“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:10, 33)
Is it possible to promote the Constitutional Republic and the Kingdom of God at the same time? Many Christians would answer in the affirmative. Following are three reasons proffered by those who believe this is possible:
- Because the Constitutional Republic was based upon Biblical principles, to promote the Republic is to promote the kingdom.
- Because the kingdom of God is not yet in existence under the New Covenant and won’t be until Christ returns, secular government exists to restrain men in their criminal activities.
- Because the kingdom of God is not of this world, we can’t expect governments that are of this world to implement and enforce God’s moral laws.
Perhaps it would be prudent to take another look at each of these points.
Does Promoting the Republic Promote the Kingdom?
The notion that the Bible and the Constitution are Biblically compatible has been parroted so many times that most Christians don’t give it a second thought. Consequently, they have never taken the time to examine the Constitution by the Bible. I have examined the Constitution by the Bible and have found that it’s anything but Biblically compatible.
There is only one standard by which everything (including the Constitution) must be ethically evaluated: Yahweh’s1 immutable morality as reflected in His commandments, statutes, and judgments. When the Constitution is actually examined by this standard, hardly an Article or Amendment—even in their original intent—is compatible with Yahweh’s1 sovereignty and morality. For the evidence for this claim, see Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective, which examines every Article and Amendment by the Bible.2
It is an inescapable fact of government that all law systems are intolerant of laws inconsonant with their own:
Every law-system must maintain its existence by hostility to every other law-system and to alien religious foundations or else it commits suicide.3
America’s Constitutional Republic is, in fact, a competing kingdom, as are all governments established on man-made legislation. To promote the Republic where it conflicts with Yahweh’s morality is an act of sedition against the King of kings.4
Is the Kingdom Defunct?
If the kingdom is not yet in existence, then Jesus, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and the Prophet Daniel lied, and so did the God who inspired them.
Perhaps the most potent proof that the kingdom of God has already been established under the New Covenant is that the Apostles were told that some of them would live to see the kingdom reinstated:
And he [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples], Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. (Mark 9:1)
In Acts 1:6, the Apostles anticipated the renewed kingdom in their lifetime. In Acts 2, it was indeed reinstated with power on the day of Pentecost. The renowned 18th-century commentator Matthew Henry agreed:
…the kingdom of Christ began … immediately after his ascension, and will continue in the doing till the mystery of God be finished.5
Following the events in Acts 2, the first-century Christians proclaimed Jesus to be a reigning King and themselves citizens of His kingdom—not sometime yet future or merely in heaven, but then and there:
But the Jews which believed not … set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason … crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. (Acts 17:5-7)
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins…. (Colossians 1:12-14)
As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12)
I John, who also am your brother, and companion [fellow partaker, NASB] … in the kingdom…. (Revelation 1:9)
Redemption through Jesus’ blood results in deliverance from the power of darkness. Because we are delivered from the power of darkness into the kingdom, the Colossians’ passage demands that if the kingdom is not in existence now, then redemption and forgiveness of sins are not yet valid. If the kingdom is yet future, no one has been delivered from the power of darkness, nor partaken of the inheritance of the saints. In short, no one has yet become a Christian.
In Acts 17:7, the disciples were described as already serving Jesus as their King here on earth, according to His laws. Rome’s persecution, imprisonment, and murder of Christians demonstrates that the Romans understood the kingdom the Christians preached and lived was an extant rival kingdom. Had Christianity been merely a religion, Rome would not have concerned itself with Christianity anymore than it did with the other religions in its realm. Christendom’s King, His kingdom, and His laws posed a threat to the Roman Republic, just as Daniel prophesied.
And in the days of these [the Roman] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44)
The kingdom is presently under the rule of non-Christians (Matthew 11:12, 23:1, 13), not because it has yet to be established, but because Christians have bought into the lie that the kingdom doesn’t exist on earth at this time.6 Christians have consequently abdicated leadership of society. The church has become governmentally and culturally impotent because Christians have been convinced that everything outside the four walls of their church buildings is off-limits.7
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Christians are described as ambassadors for Christ. The word “ambassador” is a kingdom-related term. Among other things, ambassadors are responsible for expanding their King’s kingdom. With these premises in mind, let me leave you with two questions:
1) Are we to be ambassadors of the kingdom only in heaven?
2) Does Yahweh have any need of ambassadors in heaven?
The answer to these rhetorical questions should be self evident.
See Part 2.
Related posts:
Republic or Kingdom: Which Are YOU Promoting? Pt. 2
10 Reasons the Kingdom Here on Earth Isn’t Mission Impossible
Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective
Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant
1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators.In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”
2. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective
3. Rousas John Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973) pp. 5-6.
4. This is not to say that while living in the Republic, we shouldn’t seek a peaceful coexistence where ever possible (Jeremiah 29:4-7, Romans 12:8).
5. Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible: Genesis to Malachi, 3 vols. (Brattleboro: Brattleboro’ Typographic Company, 1837 [orig. publ. 1708-1710]) vol. 3, p. 60.
6. Nothing occurs outside Yahweh’s sovereign plan. Because everything is ultimately under His control, everything goes wrong just right. See Daniel 4:17, etc.
So, how do you explain all this to a person in college, on spring break in Florida, that can not ID Florida on a map? I think that was the Jay Leno one where 75% of the people failed.
My mother use to teach a college based GED course for displaced factory workers, her room looked right out on the ocean. A room of adults could not find the Atlantic ocean on a map and then could not name the ocean (Atlantic) they were looking at right outside their window.
