Featured Christian Nationalism?

There is irony in your post, especially in the verse you chose. I bolded your words in light of your verse.

As to the second comment, have you not heard of Manifest Destiny?

Manifest Destiny was not simply a cloak for American imperialism and a justification for America’s territorial ambitions. It also was firmly anchored in a long standing and deep sense of a special and unique American Destiny, the belief that in the words of historian Conrad Cherry, “America is a nation called to a special destiny by God.”

The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny, Divining America, TeacherServe©, National Humanities Center

 

Are you intending to use the term just culturally, not Biblically?

 

The Bible talks about Nations following God, not just individuals. In fact the Great Commission tells us to go into the Nations and to make the Nations themselves disciples.

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:19

So yes, I am 100% for Christian Nationalism and even Christian Theonomy. God wants us to make Christian nations. He doesn't want secular nations.

 

When God wants something, He always obtains it. God is absolutely totally sovereign - all the time. God is not like us humans who want this or that, but we do not obtain it.

 

Yes, He is totally Sovereign, and He also gave us free will. And when He wants something He obtains it in His good time and in His ways. In this case His choice is to use Christians to further His nation goals.

 

Man has no free will.

Isaiah 29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

Romans 9:19-21Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

 

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (emphasis mine)

God saves individuals, His elect. He does not save nations.

 

Clearly we're not going to agree on that. I think regenerate Christians have free will and can choose to sin or not to sin, and can choose to follow God's command about making nations obey him, or they can choose not to.

Now square your verse against the individual against the verses that clearly speak about making nations submit to God. The conclusion is clearly that God wants individuals saved AND nations brought down and submitted before Him.

 

"God's will determines all the choices and circumstances of his creatures, so that nothing is up to man's "free will." In fact, because God is completely sovereign, man has no free will:

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalms 139:16)

The LORD works out everything for his own ends – even the wicked for a day of disaster. (Proverbs 16:4)

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1)

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" (Daniel 4:35)

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15)

All things are decided and caused by God – nothing is free from his control, and he has not chosen to forego his control on anything. The doctrine is repulsive to those who abhor the rule and honor of God, and so they oppose it. But the doctrine is a source of comfort and celebration to those who love him. Why would we want it any other way, than for God to rule over all things? And what better life can we wish for, than to be ruled by God?"

- Vincent Cheung, Systematic Theology (emphasis mine)

 

The salvation of God's elect is an individual matter.

 

Correct

 

Yes. There is not an atom that moves in the entire universe unless God has ordained it.

 

"Christian Nationalism"

Sometimes words become titles for ideas or movements, whatever, that don't necessarily reflect the purposes of the movement. "Christian Nationalism", so called, according to the reading I have done recently, means different things to different people. Some equate it with "white supremacy", again--what is the actual meaning of "white supremacy"? "All men are created equal" is a quote from our Declaration of Independence, and to me, that means God created everyone and all have value from Him because of that. It does not mean some are not taller or shorter, or skinnier or fatter, or have the same eye color or skin color. It means (to me) we all have equal value before Him, though we differ in circumstances and standing in this world.

So what is "Christian Nationalism"? As stated on internet sites I searched, it means different things to different people. Since I am not familiar with the term, I have to look at the words--first, "Christian". I am a Christian. I believe the Holy Bible. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God, and was born into this world through a virgin (so He would not have original sin from Adam) and for the purpose of dying for the sins of mankind and rising from the dead to justify, forgive, and reconcile to God all those who place faith in Him. How does that fit into "Christian Nationalism"? I don't know. Are they Christians. I don't know any person who claims to be a CN, so I can't speak to that.

"Nationalism". What does that mean to you? To me, it means you want what is good for your nation. I want what is good for my nation. I want it to be capitalist, not communist or socialist. I want it to be a free nation, where people can speak, share, and debate ideas, just like we do right here. And hopefully without rancor, mudslinging, and name-calling (of course I am guilty of some of that myself, partly because of my shock at what democrats are trying to force onto America, and partly because I am attacked for my beliefs here). But ideally, free speech should be honored and participated in. Keeping this short, I believe in the rest of the Bill of Rights. I also believe America is going down, and that it must do so for the rest of Scriptural prophecy to be fulfilled. I can't avoid it, but I want to delay it as long as possible.

Does that make me a "Christian Nationalist"? No. Not unless I and I alone get to define the term. From what I've seen on the internet, I cannot claim the title. Words must, absolutely must, have a clear definition to communicate clear meaning. I am a Christian who loves the Lord Jesus and wants to see my nation blessed. I do not follow any such organization as CN, if it is even organized at all, with any one agenda. Apparently it is not. No leader, no agreed on agenda. It seems to be murky, unclear to me, and is instead whatever particular adherents to the label wish it to be at the time or for personal reasons, therefore I cannot claim to be a "Christian Nationalist".

I am simply a Bible-believing Christian, surrendered to the will of God, He Who does all things well and He Who will achieve His good purposes in His own timing.

 

Indeed.
This truth gives rise to the erroneous idea that God causes all evil to take place. While God orders it's capacity to function, God does not cause evil to act. Evil exists not because God caused it, but because holy creatures (Lucifer, Adam, and Eve) freely broke covenant with God because God gave them the capacity to do so. Having then broken covenant, neither Lucifer nor Adam could undo their folly. They could not freely restore reconciliation. They were now, by nature, corrupted and no longer holy. God knew this and ordained this. Here then is where human corruption truly rears its head as humans attempt to judge God and demand from God "Why did you make me this way?" and ultimately accuse God of being evil rather than holy. This is why free willers seek to bring God down and lift themselves up. If God doesn't ordain all things, then they can blame their free will for all things and psychologically let God off the hook. God must have given man equal sovereignty to decide his own destiny so that God isn't the cause is their thinking. As finite creatures man cannot grasp the holiness of God and the supreme Sovereignty of God as being compatible. Therefore, for free willers, one of the two cannot exist. Since God must be holy, they conclude that God cannot be fully Sovereign since not all creation is holy like the Creator. Yet, the Bible presents the truth that God is both holy and fully Sovereign. How this works in its entirety is a mystery that I can live with. For others, it drives them to blaming God.

 

Good point. As Vincent Cheung puts in his Systematic Theology :

"To metaphysically cause evil and to morally commit evil are two different things. One is a matter of ability to cause something, while the other is a matter of conformity to a principle. The Bible teaches that God is the one who defines right and wrong, and that sin is a transgression of God's law. ...

It is wrong for man to morally commit evil, because God has declared man wrong for doing it, although it is God who metaphysically causes man to do it. Therefore, God remains righteous, and the sinner remains evil. The distinctions are clear. There is no paradox or contradiction, and also no biblical or logical basis for objection against the doctrine."