Dr Greg Bahnsen - Political Ethics: The Need for a Political Stance (Part 1)

It had been my intention to give you at this point an outline of our course. And because of our going overtime during the last morning sessions, I didn't get back from lunch and time to do that. Let me just outline for you very briefly what we're going to be doing in the introduction to our course this afternoon. We're going to be looking at the transformational need for a Christian political stance. And then I'd like to begin looking at major issues in present day Christian political theory. First of all, then the transformational need for a Christian political stance. And let's stop and ask ourselves, why is it that for the most part there's a kind of reserve among evangelicals about Christian politics? Why is there kind of a hesitation about engaging in discussion of political matters? It has seemed to a lot of people that the Christian should be interested in affairs of the church, should be interested in interpersonal relations, should be interested in matters of the soul and inward disposition. And there has been something of a historical tendency observed, rightly or wrongly perceived, rightly or wrongly, among people that people who as Christians get involved in affairs of this world, affairs of politics especially, especially tend to move in a direction away from evangelistic concern, away from true piety, individual piety, away from concern for the corporate body of Jesus Christ and into more liberal ways of thought, moving away from an evangelical view of Scripture, soteriology and other cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. And so evangelicals have something of a natural reserve or hesitation or caution about the study of politics by Christians. Now, in some cases, that reserve is more than simply a caution that comes to downright animosity and condemnation of Christians interest in these things. In our previous course on the situational approach to ethics, we saw some illustrations in the case of Lewis Nielsen and Walter Chantry, of men who have actually written as though there's something almost deadly wrong with Christians having a consuming interest in a ministry that pertains to social righteousness. For the Christians, first interest should be internal matters in the Great Commission, matters pertaining to the church and sacraments, evangelism, prayer, meditation, things like that. And so we are told that the evangelical mandate, the Great Commission, must take precedence over the cultural mandate in the life of the Christian, and that even those who do have a proper concern for seeing the effects of Christianity in the world at large should not ever make that the consuming interest of their life or the focal point of their life. For Christians are to be interested in the eternal, in the inward, in the immaterial and invisible. And so we're told by Authors like these two men. So there's a reserve, indeed even an animosity among some evangelicals and even among some Calvinists with respect to Christians being involved in a discussion of politics, something that's outside the walls of the church. Certain divisions can be found among people in the church, it seems to me, divisions with respect to the focus of the Christian life. If you go to just about any church, and especially any Reformed church, and if you consider Reformed denominations or various groupings formed Christians, you will notice that there seem to be about three different emphases in the Christian life, not usually held in a fine balance. You have people who are interested in one focus for the Christian life, and then you have another group interested in different focus, and then there's even a third focus. One of these focuses, or foci, would be what we can call the doctrinalist. The doctrinalist, those who in the church who think the focus of the Christian life should be doctrine, they should be interested in intellectual consideration, theological topics. Now, over against this group in the Church, we see as well a group of people that might be called pietists, and here not necessarily in a deprecating or depreciating way, but simply people whose interest is in personal holiness, a transformation of the individual and personal relations, changes of attitude. And then thirdly, we have those in the church who are interested primarily in transformation of the world, those who are interested in, maybe we can put it this way, the cultural mandate. I don't know if you've ever noticed that, but in various churches you'll find that those who think, well, the important things we discuss man, matters of doctrine, the deity of Christ or predestination, or maybe even things like the millennium, the second coming of Jesus Christ. Others who think, well, it isn't doctrine that counts, it's love and the attitudes that we have and the way we lead our lives in terms of personal holiness. And then finally, there are those who don't think that the inward focus of ethics is what's important or the intellectual focus of doctrine, but rather the outward ethical threshold thrust to transform all areas of life for the sake of the kingdom of God. So that's one reason why there's reserve among evangelicals, it seems to me, because simply there are divisions within the Christian church and not everybody sees the need for transformation and thinks that there's something a little perverted or out of focus or disproportionate in the life of somebody who is given himself to the study of socio and political events and issues. Moreover, For a long time in our culture, politics