When watching Watters World, I know that is the base reality of America today, not, the exception where people idol worship a music performer, but, do not even know Obama is the president of America.
When Satan tried to tempt Jesus
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Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
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it becomes clear to me the kingdoms are governments controlled by Satan, otherwise he could not give them.
The real question is are we one of Satan’s kingdoms?
If you think we are, how do you explain that to a person that can’t ID Florida or the Atlantic Ocean on a map, and who does not know who is the president and vice president of the USA.
In the FWIW category, I plan on contacting the more “religious” of our
“leaders” and see if I can get them to publicly acknowledge their oath
alone, by placing their hand on the Bible goes against Jesus, before
they get to the “all enemies” part.
So, ALL of us, at some point before repentance, promoted a lie. After seeing the truth, and repenting via the power of The Holy Spirit, we are now to promote a Elohim ONLY ‘Kingdom’, on earth, or be involved in sedition. I’m damn glad my Heavenly Father is much more merciful than you make Him out to be. I’m pursuing a “Non-Citizen National” US Passport for the sake of separation from DC and ALL its franchises (STATE OF’s, COUNTY OF’s, CITY OF’s, etc). That may be the best I can do with the level of info purveying the populace.
Gregory, you might want to carefully re-read the following statement: “To
promote the Republic WHERE IT CONFLICTS with Yahweh’s morality is an
act of sedition against the King of kings.”
Otherwise, we should be governed by “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)
Haven’t you already proven that the Republic (Constitution) is in complete conflict with scripture?
Does the Constitution remain today America’s national idol?
Idols die hard? In Acts 19, the Ephesians cried out for two solid hours “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Americans have been crying out for 226 years “Great is the Constitution of the Americans!”
This one’s not going away anytime soon, especially with so few willing to isolate, expose, and address it. I think, for the sake of yours and my posterity, I’ll keep hacking away at it, if you don’t mind.
Again, Ted, I appreciate you challenging my thinking. What makes us citizens of the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven? Can we hold citizenship in either, and citizenship in this country (foreign, and un godly as it may be)? Does the King of The Kingdom want us to renounce our citizenship in this country wherein we were born? Is it a waste of time to try to save this country by returning to the constitution?
Paul used his Roman citizenship to his advantage. More important than any formal renunciation is that we stand against anything that contradicts with the requirements and responsibilities associated with our citizenship in the Kingdom of God.
Yes, it is a waste of time to try to save this country by returning to the very document responsible for putting America on the precipice of moral depravity and destruction, in the first place.
The fact that there is hardly an Article or Amendment that’s not antithetical, if not seditious, to Yahweh’s sovereignty and morality (http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/blvc-index.html) aside, the framers’ sins of omission alone are responsible for where America finds herself today:
“…3. Every problem America faces today can be traced back to the fact
that the framers failed to expressly establish a government upon
Yahweh’s immutable morality as codified in His commandments, statutes,
and judgments. (Would infanticide and sodomy be tolerated, let alone
financed by the government, if Yahweh’s perfect law and altogether
righteous judgments were the law of the land? Would Islam be a looming
threat to our peace and security if the First Amendment had been
replaced with the First Commandment? Would Americans be in nearly as
much debt if usury had been outlawed as a form of theft? Would crime be
as rampant if “cruel and unusual punishment” had not been outlawed and
criminals were instead punished with Yahweh’s altogether righteous
judgments? Would we be on the fiscal cliff if we were taxed with a flat
increase tax rather than a graduated income tax?)….”
For more, see “5 Reasons the Constitution is Our Cutting-Edge Issue” at http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/.
Of course you make much sense! Though I’m not sure what you mean by a flat increase tax, I agree with John Adams, who said that this constitution or government was for a moral and religious people. It is equally strange that the “church” by accepting homosexuality, abortion and interest collecting is equally guilty of sedition from God’s immutable Laws. I suppose that every problem we now face can be traced back to people, whether in government or in the ‘church’, who disagree with God’s definitions of right.
President John Adams wrote that: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
This is an accurate quotation. However, it’s often employed by Christians as if Adams was referring to Christianity and Yahweh’s morality as codified in His commandments, statutes, and judgments. This is untrue. Adams emphasized that the same “moral liberty resides in Hindoos and Mohametans, as well as in Christians” (John Adams, Letter no. 13 to John Taylor (1814), in “Works of John Adams,” 6:474.)
He once asked, “Where is to be found theology more orthodox or phylosophy [sic] more profound than in the introduction to the [Hindu] Shast[r]a?” (John Adams,
December 25, 1813, letter to Jefferson, in “Adams-Jefferson Letters,” 2:412.)
According to Adams, “religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and all free government, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society.” (August 28, 1811, letter to Benjamin Rush, in “Works of John Adams,” 9:636.)
Any nation’s constitution and government benefits from moral Christian citizens, even those nations whose constitution are not based upon Yahweh’s morality as found in His perfect law and altogether righteous judgments (Psalm 19:7-9) – such as the United States of America. However, when such constitutions are not based upon Yahweh’s law, it is inevitable that such nations will become more and more immoral and corrupt, being they do not have a Biblical standard to fall back
upon. Case in point, the United States of America today.
agreed.
Great post, Ted! I am reminded of the following…
Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock (God’s Law – the Word of Christ). 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (the Constitution – man’s law). 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Amen Norm! And it’s for that reason and Matthew 12:25 that the Constitution Republic was doomed from its inception. Now, this generation of Christians need to get busy preparing the Biblical foundations so that a future generation of our posterity can build upon its ruins.
Blessings brother!
GO Ted!
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