Cultural Engagement: Every Christian's Obligation

[Iconoclast]

https://www.rebelalliancemedia.com/post/read-this-next-the-mission-of-god

Read This Next - The Mission of God



Is there one book that you would recommend that sums up the views of the Reformed Rebels? Good question. I’m glad you asked. There is indeed a book like this. And it is a wakeup call. The Mission of God by Dr. Joseph Boot lays out the case for what the author calls a “new puritanism” which involves “a rigorous examination of the details of the law-word of God in both testaments, and their application to every area of life; both public and private, church and state, personal and familial, in terms of the absolute sovereignty of God” (27). The key aspect of the church’s mission for Boot is the ‘Kingdom reign of Jesus Christ and its extension throughout all creation” (531). In an age where the Church has largely retreated from its surroundings Dr. Boot defends the Church’s mission and biblical calling in our contemporary culture. In its 683 pages he touches on the major issues facing modern evangelicalism. If as a Christian you are gazing on our cultural landscape with foreboding and not quite sure what to do; this book will cure you from your paralysis. I believe it will cure you in three areas: our forgetfulness of our Christian past, our failure to cultivate a holistic Christian worldview, and the neglect of the Law of God. There is no question that many readers will find this book challenging. I would encourage you, however, to take the time and read through this book slowly and multiple times. Its riches are worth the work it takes!

The Mission of God will cure you of your cultural paralysis by calling you to remember our Christian past. One of our refrains from us here at the network is that the postmillennial hope does not preclude ups and downs in culture and the church. Though there is a general trend upward towards the knowledge and glory of Christ, there can be downturns where a culture turns away from God and is thus judged for its disobedience. Boot surveys how our culture was not always God rejecting as it is now. In fact, our heritage was shaped by Calvinistic Puritans who had an optimistic view of the Kingdom of God on earth. Boot shows that there is a Christian view of history and a heritage that has been lost even to the church. The Puritans in Old England and the colonies, along with great men like William Wilberforce and Oliver Cromwell operated under the idea that God was king and they were responsible to His covenant. Boot points out that

because Jesus Christ is sovereign king and ruler over all things and since he calls all men and nations to covenant obedience (Matt. 28:18-20), the Puritans were concerned with the advance and spread of the gospel. The whole world was progressively coming under the dominion of Jesus Christ and so Puritan civilization served as a lamp on a hill for all to see and copy. Since Christianity as a whole and especially the post-millennial outlook (as common amongst the Puritans), is future oriented and not past-bound …, God is always calling his people toward a progressive movement of covenant faithfulness in history. For the Puritan, the gospel commission was not simply an announcement of sins forgiven through the atonement (though it must begin there), but the teaching of all God’s covenant requirements. This included the whole law of God if the mission of God was to be accomplished – this alone was true liberty” (64).
The Puritans did not retreat from culture but attempted to apply to the law of God to every area of life. We have largely abandoned these ideas. Boot points out various reasons for the church’s cultural retreat such as eschatological dualism, two-kingdom theology, antinomianism and false views of justice.

The book also shows how the post-Enlightenment west has increasingly attempted to bury our Christian past and replaced it with Utopian views of the state. Truly, the state has become our god. This resurgent paganism has largely come to define western political philosophy and in an even more troubling development, the missiology of a large part of the church. Utopianism is indeed its own worldview. It demands mankind become perfected through change and evolution brought on by state control (186). Boot points out that that this perfection is “only a potential point in the future, so man, as part of history and world substance, must re-divinize himself by bringing about the reunification of man with nature” (186). This new paganism is, “in biblical terms, man now seek[ing] vengeance against the God of the garden who drove him from paradise, by building the tower of Babel, and attempting to arrest history, as a monument to his own divinity – the city of man” (186). Instead of the goal of spreading the kingdom of God through the Great Commission, large sections of the Church have accepted that the city of man is the inevitable outcome of history. The Mission of God gives the antidote for this kind of thinking. It is the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Boot explains that

the gospel awakens men from their sinful dream and quickens them to recognize that they are not God; they can never be omnipotent, omniscient, transcendent or sovereign. Rather, men are made noble in the image of God, created as his vice-regents to serve, obey and glorify God, and in this to discover their true joy and original humanity… In Jesus Christ the fragmentation produced by sin is undone, and man is made a new creation, restoring his fellowship not with nature, but with the living God and his fellow men, illustrated for us in the communion feast and the life of the church. Then, as the new humanity in Jesus Christ, people are called once again to exercise, not domination, but dominion under God, making creation a culture, to turn the world back into God’s garden by the ministry of the gospel and obedience to God’s every word (186-87).
This is the Puritan view of life that we have forgotten: all of Christ for all of life. We have lost their optimistic outlook for the Kingdom of God. Though our Puritan forefathers were not perfect, their general outlook and faithfulness to God’s word is worth emulating in our current cultural and societal decline.

