Lex, Rex

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In the previous article I wrote about the dire need we have for preachers to boldly stand in their pulpits and declare the full council of God even when God is speaking about "politics". The way governments are run, the objectives governments are seeking to fulfil and the way in which governments treat citizens are all of high importance to God according to the Bible and so these issues should be clearly taught to His people in local churches. Preachers have no right to skim or skip over them.

At the outset of this series I think it wise to address an issue that many of you might simply assume to be true, but one that is actually far less settled in the minds of some right-wing and libertarian Christians than you might realize. I'm referring to the question regarding if we need a government at all...

Let's cut to the chase, the answer to that question is YES, we absolutely need a government!

It needs to be clearly proclaimed to extreme libertarians and hard-core left-wing Marxists alike that GOD created and ordained human government. Human government was instituted by God, is intended for the glory of God and was created for our good. It was HIS invention and at no point in history has He relinquished His sovereign claim over human government. It is not a construct which we are free to toss away nor is it one we are free to independently control. Government is HIS. He created it, owns it and still claims it. The Bible cannot be clearer regarding the Divine origin of human government, see Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17, Titus 3:1, Daniel 2:20-21, Psalm 22:28, Proverbs 8:15, John 19:11, Luke 20:25 along with a host of other passages space here simply will not allow us to fully document.

Government is God's idea; no Christian can avoid that conclusion.

But why? What is so great about government? Doesn't the Bible also call people sinful? Isn't it true that sinners' sin and sinners in power have constantly abused that power to oppress, enslave and slaughter people? All of that is true, yet God still commands people to submit to a governing authority…why? Well, for starters, the alternative would be far worse than the most dystopic authoritarian nightmare ever to hit man. If you think authoritarianism is brutal, you can't even begin to imagine how brutal things would become in anarchy.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans described God appointed government (which does NOT encompass every regime in power by the way, more on that distinction in future installments) as God's servant who acts to reward good and punish evil. That point cannot be overstated. There must be an organized, appointed, overwhelming and punishing force which actively suppresses evil in society or else evil will eat humanity alive. And it is the weak and defenseless in particular which will suffer the most without God appointed government. Children, women, minorities, the disabled…none of them would be safe without the rule of law and a government able to enforce it justly. At this point in my life I would like to think I could deal with most hostile threats to my family. If some wild apocalyptic scenario unfolds this week for some reason, I'm still young enough, strong enough, well-armed enough and down right mean enough to put up one heck of a fight if need be…but what about my mom? What about your mom? What about those who are not armed, not strong and not mean? What about the old widow who is nobody's mom and yet owns 15 acres of prime, fertile farmland? How long would she hang onto that prime 15 acres on her own before pillagers took it from her?

God has ordained human government to exist in order to protect the rights and liberties of the very weakest of society from the greed of the very strongest.

Even the most wicked regime on earth, perhaps North Korea for example, serves that purpose better than if North Korea had no government at all. No doubt there would be some temporary relief if that regime fell apart and anarchy was unleashed, but that relief would be short and then that people would be subjected to even greater horrors, atrocities and starvation. We pray for the destruction of the North Korean regime in order for a God appointed, righteous government to take its place.

God ordained government exists to punish evil and to promote liberty, to suppress oppression and reward the good. Any call for anarchy is of the devil and incredibly naïve.

So let's get that straight, we need a government and God institutes them for our good. There is no room at all for anarchy in the Biblical Christian worldview (see, Romans 13:2).

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Capital punishment is in the news again, which isn't a bad thing. It would seem to be an alarming cultural phenomena to have no reservations at all about the government putting people to death, no matter how you feel about the issue. Everyone should agree that this practice must be scrutinized at all times in order to avoid abuse. The power of the state to kill citizens is immense and shouldn't be taken lightly.

This time it is the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who has by executive order shut down death row in his state. The fact that he is a flaming socialist and far-left collectivist makes it easy for someone like me and for people like most of you to immediately shake our heads in condemnation. We need to avoid knee jerk, emotional reactions like that. All things must be judged with righteous judgement and just because this guy is off the wall on many key issues does not mean we should immediately dismiss everything he says or does. Each issue must be judged one at a time, no matter if the proponent has a R, D or I after their name or not. The way in which he has explained his reasoning has caught my attention. Notice what he is saying and perhaps not saying in some of these statements:

"It has provided no public safety benefit or value as a deterrent. It has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. But most of all, the death penalty is absolute, irreversible and irreparable in the event of a human error."

"We are considering executing more people than any other state in modern history — to line up human beings, every day, for executions for two-plus years. Premeditated, state-sponsored executions...I cannot sign off on executing hundreds and hundreds of human beings, knowing among them are people who are innocent."

