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Dominion: A Kingdom of Priests

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His Father and His God – to whom be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6)

For they do not speak peace. But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. (Psalm 35:20)

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to the God the Father. (Colossians 3:17)

Introduction

America has held its election. So now what? The tendency among many of us is to think that once the results of the election is in, we can now set back, rest on our laurels, and hope for the best. Unfortunately such thinking is the by-product derived from the belief system that government exists to do something for us. Now let the ones elected do their thing. Such a mindset has shaped this country with the rise of progressivism, particularly since the Great Depression and FDR. Today the State machine is chocked full of unelected bureaucrats that devise rules and regulations that inundate our lives. What should our response be going forward now that the American people have responded somewhat strongly to the last four years of progressivism?

A Judaeo-Christian Perspective

Writing from the perspective of a Judaeo-Christian worldview, I would like to challenge Christians to counter this tendency. Government, whatever that is, does not exist to do things for us. That is especially true for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, the Christ. As the verse from Revelation (1:5-6) that forms the heading for this blog tells us, Jesus has redeemed us, not only for salvation, but also to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father. This means above all, that we are to exercise dominion over our culture. Unfortunately, the church has taken a position of passivity regarding its dominion mandate. There are various reasons for this, which can form the subject matter for other articles. [e.g. see Church & State.] But what exactly does it mean to exercise dominion?

The Dominion Mandate

Dominion is synonymous with government, absolute authority, and sovereignty, but within the confines of self-government. While passivity might characterize many Christians in respect to their view of politics and the State, another misunderstanding of sovereignty leads some Christians to believe that all laws should reign at the national level reflecting Biblical law. Theonomy is a loaded term that can unfortunately lead to misunderstanding Christians’ view of government. First, whether one believes it or not, God is sovereign, and He does rule the nations. (Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth.) The time will come when His sovereignty will be fully realized, here on earth and throughout eternity. As Christians, how are we called to live in the meantime? We need to navigate the channel between passivity that has led to our institutions being handed over to the culture at large, and the notion that we are to establish a heaven on earth via State power. We should most definitely be active in political matters. The culture at large is fine with Christian passivity, telling many Christians that they for sure should do their thing and stay out of politics. (There is a difference between theocracy and theonomy.) When Christians voice their political views, many in the culture will cry separation of church and state, which is a gross misunderstanding of the separation clause as written in the Constitution. Note the scream of Christian Nationalism today from those who caricature Christians who are politically engaged. On the other hand, some Christians hold a view of dominion that seeks to seize power of the State in the form of some coercion. The latter is a minority compared to those Christians who want to remain aloof from politics. But one would not realize that fact listening to the verbal attacks on the church from the progressive crowd.

We Are a Kingdom

As Revelation 1:5-6 tells us, those whom God has called to be in Christ have been made to be a kingdom through His atoning work. We are a kingdom of priests. We are to exercise dominion over the earth. Rather than seizing State power, kingdom work is to be carried out by believers through the body of Christ, the church. What we should demand of the State is our constitutional rights to do just that – to worship as we believe, to impact our culture through what we believe and how we live, and to be the salt and light that will draw people to the church. Such of way of living out our beliefs, however, is far from being passive regarding our political contexts. For example, we should stand and fight for those Christian business men and women who have been sued, taken to court, and fined for seeking to operate their business lives in alignment with their Christian beliefs. We should seek an end to abortion in a manner that saves the lives of the unborn while also aligning with the Constitution. We should have the freedom to live out our beliefs in the commonwealth so as to impact our culture for our beliefs. We should take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Dominion means living out our Christian beliefs in every area of life – work, education, family, etc. as Colossians 3:17 calls us to do. The church is to be a beacon of light for the culture. The light draws people to itself by what it is, the light. As the body of Christ, the church, we should be living out what we believe in every area of our lives. Then we will be exercising dominion, and only then will we draw people to the Light that makes up the church. Dominion is not a passive idea, nor is it a call to seize political power by coercive force. I think many Christians understand the latter, but too many Christians embrace a passivity toward political matters.