 

[Iconoclast]

The Mission of God will also wake the reader up to what constitutes a Christian worldview. It contains the biblical cure for the paralysis of the cultural malaise of the modern church. Boot focuses on three main aspects, namely:
the family,
education,
and apologetics/evangelism.
He counters the attacks against the institution of the family in our day from the social and sexual revolutions. Our godless society has been attempting to gain control of our children, our property, and our inheritance (420-421). The church must stand up for the family in these areas. The family must be encouraged to flourish and fulfill these duties (under the cultural mandate) which have been increasingly encroached on by the state. Boot puts it this way:
One critical key to the future and godly responsibility, which the church must understand in our time, is the need to develop and empower the Christian family, to recover the welfare aspects of the ministry of the family; to establish Christian schools and agencies, private charities and organizations to bring all things into captivity to Christ… The key to godly transformation, the key to the future, is in our homes, as individuals living in humble obedience to Christ and as families… This is the key to the flourishing of the kingdom of God (424).

The Christian family is to be protected by the church. The institution itself must be protected, but also we must be reminded that the Kingdom of God does not advance outside the home until the kingship of Christ has been acknowledged by the family.

Likewise, the church needs to stand up for Christian education. Boot argues correctly that there is no neutrality when it comes to education and in fact, all education is a religious enterprise. Modern state-based education teaches a form of humanism which tells the child that they are able to live as autonomous beings apart from God (434). The state views education as the primary means of moral reform and good citizenship. But it is not a moral reform according to the Scriptures, but according to an essentially pagan doctrine of man. The church must reject any notion that education can ‘save’ and reform the individual as an end in itself. All education must be rooted in ‘curriculum of Christ’ and His gospel (452). So the question is not if religion is being taught in our schools, but which religion. Is your child’s education rooted in a pagan, humanistic view of man? One which denies that we are made in God’s image and are responsible to our creator? Or is the education to be rooted to the true vine? Boot concludes his discussion on education by explaining that

our choice today in education, as in every other sphere, is between two claimants to the throne of godhood and universal government: the state which claims to be our shepherd, keeper, and savior, and the Holy Trinity, our only God and savior. Covenant faithfulness and disobedience remain the only choices. To choose the latter means the self-government (faithful obedience to the word of God) of Christian people under the lordship of Jesus Christ, beginning with the individual, the family and the school… And against all appearance what gives hope to us is the guarantee of the victory of God’s reign, no matter how long it takes; as the Lord’s Prayer reminds us in this connection to pray, “thy kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10) (456).

 

[Iconoclast]

Evangelism and apologetics are also vital to a fully Christian worldview. Boot gives a summary of the reformed presuppositional method of defending the faith. He gives a useful outline of the apologetic schools of thought and argues that the Van Tillian method is the most biblical and thus the most useful for our age of pluralism and growing number adopting Godless worldviews. He also addresses problems in evangelizing in a pluralistic society. He argues against any inclusivistic forms of evangelism and confirms the exclusivistic message of Jesus as Lord. Boot does this by exegeting the Apostle Paul’s encounter at Mars Hill (used by many in the inclusivist camp) and showing that the book of Acts actually exemplifies the fact that preaching the gospel has to include the fact that knowledge and belief of Jesus as Lord is necessary for salvation. This view of apologetics and evangelism

will, by definition, bring competing narratives (worldviews) into collision. In the postmodern context of our day, the biblical story can take into account the narrative-born nature of meaning in general, being sensitive to it, but then critically engage, account for and reinterpret rival stories, bringing them to final resolution in the gospel. In this Augustinian and presuppositional model, the apologist retells the Christian account of reality in a fashion designed to ‘take in’ the reinterpreted non-Christian stories. This involves first showing the challenger that their non-Christian account of reality leads only into the abyss, and then inviting them to look at the biblical view of reality, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, captivate their hearts with an epic that soars into eternity. It then becomes clear that the challenger’s account of reality was only a minor subplot with incidental characters, in the script of God’s great theatre that is human history (492).
One needs to have a full-orbed Christian worldview while doing apologetics. If one does not, they will not be able to relate the big story of salvation, the grand narrative of God. Boot emphasizes the fact that all other interpretations of reality (narratives) need to be explained by placing them under the Lordship of Christ. Christ is the glue that holds all narratives together or otherwise proves competing narratives false. This section of Mission of God will encourage you to develop a Christian worldview when it comes to sharing the gospel with our postmodern, atheist, or inclusivistic neighbors, our education, and our view of the family. These three things are extremely important in our cultural situation today. One of the greatest strengths of this volume is the fact that it speaks into our current condition in the post-Christian west.\\

It no longer will do for the church to ignore its responsibilities in these areas. We must develop again a full-orbed view of the Kingdom of God; all of Christ for all of life.