I cannot help but find it interesting that he does not argue that the death penalty is immoral. Previous generations of anti-death penalty activists strongly argued the practice was immoral, barbaric, primitive, cruel and unusual for modern society to engage in. That's not what he is saying, not here at least. Perhaps that is how he feels and maybe he has said such things in the past, I admittedly have not taken the time to dig into everything he has ever said publicly on the subject. But that's not the point he is making now. He's saying that he is convinced there are innocent people on death row right now and because he can't be sure who is and is not the "unlucky" one's siting there wrongly, he is going to see to it that none of them are killed. Better that everyone be spared than even one be wrongly killed. I certainly agree with that sentiment and so should you if you call yourself a pro-life Christian. I hope every Christian would agree to halt death row executions if they were convinced innocent people were on it.

The question of course is if it is reasonable to believe something awful like that is likely? Sure, anything is hypothetically possible and no matter how strong and just a system there is simply no way to be absolutely positive a terrible mistake couldn't be theoretically made. If absolute certainty was needed for decision making very few decisions could ever be made. Here's the point..thinking something is theoretically possible is one thing, "knowing" something is certain is another. Governor Newsom says he "knows" there are people on death row who are innocent. That's a big deal, that's a very big deal and shouldn't be glossed over by Biblical, pro-life Christians.

We are going to take some time to unpack this heavy issue over several installments. There is just no way one post can do something like this justice. Here's are the points we will be detailing in future posts:

• Capital Punishment is not only justified in the Bible, it is commanded.
• There is compelling evidence which shows the United States has a broken criminal justice system and is prone to target racial minorities disproportionally for capital punishment as a result.
• There is compelling evidence which shows the United States has a broken criminal justice system and is prone to execute innocent people as a result.
• A temporary moratorium on Capital Punishment in the United States is needed in order to address these inequities and make reforms needed to assure citizens that we have a JUSTICE system with appropriate safeguards to prevent wrongful executions going forward.

Executing innocent prisoners is no less heinous than aborting unborn babies. Every pro-lifer in this country ought to be appalled to find out such a thing was likely in the United States.

Showing that our system is so broken that this possibility is not just a hypothetical one, but is a likely one, must force us to make bold moves and take drastic actions. Even if that means getting along with a Democrat on something.

We will start unpacking all of this next time…

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Not since the Civil War has the United States been this hotly and passionately divided, so says virtually all social commentators and historians and it's hard to argue against that observation. In fact, perhaps the one issue which all sides can agree upon is that the people of the United States are deeply and fundamentally divided, tribalism is now well established and growing more and more entrenched. Harsh bitterness and vitriol being expressed against those in opposing tribes and parties in public has become routine and commonplace, the days where speaking respectfully to those in opposing groups are long gone. We are a people at war, thank God it has not yet erupted into a shooting war, but we are at war. The sides hate each other. This house is profoundly and severely divided by very real consortiums struggling for control and power.

It is (as always) incumbent upon Christians to serve as salt and light in society, to bring clarity and healing where rifts are the most critical. We do, after all, have the solution to what is tearing our country apart into sectarianism, we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The answers and corrections and clarifications our nation need are all found in the Bible. It is our calling and duty to announce it with precision, clarity and unwavering consistency. Unfortunately, most evangelical churches have made the decision to stay out of the fray and "not get political", and chaos is now befalling the nation as a result.

Let's be very clear, what we see on the news every night is the result of most churches becoming "politically neutral" for more than 40 years now. By withdrawing from the arena of governing philosophy, by deciding not to advise and give wise guidance politically, the Church has allowed an unstable vacuum to be created. And this vacuum is being filled primarily by secular progressives and Marxists who are only too eager to replace to the voice of God in our government.

This philosophy which separates the "secular" from the "sacred" is a false and unbiblical scheme. It's a truly pagan idea. It must be abandoned by evangelicals and it must be abandoned immediately. Nowhere in the Bible is the Christian Church told to stay out of politics, to stay out of economics and to stay out of policy debates. We are told to do the exact opposite. Christians must be engaged in the culture and to fearlessly serve as a prophetic voice that addresses human governments, political parties and business conduct. God sees all of society and declares, "ALL OF IT IS MINE" …therefore…it is the duty of Biblical Christians to announce the declared will of God in every aspect of it. There should be a separation of church and state, but there is no separation of state and God. God rules over the state (and He rules over everything else as well). The church should never control the state, however, the church must always influence the state...and we're not doing that anymore...not like we once did at least.

