(By Nathan Williams)

I’m honestly not sure if there has been an event in my lifetime which has garnered as much reaction from the press and from Christians in particular as this election. Of course, the reactions have been all over the map. Some are completely indifferent, some are passionately excited, and some are discouraged and fearful of the prospects the outcome will have on the next four years.

I’ve been particularly discouraged by the amount of panic coming from Christians concerning the results of this race. To listen to some believers talk is to get the impression that events are spiraling out of control. One evangelical leader even wrote a letter predicting a dire set of circumstances by the year 2012 based on his view of unfavorable results of the election.

As I’ve been pondering the election and the implications of the outcome on life, I’ve been consistently challenged and encouraged as I’ve directed my thoughts toward Romans 8:28. It says:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

As we consider this verse there are 3 vital questions we must answer to help encourage our souls in uncertain times.

What is included in all things?

This may seem like a worthless question to ask since it is spelled out so clearly in the verse. But it is precisely because we do not ponder God’s work in “all things” that we slip into anxiety and fear. It’s easy to see God at work in the good times. We know that He is good and we like to direct our thoughts toward the times we have experienced His goodness first hand. The birth of a child, the promotion at work, and a beautiful sunset are all examples of finding God working the good things together for us.

Where we mightily struggle in believing and practicing these words is in the bad times and the bad times are exactly where this phrase “all things” finds its primary emphasis. Even though Romans 8 is a chapter of victory and spiritual life, it is filled with language of struggle and suffering. It is in the midst of this toil to overcome sin and the suffering which results from sin that we are challenged to lift our heads and see that God is working all things behind the scenes for our good.

What is meant by our good?

When God promises to work all things together for our good, He is not promising to do exactly what we would like Him to do in every situation. He is not guaranteeing that He will fulfill our selfish desires by reacting to our every whim. Instead, there are two main areas where God’s sovereign orchestration of the universe brings about our good and they are closely tied together.

First, in Romans 8:29 we find out that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His son. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are “…His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…” God is moving every event of history toward the goal of progressing you further in your sanctification.

Second, according to Romans 8:30, God has your ultimate glorification in mind. So the good spoken of here is both a current good and a future good. It’s a current good in the sense that everything which happens today is meant to grow you in holiness. It’s a future good because no matter what happens today, you will one day stand before the Lord glorified.

Who is this promise made to?

Not everyone is able to receive this promise which means that all things don’t work together for the good of everyone. Those who receive the promise are those who have been called according to God’s purpose and those who love God. This call speaks of the effectual call of God resulting in salvation, while loving God is delighting in Him and esteeming Him before anything else. We recognize that this love is not possible nor sustainable in sinful men apart from the effectual call of God. God’s call and love produce this love in men so that they may see His sovereign working of all things for their good.

So how do these truths help us as we elect a new President?

First, we must realize that God is completely sovereign over all events. Nothing happens apart from His plans and purposes. Most Christians acknowledge this truth in theory, but many will fail to act on it when the poll results come in late Tuesday night.

Second, the truth that God is working all things for our current good should support us and even bring us joy no matter what happens at the polls. God will choose the next President based on what will be the most beneficial for your sanctification over the next four years. If God allows the economy to get worse or better it is for your growth in holiness. No matter what policies will be instituted, God will use them to transform believers more into His likeness.

Finally, in all the talk about elections and new leadership, we must keep in mind our final destination. One day, according to Romans 8:30 we will stand before the Lord in our new bodies as glorified saints. If you are a believer, nothing that happens on earth can change that fact. Because this promise of God is certain, our joy, trust and confidence must be firmly placed in the Lord who made this promise, not in men who fail us so often.

With the nation focused on the November elections, we thought a post on politics might be appropriate. The point of this article is not that we should abstain from any participation in the political process, but rather that we must keep our priorities straight as Christians. After all, the gospel, not politics, is the only true solution to our nation’s moral crisis.

We can’t protect or expand the cause of Christ by human political and social activism, no matter how great or sincere the efforts. Ours is a spiritual battle waged against worldly ideologies and dogmas arrayed against God, and we achieve victory over them only with the weapon of Scripture. The apostle Paul writes: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

We must reject all that is ungodly and false and never compromise God’s standards of righteousness. We can do that in part by desiring the improvement of society’s moral standards and by approving of measures that would conform government more toward righteousness. We do grieve over the rampant indecency, vulgarity, lack of courtesy and respect for others, deceitfulness, self-indulgent materialism, and violence that is corroding society. But in our efforts to support what is good and wholesome, reject what is evil and corrupt, and make a profoundly positive impact on our culture, we must use God’s methods and maintain scriptural priorities.

God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into “Christian nations.” To devote all, or even most, of our time, energy, money, and strategy to putting a façade of morality on the world or over our governmental and political institutions is to badly misunderstand our roles as Christians in a spiritually lost world.

God has above all else called the church to bring sinful people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Even as the apostle Paul described his mission to unbelievers, so it is the primary task of all Christians to reach out to the lost “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Christ]” (Acts 26:18; cf. Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9).

If we do not evangelize the lost and make disciples of new converts, nothing else we do for people—no matter how beneficial it seems—is of any eternal consequence. Whether a person is an atheist or a theist, a criminal or a model citizen, sexually promiscuous and perverse or strictly moral and virtuous, a greedy materialist or a gracious philanthropist—if he does not have a saving relationship to Christ, he is going to hell. It makes no difference if an unsaved person is for or against abortion, a political liberal or a conservative, a prostitute or a police officer, he will spend eternity apart from God unless he repents and believes the gospel.

When the church takes a stance that emphasizes political activism and social moralizing, it always diverts energy and resources away from evangelization. Such an antagonistic position toward the established secular culture invariably leads believers to feel hostile not only to unsaved government leaders with whom they disagree, but also antagonistic toward the unsaved residents of that culture—neighbors and fellow citizens they ought to love, pray for, and share the gospel with. To me it is unthinkable that we become enemies of the very people we seek to win to Christ, our potential brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Author John Seel pens words that apply in principle to Christians everywhere and summarize well the believer’s perspective on political involvement:

A politicized faith not only blurs our priorities, but weakens our loyalties. Our primary citizenship is not on earth but in heaven. … Though few evangelicals would deny this truth in theory, the language of our spiritual citizenship frequently gets wrapped in the red, white and blue. Rather than acting as resident aliens of a heavenly kingdom, too often we sound [and act] like resident apologists for a Christian America. … Unless we reject the false reliance on the illusion of Christian America, evangelicalism will continue to distort the gospel and thwart a genuine biblical identity…..

American evangelicalism is now covered by layers and layers of historically shaped attitudes that obscure our original biblical core. (The Evangelical Pulpit [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993], 106-7)

By means of faithful preaching and godly living, believers are to be the conscience of whatever nation they reside in. You can confront the culture not with the political and social activism of man’s wisdom, but with the spiritual power of God’s Word. Using temporal methods to promote legislative and judicial change, and resorting to external efforts of lobbying and intimidation to achieve some sort of “Christian morality” in society is not our calling—and has no eternal value. Only the gospel rescues sinners from sin, death, and hell.

(By Charles Spurgeon)

In particular, we must keep ourselves unspotted from the lepers of the world. There is a certain number of leprous men in the world. You can tell them by their conversation; and sometimes you cannot help going very near where they are; but if you hear them cry, “Unclean!” just give them a very wide berth.   . . . We are to keep ourselves from all spots of the world when we have to mingle with it. Notice, there are spots which come from your circumstances.   . . . 

[Among these circumstances] are politics; you know what party politics are. We are all trying to [usher] in another set of maggots to eat the cheese; that is about all it amounts to; first turn out one lot, and then turn in another. It comes to little more than that. Even in the pursuit of really good matters of policy, do you know any Christian man who goes into politics who is the better for it? If I find such a man, I will have him stuffed if I can, for I have never seen such a specimen yet. I will not say, do not attend to politics; but I do say, do not let them spot you.

Online Source

(By John MacArthur)

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (1 Tim. 6:17)

A very real danger facing American Christians is the temptation to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches. To base their hope on the uncertainty of riches, instead of God, is foolish. Proverbs 11:28 warns that “he who trusts in his riches will fall.” Proverbs 23:4–5 adds, “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”

Rather than trusting in riches, believers are to fix their hope on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. God provides far more security than any earthly investment. Psalm 50:10–12 describes His incalculable wealth: “Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all it contains.” God is not stingy; He richly supplies His children with all things to enjoy. Ecclesiastes 5:18–20 reads,

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

The highest form of joy for the believer is to bring glory to the Lord. True gladness, then, comes when believers give heed to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19–21:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Later, in that same passage, Jesus gives the command three times not to be anxious (vv. 25, 31, 34). When we trust in God rather than riches, we have no reason to worry.

Today’s post adapted from John’s commentary on 1 Timothy (Moody, 1995).

(By Nathan Wiliams)

Last time we looked at the first responsibility a Christian has to his government, submission. This time we’ll take a look at another duty believers have to the state — paying taxes.

Reports tell us that more people every year are not paying their taxes. A couple of months ago I interacted with several Christians on a blog over the issue of Christians and taxation. Their responses and anger over paying taxes to what they considered an “unjust” government shocked me. They felt Christians aren’t responsible to pay taxes to our government because the tax rate is (in their opinion) unfairly high. I strongly disagree with those sentiments and believe Scripture teaches the payment of taxes to be a biblical injunction.

We’ll find in Romans 13:6-7 that we are commanded to pay taxes for conscience sake because we live under divinely ordained authority. These verses remind us that rulers are servants of God. In verse 7 Paul uses the word render. We’ll see this word used again in a minute when we discuss what Jesus had to say about taxes. This word doesn’t mean to give as a gift. When we pay taxes we are not taking some of our money and giving it to our government against our wishes. Paul uses the word render because he wants us to understand this money belongs to the government, and we are simply rendering it back to them. Paul commands believers to “Pay to all what is owed to them.” We are stealing money from the God-ordained institution of government when we refuse to pay taxes.

Matthew 22:15-22 also addresses the issue of paying taxes. This is probably the most well known passage dealing with the Christian’s relationship with government. This story, found in these eight verses begins a section where the religious leaders ask Jesus a number of questions trying to catch him in his words.

Before they ask the question, these men, sent by the Pharisees, flatter Jesus in four different ways. They tell him He is a teacher, He is truthful, He defers to no one, and He is not partial to any person. They are trying to set Him up and boost His pride as they get ready to ask their question. They believe Jesus will give them an honest answer regardless of who He will offend. Their question sounds impossible to answer. Why? Well many of the Jewish people believed, based on Deuteronomy 17:15, it was wrong to pay taxes to ungodly leaders.

The Jews despised Roman authority and hated paying taxes to support a Roman government. If Jesus said it was lawful to pay taxes, he would be angering the Jewish people with whom He was so incredibly popular. If He said it was not lawful to pay taxes and the people should not be required to pay, he would be speaking out directly against the Roman government, which would get Him in trouble with them. It was a classic catch-22.

Christ confronted the sinfulness of their hearts in verse 18. Then He demanded to see one of the coins used to pay the tax. This denarius was equal to about a day’s wage. After confirming that Caesar’s inscription was pictured on the coin, our Lord taught that some things must be rendered to Caesar and some to God. Again, the word render is used here. This word gives us the picture of giving someone what is due to them. If I borrow $10 from a friend for lunch, then I owe him that money. When I place the money in his hand, I have not done him a favor. I have simply rendered to him what was due to him.

Christ reminded his hearers that we have obligations to the state as well as to God. Obviously, when these two obligations conflict, we obey God rather than men. However, part of obedience to God is obedience to the state through the payment of taxes, even when the government we are under is corrupt. We are still responsible to pay the government what we owe, because that is exactly what God has told us to do.

When we do so, we are not only being good citizens of earth … we are being good citizens of heaven.

Yesterday, we looked at a couple of reasons why we have government in our lives. Those reasons included (1) the fact that God ordained that the state exist and (2) that the state is given to us to restrain evil and promote good. In this article, I’d like to look at one of the responsibilities the Christian has toward government.

Perhaps the most important and certainly the most extensive text dealing with the Christian perspective on government is Romans 13:1-7. As we seek to understand the implications of this text in our daily lives, we must understand these verses in their proper context.

The first verse of chapter 13 takes us back to the first two verses of chapter 12. We find out that it is our responsibility to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. We are not to be conformed to this world, but are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can live out God’s will in our daily lives.

These are among the most beloved verses in all the Bible for many Christians. They lay out our duty so clearly and challenge us to give everything to God in order to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. These verses set the stage for a series of commands given in chapter 12. Verse 3 tells us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Verse 6 instructs us to exercise our gifts for the good of those around us. Verse 9 says to let love be without hypocrisy. Verse 16 says to be of the same mind toward one another. Verse 21 says to not be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. For some reason we tend to stop there, but in the original documents there was no chapter break between 12 and 13. We should continue right into chapter 13. This chapter begins by telling us that we all must be in subjection to the governing authorities.

In other words, to fulfill the command in chapter 12:1 to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, you must obey the command in chapter 13:1. The way in which you relate to your government is extremely significant in terms of your relationship to God. To put this another way, your personal sanctification includes how you submit to your government.

We have a specific command here to submit ourselves to our governing authorities and this is the first major responsibility a Christian has toward his government. Submission means much more than grudgingly obeying civil laws. This is the same word that is used in Ephesians 5:21 where we are commanded to submit to one another. Submission means literally to subject oneself, to obey; to submit to one’s control; to yield to one’s admonition or advice. We are to arrange ourselves under the leadership of the state in our lives in an attitude of submission and respect with the purpose of obedience for the glory of God.

Several other passages also make this requirement of Christians very clear. First Peter 2:13-17, for example, tells us basically the same thing.

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Next week we’ll discuss two more important responsibilities the Christian has toward government.

With the Democratic National Convention being held last week, and the Republican National Convention being held this week, our country will turn attention increasingly to the issue of politics and government. Without a doubt the election that will be held in November will be one of the most important elections we have had in some time. With the addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, we will now have a history making election no matter who wins. The issues being debated are extremely important to our nation including the war in Iraq, abortion, gay marriage, the economy, and so on.

As our country becomes more and more enamored with the political process this fall, I’d like to turn our attention as Christians to specifically what the Bible has to say concerning government. We must think biblically about the state and about our responsibility to the state. Scripture gives very specific teaching regarding the role of government and how a Christian should respond to government. Today, I’d like to discuss the reason for the existence of government.

Primarily, we have government because God has ordained that government exist. Romans 13:1 tells us to submit to government, and then it gives us the reason we must submit. We must submit because those placed in government over us have been placed there by God. No one becomes the governor of California or President of the United States unless God ordains it. Throughout all of history, God has selected those who will rule. For example, in Isaiah 45:1,5-6 God makes it very clear that He is the one who has raised Cyrus into political power.

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed . . . I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Consequently, the one who disobeys government disobeys the direct command of God, and because he has directly disobeyed God’s command, he will suffer judgment. This judgment may come from the hand of the government itself, or it may come from the hand of God through other means.

The point is that the major reason we have government is because God has ordained that we have it. Government is not an accident. Government is not an evil and terrible thing, despite what many will tell you today. God has instituted the family, the church, and the state. We spend much of our time thinking about the church and the family, and rightly so. From time to time we need to stop and ponder our relationship to the third institution that God has ordained, government.

The second reason that we have government is that the state is ordained to restrain evil doers and promote those who do good.

John Calvin says that governments are useful “…that the public tranquility may not be disturbed; that every person may enjoy his property without molestation; that men may transact their business together without fraud or injustice; that integrity and modesty may be cultivated among them…”

In other words, as Christians we must not consider the organized state as a bad thing. Calvin uses the adjective “useful” to describe his perspective on the state and I think its a helpful description of the proper Christian attitude.

Generally throughout history, though not without exceptions, governments have restrained people from evil and protected those who have done good. It is noteworthy that even though Paul suffered at the hand of his government multiple times for his faith, he still recognized the need for government and the place of government in restraining evil. Interestingly enough, John Macarthur notes in his commentary on Romans that the United States is one of the freest places to live in the world, with the least government intrusion, but we also suffer from one of the highest crime rates in the civilized world. One in every 100 Americans is in jail right now. The point is that government involvement often lowers the rate of violent crime and biblically this is exactly the purpose of the state. In Romans 13:4 it says government has authority from God to inflict punishment, even to the point of inflicting the death penalty.

Government is also placed over us to promote our good. It is certainly not wrong for Christians to expect protection and benefits from government. We live in a fallen world. People are sinful . . . and even Christians are sinful. God, in His kindness has given us the state as a means of restraining evil and promoting good.

(By John MacArthur)

Can Christians Participate in Civil Disobedience?

We believe the Scripture teaches that we are to submit to government even if that government does not function entirely (or even primarily) by biblical principles (Romans 13:1-7). That principle is explicit in Peter’s message to servants (1 Peter 2:18-19), which directly follows his more general comments regarding government (vv. 13-17). And that epistle teaches the same thing over and over again in varied ways: Submit even if you suffer, because in doing so you identify with Christ and are blessed (cf. 2:21-24; 3:1-2; 4:12-14; 5:9-10). There are times when we must obey God rather than men, but we believe that we should disobey the authorities only if they command us to do something directly against God’s law (e.g. Acts 5:29 and its surrounding context).

That is a fine distinction, but it is precisely where the issue lies. If we say that Christians are only required to obey their government when it is functioning by scriptural principles, we then nullify the teaching of Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 in just about any age of history–especially the time during which those passages were written! The Roman government was as corrupt and godless as any in history, and yet Paul and Peter told Christians to “live in subjection,” “submit to every ordinance,” and “honor the king.”

So we believe that civil disobedience is justified only when government compels us to sin, or when there is no legal recourse for fighting injustice. The reason we draw the line there is simply because all the scriptural examples of civil disobedience fall squarely into those two situations. Any other kind of activism has no precedent in the Word of God and violates the spirit of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.

(By Nathan Busenitz)

It’s Independence Day. And there is perhaps no better day than today to remember the words of 1 Timothy 2:1–2:

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

This would not only apply to our Republican President, but also to our Democratically-controlled congress, our judicial system, our state representatives, and even our local mayors, supervisors, and councilmembers.

Instead of listening to political talk radio today, getting angry at this politician or that policymaker, why not spend those same moments praying for the government officials that God has placed over us? If Paul could pray for his leaders (including guys like Nero), we certainly have no excuse for neglecting to pray for ours.

This concludes our mini-series on Christians and a right perspective on politics.

THE REAL BATTLE

We can’t protect or expand the cause of Christ by human political and social activism, no matter how great or sincere the efforts. Ours is a spiritual battle waged against worldly ideologies and dogmas arrayed against God, and we achieve victory over them only with the weapon of Scripture. The apostle Paul writes: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

We must reject all that is ungodly and false and never compromise God’s standards of righteousness. We can do that in part by desiring the improvement of society’s moral standards and by approving of measures that would conform government more toward righteousness. We do grieve over the rampant indecency, vulgarity, lack of courtesy and respect for others, deceitfulness, self-indulgent materialism, and violence that is corroding society. But in our efforts to support what is good and wholesome, reject what is evil and corrupt, and make a profoundly positive impact on our culture, we must use God’s methods and maintain scriptural priorities.

God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into “Christian nations.” To devote all, or even most, of our time, energy, money, and strategy to putting a façade of morality on the world or over our governmental and political institutions is to badly misunderstand our roles as Christians in a spiritually lost world.

God has above all else called the church to bring sinful people to salvation through Jesus Christ. Even as the apostle Paul described his mission to unbelievers, so it is the primary task of all Christians to reach out to the lost “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Christ]” (Acts 26:18; cf. Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). If we do not evangelize the lost and make disciples of new converts, nothing else we do for people—no matter how beneficial it seems—is of any eternal consequence. Whether a person is an atheist or a theist, a criminal or a model citizen, sexually promiscuous and perverse or strictly moral and virtuous, a greedy materialist or a gracious philanthropist—if he does not have a saving relationship to Christ, he is going to hell. It makes no difference if an unsaved person is for or against abortion, a political liberal or a conservative, a prostitute or a police officer, he will spend eternity apart from God unless he repents and believes the gospel.

When the church takes a stance that emphasizes political activism and social moralizing, it always diverts energy and resources away from evangelization. Such an antagonistic position toward the established secular culture invariably leads believers to feel hostile not only to unsaved government leaders with whom they disagree, but also antagonistic toward the unsaved residents of that culture—neighbors and fellow citizens they ought to love, pray for, and share the gospel with. To me it is unthinkable that we become enemies of the very people we seek to win to Christ, our potential brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Author John Seel pens words that apply in principle to Christians everywhere and summarize well the believer’s perspective on political involvement:

A politicized faith not only blurs our priorities, but weakens our loyalties. Our primary citizenship is not on earth but in heaven. … Though few evangelicals would deny this truth in theory, the language of our spiritual citizenship frequently gets wrapped in the red, white and blue. Rather than acting as resident aliens of a heavenly kingdom, too often we sound [and act] like resident apologists for a Christian America. … Unless we reject the false reliance on the illusion of Christian America, evangelicalism will continue to distort the gospel and thwart a genuine biblical identity…..

American evangelicalism is now covered by layers and layers of historically shaped attitudes that obscure our original biblical core. (The Evangelical Pulpit [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993], 106-7)

By means of faithful preaching and godly living, believers are to be the conscience of whatever nation they reside in. You can confront the culture not with the political and social activism of man’s wisdom, but with the spiritual power of God’s Word. Using temporal methods to promote legislative and judicial change, and resorting to external efforts of lobbying and intimidation to achieve some sort of “Christian morality” in society is not our calling—and has no eternal value. Only the gospel rescues sinners from sin, death, and hell.