do not. When we trust the Word of God and prescribe consequences
in the same way, we influence behavior. God then uses this means, his Law, to
point people to Christ and save souls. Instead, we have let the world God has
given us disintegrate into filth and perversion and death because we believed
we knew better.
Democracy
You will be like God.
In the 2023-2024 New York legislative session, Democratic
Liz Krueger sponsored a bill that aimed to decriminalize adultery.[44]
The state had previously banned adultery as a crime punishable by a fine and
jailtime. On June 24, 2011, the New York State Legislature legalized same-sex
unions, signed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo the same day.[45]
Not only do the various civil magistrates in America sign laws approving of
behavior condemned in scripture, but they release violent criminals into the
streets over and over again.
On August 22, repeat offender Decarlos Brown stabbed a
Ukrainian woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, as she sat in from of him in the
city’s light rail system. He stabbed her to death as onlookers on the train
ignored the incident and did nothing to help the woman. Authorities had
arrested and released the man 14 times over the past ten years.[46]
What causes this? What is the engine that drives our society
to destroy itself? What is the ideology that tells us that we have the right to
vote into existence any wickedness we desire, or put in place any manner of
ideologues and self-righteous pagans to rule over us and decide which laws to
enforce and which laws to ignore? We call this ideology democracy, and
scripture has one clear message on how God feels about it.
Obviously, scripture does not contain elections as we have
had them since the founding of this nation. Scripture does not describe
organized events where people meet at polling places and anonymously cast
ballots into closed boxes to be counted later. Scripture does, however, contain
a few significant narratives where a group of people, sometimes a small group,
sometimes very large, decide as a group to take a particular action, and these
narratives begin as early as the book of Genesis. I will refer to these events
generally as a “group consensus.”
The first group consensus describes “the whole earth”
deciding to settle in the land of Shinar.
Now the whole earth used the same language and the same
words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the
land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come,
let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for
stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for
ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and
let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered
abroad over the face of the whole earth.”[47]
In the first democratic decision, the people of the earth
decide to build a tower to reach heaven, and make a name for themselves. This
all seems innocuous enough, yet God commanded Adam to “fill the earth,” and not
settle in one place. Certainly, he did not want them to “build a tower to
heaven,” as if to reach God on their own, without his grace, in their sin and against
his will, nor did he wish them to “make a name for themselves,” in their
arrogance and selfishness.
They intimate, that the work would be such as should not only
be looked upon by the beholders as a kind of miracle, but should be celebrated
everywhere to the utmost limits of the world; to neglect heaven, and to seek
immortality on earth, where everything is fading and transient.[48]
Later in Genesis we see a city come to a group consensus
over a number of visitors.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was
sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed
down with his face to the ground. And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please
turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet;
then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we
shall spend the night in the square.” Yet he urged them strongly, so they
turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them,
and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Before they lay down, the men of the
city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the
people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are
the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have
relations with them.”[49]
Earlier, Moses tells us, “the men of Sodom were wicked
exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (13.13). These same men made a
democratic decision to storm the home of Lot and demand that he let them rape
these angels.
Again, in Genesis, a group of brothers decide to murder the
half-brother that they hated, as he was their father’s favorite son.
When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to
them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one
another, “Here comes this dreamer! Now then, come and let us kill him and throw
him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’
Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”[50]
Again, a group of citizens decide on a course of action
together and again, they make a terribly wicked decision. Graciously, Joseph’s
brother Reuben intercedes and rescues him from his brothers, and instead, they
sell him as a slave to a group of traders.
Calvin remarks,
If, at any time, among heathens, a brother murdered his
brother, such impiety was treated with the utmost severity in tragedies, that
it might not pass into an example for imitation. But in profane history no such
thing is found, as that nine brethren should conspire together for the
destruction of an innocent youth, and, like wild beasts, should pounce upon him
with bloody hands. Therefore a horrible, and even diabolical fury, took
possession of the sons of Jacob, when, having cast aside the sense of nature,
they were thus prepared cruelly to rage against their own blood.[51]
In this last example, we see Israel, chosen by God, bound to
his word, erect a false god that they then worship. Having to endure an
extended period without their leader Moses, the Israelites demanded of Aaron
the high priest a god they could see. God has just commanded them mere days
earlier that they should have no other gods before him, and to that end,
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of
what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the
earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I,
the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of
those who hate Me.[52]
Israel could not suffer long without some representative, or
worse, representation of God.
