Biblical Romans Worldview Lie
Mark 3:25 says, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Let us pray for the church in America, that it would not be divided, that it would stand strong for God and resolute on the Word.
History:
-Romans 13 is labeled to submit to governing authorities, but never take one chapter out of the Bible to follow because it can be misrepresented. God has an overarching plotline of redemption of all mankind. The church was never meant to bow to the evil of the world which encompasses government.
-it is used as a weapon against churches and as a reason why churches avoid politics as they want to stay in their comfort zone spreading the love of Jesus, but He will be seated at the right hand of God judging so He is a God of justice as well. He never shied away from confronting political offices.
-separation of church and state has become a secular belief so remove God from all government entities, but that is a lie.
-Truth is opposite, Jefferson wrote to the Baptist churches that the separation of church and state was to reassure the churches that the government would have no authority over them-freedom of religion is above any government authority because God is of ALL Authority.
-Citizens submit to the government when their authority is aligned with God-once they reject God’s morals and commandments then it is the citizens and churches that should be speaking God’s words in the public square.
-Our founding fathers gave us an amazing gift: We the people, are the rulers and all authority in a constitutional republic-mayors, governors, legislature, senators should submit to us as We the People
-Separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. We the People are the sovereign in the constitution.
-The letter from Jefferson to Baptist convention-intent to keep state out of the church-subject to mandates should never have happened
-What is really being said by the government is Christians you stay quiet because you outnumber us.
-Romans 13 speaks to authority but added for our good, but when they cease to do good they cease to be the authority
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7).
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43: 18-19).
Proverbs 29:18 “If a nation is not guided by God the people will lose self-control, but the nation that obeys God’s law will be happy.”
***Worldview shapes the policies that our children grow up with so churches need to stand in the gap against evil politics
Rob McCoy’s words of wisdom:
-If you just preach the gospel that just targets winning souls in one breath and then in the other say that I don’t do politics then you are missing a key point: If you want to win souls then make sure your government can’t tell you that you can’t
-If you just stand watching the state come into the church to remove freedom of religion then your followers will become followers of the government with no need for the God of our churches.
- Pastors are peace loving, but the misconception is that peace is the absence of conflict. Christ was in the midst of all conflict. We are to submit to authority as Romans 13 lays out, but not unlimited submission to tyranny. There is a difference.
A little more History:
-The War of Independence started because tyranny took authority over the people who are ruled by God.
-Politicians are actors who follow a script written by the audience, obedience to tyranny or obedience to God who gave sovereignty to the people.
Ex. The president needs council just as a king needs counselors seen in the Bible
-Our founders in their wisdom gave the people a counselor in the 1st amendment = Freedom of press, freedom on the pulpit, freedom of speech, and peaceable assembly to address our grievances. Press is to report the truth, the pulpits are to proclaim it, people are to live it out.
-Only moral people can govern a Constitutional Republic because it is a bottom up form of government.
-Corruption and tyranny overtakes a country when the press is bought, pulpits are silent, people are rudderless, and greed and power overrun the government and the voice of the people are no longer welcomed or followed so it is a top down form of government. Ex. covid restrictions, mandates, vaccines, green energy
-God intrinsically put on our hearts a desire for liberty, we stood on their defense—love our neighbor
-1st amendment was not to allow the government to prohibit We the People. The first 16 words prohibited congress to make no law against the establishment of religion. It prohibited the government to come between God and His people.
-The eloquence of declaration of independence-preamble-We the people of the United States in order to perform a more perfect union-3 branches of government should compliment each not gain up on We the People in some form of socialism, Marxism, or tyranny
***Instead of kinds who wield absolute power for entire lifetimes, America was established as a nation governed by the people. The government’s ability to wrest power from the people was reined in by an ingenious system of checks and balances. But what is often missed by pundits today was the expectation of our founding fathers, all of whom held great reverence for God and Scripture, that leaders possess a moral compass, and the virtue, justice, and righteousness were essential for government not to trample on the God=given rights of people. And who chooses those leaders? We the people….through our vote
Don't be fooled:
-Biblical citizenship is understood historically with absolute accuracy in the Bible.
-Biblical understanding of the history points to the history of our nation
-Jesus said to always remember when he spoke during the longest running meal in history called the Festival of Thin Bread recognizing the Passover. We take communion to remember that his body was broken for us and that his blood was shed to cover our sins.
-Many times God comes for his people to release them from slavery into freedom, so to become slaves to government control is not biblical.
-Critical to remember who you are through a historical lens. We learn where we are going when we look where we have been.
-Elections represent what happens when people stand up for what they believe in and go to the polls (fight against the tyranny of rigged elections-hold our elected officials accountable)
-American: believe in our way of life, constitution, Judeo-Christian values, and believe in personal responsibility you gotta get out there and vote-support people who represent your values-at every level-school board to white house, get engaged and fully involved.
-Christian: is it okay to worry about current events-they should do something about school boards, moral and biblical commandment to actually attest in the public square.
What to do:
-Fight for the next generation-count the cost-nothing more valuable than the freedom for the next generation
-Hold the Church accountable to secure and to defend the lowly
-Church is the refuge so fight to keep it a sanctuary city on the hill
-uphold these Biblical values as society’s bedrock
-Respect for marriage act: destroy traditional marriage-voters need to remember who is responsible for making these rules and laws
-Gender: society must simply conform to a boy claiming to be a girl and girl claiming to be a boy
-Christians cannot ignore or accept secular godless understanding with grace and love
“We the People”
-We pray, vote, and stand on the integrity of the Bible
-We engage in cultural conversations
-Obey God’s call to seek to elect people who glorify God
-We affect Washington when we influence those folks around us
-Don’t sit by and watch our culture collapse
-Inform others-be light-be salt
“God has a passion for what’s happening in government because government affect people, and he cares about people”
-Book of 1 Peter-Christians seeking to stand for Chirse in an anti-Christian culture
1 Peter 2:12
-Influence the culture rather than complain about the culture
-God can use anyone for His purposes if they are willing to shine His light in a dark world
Ex. Story of when Billy Graham turned off the lights in the darkness and lit a single candle.
“Once a single little hand-held candle penetrated the darkness. And I could see it from where I was. And I’ll never forget his point was that the darker things are, the more even a little light will make a difference.” Huckabee
-wrong: "Politics is dirty; we don’t want to get involved in that”
-right: Mission work is dirty in God-forsaken cultures. Get dirty
-Confront a godless culture with the godly word. Engage
“Someone’s values are going to prevail. I don’t want it to be people who worship the government. I want people who worship and believe in an Almighty Creator God who gave us standards to live by” Huckabee
Examples:
-Respect for Marriage Act: Redefines marriage on the Federal level-Renamed Defense of Marriage Act (favors LGBTQ priorities)
-Equality Act: Affects all churches which includes sexual orientation and gender identity as part of civil rights law, so requires public facilities to be open to people based on gender identity rather than biological sex.
*** Prohibits use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a defense against prosecution
Avoiding the world of politics:
“If we step back and say we’ll let somebody else deal with that , we’re going to increasingly see a culture that his hostile to faith, that is poisonous to our children, and we will lose our freedom,” Perkins
Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Romans 2:13 says, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
Proverbs 18:15 says, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”