The Bible addresses, in great detail, every controversy America is embroiled in right now. Did you know that? It is astonishing how much the Bible has to say about government, politics, economics and culture, yet few churches take any stance at all on almost any of it. Name any current controversy we hear debated on the news each night, name a "political issue" which divides this nation and then look that issue up in the Bible…it's in there, big time…

Taxation

War

Poverty

Immigration (also, see)

The role/scope of Government authority

Globalism

Abortion

Nationalism

Racism/Tribalism

The death penalty

Slavery (also, see)

Labor

Private property rights

Self-defense

Education

Economics

Sexuality

Gender

What am I missing? Name any topic which has this nation so deeply divided and you will find it addressed in the Bible with perfect clarity…so why then are these issues not clearly preached in our "Bible preaching" churches? Stop and think about the answer to that question. If these issues are all addressed in the Bible, then why are the people in our churches kept from hearing about them? Why are they left to figure this stuff out on their own? These issues were never off the table in previous generations and they shouldn't be off the table now. This nation is confused and divided precisely because our churches are not clear. We've given the culture the impression that God doesn't care about these things one way or the other, so we should just hash it out ourselves. We've given people in our pews the impression that it's ok to support politicians, parties and policies which flagrantly defy the expressed will of the Living God for society! The consequences we are seeing as a result are real and will get even more painful unless we get serious about preaching the whole council of God. There would have been no American Revolution had preachers then "stayed out of politics". There would have been no end to slavery had preachers then "stayed out of politics". There will be no avoiding the coming authoritarianism if preachers continue to "stay out of politics" today.

Do you understand that? Authoritarianism is coming straight at us and many of our people are either unaware or hazy about it because the watchmen on the wall are not sounding the alarm!

Wherever the Bible is silent, preachers ought to be silent. Wherever the Bible speaks, preachers ought to speak. We will be hashing out what the Bible teaches on these various "political" issues in the coming installments, my prayer is that you will see how emphatic the Bible is on each of them and be inspired to get in the arena to declare "thus sayeth the Lord" with conviction and authority.

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Democracy may sound, like, super-duper cool, but it is vulgar. It puts the liberty and even the lives of minority people groups into serious jeopardy. Masses of people, or mobs, are highly volatile and are easily provoked into shortsighted and even outrageous behavior. The groupthink which underpins the mob mentality allows a charismatic, radical leader to suppress his opposition by painting it as the great boogeyman which must be resisted and eventually suppressed…all with majority support. This tactic has been used over and over for 10,000 years of civilized human history. Democracy leads to manipulated mob rule. Monarchy is king rule. Libertarian Republicanism is the rule of LAW.

The protection of rights and the security of wealth go hand in hand. Governments which violate the first toss the second right out the window with it. As the United States has become more and more democratic, we have become less and less free and less and less wealthy. Our dollars buy less stuff (what could a dollar buy when you were a kid?) because of democratic economics (socialism). Democracy always seeks to take, to weaken and to punish.

Greed is just human nature and only gets amplified when humans are encouraging each other to take even more! Democracy takes rights. Democracy takes wealth. Democracy takes freedoms. It takes, takes and takes more…until there is nothing more to take. How ironic is it that all of this is justified as being for the "greater good"? It's madness and it ends the same way every time, just look at the historically bountiful nation of Venezuela as the latest example.

The dynamics are not hard to understand and the outcomes are easy to predict and yet here we are in the United States taking on staggering amounts of water, losing freedoms and having the remaining freedoms threatened every day and thinking somehow it will work out differently for us in the end. It's nuts.

How did this happen? Well, if you boil it all down, we have abandoned most of the republican mode of governance created by the founders and have replaced it with a democratic mode. What we do today…from how a President is chosen to how Senators are put into place…is totally different than how the founding fathers set things up and the change is not for the good.

Always remember, the Senate was created to fend off two potential tyrants…the people and the presidency. The House was created to fend off two potential tyrants…the elites and the presidency. The presidency was created to fend off two potential tyrants…the people and the elites. Do you catch the big idea yet? It was pure genius, and we've trashed it, and that will eventually ruin us.

We will look at some of these examples one at a time over the next few articles.

Today, let's think about the impact of the disastrous 17^th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, (a year which ought to live in infamy by the way). The 17^th Amendment transitioned the Federal Government dramatically as it requires Senators to be democratically elected rather than to be appointed by the state legislatures. The Founders did want some democratic and populous influence in the federal government, there can be no doubt. That is why they created two Chambers of Congress, with one of those chambers being directly elected in the House of Representatives. The House was intended to voice the concerns of the populace, they were to reflect the beliefs, values and passions of the people. However, again, the Founders knew government cannot be run wisely if it is provoked by democratic fervor and the whims of shifting public opinions, so they made sure there was a check on that in the Congress. An Upper Chamber (the Senate) was created to have the ability to hit the breaks on run away populism and the Lower Chamber (the House) was created to have the ability to hit the breaks on run away elitism. These checks and balances were ingenious when you stop to think about it. Both populism and elitism pose great threats to personal liberty when left unchecked, and yet both have legitimate stakes and claims to be made in the governing of the nation. Both constituents should have a say in Congress. By creating this governing tension, the potential for ill-conceived or foolish bills which overstep Constitutional boundaries posed by either chamber are greatly reduced. For a bill to get the desk of the President, both Chambers of Congress must sign off on it. Having two chambers which answer to two different yet valid interests (the populace and the state governments) helps to ensure a proper balance of concerns being addressed on the Federal level and helps to safeguard wise, well thought out and reasoned bills making it to the President.