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from
the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us
a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from
the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them,
“Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and
your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold
rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from
their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten
calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the
land of Egypt.”[53]
God destroyed the men of Sodom with fire, and he judged the
people of Babel by separating and confusing them, and now, enraged, Moses
gathered the Levites, ordered them to arm themselves, and told them to
slaughter the apostates, and three thousand men fell by their hand.
Observe the course that Moses took to roll away this
reproach, not by concealing the sin, or putting any false colour upon it, but
by punishing it, and so bearing a public testimony against it. Whenever it
should be case in their teeth that they had made a calf in Horeb, they might
have this to say, in answer to those that reproached them, that though it was
true there were those that did so, yet justice was executed upon them. The
government disallowed the sin, and suffered not the sinners to go unpunished.
Thus (said God) thou shalt put the evil away, (Deuteronomy 13:5). Observe here,
by whom vengeance was taken - by the children of Levi (Exodus 32:26, 28); not
by the immediate hand of God himself, as on Nadab and Abihu, but by the sword
of man, to teach them that idolatry was an iniquity to be punished by the
judge, being a denial of the God that is above, (Job 31:28; Deuteronomy 13:9).
It was to be done by the sword of their own brethren, that the execution of
justice might redound more to the honour of the nation. And, if they must fall
now into the hands of man, better so than flee before their enemies. The
innocent must be culled out to be the executioners of the guilty, that it might
be the more effectual warning to themselves, that they did not the like another
time; and the putting of them upon such an unpleasant service, and so much
against the grain as this must needs be, to kill their next neighbours, was a
punishment to them too for not appearing sooner to prevent the sin, and make
head against it.[54]
Since America’s founding, its citizens have legalized
adultery, sodomy, and abortion. Every June, thousands and thousands march in
major cities celebrating homosexuality and all manner of sexual perversions.
Public schools expose children to these same perversions in the name of
“inclusion.” Other western nations “euthanize” healthy citizens deemed unworthy
of life. Not only America, but all of western society marches confidently downward
in a cesspool of filth and death. If the creed of democracy is vox populi,
vox Dei,[55] then
the nature of it is essentially and necessarily blasphemous, for it assumes the
authority of God. Democracy replaces God, and so, men replace God, create their
own law, separate from his word, and now men hold men accountable to men, not
to God. They defy God, they ignore his word in exchange for their own. They
listen to the voice of the serpent in the garden who said, “In the day you eat
from [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil” (Genesis 3.5).
One of our country’s founding documents, the Declaration of
Independence, famously tells us that “All men are created equal.” Today, in the
twentieth-century and beyond, we interpret this to mean that we all have an
equal voice and equal rights to govern ourselves, to determine right and wrong,
regardless of what any authority, including God, may demand of us. We believe
that “all men” includes men and women, each and every race, of any age above
eighteen, taxpayer or not, landowner or not, often sane or insane, hostile to
this country or any foreign invader newly across the border, yet John Adams did
not believe this at all.
Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.[56]
I do not believe any form of democracy is adequate. But what
governance option does scripture endorse? To remind everyone:
David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice
and righteousness for all his people.
In 2 Samuel 8, we see “David defeated” no less than five
times.
David defeated the Philistines and subdued them.
He defeated Moab.
David defeated Hadadezer.
David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer.
He had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him.
We also see “David killed 22,000 Arameans,” and “David
dedicated [articles of silver, gold and bronze] to the Lord.” David the king
kept his people safe, he defeated his enemies, he administered justice in the
land, and he worshiped the Lord. He did not uphold the “rights” of women, non-Israelites,
sodomites, adulterers, infant murderers, or countless pagan invaders.
