CAP – Study 7 – Institutions –
Introduction
Studies 1-6 explained
that we are now living in a kingdom age. Jesus confirmed that many times. Just
before His ascension, we read this in Matt. 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to
them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age."
Is there any indication
in that quote which might lead us to believe that we will fail in this mission?
Moreover, is Christ expecting us to fail in a commission He has given us? Where
is the biblical evidence?
Why do so many
Christians believe in a failed mission and to whose advantage is that?
If you still have
doubts about our dominion commission, please review the past studies and ask
God prayerfully to enable you to see it clearly. I know whereof I speak. I’ve
been there!
Assuming we’re on board
with the kingdom commission, what next? What are we going to do with it?
The next segment of our
CAP will cover the instruments that God uses to accomplish His mission. We are
part of that process.
Much of what you will
be reading you have rarely heard preached, if ever. Is it any wonder why we
are ineffective as Christians?
·
A Christian society should be different from others. How so?
Decentralized
·
Only Jesus is sovereign – no human institution has that authority.
·
The only three institutions authorized by God – family, church, and
state
·
A pyramid societal structure is Satanic
·
Covenantalism – responsible men under God
The following is from
Gary North’s “Unconditional Surrender” Attachment is for your files.
Part Two - INSTITUTIONS
INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO
If Christianity presents us with a
unique view of society's crucial foundations - God, man, law, judgment, and time - then we should expect to see
important differences between Christianity's view of social institutions and
rival religions' view of these same institutions. We should expect to
see these institutions constructed on different philosophical foundations. We
should also expect to see vast differences in the efficiency of these
institutions, depending on whether they are found in a Christian society or a
pagan society.
One of the most important features of
Christian social theory,
or at least Protestant social theory, is the absence of any totally sovereign human
institution. No institution is granted final authority,
for no human institution is free from the destructive effects of sin. Only Jesus Christ can claim total sovereignty in time and on
earth. Jesus Christ alone is the link between man and God. His revealed word, the Bible, is the final
authority for man, not the pronouncements of committees, bureaucrats, or
religious leaders. Three institutions are covenantal by nature. Covenantal
institutions are established by an oath before God. Only three institutions are covenantal: family,
church, and state.
The source of social order is God. Specifically, it is the Holy
Spirit, who was sent to comfort the church (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit came to
guide men into all truth: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to
come" (John 16:13). And we know that "where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty" (II Corinthians 3:17b). It is God's sovereign power over the creation that
holds all things together, and we know that the established relationship
between Cod's law and external blessings guarantees the preservation of social
order for those societies that strive to conform themselves to the revealed
law-order of God.
Biblical social theory therefore
affirms the order-producing effects of a decentralized system of
competing, yet ideally cooperating, institutions. No single institution needs to provide this social
order. Indeed, no single institution can, since the concentration of power
involved in such an attempt is self-defeating and in total opposition to
biblical social order. Freedom
and order are achieved only when men throughout a society are striving to
reconstruct all their social institutions along the lines outlined in the
Bible.
Whenever we see a social theory that
proclaims the validity of a pyramid structure of institutions,
with some institutions at the bottom, and a single institution at the top,
we are facing the society of Satan. The pyramid structure, both in
social theory and architecture, was basic to pagan antiquity. It is also the
reigning social theory of modern socialism and communism. It places men
at the base of the pyramid, and it places the state at the top.
The Bible proclaims the existence of multiple
sovereignties,
multiple
institutions that bear lawful authority. Human institutions possess legitimate
sovereignty, but all such sovereignty is limited and derivative. God alone possesses absolute sovereignty. Any attempt by any institution to
command final authority is demonic. All institutions are under God and
governed by God's law. No single institution commands permanent authority over
all the others.
What the
Bible proclaims as binding is this: responsible men under God, but never
autonomous men under God. Neither the one (state, church, family) nor
the many (individuals) can claim absolute sovereignty. Neither
collectivism nor individualism is valid as an exclusive principle of social
order. What the Bible proclaims is covenantalism:
individuals and institutions under God and under God's applicable laws.