The most useful aspect of this volume, in my opinion, is how Dr. Boot deals with the Law of God. He lays out his version of a ‘theonomic Puritanism’ and tackles some of the difficult questions surrounding how the Bible applies to law, justice, and penology. Against Two-Kingdom theology, the emergent church, Marxist-leaning social justice theology, and the broad antinomianism existent in the Church today, Boot argues that God’s Law in the Old Testament is applicable to every area of life today. Though aspects of the law, such as Israel’s ceremonial laws, has been fulfilled in Christ and the New Covenant, the church needs to apply the law to every area of life. Though it is often not a straight 1:1 application of Israel’s civil laws, we must attempt to apply the law to our own situation and culture. Boot argues that it is because our culture has retreated from its Biblical legal foundations that we have seen our cultural decline. The Bible is our only source of true justice. There is no justice to be found outside of the Word of the living God. Boot rightly points out that this problem stems from a faulty or truncated view of the gospel because

we see that at the root of the biblical truth of the gospel is a cosmic worldview relating law, justice, restitution and restoration, but when this view of reality falls out of society, restitution, justice and true judgement also begin to disappear from the social order. Where hell and judgement fall out of the church’s theology, just punishment falls out of the justice system. Where the law of God diminishes and the meaning of the cross is undermined, restitution, retribution and restoration, as the basis for criminal justice, start to vanish. This is empirically observable in our society today. Since the church is salt and light in the world, where the church fails to uphold these truths of the gospel, society will inexorably tend to lawlessness. In such a context, sin and crime will steadily flourish with growing impunity and a professional criminal class will develop. Cheap grace then has the social consequence of producing expensive law – a costly proliferation of scientific planners, therapists, correctional systems, positivist laws and various techniques to try to justify and save man by another means; not because he is a sinner (lawbreaker) whose punishment must fit the crime, but because he is sick or maladjusted to his environment, fixable by manipulation, therapy and technique. The enforcement of law then becomes a massive cost because restitution and retribution are not delivered by the courts and system of justice. Instead, a pharisaic and legalistic scientific plan of justification is offered by man’s ingenuity. Thus without the biblical gospel, people do not govern themselves in terms of God’s law but become lawless (298-299).

 

[Iconoclast]

In its views about culture and law, the church has largely lost its way. It is not just an argument the oft used clichés of ‘engaging the culture’ or the ‘culture wars’. It is the fact that there is no neutrality in any area of life. Everyone and every culture has a theology. The laws of the land reflect that theology. The church has largely forgotten its mission to be salt and light in our world. Part of the Great Commission, of course, was Christ’s instruction for the church to disciple the nations. In the vacuum of proper theology, and in many cases its surrender of the true gospel, our culture has turned to the antithesis; an ungodly Caesar and its proposed remedies. We can’t ignore the difficult questions about the how the bible applies to law, politics and culture. This book revive a biblical view of the law and justice hopefully begin to allow the church to deal with these difficult issues.

One question this brings up then is what does the bible say about just punishment? Aren’t there outdated laws in the Old Testament against adultery, rebellious sons, slavery and the like? Boot does the church a service by synthesizing older and modern day puritans and giving us an introduction in biblical penology. He doesn’t just leave the reader with broad principles, but attempts to give many practical examples of how biblical law and penology would play out in a modern society. He especially is helpful with some of these more difficult questions surrounding the death penalty which seem harsh to our modern-day sensibilities. This section is extremely helpful for those unfamiliar with the theonomic view of penology. It would take a too long to summarize these point by point so I will quote Dr. Boot’s summary of his view of biblical penology at length:

a) All human governments are ultimately held accountable to God, in terms of his law and standards, not their own arbitrary codes. However, biblical law cannot be imposed ‘top down’ by any authoritarian structure, but must be embraced by a society (the consent of the people) committed to Christ and his covenant law. Such a people will demand righteous laws.

b) Taking into account all of Scripture, biblical law upholds the death penalty as exemplary. It is either mandatory (in cases of murder), recommended, or potentially appropriate for a number of serious criminal offenses against the sanctity of the life, the family and marriage, as well as a flagrant and contemptuous assault on God and his social order by instigation and incitement to idolatry – constituting treason. All other offenses require monetary restitution, banishment or corporal punishment. Prison is not part of biblical law except for temporary custody whilst awaiting trial.