When he returned from his wars, he heard and tried all causes
impartially, brought before him, and gave sentence according to the law of God,
and administered righteous judgment without any respect to persons; all had
justice done them that applied unto him, whether high or low, rich or poor; and
indeed during his wars he was not negligent of the civil government of his
subjects, and the distribution of justice to them by proper officers, in which
he was a type of Christ.[57]
Scripture does not guarantee the rights of believers, but it
condemns transgressions against the Law with consequences to administer. This does
not cause citizens to demand what either society, or government, or their
neighbor owes them, but instead it causes every individual to uphold the rights
of his neighbor, as the civil magistrate enforces consequences against theft,
adultery, or murder, etc. As Paul says, the civil magistrate becomes a terror
to those who do evil, causing every citizen to live in fear of breaking the law
and harming his neighbor.
We note, then, that magistrates are established as protectors
and preservers of public peace, integrity, innocence and moderation, and must
see to it that they maintain the general safety and tranquility of all. Now
because they cannot do this without defending the good against the harmful
actions of the wicked, and without helping and assisting those who are
oppressed, they are therefore armed with powers to suppress and severely punish
evildoers whose wickedness upsets the public peace (Romans 13.3-4). … All
commonwealths involve two things: reward for the good and punishment for the
bad; take these away and the whole social fabric crumbles and is destroyed.[58]
Democracy is not a “common grace” given by God, as some have
said. A society with liberty to choose its own law chooses to disintegrate into
perversion and death. If we are the “salt of the earth,” we must deny democracy
and liberty and instead demand a nation that upholds the Law of Christ.
Victory
To him who conquers.
As I write this, we witness the disintegration not only of
peace and safety, of morality and conscience, of respect and love for fellow
man, but the disintegration of every ideology on which our forefathers have
built this society. Feminism, equality, civil rights, atheism, humanism,
secularism, tolerance, multiculturalism, individualism—all progress to some steadily
increasing degree of collapse. God does this which we see prophesied in Joel.
Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.[59]
While Joel prophesied of an invading army, sent from God for
the judgment of the Israelites, the general thought is of a mighty upheaval.
The earth shakes beneath and the heavens above; the sun and moon and stars lose
their light. We trust in these things every day to provide the stable footing
on which to stand and live, to help us see the world and by which we navigate
our way. Without them we are utterly lost. It is the same for the things we
believe. Whether we all consciously or individually understand or acknowledge
these beliefs, they shape our society, and these beliefs which God has not
given to us necessarily erode us and destroy everything around us. We have
built a society not on the rock of Christ and his word but on the sand of worthless
human philosophy. But God tears them down as we speak.
R.R. Reno describes the “strong gods” as love of family,
nation, and God. In the first half of the twentieth century, various forces
perverted these loves and drove men to destruction.
Nevertheless, the death camps, gulags, atomic bombs, and
killing fields, however horrible, did not destroy human nature. Our hearts
remain restless. They seek to rest in loyalty to strong gods worthy of love’s
devotion and sacrifice. And our hearts will find what they seek.[60]
Indeed, our hearts will find what they seek. Christ himself leads
us forward, for he is the rider on the white horse.
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I
heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder,
“Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow;
and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.[61]
John confirms the identity of the rider near the end of
Revelation.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He
who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and
He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed
with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the
armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were
following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with
it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron;
and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on
His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF
LORDS.”[62]
Matthew Henry says,
A crown was given him, importing that all who receive the
gospel must receive Christ as a king, and must be his loyal and obedient
subjects; he will be glorified in the success of the gospel. When Christ was
going to war, one would think a helmet had been more proper than a crown; but a
crown is given him as the earnest and emblem of victory. He went forth
conquering, and to conquer. As long as the church continues militant Christ
will be conquering; when he has conquered his enemies in one age he meets with
new ones in another age; men go on opposing, and Christ goes on conquering, and
his former victories are pledges of future victories. He conquers his enemies
in his people; their sins are their enemies and his enemies; when Christ comes
with power into their soul he begins to conquer these enemies, and he goes on
conquering, in the progressive work of sanctification, till he has gained us a
complete victory. And he conquers his enemies in the world, wicked men, some by
bringing them to his foot, others by making them his footstool.[63]
John also uses the same Greek verb, nikao, to
conquer, seven times in chapters 2 and 3. “He went out conquering and to
conquer,” used twice to emphasize the nature of Christ’s kingdom. He conquers,
and seven times he commands his church to conquer. He rides with the three
horsemen of death, all images of judgment on the wicked and all who reject him.
