The Civil Square Archives - Page 13 of 14

Conservative and Progressive

Joe Harby on May 20, 2012

Introduction

This is Ascension Sunday, which means that we are going to be reminded of the absolute authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in every realm. Because we are currently in a political season, and we are in this season in a time that is politically swollen, we need to come to the Scriptures as the only foundation upon which we may build our political identities. This is the task, and it is harder than it looks.

The Texts

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12; cf. Matt. 22:40).

Summary of the Texts

Because of Christ’s great obedience, even to the point of death on a cross, God has highly exalted Him. He has a name above every name (Phil. 2:9). The point of having such an exalted name is that every knee should bow (in obedience), and this includes creatures in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (v. 10). It certainly does not exempt anyone. The universal confession follows—every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord. Again, the lordship of Christ entails obedience. As a result of this, God the Father is glorified. We do not oppose love for Christ and obedience to Christ, as though piety and law were at odds. If we love Jesus, then we will do what He says (John 14:15). But it is not enough to affirm the need for this in the abstract. What does He say? In His Sermon on the Mount, He gives us His authoritative summary of the entire Old Testament. Do unto others (Matt. 7:12). In another place, He says that love for God and neighbor sum up the whole Old Testament as well (Matt. 22:40). If we look at this carefully, we see that the Golden Rule is another way of expressing the duties of love. Jesus said that He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but rather to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). This is how.

Definitions: Conservative and Progressive

Remember that no virtue can be found in a transitive verb. Everything hinges on the direct object. Did you know that loving (agape loving) was a great sin (1 John 2:15)? Did you know that we are called to a life of hatred (Prov. 8:13)? Stop loving and start hating. That’s what the Bible says . . . Everything hinges on what you love and what you hate, and why. Right? The same thing is true of the verbs related to our common political terms conservative and progressive.

What are you conserving? Joseph Smith’s polygamist directives in the mountains of Utah? The old prerogatives of the Politburo? The work of the Holy Spirit in human culture over the last two thousand years? What? And what are you progressing toward? The Marxist vision of the final state? An Islamic vision of sharia law? Isaiah’s vision of the feast on the mountain (Is. 25:6)? What? You have to decide where you are going before exulting in the fact that you are making really good time.

Where We Are Right Now

This means that as Christians we should want to conserve those elements of our culture that are the goods of common grace, or which developed as a result of the progress of the gospel in the world. That is what we are conservative about. Knowing what these are requires the pursuit of wisdom, and all that entails. As Christians, we should want to progress toward the scriptural vision of the good life, every man under his own fig tree—not somebody else’s fig tree that you bought at auction because his property taxes were in arrears. We progress toward the time when human society is shaped by the fact that every knee is bent, and every tongue has confessed who Jesus actually is. What we conserve, and what we progress toward, are both defined, entirely and completely by the Bible.

But what would “they” call it? You are on national television, and are given a chance to spell out what you would keep and what you would work for. When you are done, what do they call you? How do they define you? An ultramontane fundamentalist theocratic conservative redneck tinfoil-hatter would be at the kind end of their descriptions. There is no way they would call you any kind of their kind of progressive. So how do we self- identify?

Cashing This Out

The apostle Paul calls us to not be babies in our understanding. He says we are to be like little children when it comes to malice, but that we should be mature and adult in our understanding of the world (1 Cor. 14:20). So then . . . we are not allowed to rubber stamp whatever political program appeals to us with the name of Jesus. We must do what we do politically in His name, and that which we do must be entirely in line with what He says.

But don’t be a child. Would you like to get free money from the government? Then why not vote for free money from the government for everybody else? The brief answer is that it isn’t free. Do unto others, but complete the sentence. If I would like to get free money, then I should support the giving of free money to others. But I emphatically would not want to get money that was stolen in order to give it to me. Why don’t I want that? Because I am a Christian. Therefore I may not support it in other cases. What many point to as an application of the Golden Rule in politics is actually the most egregious violation of it. We are disobeying Jesus in the name of Jesus.

Limited Government, Great Glory

In Scripture, there is an inverse relationship between the amount of coercion a government uses and the glory that government has.

“The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain” (2 Sam. 23:3-4).

Romans 52: Governmental Tax Cheats (13:6-7)

Joe Harby on April 25, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

When considering the subject of our duty to pay taxes, the Bible seems plain enough. But a lot rides on where you place the emphasis—where do the italics go? Governments exist by covenant, and governments like ours explicitly claim to exist by covenant. The word federal comes from the Latin word foedus, which means covenant. But covenants have terms and stipulations. They have conditions, just as our text before us has conditions.

The Text

“For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour” (Rom. 13:6-7).

Summary of the Text

The payment of taxes is linked to the reason that went before—“for this cause.” Your conscience is bound to pay taxes to the extent that the magistrate is serving as God’s deacon or minister in the execution of His wrath (v. 4). This is the foremost reason given for paying tribute, because they are functioning as God’s deacons. Paul mentions this for the third time, only this time His ministers are His liturgoi (v. 6), the word from which we get liturgy.

Remember that liturgies are prescribed. Free form interpretive dance is not “a liturgy,” even if you are waving a copy of the Constitution. We pay tribute because the magistrate is “attending continually” to this very task (v. 6). Render your obligations, therefore (v. 7). Render tribute, render custom, render fear, and render honor (v. 7).

What We Are Told to Render

We are told twice to render tribute (vv. 6-7). The word is only used elsewhere in Luke. Jesus is asked if it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not (Luke 20:22). He answers in the affirmative, but with a striking exclusion. Later, He is accused of teaching that it was unlawful to pay tribute to Caesar (Luke 23:2). We are told to render custom (telos) to whom custom is due. The other place where this word is used in in Matt. 17:24-27, where Jesus interestingly pays a tax that He says is not owed. The last two obligations to render are not monetary. We are told to render fear to whom fear is due, and honor to whom honor is due. Remember that Paul is writing this when Nero is emperor—and even in his relatively good five years of rule, he was no believer.

Naboth’s Vineyard and Land Reform

We need to get the theology of this thing straight first. If governments can steal, as we see with Ahab and Naboth, then they can obviously do so through the tax code. Tax codes can be passed illegally and unjustly. Legislators can be bribed to get them to vote for it. The agents charged with enforcement can throw aside all biblical rules of evidence, and so on. If this can in fact happen, and it clearly can, then there can be circumstances in which a tax dispute between the government and the citizenry is a dispute which exists because the government is cheating on taxes.

In other words, we should not assume that whenever the government says that money is owed, and blood-donating turnip says that it isn’t, that it is the turnip who is cheating. In short, it is quite possible that the biggest tax cheat in America today is the federal government. If you say it is not even possible, then you are missing a basic biblical truth about government, and have forgotten the nature of man. If it is possible, then it becomes important to determine where the line is—because that is the line where conscience leaves off and practical considerations alone make the determination.

There is taxation which is not theft (see our text), and there is taxation which is. Where is the line? In this text, Paul firmly anchors the lawful payment of taxes to the lawful functions of government.

How Then Should We File?

When the government is recognizably fulfilling the functions that God has assigned to it, paying taxes for Christians is a moral obligation before God. We should pay our taxes dutifully, and with gratitude toward God, and we should do so “for conscience sake” (v. 5).

When it starts to become evident that the “powers that be” have corrupted the process, then another round of decisions have to be made—and the criteria here would be pragmatic and tactical. But when this starts to become clear, we should not approach it in an autonomous way—“every man to his tents, oh, Israel!” Remember Calvin’s doctrine of the lesser magistrates.

Basic Applications

The old Chinese curse is “may you live in interesting times.” Well, we do, and here we are.
· You bear God’s image and Christ’s name. That cannot be rendered to Caesar lawfully.
· Scripture teaches the appropriate boundaries of government and appropriate responses when they are transgressed. If you don’t know what that teaching is, then set yourself to learn.
· You are citizens, not subjects. Christian history matters.
· You are members of a corporate body. Learning how lawful resistance functions is a question of social theology. Individual cussedness should never be confused with godly individuality. Obedience is rendered to God by ones, but it should be obedience rendered to God and His people, and not to your own opinions.
· Worship God, you and your family, in Spirit and in truth every Lord’s Day. This is the source of all true reformations.

Romans 51: An Armed Deacon of God

Joe Harby on April 18, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

We are taking care to work through this passage of Scripture deliberately and slowly, and there are at least two reasons for this. First, the issues involved are complex and important, and are more complex and important in our day than they usually are. Second, the misunderstandings that surround this portion of Scripture are legion. We have to be very careful here.

The Text

“For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake” (Rom. 13:4-5).

Summary of the Text

Contextually, we are talking about civil rule, civil power. Paul has called the magistrate the “powers that be.” The word here is the word for authority. All authorities whatever are from God (v. 1), and so it follows that civil authorities are from God (v. 1). The word is authority in vv. 1-2, and in verse 3, Paul calls those we are dealing with here “rulers.” What kind of rulers we are talking about becomes plain here in vv. 4-5, given their tools and what they do with them. For he (the ruler) is a minister of God, a deacon of God, and his assigned task is to do the Christian good (v. 4). If a person is an evildoer, then he should be worried and afraid, because the ruler does not bear the sword in vain (v. 4). He is again called the deacon of God, and his job is to execute vengeance and wrath upon evildoers (v. 4). The Christian needs to be obedient to the law, not just because he is afraid of this wrath (v. 5), but also because he is being obedient to God—that is, for conscience sake (v. 5).

A Task and Tool

God has given these rulers two things—a task and a tool. The assigned task is to administer avenging justice to those who do evil, and the tool for this task is the sword, an instrument of lethal violence. The word for sword here is machaira, and it was an instrument of warfare. It was not used for spanking bad boys with the flat of it. This was a double-edged sword, usually about 18 inches long, and commonly used by Roman soldiers. Peter used one to cut off an ear (Matt. 26:47); James the brother of John was executed with one (Acts 12:2); however sharp, it is incapable of separating us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35); it provides us with a figure for the Word of God (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). It was not a toy, and God gave it to His civil deacons to kill bad people with. However much our pacifist brothers might sweat over this passage, it says what it says, and it is not in the Old Testament.

Vengeance Is Still the Lord’s

Remember that this book is written just a few years before a rebellion breaks out against the Romans. The Jews, who would erupt in rebellion, were under a prophetic statement as old as Moses that they would lose this battle, and that God would humiliate them through a people of strange language because vengeance for all their idolatries belonged to Him. The Christians were being instructed here that under no circumstances were they to join this revolt. If God is coming after a people with vengeance in His eye, don’t you jump in between.

From this circumstance, we can and should render general by induction. After all the Romans and all the Jewish rebels were dead and gone, there were still evildoers in the world who needed to be restrained generally, and they need to be restrained by force. One of the uses of the law is to give guidance to the magistrate as he considers what to do (1 Tim. 1:9-11). All we are doing here is distinguishing the first century application from our own (necessary) applications—to muggers, terrorists, rapists, and so on. We won’t need the sword anymore when we don’t have crime anymore.

What It Means to Be a Deacon

So the state is God’s deacon (Rom. 13:4), and God never leaves His deacons without instructions. A deacon is, by definition, under authority. We should measure his appropriations and expenditures over against what he was told to do. When servants use the master’s resources for tasks unassigned by him (Luke 12:46-47), what is the result? When the Lord comes back to evaluate His deacons in the Congress, what will He do? He will not be indiscriminate; the punishments will fit the crimes. Some He will cut in sunder, and others will simply be beaten with many stripes. This will not happen because our rulers are not His deacons; rather, it will happen because they are. By definition, the armed deacons in this passage of Romans are under authority. Their authority does not originate with them, as much as they would like it to. Whose authority are they under? God’s. We obey them because God tells us to (for conscience sake), and not simply because we fear their punishments for wrongdoing. And if they are levying punishments for righteousness, we are not to fear them at all—and conscience is still operative.

A Hermeneutic of Fun

The apostle Paul tells the believers of his day that he advises against marriage because of the “present distress” (1 Cor. 7:26). He also is telling believers here in our text to stand back and let the Romans do to Jerusalem what they are going to do to it (Rom. 12:19; 13:). And yet, many believers have abstracted his principle here in the latter instance, and applied it to every situation throughout all time, which they haven’t done to the first passage—which was just as contextually situated. And why is this? We grasp the importance of limiting context in 1 Corinthians because it is fun to get the girl. A lot more fun, say, than standing up to tyrants is.

Romans 50: Civil Obedience in Context (13:1-3)

Joe Harby on March 21, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

As we begin the task of unpacking this crucial part of Romans, always remember the context. In the latter part of chapter 12, we saw that Paul was arguing from Dt. 32 that Moses had predicted that God would be avenged upon the Jews, and that He would use a nation that has no understanding to do it (Dt. 32:21, 35). That nation was to be the Roman nation, and this is how Paul knew that the believers of the first century were to be in Jeremiah’s position, and not Hezekiah’s. On top of that, the Lord Himself had prophesied that Jerusalem would be flattened within one generation (Matt. 24: 34). Jesus had said this around 30 A.D., and Paul is writing almost 30 years later (57 A.D.). So the clock was ticking. The Jews erupted in open revolt in 66 A.D.—just 9 years after Romans was written. So Paul’s writing on this subject was not an academic exercise.

The Text

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same” (Rom 13:1-3).

Summary of the Text

Every soul is to be obedient to the higher powers (v. 1). There is no authority except what God has established (v. 1), and this includes the emperor Nero, who was emperor at that time, despite his unbelief and paganism. Paul is arguing that the Roman control of Jerusalem was God-ordained, and that those who tried to recruit Christians to join with the Jews in resisting Rome from the “holy city” were actually recruiting them to damnation and judgment (v. 2). Paul then gives his rationale for this, which is that rulers are a terror to evil works, not to good works. If you don’t want to live in fear of those in power, then earn their praise by doing what is good (v. 3).

Even More Context

In this setting, it would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of historical context. Nero had become emperor in 54 A.D. and the first five years were known as his golden years. So when Paul wrote these words, he was not living in some utopian fantasy land—the rule really was decent. Nero was at that time advised by a man named Burrus and the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca. That golden period ended in 59, when Nero had his mother murdered, an act that appalled pretty much everybody.

Further, this man Seneca had published a book On Clemency in 55 A.D. Interestingly, a commentary on this book was the first book that John Calvin ever had published. And if you compare Romans 13:1-7 and De Clementia 1:1-4, the chances will appear outstanding that Paul was acquainted with Seneca’s work, and was laboring to have the Christians do their part. How necessary this was can be seen in the subsequent events. (Incidentally, Seneca was the brother of Gallio in Acts 18:17.)

Later, when the Jewish revolt broke out, it initially looked like it had good chance of success. In the middle of the war, in 68 A.D. there was a coup against Nero, and he was forced to commit suicide. He was replaced by a rapid succession of emperors, each of whom reigned for a matter of mere months. There was to be no real consolidated rule in Rome (in the city where the recipients of this letter were living, remember). As you know, the Temple in Jerusalem was finally burned in 70 A.D. but this was preceded by the burning of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill in Rome in 69 A.D. (it is not surprising that 69 became known as the year of the four emperors—Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian). Vespasian appears to have been the one adult in the lot—and he had to leave the siege of Jerusalem to save Rome, leaving his son Titus to finish up the conquest of the Jews.

So the time between Paul’s letter and these events in 68, was the same length of time from 1999 to the present—not a long time at all.

Conditioned Obedience

The reason Paul gives for obeying the existing authorities was that rulers punish evil deeds, and reward good ones. When he wrote this, it was true. But everything was about to come unstuck. So consider this —to take just one example from these years—what would it mean to subject yourself to the higher powers when Vitellius was (temporarily) ruling in Rome, and Vespasian was marching on Rome with his legions? And further, let us say that Vitellius had already distinguished himself as a debauched thug, driving the city into economic chaos by means of triumphal parades and three orgiastic banquets a day, and then trying to solve the economic problems by executing anybody who had declared him to be their heir. What about then? If there is a riot in the streets, and somebody clambers up on the courthouse steps with a megaphone, and shouts to everybody that he is the king, do you have to obey him because of Rom. 13:1? What about the second guy who shouts that? So just ten minutes of such conditions should show why Paul was as urgent in his exhortation here as he was. In this fallen world, sinful anarchy is far, far worse than a sinful stability.

The Measure of Faith

And so this goes back to a foundational principle that Paul set down in the previous chapter—no one should think they are more important than they are (12:3). As the drama unfolds, who are you in that drama? Are you Vitellius or Vespasian? Seneca or Paul? John Knox used the apt illustration of a father who lost his mind and tried to commit mayhem against his family. If a couple of his sons sit on him until the madness passes, are they dutiful sons or rebellious sons? If they are one, might someone else say they were being the other? Certainly. And so what is our duty? We must be steeped in the Scriptures, and must not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. How? According to the measure of faith.