c) The death penalty is not mandatory in all capital cases, allowing for the considerable judicial flexibility, taking into account the aggravated nature of the offense, particular circumstances and various forms of restitution. It has also been modified by further revelation for certain offenses in the New Testament era (i.e. Sabbath violation).

d) The church does not bear the sword of the state, but must recognize (as St. Paul did) the validity of the death sentence and declare it spiritually by excommunicating unrepentant capital offenders from the life of the church. As modelled by the early church, in cultures which do not execute punishment against serious offenses against the law of God, repentant offenders can be restored to the fellowship of the body, but may be barred from the communion for a significant period of time.

e) A Christian culture, similar to those seen in historical precedents like Calvin’s Geneva, Zwingli’s Zurich, Bucer’s Strasburg, Reformed Scotland (John Knox), Puritan England (Oliver Cromwell), and colonial America (John Cotton), would uphold the death penalty as exemplary (the example of maximum sentence for violation) in capital offenses; bearing in mind that monetary restitution, corporal punishment and exile are also available to judges and magistrates in cases excepting ‘first degree’ murder.

f) Because of biblical laws of evidence being purposely rigid, securing convictions was, and would be, very challenging, and because of the serious character of penalties, judges and juries who had lingering doubts in a given case would commute the death sentence, as seen in Cromwell’s England with regard to laws against adultery.

g) Capital crimes would be extremely rare in a Christian culture because the law acts as a restraint upon wickedness and because the gospel transforms lives. Where certain sexual practices God deems worthy of the death penalty were indulged, the social censure would be such that those practices would be driven underground and neither celebrated nor endorsed by society, thereby eliminating their public influence (351-352).

 

[Iconoclast]

These points counter the usual criticisms of theonomic penology. Boot notes that biblical law can only be enforced upon a biblical and Christian society. This cannot be a ‘top down’ imposition of the state. It is also helpful in pointing out the separate spheres of sovereignty of the family, church, and state. The church does not bear the sword of the state. The Medieval church often made this mistake numerous times in its history. The death penalty is not the only thing available to judges and there would need to be overwhelming proof of a conviction; therefore the death penalty would be rare in a Christian society. Boot offers and encouraging conclusion to this topic that we will use for our closing:

whilst I do not claim in this chapter that the Puritan perspective is the only one that can call itself Christian, I am convinced it is the best, most culturally pertinent and the most biblical expression amongst the Christian perspectives on law and penology. A theonomic missiology thus argues that the weakness and decline of the modern church and its relative ineffectiveness is directly related to its abandonment of the law. This in turn has undermined justice in the courts, contributing to the growing collapse of our society. All is not lost however. Christ is still on his throne and ruling at his Father’s right hand. Faithfulness amongst God’s people now can bring great change for the future if we will take responsibility and put our hands to the plough for the sake of future generations (358).
Joseph Boot. The Mission of God: A Manifesto of Hope for Society. Ezra Press; 2nd ed. edition (2016).

 

[Iconoclast]

https://www.rebelalliancemedia.com/post/canaanites-in-the-land

We in North America live in an increasingly Canaanite culture. What do you think would happen if God were to directly appoint an evangelical Christian to become a head of state either in Canada or the United States? I would submit: not much. The morality of the law reflects the morality of the culture.
Our culture needs a revival, a turning to Jesus Christ as King, a writing of the Law upon our hearts, before the Law could be implemented full scale.

Upon our culture’s heart is written the law of Darwin, greed, Hollywood, immorality, and murder.
God’s enemies do not slack when it comes to evangelism and culture-making. In fact, as Voddie Baucham says, we give our sons and daughters to Jericho central school and are then surprised when they come out as Canaanites. There is much work to be done before Canaan can be called Israel.

You see, the church has largely retreated from speaking into culture, politics, economics, etc. Large portions of the church have truncated the Gospel to a “pie in the sky, say a prayer before I die” message.

In other words, Christianity is reduced to saying a prayer and then looking forward to a better life in heaven (hopefully sooner rather than later). This has resulted in a large portion of the church that has no idea how to handle these spheres of culture from a Biblical worldview. We do not have enough faithful Christians prepared to engage or hold any cultural space; the same space which we have been gradually handing over to the unbeliever. We have few Christians to speak into a Godless culture because they have either handed the culture over to them completely waiting for a rapture or have decided that everyone should have a voice at the table of (some sort of) common grace. We have developed excuses in order that we might keep God’s Law-Word within the confines of the church walls.

We don’t have many Christians willing to walk around a Jericho. Some would say that Jericho is hopelessly lost and is already “going to hell in a handbasket”.

What is the point of trying to redeem an ungodly city like that? Let’s just wait for the second coming of Jesus.


Others say the fact that Jericho exists is perfectly legitimate because they are in the “secular” sphere. They are in the “lower kingdom” and thus we are not to bring the Law of God to bear on pagans who just reject it anyways. “No,” they say, “we must meet them on “neutral” ground. We can all have a seat at the table because there is no particularly Christian way of creating culture.”

We need more Christians with a fully developed Biblical worldview. This is where the centrality of the Church comes in. Again, this is not purely a cultural pursuit where, for example, church leadership is making political decisions for the state. To put it frankly, with the state of the church today, a church-run state might not look much different than the statist governments we have now. But, if the church and its leadership does its kingdom work, it makes kingdom-makers.
The church needs to be making an army to take the land.

We need to be growing a generation that will herald Christ as King and telling the world who has actually inherited the earth (Matt. 5:5; Rom. 4:13). Hint: it’s not Satan. Of course, we do not fight flesh and blood in this New Covenant age (Eph. 6:12), but we fight against the powers and principalities waging war on the truth. We need to be always ready to give an answer for the hope that lies in us (1 Peter 3:15) so that we will gradually disciple the nations to follow Christ (Matt. 28:18-19). We believe that, though the situation looks grim at times – the land has giants, chariots, walled cities –, that God will keep his promise. The Postmillennialist believes that the Great Commission is great and that it will ultimately be accomplished by the Spirit and grace of God. The Postmillennialist doesn’t become pessimistic over current events in the newspaper because we have a long term, multi-generational view.

We understand that the Kingdom of God grows like a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32). The Kingdom infiltrates the earth like leaven in a loaf (Matt. 13:33). The Kingdom comes gradually, until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the water covers the sea (Isaiah 11:9). Jesus is enthroned as King in heaven and so God’s Kingdom is here and now; it is a tangible, physical manifestation of his Lordship. The church needs to equip Christians to understand Christ as Lord in every area of life.

 

[AustinC]

Iconoclast, can you sum it up in 10 sentences?

While the Puritans were noble in many ways, they also failed to denounce slavery. They had a tendency to fall into a Galatian trap where law became the means of maintaining their salvation. This would have been anathema to the Apostle Paul.
Finally, manifest destiny is a godless theory.

 

[Iconoclast]

Iconoclast, can you sum it up in 10 sentences?

While the Puritans were noble in many ways, they also failed to denounce slavery. They had a tendency to fall into a Galatian trap where law became the means of maintaining their salvation. This would have been anathema to the Apostle Paul.
Finally, manifest destiny is a godless theory.

The last paragraph of post 106 sums it up.
I put this up and intend to work through it.
As far as the Puritans, I am not as much worried about there short comings or re reading our values back into the time they lived.
Many who oppose the grace of God that they wrote about look for individual failings on their part in a vain attempt to discount truth they believed and wrote about.
That is a whole different thread.
I have come across a group of people that have a solution and I am trying to overhaul and improve my biblical worldview. We need to learn from and correct mistakes, then get back to it.

 

[AustinC]

The last paragraph of post 106 sums it up.
I put this up and intend to work through it.
As far as the Puritans, I am not as much worried about there short comings or re reading our values back into the time they lived.
Many who oppose the grace of God that they wrote about look for individual failings on their part in a vain attempt to discount truth they believed and wrote about.
That is a whole different thread.
I have come across a group of people that have a solution and I am trying to overhaul and improve my biblical worldview. We need to learn from and correct mistakes, then get back to it.

Thank you. I thoroughly agree with the last passage of post #106.

We understand that the Kingdom of God grows like a mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32). The Kingdom infiltrates the earth like leaven in a loaf (Matt. 13:33). The Kingdom comes gradually, until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth as the water covers the sea (Isaiah 11:9). Jesus is enthroned as King in heaven and so God’s Kingdom is here and now; it is a tangible, physical manifestation of his Lordship. The church needs to equip Christians to understand Christ as Lord in every area of life.

I am presently reading "The Bruised Reed" by Richard Stibbes. It lifts your spirit to the throne of God. Filled with grace, mercy and spiritual disciplines.

 

[JonC]

Boot notes that biblical law can only be enforced upon a biblical and Christian society. This cannot be a ‘top down’ imposition...

This is a good way of puting the difference between legalism and the results of faith.

No person can be compelled to obey God (it is not in our nature). But the results of faith is a recreation whereby outward obedience is, as Paul termed it, "Christ in us".

The Law is prescriptive, and we cannot meet that standard. But the Law of Christ is prescriptive and signifies a rebirth. We obey because we have been recreated in the image of Christ. God removed our old spirit, our "heart of stone" and replaced it by putting His Spirit in us.

 

[Iconoclast]

This is a good way of puting the difference between legalism and the results of faith.

No person can be compelled to obey God (it is not in our nature). But the results of faith is a recreation whereby outward obedience is, as Paul termed it, "Christ in us".

The Law is prescriptive, and we cannot meet that standard. But the Law of Christ is prescriptive and signifies a rebirth. We obey because we have been recreated in the image of Christ. God removed our old spirit, our "heart of stone" and replaced it by putting His Spirit in us.

I've only just recently heard of this man in this book and I ordered a copy in a couple of his other books to read up on him I read some things online about him in the ministry they do and the ideas that are being put forth. Now I'm hopeful of cautiously optimistic that this is an attempt to look to the past what people have tried whether it's Abraham kuyper and another lens or the puritans all the reformers and the mistakes they made and and try to circle back around and in through the word of God and make a fresh application towards the culture and the world in all the culture we live in and the world itself going forward so I'm optimistic about what I'm reading I part a couple lectures that are interesting . find them on YouTube but then they had their own a website that I saw it a try to download I don't know if I got it yet but out so I gotta be on guard because it's a new or not new like a novelty but new ideas that I have do what I always look a little critical at 1st look into fine holes at it before I move forward but right now I'm like in a lot of what I hear and see that being very careful though the very smart people but that does not necessarily ensure they're on the right track but it doesn't mean in not either so I'm gonna take a good look like I say I ordered those books they should be in in a week or 2

 

[Iconoclast]

Log in to Facebook | Facebook

 

[AustinC]

Log in to Facebook | Facebook

Why do you ask us to log in to facebook?

 

[Iconoclast]

Why do you ask us to log in to facebook?

I was trying a post a link to of article call canaanites among us

 

[Iconoclast]

https://www.rebelalliancemedia.com/post/canaanites-in-the-land
click on this link

[1] He goes on to give a useful example:

“a church obedient to Christ’s command to teach all of His commandments will, however, have a significant effect on political views of its members. One of the great deceptions of the modern world is the belief that the state can solve all social problems. Suppose a woman laboring under that deception is converted and joins a faithful church. She will begin to see the folly of her earlier opinion. She will learn that Christ alone is the Saviour of the world. She will learn of the effects of sin on political life. She will learn that statism is ultimately a form of idolatry. She will, in short, begin to develop a very different perspective on politics in general, and this will lead her to change her positions on specific issues as well. If she was a radical feminist, she will begin to see that the Bible teachers something very different about womanhood. If she was pro-abortion, she will learn that the Bible teaches that abortion is murder.”[2]
Far from being a top down pursuit, the postmillennial hope begins with the church and its mission to disciple. This will lead to more Christians who will strive to apply the Law of God in their lives, churches, homes, and increasingly in the cultural spheres to which they have influence. God could have just wiped the Canaanites off the face of the earth in a second if He had intended to. He chose, however, to drive them out “little by little” so that the Israelites were ready to properly defend and care for the land. The conquest was a long-term enterprise. It took hard work and God wanted them to not only be ready to destroy Canaanite culture, but to be ready to set up a Godly culture in its place. We are still living off the deep roots of Christian culture in the west, but these being rapidly dug up. The church needs to begin establishing new roots by sowing the seeds of a Godly culture by equipping its members with the sword of the Spirit; the Law of God. God will not drive the Canaanites out if there are no sowers.

The solution is, and always has been, the Great Commission. You see, the postmillennial hope is also based on covenant faithfulness. This passage tells us that there will be blessings for the people of Israel. But if you read closely, you will notice that these blessings are conditional; they are conditioned on their obedience to Yahweh. If they broke covenant with their husband, Yahweh, the gods they worshipped in his place “would be a snare for [them]”. We find this vividly described in the book of Judges especially. The Israelites whored after other gods and cultures and Yahweh sent judgement to them. This judgement took the form of evil and corrupt regimes (Amorites, Midianites, Philistines, Canaanites, etc.). These nations also brought their evil culture with them. God was giving the Israelites what they wanted. God was essentially saying to them: “you want Canaanite culture? You got it!”

The point for us in all this is: don’t be pessimistic! We should not be surprised that when we as a society disobey God, that He gives us an ungodly culture to lord over us. The West has broken covenant with God and is abandoning any semblance of God’s law and Christianity from its culture. This doesn’t mean that we are headed to an end of the world event, or that the anti-Christ is around the corner. It simply means that God is punishing our culture by giving us what we want. He is handing us over to be slaves to our appetites. If you look through biblical and church history you can find many instances of judgement on a nation or a culture. John Calvin once said that “if God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” Look around. Psalm 2:12 says to the kings of the earth: “kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” This should be our message to our culture: honour Christ or you will be judged by the King. We understand that Christ must reign until all his enemies be made his footstool (Psalm 110). But Psalm 2:12 goes on to say that “blessed are all those who take refuge in him”. Amidst all the crazy things happening in our culture today, we hold out the hope of the gospel. This is not simply a place in heaven one day. This is the blessing of the now-reigning King of kings.


[1] Leithart J., Peter. The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1993, 0

 

[JonC]

https://www.rebelalliancemedia.com/post/canaanites-in-the-land
click on this link

[1] He goes on to give a useful example:

“a church obedient to Christ’s command to teach all of His commandments will, however, have a significant effect on political views of its members. One of the great deceptions of the modern world is the belief that the state can solve all social problems. Suppose a woman laboring under that deception is converted and joins a faithful church. She will begin to see the folly of her earlier opinion. She will learn that Christ alone is the Saviour of the world. She will learn of the effects of sin on political life. She will learn that statism is ultimately a form of idolatry. She will, in short, begin to develop a very different perspective on politics in general, and this will lead her to change her positions on specific issues as well. If she was a radical feminist, she will begin to see that the Bible teachers something very different about womanhood. If she was pro-abortion, she will learn that the Bible teaches that abortion is murder.”[2]
Far from being a top down pursuit, the postmillennial hope begins with the church and its mission to disciple. This will lead to more Christians who will strive to apply the Law of God in their lives, churches, homes, and increasingly in the cultural spheres to which they have influence. God could have just wiped the Canaanites off the face of the earth in a second if He had intended to. He chose, however, to drive them out “little by little” so that the Israelites were ready to properly defend and care for the land. The conquest was a long-term enterprise. It took hard work and God wanted them to not only be ready to destroy Canaanite culture, but to be ready to set up a Godly culture in its place. We are still living off the deep roots of Christian culture in the west, but these being rapidly dug up. The church needs to begin establishing new roots by sowing the seeds of a Godly culture by equipping its members with the sword of the Spirit; the Law of God. God will not drive the Canaanites out if there are no sowers.

The solution is, and always has been, the Great Commission. You see, the postmillennial hope is also based on covenant faithfulness. This passage tells us that there will be blessings for the people of Israel. But if you read closely, you will notice that these blessings are conditional; they are conditioned on their obedience to Yahweh. If they broke covenant with their husband, Yahweh, the gods they worshipped in his place “would be a snare for [them]”. We find this vividly described in the book of Judges especially. The Israelites whored after other gods and cultures and Yahweh sent judgement to them. This judgement took the form of evil and corrupt regimes (Amorites, Midianites, Philistines, Canaanites, etc.). These nations also brought their evil culture with them. God was giving the Israelites what they wanted. God was essentially saying to them: “you want Canaanite culture? You got it!”

The point for us in all this is: don’t be pessimistic! We should not be surprised that when we as a society disobey God, that He gives us an ungodly culture to lord over us. The West has broken covenant with God and is abandoning any semblance of God’s law and Christianity from its culture. This doesn’t mean that we are headed to an end of the world event, or that the anti-Christ is around the corner. It simply means that God is punishing our culture by giving us what we want. He is handing us over to be slaves to our appetites. If you look through biblical and church history you can find many instances of judgement on a nation or a culture. John Calvin once said that “if God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” Look around. Psalm 2:12 says to the kings of the earth: “kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” This should be our message to our culture: honour Christ or you will be judged by the King. We understand that Christ must reign until all his enemies be made his footstool (Psalm 110). But Psalm 2:12 goes on to say that “blessed are all those who take refuge in him”. Amidst all the crazy things happening in our culture today, we hold out the hope of the gospel. This is not simply a place in heaven one day. This is the blessing of the now-reigning King of kings.


[1] Leithart J., Peter. The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1993, 0

Good article. The writer makes a good point about the way eschatology impacts our view of the present. His view was very popular prior to WW2, but lost ground as a more pessimistic theme took hold.

I cannot take a strong eschatological stance (that is my weakest area of theology...I do not have a solid position). But I bounce between his view of how Christians are to influence the world and the Early Church position.

I do not know which is correct BUT I appreciate that both have a strong understanding of the Church and the World (which is lacking in much of Christianity today).

 

[Iconoclast]

Good article. The writer makes a good point about the way eschatology impacts our view of the present. His view was very popular prior to WW2, but lost ground as a more pessimistic theme took hold.

I cannot take a strong eschatological stance (that is my weakest area of theology...I do not have a solid position). But I bounce between his view of how Christians are to influence the world and the Early Church position.

I do not know which is correct BUT I appreciate that both have a strong understanding of the Church and the World (which is lacking in much of Christianity today).

I am trying to reexamine what I hold on this and have ordered these books because of the reasons you speak of.What I have liked about the lectures I have heard so far is they go directly at what has been considered problem areas and comment on the verses themselves.
There has not been an avoidance of previous criticism.
It looks like they are offering direct solutions that are dependent on regeneration rather than speculation.
Just got back from Arizona to Ny.bounced out yesterday and am southbound toward Alabama so by Monday I should get to develop these ideas more from my laptop.

 

[AustinC]

https://www.rebelalliancemedia.com/post/canaanites-in-the-land
click on this link

[1] He goes on to give a useful example:

“a church obedient to Christ’s command to teach all of His commandments will, however, have a significant effect on political views of its members. One of the great deceptions of the modern world is the belief that the state can solve all social problems. Suppose a woman laboring under that deception is converted and joins a faithful church. She will begin to see the folly of her earlier opinion. She will learn that Christ alone is the Saviour of the world. She will learn of the effects of sin on political life. She will learn that statism is ultimately a form of idolatry. She will, in short, begin to develop a very different perspective on politics in general, and this will lead her to change her positions on specific issues as well. If she was a radical feminist, she will begin to see that the Bible teachers something very different about womanhood. If she was pro-abortion, she will learn that the Bible teaches that abortion is murder.”[2]
Far from being a top down pursuit, the postmillennial hope begins with the church and its mission to disciple. This will lead to more Christians who will strive to apply the Law of God in their lives, churches, homes, and increasingly in the cultural spheres to which they have influence. God could have just wiped the Canaanites off the face of the earth in a second if He had intended to. He chose, however, to drive them out “little by little” so that the Israelites were ready to properly defend and care for the land. The conquest was a long-term enterprise. It took hard work and God wanted them to not only be ready to destroy Canaanite culture, but to be ready to set up a Godly culture in its place. We are still living off the deep roots of Christian culture in the west, but these being rapidly dug up. The church needs to begin establishing new roots by sowing the seeds of a Godly culture by equipping its members with the sword of the Spirit; the Law of God. God will not drive the Canaanites out if there are no sowers.

The solution is, and always has been, the Great Commission. You see, the postmillennial hope is also based on covenant faithfulness. This passage tells us that there will be blessings for the people of Israel. But if you read closely, you will notice that these blessings are conditional; they are conditioned on their obedience to Yahweh. If they broke covenant with their husband, Yahweh, the gods they worshipped in his place “would be a snare for [them]”. We find this vividly described in the book of Judges especially. The Israelites whored after other gods and cultures and Yahweh sent judgement to them. This judgement took the form of evil and corrupt regimes (Amorites, Midianites, Philistines, Canaanites, etc.). These nations also brought their evil culture with them. God was giving the Israelites what they wanted. God was essentially saying to them: “you want Canaanite culture? You got it!”

The point for us in all this is: don’t be pessimistic! We should not be surprised that when we as a society disobey God, that He gives us an ungodly culture to lord over us. The West has broken covenant with God and is abandoning any semblance of God’s law and Christianity from its culture. This doesn’t mean that we are headed to an end of the world event, or that the anti-Christ is around the corner. It simply means that God is punishing our culture by giving us what we want. He is handing us over to be slaves to our appetites. If you look through biblical and church history you can find many instances of judgement on a nation or a culture. John Calvin once said that “if God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” Look around. Psalm 2:12 says to the kings of the earth: “kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” This should be our message to our culture: honour Christ or you will be judged by the King. We understand that Christ must reign until all his enemies be made his footstool (Psalm 110). But Psalm 2:12 goes on to say that “blessed are all those who take refuge in him”. Amidst all the crazy things happening in our culture today, we hold out the hope of the gospel. This is not simply a place in heaven one day. This is the blessing of the now-reigning King of kings.


[1] Leithart J., Peter. The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1993, 0

The west was never in covenant with God. The US never had a covenant with God.

The chosen and elect children of God, everywhere on earth, have a covenant with God, but no earthly nations have covenant with God.

 

[Iconoclast]

The west was never in covenant with God. The US never had a covenant with God.

The chosen and elect children of God, everywhere on earth, have a covenant with God, but no earthly nations have covenant with God.

Good thought that needs consideration

 

[Iconoclast]

Listen to lectures so far. First one dealt with distinctions necessary distinctions of Church and Kingdom the second one dealt with the topic of the Democracy as heresy