Progressivism Is not Passive

Living quite in the land is not a bad thing. Neither is it a passive preoccupation. As we have witnessed over the past four years, and with other administrations as well, progressives in politics are anything but passive. In recent years we have witnessed a rise of political clout targeting Christian engagement in the political realm. Again, think of florists and bakers who have lost or who have come close to losing their businesses because they sought to align their business operations and services with their Christian values. Note the imprisonment of peaceful protestors who have made their beliefs known at abortion clinics. Witness the onslaught of the nonsensical caricature of so-called Christian Nationalism. Mark the aggressive nature of the public education establishment toward private education (specifically Christian private schools) and parents who homeschool their children. Some states mandate that homeschoolers should be forced to use curricula designed for public schools, the very thing from which parents want their children separated. Private Christian colleges should take a page out of Hillsdale College’s playbook and refuse government subsidy for education. Parents who homeschool or send their children to private schools (Christian and secular) should demand an end to having to pay school taxes that uphold institutions from which parents desire to remove their children. Progressive politicians are not passive. Nor should the body of Christ acquiesce to State mandates regarding their children’s education. Living quiet in the land is not subservience to those who seek to determine what values families should hold or how they live, raise, and educate their children. Progressives talk the game but they don’t walk what they talk. They speak peace – equity, equality, love, justice – but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. Those who hold different values from the progressives are targeted as oppressors. It is they that want to determine what values people should hold. We as Christians should not play their game.

Conclusion

America has held its election. The question now becomes what will we do going forward. Will we continue to look to the State for an answer to all our dilemmas? As Christians I hope we choose to self-govern and exercise dominion in the culture, not by the coercive power of the State, but by the way we live reflecting the power of Christ that dwells in us. For the moment, progressivism and its agendas has been cancelled. Don’t think for one minute that progressives will go passive. The body of Christ needs to demonstrate that while we want to live quiet in the land, we will not acquiesce in passivity. We will exercise dominion in its true Biblical meaning. Elections come and go. Impacting the culture by the way we live in Christ in a long-term endeavor. Our passivity has handed over our institutions to a culture that is at best antagonistic toward God’s precepts, and at worst actually despises God’s law, actively setting the power of the State against anything that demonstrates that people want to engage their culture through God’s commandments.

God commanded a mandate to exercise dominion. Such a mandate is not a passive activity, politically or otherwise.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./November 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS OF POWER/DOMINION MANDATE

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Self-Government

Introduction

We live in a political age. As such, people look to politics and politicians to solve all the problems we face in life. It should come as no surprise that due to the results of that mindset the State has grown in power over the decades, in a country that once touted freedom as its primary virtue. The State presents itself as the savior of the people. Hence, the State must take on an authoritarian role whereby it can allow no disagreement or dissent. Note the crack down on free speech, now deigned as hate speech, especially when it counters political correctness or political policies that those in power want to press forward.

I have mentioned on this blog the notion of Christian Reconstruction. The idea of Christian Reconstruction has been caricatured in many ways, one way in particular that it represents coerciveness on the part of Christians to establish a theocracy on earth. Christian Reconstruction is not about violent revolution or some form of coercive take over of the government. Indeed, it does not look to any form of government at all to solve people’s problems, other than a government that allows people the freedom to live their faith out in day-to-day life. Regeneration rather than revolution is the aim of Christian Reconstruction. Within the framework of Christian Reconstruction, as Christians we are called to self-government. What does that mean exactly? And how is that carried out in day-to-day life?

What Is Government?

As stated, we live in a political age, and people look to politics and politicians to solve all their struggles and problems. This mindset emerges from equating government with one form of rule, civil government. From the viewpoint of Christian Reconstruction, however, government can mean several things. First, government primarily means self-government, which the blog article will explore. The second sphere of government entails the family, a sphere of government that Scripture strongly emphasizes. Third, the church is a sphere of government, and fourth, the school is a sphere of government. Fifth, our vocation is a sphere of government. And sixth, our various activities in private organizations, family and personal networks, and community relationships form another sphere of what can be called government.