has been isolated from faith and religion, usually under the crying ideology that the church must be separated from the state. And therefore faith and religion can have nothing to do with politics. And often, I think we look upon the political realm somewhat akin to the index to Time magazine, where you have all the different areas of life divided up into departments, into various pockets. You will. And you have religion in one area, in one of the categories, and you have politics and matters of the state, world events and another category. And that's the way it should be. I mean, there's a place for religious matters and concern and discussion, and there's a place for political concerns, but they're not on the same page. I mean, they don't belong together. This idea of separating politics from faith, politics from religion, leads, it seems to me, to indifference toward politics, indifference toward the idea of religion transforming your political outlook or. Or on the other hand, it can lead to blind trust in one's leaders. And that is often a downfall of mainstream evangelical Christians is that they follow their leaders without giving a legitimate biblical critique to them, or they don't care at all what their leaders are doing because they're interested in things of the soul and evangelism and not things of the world, because this world is passing away. So we see divisions within the Christian church as to what the proper focus of the Christian life should be. We see politics being isolated from the faith and from religion in our culture and in our church. And I think also we have to recognize that we have been far too individualistic as believers, overlooking the corporate task and responsibility that we have together. We have often seen polarization in our churches and in our denominations and the Christian world at large created by strong personalities, personalities who tend to claim implicitly to have the last word on a subject. And then if there are those who want to correct that or refine that or modify that or qualify that, then you have petty jealousies developing. You have personality clashes. And it seems to me that this very readily leads to a fear of triumphalism in people, fear of the idea that we're going to start a movement. But then people see the lack of unity and the lack of cooperation among ourselves, and there's a real fear that this movement will become an embarrassment. One of the biggest reasons why I personally feel a Christian political party is inappropriate in our own days, because I think we, as a witness to the world, would be an embarrassment, really, to ourselves. I definitely believe Christians should in politics, as you'll see in this course. But the idea that Christians could right now get together and have any kind of unity as to platform and outlook and logistics, well, it just isn't there, it isn't possible. And I think probably a great deal more harm would be done. People would think, well, now here's the Christian answer to things. And then all of our foibles and mistakes and so forth would get in the way of presenting an accurate witness for the faith. So we've been somewhat individualistic, we've overlooked our corporate task and our responsibility and we've tended to fall into petty personality clashes and problems as Christians and in our various churches and denominations. And another reason why I think there's reserve among evangelicals with respect to Christian politics and the study of Christian politics or politics from a Christian perspective is that in our fundamental presuppositions, our paradigms of life, the way we look at the world, there are a number of dualisms that do not help encourage Christians to get involved in all areas of life, including politics. I think, for instance, of the dualism that is so common between secular and sacred, we tend to use that language even in a movement like our own, where we should know better. Sacred and secular being used as categories or some things pertaining to religious matters and some things that are outside that, particular to the church and outside of that, some things which are not sacred because they belong to the realm of the common, the secular. Another dualism that plays right into the hands of separating the faith from all areas of life is the dualism between facts and faith which has been popular since of course, the philosophy of Kant. The idea, well, there is this world that we see with our senses and all the mundane day to day affairs of life. But then there are matters of faith, internal matters, matters if you will, of personal importance and encounter with God and religious experience over against the reason and the senses and the day to day matters of fact. Indeed, G.E. moore and, and certain other British philosophers and moral philosophers had tended to foster a distinction between the realm of fact and the realm of value, which is just the secular version of the distinction between facts and faith. And a number of people have bought into that, that values are something that go beyond science, that are personal matters and therefore relative matters and subjective matters. And Christians who, who use that kind of paradigm with respect to life very naturally are led to believe that if Christianity is concerned with matters of faith and value, and faith and value are separated from facts, and Christianity doesn't have a place in the marketplace of life, doesn't have a place with respect to our everyday existence, our society, our politics, our industry, our sports schools, or what have you. And