Our evangelical leadership tells us that this world is not
our home, that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, the Law cannot save,
and they completely ignore every imperative to conquer. They tell us that our
best hope is preaching the Gospel, that we should pray for it to go forward,
and the kingdom of Christ is not advanced by earthly, fleshly political power.
What does any of this even mean? All of it only means we remain passive. We
speak words but we take no action. We do nothing but maybe vote when pagans
approve of abortion and sodomy and feminism and they flood every Christian
nation with the filth of infinite idol worshipping immigrants. Why should we
care what pagans do to this world? It is not our home.
Yes, this world is not our permanent home but it is our home
now. This world belongs to us and to our children and our grandchildren, to a
thousand generations. Christ did not claim only heaven, but heaven and earth.
God did not promise heaven to Abraham, but Canaan—land—and Abraham not only
believed he would inherit Canaan, but the entire world.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he
would be heir of the
world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.[64]
We are not gnostic. We exist in this material world to love,
worship, bear children, work, and pray with our physical bodies. God gave us
this world to conquer. He commands us to preserve it and to guide it, not to
let it fester and rot.
When Christ claimed the heavens and the earth, he said,
“Therefore, go,” as if you say, “The world belongs to me and therefore now it
belongs to you. You must now take it.” God does not do magic. He will not
instantly make the world Christ’s. He works through us, imperfect, sinful human
beings. He works providentially, through the foolishness and messy machinations
of men in history as we learn and fail and defy and ultimately, by his grace,
obey.
If Christ is the rider on the white horse who goes forth
conquering and to conquer, and he tells his church to go forth and conquer,
then we will conquer, for nothing can stop us.
To him who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life
which is in the Paradise of God.
He who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.
To him who conquers, to him I will give some of the hidden
manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone
which no one knows but he who receives it.
He who conquers, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to
him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod
of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have
received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and
I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name
before My Father and before His angels.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of
My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the
name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which
comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on
My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.[65]
Paul gives us more detail.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who
is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us
all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a
charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who
condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at
the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from
the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him
who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.[66]
[1] Slogan
of the World Economic Forum.
[2]
Matthew 28.18-20, Legacy Standard Bible
[3]
John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Volume Third,
translated by William Pringle, reprinted 2005 by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI,
page 381.
[4]
Psalm 72.1-2, New American Standard Bible, 1977.
[5] Carl
Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten
Volumes, digital edition by e-sword.
[6]
Matthew Poole, Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Volume 2, reprinted
2010 by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, page 112.
[7]
Psalm 72.9-11, LSB
[8] Calvin,
Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Volume 2, translated by James
Anderson, reprinted 2005, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, page 112.
[9] Daniel
7.13-14, LSB
[10]
Robert Mounce, New International Biblical Commentary: Matthew, Hendrickson
Publishers, 1991, Peabody, MA, page 268.
[11]
Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary
Volume 9: Matthew and Mark, Zondervan, 2010, Grand Rapids, MI, page 667.
[12]
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Volume 5, reprinted
1991, Hendrickson Publishers, page 362.
[13]
Verlyn D. Verbrugge, editor, The New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology: Abridged Edition, 2000, the Zondervan Corporation,
Grand Rapids, MI, page 350.
[14]
Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries: Volume 1, reprinted 2005, Baker Book
House, Grand Rapids, MI, page 94.
[15]
Poole, Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Volume 1,
reprinted 2010 by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, page 4.