What Is Self-Government?

Like it or not, we are entering an election year, which means we will be inundated with political ads from every media source conceivable. Candidates will be appealing to us for our votes, telling us why it’s imperative that we should vote for them. Many, if not most, candidates will tell us if elected what they will do for us. I don’t mean to sound cynical. Candidates should run for whatever office they believe they can best serve, and they have the right to get their message out. But note the primary emphasis of their message: I will cut your taxes; I will raise taxes on the rich; I will end this or that war; I will win this or that war; I will fix education; I will cure environmental ailments, etc. We hear this ploy because we listen to it. People have come to believe that they must look to those in power who will secure the good life for them. Again, we live in a political age, one in which people look to those in power for happiness, security, and wealth. We no longer believe that we should govern our own lives.

The theologian, R. J. Rushdoony, (1916-2001) proffered the notion of self-government. Whether one agrees or not with his position on theonomy, I believe that his position on self-government is Biblical, and therefore wise. There are probably several pathways to ridding the overreach of government into our lives. Note the growth these days of the nullification movement, Convention of States (COS), tax reform, foreign policy debates, fiscal and monetary policy reforms that call on politicians to truly work at balancing the budget, etc. Rushdoony poses a straightforward question: This is the heart of the issue: is authority derived from man, from history, from the state, or from tradition, or is it derived from God? For the Christian, there is only one ultimate answer to that question. Rushdoony does not deny the rightful place of government. He does deny its overreach into every nook and cranny of our lives. For the believer in Christ, self-government is not a radical individualist and anarchist approach. Under a constitutional republic, it is the right of the Christian in the face of the State to live freely in alignment with his or her religious and spiritual convictions. Rushdoony stated: Government is, first of all, the self-government of the Christian man. This is basic to government. Self-government extends to the church, then the family, then to education, then to one’s vocation, and finally to society. This view of government is one that is radically decentralized. From a Christian worldview, we can establish self-government and all its extensions if there is a thorough decentralization of the State, allowing individuals to govern their own sphere. As a believer in Christ, Rushdoony held that self-government will eventually fail, as any other form of government, when it fails to build on the foundation of the sovereignty of God. Hence, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col. 3:17).

Conclusion

This short blog article doesn’t come close to explicating all of Rushdoony’s thought. The important takeaway from his position on self-government is that people must ask themselves who or what has ultimate authority in their lives. For the Christian, that must be God and His word. As we survey our culture today, we see a State that continues to reach into every area of our lives, not by raw power it has taken on, but by raw power that people have given it as they look to the State for a life. [For more exploration on this topic see The Need for a Christian Manifesto.]

[Quotes from Rushdoony are taken from various Chaldean reports collected in An Informed Faith, kindle edition.]

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./May 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS OF POWER/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

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The Gift of Time

So teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Introduction

Several times I have posted on this blog regarding six major themes (here) I intend to explore at various times from month-to-month through Contemplations. For this month I want to focus on the theme humility/finitude, more specifically finitude. We are finite creatures with a limited amount of time given to us in this life. As a Christian although I believe in the Biblical teaching of eternal life through the atoning work of Jesus, the Messiah, this present earthly existence is the one life that God has granted us on this side of eternity. Life and time are gifts. Hence we are responsible for how we use this life, how we go about living out our lives. For Christians such a journey is wrapped up in our sanctification (John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). God’s sovereignty is a comforting truth for the lives of us who are in Christ. The fearful truth is that time is something we can waste, thereby culminating in an empty and a wasted life. Meaning making is also one of the six major themes I have explored on this blog. If our lives are to be meaningful, then via God’s sovereignty and providence, we are to obey Him, utilizing the gifts and talents He has granted us via His grace. It is a frightening thing, indeed, for many people to look back on their lives and ponder: What was it all about?