Romans 49: 21 Principles a Christian Citizen Must Know (13:1)

Joe Harby on March 14, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

Because the teaching of the apostle Paul on civil authority is widely misunderstood and misrepresented, we are going to take our time going through this section. And because the instructions here are to Christian citizens and subjects, we are going to begin with a scriptural introduction to this entire subject. And because of who is addressed here, it is important to remember something that Abraham Kuyper once said: “In any successful attack on freedom the state can only be an accomplice. The chief culprit is the citizen who forgets his duty, wastes away his strength in the sleep of sin and sensual pleasure, and so loses the power of his own initiative.” We are going to therefore consider 21 principles on civil government that the Christian must understand.

The Text

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:1).

21 Principles:

1: Civil government and rule is a blessing from God, and not a necessary evil. “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain” (2 Sam. 23:3-4). We are not anarchists.

2: God establishes a righteous throne with majesty. “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12). “And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel” (1 Chron. 25:29; Dan. 4:36).

3: The law of God is the soul of a good ruler. “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens” (Ex. 18:21).

4: God requires true humility of His rulers. “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel” (Dt. 17:20).

5: Our basic demeanor toward civil rulers should be one of honor. “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king” (1 Pet. 2:17). What the kings of the earth bring into the New Jerusalem is not a sham or a pretense (Rev. 21:24).

6: Tyrants love moral corruption, and hate virtuous men. As Chesterton once put it, free love is the first and most obvious bribe to offer a slave. Tyrants therefore love public entertainments and private vices because they love an enervated people. “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication” (Rev. 2:14). Porn is therefore politics, and reveals your true political allegiances.

7: Absolute perfection in our rulers is not the point. “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). David had forfeited his throne, as Saul had, and he knew it. But God in His mercy allowed David to remain as the king. And it is said of a number of kings that they were good, like Asa, but that they did not remove the high places (1 Kings 15:14).

8: Tyranny is a judgment from God for the sins of the people. “And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take . . .” (1 Sam. 8:11). But remember that the God who sends tyrants to chastise us may also send a deliverer to save us

9: Every manner of civil government is under the authority of God. God rules in His own name, and princes rule by derivation. Civil rulers are the lieutenants of God. Here in Romans 13, the word for deacons is used of them several times (Rom. 13:4). The ruler is therefore a appointed, delegated, and deputized servant.

10: Civil disobedience is required when matters of worship and the gospel are concerned. “But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Dan. 3:18). “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

11: Civil disobedience is lawful in other areas as well. David honored Saul (1 Sam. 24:5), but did not turn himself in (1 Sam. 24:22). Neither did Peter turn himself in (Acts 12:11), or Paul for that matter (2 Cor. 11:32-33). Examples could be multiplied.

12: Civil government is covenantal, and has a double covenantal nature. It involves God, the magistrate, and the people (2 Chron. 23: 16).

13: No human authority, civil magistrates included, can be absolute. God alone has absolute authority; man’s authority is always limited and bounded. This is what Nebuchadnezzar confessed—when his sanity returned (Dan. 4:35).

14: Not everything that is legal is lawful (Rev. 13:17).

15: Faithful believers will often be accused of lawlessness and treason. Ahab was the troubler of Israel, and so that is what he accused Elijah of being (1 Kings 18:17). But the cause of the trouble is the problem; the solution is not the problem (2 Chron. 23:13).

16: The Bible teaches the principle of the “consent of the governed.” Rehoboam was elected to be king (1 Kings 12:1), and he was no anomaly.

17: The lot of the people and the character of their rulers is linked together. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Prov. 29:2).

18: Resistance of tyranny is not the same thing as resistance of the established civil order. Jehoida defended the throne by removing someone from it (2 Chron. 23:11).

19: Lesser magistrates obeyed Jehoida, and they were right to do so (2 Chron. 23:1-3).

20. We must care what company our rulers keep. Panders, whores, flatterers and “other mushrooms of the court” are to be despised. “Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness” (Prov. 25:5).

21: And last, Christian history matters. Included in our definition of “the powers that be” (Rom. 13:1) must be things like: the Constitution, the will of the people, the lesser magistrates, and the balances of powers.