[16]
Joshua 1.1-6, NASB77
[17]
Numbers 33.50-53, NASB95
[18]
Calvin, Harmony of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, reprinted 2005
Baker Books, page 397.
[19]
Numbers 33.55-56, NASB95
[20] Mr.
Bultitude (alias), “What is the state of Christianity among the Huaorani people
today?”, an article posted on christianity.stackexchange.com, February 9, 2016.
Retrieved from https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/46710/what-is-the-state-of-christianity-among-the-huaorani-people-today
[21]
Larry Dinkins, “Operation Auca (January 8, 1956)—Sixty Years Later,” January 7,
2016. Retrieved from https://www.dahlfred.com/index.php/blogs/gleanings-from-the-field/814-operation-auca-january-8-1956-sixty-years-later
[22] Bultitude.
[23] Douglas
J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 2000, Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, MI, pg. 422.
[24]
Ibid.
[25]
Everett F. Harrison and Donald A. Hagner, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:
Volume 11: Romans – Galatians, 2008, Tremper Longman III and David Garland,
general editors, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. page 195.
[26]
Romans 13.1-4, NASB95
[27] Henry,
page 139.
[28]
John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by
Robert White, 2014, Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA, page 757.
[29]
Ibid, page 758, emphasis added.
[30]
Genesis 41.46-49, NASB95
[31]
Psalm 105.17-22, NASB77
[32] Calvin,
Commentaries: Volume 1, page 332.
[33]
Esther 9.5
[34] 2
Samuel 8.15, NASB95
[35]
Proverbs 29.2, NASB95
[36]
Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology: Volume 2, P&R
Publishing, Phillipsburg, NJ, 1994 by James T. Dennison, Jr., page 137.
[37]
Calvin, Institutes, page 111.
[38]
Guttmacher Institute, “Abortion in the United States,” April 2025. Retrieved
from https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states
[39]
Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, “Same-Sex Couple Data and
Demographics,” January 2019. Retrieved from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/?topic=SS#about-the-data
[40]
Dr. Guy Waters, “Is Theonomy biblical?”, Reformed Theological Seminary.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOEy2Ln4RNQ
[41]
Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments, The Banner of Truth Trust,
reprinted 2000, Carlisle, PA, page 44.
[42]
The Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647,
chapter 19, paragraph 4.
[43]
Ibid, chapter 20, paragraph 4.
[44]
Senate Bill S8744, “Repeals the crime of adultery,” The New York State Senate, retrieved
from https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S8744
[45]
Same Sex Marriage Information, City Clerk of New York City, Marriage Bureau,
retrieved from https://www.cityclerk.nyc.gov/content/marriage-bureau
[46]
Zach Rainey, “North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein speaks on Charlotte light rail
stabbing,” September 10, 2025, WYFF4 News, retrieved from https://www.wyff4.com/article/brutal-attack-charlotte-light-rail-system-video-woman-stabbed/66028335
[47]
Genesis 11.1-4
[48]
Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, page 327
[49]
Genesis 19.1-5
[50]
Genesis 37.18-20
[51]
Calvin, Genesis, page 265.
[52]
Exodus 20.4-5, NASB95
[53]
Exodus 32.1-4, NASB95
[54]
Henry, Volume 1, page 327.
[55]
The voice of the people is the voice of God.
[56]
John Adams, “Letter from John Adams to Massachusetts Militia,” October 11,
1798. Retrieved from https://www.johnadamsacademy.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=2003858&type=d&pREC_ID=2094472
[57] John
Gill, Commentary on the Bible, e-sword edition.
[58]
Calvin, Institutes, page 763.
[59]
Joel 2.10
[60]
R.R. Reno, Return of the Strong Gods, 2019 by R. R. Reno, Regnery
Gateway, Washington, D.C., page 152.
[61]
Revelation 6.1-2
[62]
Revelation 19.11-16
[63]
Henry, Volume 6, page 921.
[64]
Romans 4.13
[65]
Revelation 2.7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3.5, 12, 21
[66]
Romans 8.31-39