of course, another dualism that stretches back even further than the dualism of fact and faith is the dualism of nature and grace. Nature and grace. All of these tend to have the same effects. These three dualisms I've mentioned, secular and sacred facts and faith, nature and grace, they all tend to lead to the same kind of cash value in the Christian life, but they're not always except expressed in the same way. I'd like to offer another reason why I think evangelicals have had a tendency to shy away from a political stance. And that's that a word, a very rich theological word in Scripture, like the word righteousness, has very often been pared down in our culture. In our evangelical culture. Righteousness in the Bible is not merely a matter of vertical God man relationships. We tend to think of righteousness as having to do with the relationship of the creature to his Creator, and so that it's, if you will, an individual matter how I relate to God in the Bible. Righteousness is a dynamic concept. And we learn, of course, in the second chapter of James that faith without works is. Is dead, that we aren't really righteous people, justified people. If there isn't a lifestyle that goes with that, that shows good works. And righteousness in biblical perspective isn't just the relationship of God and man, or man to God, but it requires, in fact, the implementation of justice on a horizontal plane, the implementation of justice in society. And I think a good illustration of this in Isaiah, the first chapter, verses 10 to 23. Hear the word of Jehovah, Ye rulers of Sodom, give here unto the law of our God. Ye people of Gomorrah. What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifice, saith Jehovah. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to trample my courts, bring more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with iniquity. And the solemn meetings, your new moons and your appointed feast, my soul hates, they are a trouble unto me. I am weary of bearing them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide them mine eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood, wash you and make you clean, Put away the evil of your doings. From before mine eyes cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says Jehovah. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. How is the faithful city become a harlot? She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her. But now murderers, Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water, Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Every one loves bribes and follows after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them. Isaiah had a very earthy concept of righteousness, as you can see. He contrasts the holy city that once had righteousness lodged in her, but now has lodged in her. Murderers and thieves and those who oppress them, the disadvantaged in this world, those who extort, those who debase money. Matters of socio political ethics, if you will, crime and punishment. And that is the way Isaiah thinks of righteousness. And because those matters are not taken care of, God says to Isaiah that he abominates the religious practices of his people. He doesn't want their sacrifices, he doesn't want them to come into his courts. He will not hear their prayers, he rejects their incense. And here we have a fine example of what happens when we become so religious in the narrow and I think perverted sense. Religious in the sense of interested in matters of ethereal spiritual relationships and issues that we have no concern for the state of our society and what's happening around us. Well, not only is that word righteousness one that has been pared down in our day, I think, but the biblical word church has become read in the style of what I call 20th century ecclesiasticism. 20th century ecclesiasticism, where the biblical word church is used, people almost automatically read that today as pertaining to this essential assembly that meets on Sunday morning for the purposes of worship. But the church in the Bible is not merely an institution of religious activity. Again, where religious is being used in the narrow sense. Religious activity should not be confined to the area of prayer and worship and evangelism, but rather those who are called out, those who are part of the ekklesia, the ones who are out, kaleo called called out are ones who perform their righteousness throughout all Areas of life, if you will. There's a real difference between the model of the church as an unholy bomb shelter and an ammunition depot. A lot of people think of the church as someplace you come to retreat from the world and get a little bit of comfort on Sunday mornings because of the evil one world around us and the persecution, alleged persecution and the unholiness of the world. And so though the battle is going on out there between the forces of Satan and the kingdom of God, the enmity seen between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan, we want to get away from it all and just kind of gather together in monastic style and enjoy a few moments of prayer and relief and meditation. And so the image of the church is that of a bomb shelter. This is a place for protection. And I think it becomes an unholy bomb shelter because it's not being used in the way God wants us to. On the other hand, the Bible presents, if anything, more the image of the church as an ammunition depot. Someplace you want to go in the midst of a war. You want to go there and get out because you have other things to be doing. And the church should be supplying ammunition for the day to day, week upon week life and ministry of every believer. The believer should come and receive strengthening and ammunition so that he can go out and have a ministry in the world, bringing his Christianity to bear on all areas of life. I'll give you one more reason. There is caution and reserve among evangelicals about the study of Christ politics. And that's the idea that separation of church and state is an absolute. An absolute rather than an institutional and functional matter. The absolute idea of separation of church and state very readily leads to the notion that Christianity and the state are meant to be separated rather than simply the control of two institutions and the function of the two institutions being separate matters. What you have is the church should not have any kind of influence over the state so that Christianity and religion is separated from it. Well, and why is it that the church is so hesitant to study politics? Why is it local churches don't have seminars in Christian politics and don't get involved in this more? Why is it that this school will be looked upon with suspicion for having in its curriculum a course on political ethics from a Christian standpoint? Well, as I've said, there's reserve among people because of the historical problems of the social gospel, leading into liberalism, so forth. There's a tendency to be gun shy because of past abuses. There are divisions in our midst between those who hold the Focus of the Christian life should be doctrine, others who say it should be piety, and others who say it should be transformation of life. Politics is in our own culture, isolated from faith and religion, we as believers have tended to operate as individualistic units overlooking our corporate task and responsibility. We, we have, in the zeitgeist of our age, the spirit of our times. We have these dualisms between secular and sacred facts and faith, nature and grace that have afflicted us. And biblical concepts. Words like righteousness have been pared down. The biblical word for church has become an ecclesiastical matter where it pertains to the institutional church as it's gathered together for worship. And the separation of church and state has been absolutized rather than seen in its institutional and functional sense. So those are a number of reasons. Perhaps others could be added. But those occur to me as reasons, important reasons, why evangelicals show a lot of reserve about what we are going to be doing here. Over against that is the attitude of the attitude of Kuyper who said there is not a thumb's width of creation that Christ does not claim as mind. That's a really fine slogan from Kuyper and one that I hope you remember. Jesus says there's not a thumb's width of creation that does not belong to me. There's nothing that happens. There's no area of this world. There's no aspect of life, no department behavior that isn't mine. And so Christ claims the political realm as well as the narrow ecclesiastical realm, if you will. Moreover, Luther, in that well known quote which I can't give to you verbatim, but I trust you all have run across, Luther tells us that the test of true loyalty for a Christian is obedience where the battle is raging, not simply perfection of Jesus Christ and all the peripheral matters that nobody's really worrying about today. But the true test of loyalty is obedience, right where Satan is attacking. And there's no question but that in our century we have seen very definitely the rise of satanic forces in our political realm. And the church, having abdicated its responsibility with respect to socio political righteousness, is now suffering the consequences of that. I think of this orthodox Presbyterian church that was sued by the homosexual that was fired as an organist from the church. This really should have been unheard of, totally impossible. If the church had been raising a witness against homosexuality in society, it would be quite beyond comprehension to anybody that a homosexual would have rights and could see the church, the church of all things, for being fired as an organist there. The mentality has been for so long that we in the Church, as long as we can keep, if you will, our internal affairs cleaned up, we'll just have to forget about the external world and the way our society is going. But you see, there is a kind of imperious force to the forces of secular, secularism and humanism and unbelief in a culture. They aren't content the forces of humanism and so forth to leave their victories outside the Church. They are constantly bringing in the influence, the driving force of humanism and secularism into the presence of the Christian assembly. And so if the Church is not willing to battle humanism out in the world, the Church is a trust. Turns out we'll end up battling humanism anyway, but within its own walls. So Luther rightly points out, the test of genuine loyalty is obedience where the battle is raging. And right now, the battle is raging in our social, political world, in that realm of life. And Christians need to be actively engaged in the battle for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ there. Why do we need a Christian perspective on politics? What makes this so important? I'm going to offer three reasons this afternoon why I think it's absolutely imperative that we gain a Christian perspective on the political realm in the first place to give a subjective focus to this discussion. The Bible says, out of the heart are the issues of life. And therefore, if our hearts are regenerated hearts, if we've been given new hearts by the Holy Spirit, if our hearts are changed, then our whole life should be changed. Because out of the heart the issues of life proceed. Our whole life is to be an expression of our Christian faith. Therefore, moreover, the Bible tells us that the law of God is written on the redeemed man's heart. And so if out of the heart are the issues of life, we should be willing to make full application of the law of God. God expects our outlook, our mentality to be one that is honoring to his word, to his law. In the Old Testament, the people of God were commanded to have the law written on their forehead and upon their hand so that the way they perceived the world, the way they categorized the world, the way they saw the world would be governed by the law of God. The law of God would be their, if you will, standard for comparison and evaluation. And the law of God written upon the hand would indicate how they would operate in the world, what things they would do in the world. The law would govern their behavior. So out of the heart are the issues of life. Upon the heart is written the law of God. And it's also upon the forehead and upon the hand. All of life, therefore, is to be lived unto God. In 1 Peter 1:15 16, God commands us, using the words of Peter, to be holy in all manner of living. Holy in all manner of living. Not simply holy when it comes to evangelism or prayer, meditation or corporate worship, but holy in all manner of living. And the reason for that is because the One who called us is holy and says that we are to be holy even, and he is holy. God's holiness pertains to every aspect of life, even as the law of God touches on every aspect of life. And therefore our calling as Christians is to demonstrate that holiness and purity in every aspect of life. That leads me to my second point. Not only out of the heart are the issues of life, but we can say as well that all of life is religious. That might be considered the objective focus on my question why should we have a Christian perspective on politics? Subjectively, out of the heart are the issues of life, and objectively, every bit of life is religious. The cultural mandate given in the first chapter of Genesis called for man bringing the dominion of God to bear everywhere in the world. That was part of rendering one's full due to His Creator, that every area of life was going to be subdued to his glory for the sake of the advance of his kingdom. That man would operate as a vicegerent in this world, being a deputy of God and advancing his purposes. Moreover, the Bible tells us that after the Fall we are called upon to exercise our faith in the midst of of the world. We are called to exercise faith right here. In his high priestly prayer. Jesus very clearly says that while he prays that we would be delivered from the evil one, he does not pray that we'd be delivered from the world. Jesus wants us to exercise righteousness and faith in the midst of the world. He says, even as you sent me into the world, Father, I have sent them into the world as as well. The proper place for our ministry is in the midst of the world, not being salt that has been cooped up in containers or light that's hid under a bushel basket. We're to be salt that's scattered doing something on the earth and light that is spreading the darkness of the world. Now, the third reason why we have to have a Christian perspective on politics is because of the Lord of Jesus Christ. And that lordship of Jesus Christ is evident in creation and in redemption. In creation we learn that the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof, if you will, pertaining to Give a subjective focus to this discussion. The Bible says out of the heart are the issues of life. And therefore, if our hearts are regenerated hearts, if we've been given new hearts by the Holy Spirit, if our hearts are changed, then our whole life should be changed. Because out of the heart the issues of life recede. Our whole life is to be an expression of our Christian faith. Therefore, moreover, the Bible tells us that the law of God is written on the redeemed man's heart. And so if out of the heart are the issues of life, we should be willing to make full application of the law of God. God expects our outlook, our mentality, to be one that is honoring to his word, to his law. In the Old Testament, the people of God were commanded to have the law written on their forehead and upon their hand so that the way they perceived the world, the way they categorized the world, the way they saw the world, would be governed by the law of God. The law of God would be their, if you will, standard for comparison and evaluation. And the law of God written upon the hand would indicate how they would operate in the world, what things they would do in the world. The law would govern their behavior. So out of the heart are the issues of life. Upon the heart is written the law of God, and it's also upon the forehead and upon the hand. All of life, therefore, is to be lived unto God. In 1 Peter 1:15, 16, God commands us, using the words of Peter, to be holy in all manner of living. Holy in all manner of living. Not simply holy when it comes to evangelism or prayer or meditation or corporate worship, but holy in all manner of living. And the reason for that is because the One who called us is holy and says that we are to be holy even as he is holy. God's holiness pertains to every aspect of life, even as the law of God touches on every aspect of life. And therefore our calling as Christians is to demonstrate that holiness and purity in every aspect of life. That leads me to my second point. Not only out of the heart are the issues of life, but we can say as well that all of life is religious. That might be considered the objective focus on my question, why should we have a Christian perspective on politics? Subjectively, out of the heart are the issues of life, and objectively, every bit of life is religious. The cultural mandate given in the first chapter of Genesis called for man bringing the dominion of God to bear everywhere in the world. That was part of rendering one's full due to his Creator. That every area of life was going to be subdued to his glory for the sake of the advance of his kingdom. That man would operate as a vicegerent in this world, being a deputy of God and advancing his purposes. Moreover, the Bible tells us that after the fall we are called upon to exercise our faith in the midst of the world. We are called to exercise faith right here. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus very clearly says that while he prays that we would be delivered from the Evil One, he does not pray that we'd be delivered from the world. Jesus wants us to exercise right to and faith in the midst of the world. And it says, even as you sent me into the world, Father, I have sent them into the world as well. The proper place for our ministry is in the midst of the world. Not being salt that has been cooped up in containers or light that's hid under a bushel basket. We're to be salt that's scattered doing something on the earth, and light that is spreading the darkness of the world. Now, the third reason why we have to have a Christian perspective on politics is because of the lordship of Jesus Christ. And that lordship of Jesus Christ is evident in creation and in redemption. In creation we learn that the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof, if you will, pertaining to creation. Since God made the earth, it belongs belongs to him. Psalm 24. So the fullness of the earth is the Lord's too. There's nothing that pertains to earthly existence that isn't God's and isn't supposed to be directed to his purposes. The lordship of Jesus Christ comes to expression in the realm of redemption as well. Just think of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18 20, that post resurrection pronouncement of the King, where he says, all power and authority in heaven and earth is mine. Therefore, having gone, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them to the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. There are three unlimited aspects of that Great Commission. We see the unlimited authority that that is claimed in the commission, the unlimited task that is given in the commission, and the unlimited presence of the Savior. First, the claim of unlimited authority. Jesus says, all power and authority is mine in heaven and on earth. There are no restrictions there. All of it belongs to Jesus Christ. That means industrial authority, social authority, political authority, from authority, ecclesiastical authority, athletic authority. Wherever authority is exercised in this world, ultimately men are answerable to Jesus Christ. And that's not just in heaven above. So that Jesus now has an exalted position among the angels. But Jesus has that position here on earth. All power and authority in heaven and on earth is mine. And given that claim to unlimited authority, he moves on to the call to an unlimited task. Therefore, having God make disciples of all nations, our work's never going to be done, you see, until all nations, every individual at least, as our goal and ideal. All nations and every individual has been discipled, have been discipled. We've got to see to it that all of the earth is redeemed, that all people are flowing into the kingdom. All nations belong to Jesus Christ. And the assurance that we can do these things is found thirdly in the promise of Jesus unlimited presence. For lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He has all authority and he's always with us. And therefore we have no excuse for not fulfilling the task that has been laid on us. Christ is not merely a part time or a partial king. The Bible indicates, especially in Psalm 72, that Jesus always and everywhere is to exercise his reign. Let me read that for you again as a reminder of the pervasiveness of Jesus rule not only extensively, but intensively over all the earth and over all cataracts, categories of life. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King's son. He will judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice. The mountain shall bring the people and the hills in righteousness. He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee while the sun endureth. And lo. And so, so long as the moon endureth throughout all generations, he will come down like rain upon the mown grass. As showers that water the earth in his days shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace till the moon be no more. He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tariff and of the isles shall render tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seva shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. For he will deliver the needy when he cries, and the poor who has no helper, he will have pity on the poor and needy, and the souls of the needy he will save. He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. And precious will their blood be in his sight, and they shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold and of Sheba, and men shall pray for him continually. They shall bless him all the day long. There shall be a handful of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains, but the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call him happy. Blessed. Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever. And let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen. And Amen. Christ isn't a partial king over just some aspects of life over some areas of the world, and he isn't just a part time king. He always is the king, and he ever everywhere is exercising his reign. Moreover, the Bible tells us that when Christ came as the Savior into this world, he came to redeem the whole creation. The goal of Christ's redemptive work is the release of the earth that is groaning in travail because of the curse of sin. And the goal is to bring about a new heavens and a new earth. So all things are now being made new. A new heavens and a new earth. A new creation has begun. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, if any man is in Christ Jesus, there is a new creation. God has begun his reconstruction work. And in Colossians 1 we learn that when Jesus came, he came to redeem every bit of life in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. Sins who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were all things created in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and unto him, and he is before all things, and in him all things consist and he is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first one from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it is the good pleasure of the Father, that in him should all the fullness dwell and through him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through Him I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. And so Christ is coming to reconcile everything to the Father, all areas of life, every facet of our created existence, so that in everything he will have the preeminence so let's not reduce the lordship of Jesus Christ simply to the providence of God. There's a great difference between the messianic rule of Jesus Christ and the providential rule of God. God rules over all things. Things is sovereign. Every area of life has his providential decree operative in it. And whatever God decrees from all eternity cannot fail to take place. It will all eventuate even as he had planned it. However, over and above the fact that God accomplishes His will in the world by decreeing whatever happens, God has also decreed that there shall be victory for His Son, that His Son shall rule in this world, that he shall exercise sway over the hearts of men and their souls, that he shall gain them from the kingdom of Satan and make them servants of the kingdom of God. So let's not reduce the lordship of Jesus Christ to mere providence, which I think many people do in the reading of Romans the 13th chapter to get a little more pointed about politics. Now, in Romans 13 we read that the powers that be are ordained of God. And consequently a lot of people reading that and reading the prohibition about rebellion, lack of submission to the powers that be figure that whatever happens in this world is approved of God, that the only way God is ruling in the political realm is in terms of just providence. Since God determines every event that takes place in the political world, even the Amin or Adolf Hitler have done as part of God's will. And we must submit to that, that the rule of God is simply his providential control of earthly events. We also see this not just in the pious political agnosticism that says whatever God does in his providence is what we should submit to. And that's the way God rules. That's the sole way in which God rules. We see it in secular liberation theology as well that maintains that God is wherever the action is and breaking down barriers and bringing liberation and so forth. And whatever is happening is what God is doing in the sense that God is approving. And that's the form of his kingdom. Now Jesus Christ has come to be king over the earth, not just to exercise sovereignty in the sense of providential sovereignty, and not simply so that we can identify or baptize every event in this world as being the work of the King. But Jesus has come to make a difference in our socio political condition and outlook. He's come to bring righteousness to bear, to establish justice on the earth. And so we do need a Christian perspective on politics because out of the heart are the issues of life, because all of life is religious and because of the lordship of Jesus Christ in creation and in redemption. A lordship that's neither part time nor partial, but rather extends to the redemption of the whole creation. So this class, this course is something of a call to the transformation of society and the transformation of culture using the agency of Christian ethics. That is, we are going to be dealing with the relationship of Christ to culture, and in particular the relationship of Christ to culture pertaining to the political realm. Have any questions before I begin a discussion of the transformation of life and the relationship of Christ to culture? Anything that's been said so far you'd like to follow up on? All right. Well, then let's turn secondly in this first lecture to the notion of the transformation of the whole of life. The Bible indicates that man has an impulse toward cultural development, that there's an impulse in man toward cultural development. We see this, for instance, in Genesis 4:21 and 22, the beginning of the development of art and technology, the very beginning of man's historical existence following the fall into sin. Genesis 4:21 and his brother's name was Jubal, he was the father of all, such as handled the harp and pipe. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron, and the sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah. So we see an impulse in man, from the very beginning of his history, toward art and technology, toward cultural development. And that should be seen as a God given gift to man, this impulse toward cultural development. God is pleased by man going about the task of working in the world and bringing areas of life into subjection, mastering the creation and using it properly. As in to say that the Father and men here who began the development of art and technology were pleasing in the eyes of God. But the impulse toward art and technology, the impulse toward culture, was pleasing and was in fact enabled by God. It was a gift from God, and more than just a gift from God. It was a duty that God had laid upon men. God had given men the duty of developing culture In Genesis 1:26 29, the well known cultural mandate. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in his own image. And the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed shall be for food. So God has handed creation, creation over to man, saying, subdue it, use it, make proper use of it, develop it for my purposes, for my glory. Then after the flood, after God brings an end to the original created world, wipes out human civilization, saves those that by his electing grace the eight people that were salvaged it, God renews this same call to fallen man Noah. And this is one of the, I think, clearest demonstrations, proofs from the Bible that the cultural mandate was not canceled at the fall. We have some church groups around us, some Christian societies around us that maintain the cultural mandate has now been abrogated or the cultural mandate has been tabled. It's not something that should properly concern men, because right now redemption is the main concern of life. But obviously it's in a fallen world and with fallen men, sinful men, that God renews the cultural mandate. In Genesis the ninth chapter, and God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heaven, withal wherewith the ground teemeth, and all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you, as the green herb have I given you all. And God goes on to qualify this and to explain it, to make application of it. But the point is that just as God delivered all of creation into the hands of Adam, he now delivers all of creation into the hands of Noah. In Matthew 28:19 we see that even in the realm of redemption, Jesus claims authority over heaven and earth. In 1st Corinthians 3:21 23, the earth is specifically said to belong to believers. 1st Corinthians 3:21 23. Wherefore let no one glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we also see man's duty to develop all things to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 10:5. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought captive into captivity to the obedience of Go Christ. So the development of our scholarship and every thought should be brought into submission to Jesus Christ, should serve his purposes, and should be guided by him. First Peter 1:15. We've already made reference to where God tells us that we are to show holiness in all manner of life, in every aspect of life. The great commandment that Jesus spoke of, loving God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind, indicates that this love to God sees expression in every aspect of life, which of course was the Shema of Israel. This ties in with the first commandment of the Decalogue, that before God in His presence, there are to be no other gods, no other rivals. God calls man then to to use every area of life for his service. God calls man to progressive growth in culture as elementary to subduing the earth, because all of life belongs to him and all of the earth belongs to him, and it's man's duty to use it for the purposes of God. So man's impulse toward cultural development is God given, and man's duty is to develop culture. However, we would note that in the Bible, culture can aspire to full autonomy from God. The Tower of Babel is the great illustration of that in early universal history. Culture can aspire to autonomy. That is, culture is a gift from God. It's a duty laid upon man from God. And yet it can go awry. It can go in foul directions. It can transgress the purposes of God and the commandments of God and strive for full autonomy. Culture would even attempt to usurp divine prerogatives, as we see at the Tower of Babel. And thus culture must be restrained and culture must be directed by godly men who understand properly the divine plan and have been redeemed by the Lord Messiah, who came to make his blessings flow. Far as the curse is found, the hymn by Isaac Watts tells us, who came so that everywhere the curse of sin has touched, we make difference. So the blessing of Jesus Christ through His kingdom might redeem the entire creation, so that a power politics and culture is cursed by sin. Now politics and culture will be redeemed, will enjoy the benefits of redemption. So by way of summary. And then we'll break man has an impulse toward cultural development. That's God given. And it's man's duty to develop culture for God's end. Culture can get out of hand and aspire to full autonomy in which case it must be restrained and directed by godly men who understand God's plan and God's word. Those who see the need for redemption.