This Side of Eternity

On this side of eternity life is short, whether or not we want to admit it (Psalm 39:5, 11; 103:15-16). Living a full and satisfied life in this world evades the grasp of many people. In 1969, I was just starting out my college studies at University of North Texas (North Texas State University back then). Since then, fiftyy-five years have passed. Needless to say those five-and-a-half decades flew by like the wind. In many ways, I have no idea where they all went. I became a believer in Christ through Campus Crusade when a couple of Crusade’s members stopped by my dorm and shared the gospel. I can’t reinforce enough how I wish I would have embraced my sanctification over those fiftyy-some-odd years, grown and matured in Christ, never looking back to my previous way of life. But I did not. Much too often in my life, there were too many years of wandering, not following God’s truths that led me down some dark paths. Simply put, those days of wandering were wasted time, time that I cannot reclaim and make different. That is not to say that God is not sovereign over all we do. He is. His sovereignty for me involved pulling me back on the right path more than once. That doesn’t alter the reality that I let valuable time in my life expire, not living in the manner I was supposed to live.

God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

We are called in Scripture to obey and abide in God and Christ (John 15:1-11). We are exhorted to pursue our sanctification. This Biblical truth channels us through the thorny knot of God’s sovereignty and our responsibilities before Him. All that is good comes from the sovereignty of God. That includes the commandments He calls us to obey, which we can do only by His grace. The sad fact is that we can also go astray. While such wanderings are part of God’s sovereignty, many times that sovereignty comes with the hard lessons we learn through our erring ways. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. As finite creatures, we must also embrace the humility that we cannot fathom the mind of God. His sovereignty and our personal responsibilities as saints in Christ are both Biblical truths. God uses the means of our obedience and disobedience to bring us toward the ends He has for us. This is difficult to plumb with finite logic. As saints in Christ totally via God’s grace He has called us to sanctification, which we also obtain via His grace, but which we can shirk in disobedience with consequences that follow. One of the most devastating consequences is that we can waste and trash valuable time in this life on this side of eternity.

Time As a Gift

Whom God has called to be in Christ, the Messiah, He will not lose one of them (John 17:12). God set me on a path to encounter other believers during those wandering times following 1969 that brought me back to the fold. Many of those individuals whom I’ve known since the 1970’s remain close friends of mine. The fact still holds, however, with this question: How different would my life have been had I begun the path of my sanctification following the evening of my conversion? As a finite creature, I’ll never possess the capability of answering that question. I know this. I learned a hard truth. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).There was some wasted time during those years I would like to have back. But they are gone. God’s sovereignty is not an excuse to waste our time. Rather His sovereignty is a comfort that we can keep our focus on Him, knowing that while acknowledging Him in all our ways, He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). The reality of this finite life is that we can in sinful disobedience walk many crooked paths. God’s sovereign lovingkindness is not an excuse to walk those paths without fear. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever (Psalm 19:3). His sovereign lovingkindness is a blessing we have, even when we go astray.

Conclusion: Finiteness and Infinity

The epigraph that opens this blog article from Psalm 90:12 provides us with an important truth regarding the time that makes up our lives. Having a Biblical understanding of our finitude should lead us to be wise. The importance of wisdom is highlighted throughout Scripture. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27). Knowing that our days are numbered should lead us to present a heart of wisdom to God. On this side of eternity, we know our finitude, and for those of us in Christ, we have an unfathomed blessing ahead of us to spend eternity with the Triune God. Although finite, for those of us who have believed in the only begotten Son of God, our infinity with Him begins now. We have the blessing via our sanctification to know God on a deeper level each and everyday. Why would we want to waste our time not pursuing that blessing? Another warning comes to us via Scripture. There is no Biblical justification that an individual can claim to believe in Jesus, the Messiah, and continue unchanged with his or her formal way of living. Wasted time can be a reality for believer and unbeliever alike. For those of us in Christ, God is sovereign in our lives. Let us never call on His sovereignty as an excuse for a wayward life.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./January 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT