The following is from an article by Brian Lee and linked to by by Dr. R. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary California:
It would appear that the Christian church is not to call society to repentance? The error of the argument in this article is that salvation and the Gospel are to be kept individualistic and private. The church is never to call nations to repentance or interfere in the ungodliness being sponsored by the government of the United States? It does not follow that simply because social action and social justice have often led to a this worldly interest and a forsaking of the eternal kingdom of God and the Gospel that therefore the Church should keep to itself and simply preach the Gospel. While it is true that the Church should remain focused on preaching the Gospel, it does not follow that therefore churches and denominations should not call sin sin in the larger secular community or in the political realm. Of course, such holy boldness will get you crucified and maybe even get the government to sanction your church, censor your speech, and even violate your God-given rights to call sin sin. It is politically incorrect to say that homosexuals, abortionists, transexuals, atheists, and Mormons are all going to hell. Yet, that is what the Holy Scriptures clearly imply if we accept the Word of God for what it literally means.
While I am not advocating a return to the theocracy of the early Pilgrim Puritans, I am also not advocating what Brian Lee and Dr. Clark clearly advocate in this radical separation of the two kingdoms. The clear implication is that Christians should speak for themselves only as individuals and churches should not condemn sin in the public arena. But I would say that with Joshua we must choose this day whom we will serve (Joshua 24:14-27). Will we serve the Lord or will we serve the idols of American democracy which promotes licentiousness, greed, sexual freedom, homosexuality, and abortion as innate human rights?
As someone else wisely said, a church which stands for nothing falls for everything. The idea of common grace is obviously at the root of this sinful abdication to worldly values and is in fact an implicit endorsement to relativism and immorality.
I say churches should speak up and preach the Gospel boldly. They should tell the world that it is evil and that it is going to hell in a hand basket. The idea that a Christian could vote for a political party that is "liberal" to the point of pushing a secular state that hates Christianity and all that it stands for is just preposterous!
While I am certainly not saying that the Republican Party or the Tea Party is "Christian", I am saying that the Democratic Party has inculcated a blatantly immoral and anti-Christian party platform. In short, the Democratic Party is an "anti-Christ". To vote for the Democratic Party is spiritual and religious suicide. The purpose of the liberal party is to destroy conservative and orthodox Christianity, to use propaganda to encourage sexual immorality,pornography, abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, and outright atheism.
As a Reformed and Evangelical Anglican Christian, I can tell you that there is nothing I hate worse than a conservative theonomist or reconstructionist since both those movements are at root pelagian and lead to liberalism. But I equally despise political liberalism since it is nothing short of the same sort of theonomist philosophy--only on the other side of the political and theological spectrum. Both at root are pelagian. It does not follow that the Christian church is not to stand for what is right, as Dr. Clark and Dr. Lee seem to think. We should oppose all evil as individuals and as churches. Together we have a voice. But in that process we should never concede to sign ecumenical theological documents that compromise the Christian and Reformed commitment to Scripture and the eternal Gospel.
The answer is not to compromise by joining with reconstructionists and theonomists. But neither is the answer to so over-emphasize the two kingdoms to the point that the kingdom of God is not advancing against the evil kingdom of Satan on earth. We fight a spiritual battle, no doubt. But part of that spiritual battle is to boldly denounce the evil of individuals and of nations. The United States of America is not a Christian nation and probably never will be. But that does not mean that we should simply acquiesce our conscience and let the devil rule the world here and now. No, we are to fight the spiritual battle by bravely confronting an evil and decadent world and its rulers in high places:
The seedbed of the church, according to Tertullian, is the blood of the martyrs. Christians all over the world are being persecuted by their own governments. Ironically, the policy being pushed by this radical misinterpretation of the two kingdoms is ushering in the same sort of persecution in the United States. We as Christians are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-20), not endorsers of political correctness, homosexuality as a God-given human right, and other such nonsense.
Ironically, our Pilgrim fathers made just this mistake when they came to America. Fleeing their own religious persecution, they set up another. The 1647 Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts identified 15 capital offenses, including idolatry, blasphemy, and atheism, along with a predictable litany of sexual offenses. Now that’s conservative. Unfortunately, it’s also not the foundation of a just and pluralistic society.
Read more: Christianity is neither conservative nor socialist.
It would appear that the Christian church is not to call society to repentance? The error of the argument in this article is that salvation and the Gospel are to be kept individualistic and private. The church is never to call nations to repentance or interfere in the ungodliness being sponsored by the government of the United States? It does not follow that simply because social action and social justice have often led to a this worldly interest and a forsaking of the eternal kingdom of God and the Gospel that therefore the Church should keep to itself and simply preach the Gospel. While it is true that the Church should remain focused on preaching the Gospel, it does not follow that therefore churches and denominations should not call sin sin in the larger secular community or in the political realm. Of course, such holy boldness will get you crucified and maybe even get the government to sanction your church, censor your speech, and even violate your God-given rights to call sin sin. It is politically incorrect to say that homosexuals, abortionists, transexuals, atheists, and Mormons are all going to hell. Yet, that is what the Holy Scriptures clearly imply if we accept the Word of God for what it literally means.
While I am not advocating a return to the theocracy of the early Pilgrim Puritans, I am also not advocating what Brian Lee and Dr. Clark clearly advocate in this radical separation of the two kingdoms. The clear implication is that Christians should speak for themselves only as individuals and churches should not condemn sin in the public arena. But I would say that with Joshua we must choose this day whom we will serve (Joshua 24:14-27). Will we serve the Lord or will we serve the idols of American democracy which promotes licentiousness, greed, sexual freedom, homosexuality, and abortion as innate human rights?
As someone else wisely said, a church which stands for nothing falls for everything. The idea of common grace is obviously at the root of this sinful abdication to worldly values and is in fact an implicit endorsement to relativism and immorality.
I say churches should speak up and preach the Gospel boldly. They should tell the world that it is evil and that it is going to hell in a hand basket. The idea that a Christian could vote for a political party that is "liberal" to the point of pushing a secular state that hates Christianity and all that it stands for is just preposterous!
While I am certainly not saying that the Republican Party or the Tea Party is "Christian", I am saying that the Democratic Party has inculcated a blatantly immoral and anti-Christian party platform. In short, the Democratic Party is an "anti-Christ". To vote for the Democratic Party is spiritual and religious suicide. The purpose of the liberal party is to destroy conservative and orthodox Christianity, to use propaganda to encourage sexual immorality,pornography, abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, and outright atheism.
As a Reformed and Evangelical Anglican Christian, I can tell you that there is nothing I hate worse than a conservative theonomist or reconstructionist since both those movements are at root pelagian and lead to liberalism. But I equally despise political liberalism since it is nothing short of the same sort of theonomist philosophy--only on the other side of the political and theological spectrum. Both at root are pelagian. It does not follow that the Christian church is not to stand for what is right, as Dr. Clark and Dr. Lee seem to think. We should oppose all evil as individuals and as churches. Together we have a voice. But in that process we should never concede to sign ecumenical theological documents that compromise the Christian and Reformed commitment to Scripture and the eternal Gospel.
The answer is not to compromise by joining with reconstructionists and theonomists. But neither is the answer to so over-emphasize the two kingdoms to the point that the kingdom of God is not advancing against the evil kingdom of Satan on earth. We fight a spiritual battle, no doubt. But part of that spiritual battle is to boldly denounce the evil of individuals and of nations. The United States of America is not a Christian nation and probably never will be. But that does not mean that we should simply acquiesce our conscience and let the devil rule the world here and now. No, we are to fight the spiritual battle by bravely confronting an evil and decadent world and its rulers in high places:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 ESV)
The seedbed of the church, according to Tertullian, is the blood of the martyrs. Christians all over the world are being persecuted by their own governments. Ironically, the policy being pushed by this radical misinterpretation of the two kingdoms is ushering in the same sort of persecution in the United States. We as Christians are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-20), not endorsers of political correctness, homosexuality as a God-given human right, and other such nonsense.
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! (Isaiah 5:20-23 ESV)
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