That all changed and that built in protection was obliterated in 1913. Suddenly, thanks to the 17^th Amendment, we no longer have two distinct chambers of Congress. Oh, technically there are two chambers and they function under distinct procedures, but they are motivated by the same interests. All Congressmen (Senators and Representatives) are all now pure politicians and nothing more. They are seeking to be reelected by the exact same constituency and that is a massive problem. There is no longer a check on democracy in Congress, there is no longer an upper chamber concerned about the interests of state governments. Congress is now all show, all politics, all the time. And the states have no say in the direction of the federal government, there is no accountability to those who are having mandates imposed upon them from on high. States simply must deal with what Congress puts on them (mandated spending) and they have no meaningful ability to push back. Before, if their Senators did something really stupid, the state legislatures could basically haul them out of there and replace them just about as easily as a UN Ambassador can be sent home and replaced today.

And the results have been terrible, with catastrophe yet to come. In the 50 years after the 17^th Amendment was passed, the Federal debt exploded from about $3billion to just over $300billion in 1963! And since then, good grief…the national debt is now over $22TRILLION! Stop and think about that number…it might as well be $250 quadrillion or $478 septillion, what difference would it make? $22Trillion so astronomical that it will never be paid back…ever. And the reason this happened isn't hard to recognize. Politicians want to be reelected and nothing ensures reelection more than bringing home that bacon! Once Americans got nice and accustomed to such great treatment each new crop of democratically elected officials in Congress (and the presidency, more on that next time) had to outdo the previous bunch and bring home even more bacon! Pretty soon the people were demanding so much bacon, and the politicians were so eager to feed them all the bacon they could shovel in their mouths, that we had to take on more and more debt to international banking cartels. Obviously, everyone wishes the country as a whole ate less bacon, and that we should get our gluttonous bacon eating habits under control…but we all seem to want the other group to give up their bacon, the bacon we enjoy is just our right and nothing more of course!

It's not hard to figure out how we got here. We got here because we became a democracy. We got here because the states no longer have a say in the governance of the nation. We got here because most people are by nature easily fooled, manipulated, pacified and confused. We got here because opportunistic politicians are keenly aware of that social dynamic. We got here because most people wanted to get here no matter that cost. It's not like this was forced upon us, we forced it upon ourselves. That is the danger of democracy and there is no end in sight until we reign it in. We must repeal the 17^th Amendment immediately. We must reduce the influence of politics in governance.

It is probably too late to fix this, frankly, collapse is coming no matter what at this point. But if we want real leadership to pave the way back from the impact of the coming economic and social collapse, we had better reduce the influence of democracy in our government. Repealing the 17^th Amendment would be a significant step in that direction.

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So, when are Christians allowed to grab the pitchforks and storm the castle? In our last installment we clarified that times will inevitably come where such actions are warranted, the obvious question is "when"? At what point has a government become so abusive, so corrupt and so dangerous to the people that it must be overthrown?

This question is a big deal for everyone to think about, it's a super big deal for Christians who take the Bible seriously to think about. When the Apostle's Paul and Peter commanded Christians to be submissive to government, they were writing to people being governed by ruler's who were hostile to Christians. Eventually these hostile rulers began to throw them to lions, and while things were not at that point when Paul and Peter wrote, clearly things were heading that way…and they knew that. In fact, Jesus Himself told them what awaited them, and yet they still wrote in strong and clear language that we are to assume a submissive posture before government. But, as we wrote last time, that is not an endless submission, or an unqualified, unconditional submission. It is, however, always the initial Christian disposition and desire to be submissive to ruling authorities. And since that is our assumed relationship with the government, any thought of revolution should give every Christian significant pause.

And it gave the American patriots who founded these United States great pause indeed. Students of history will confirm for you that none of them rushed to declare independence, and certainly none of them rushed to war with England. They agonized with the British, appealed to them, petitioned them over and over to address their grievances. By no means were they quick to revolt and none of them started off with a desire to separate from England. What ended in revolution started off as seeking recourse and nothing more. They acknowledged their hesitation and understanding of the gravity of what they were doing when they wrote in the Declaration of Independence these words:

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

They're saying "this is a real big deal" and "we understand it's a big deal". People are disposed to suffer for as long as possible, rather than to revolt, why? Because revolution is a painful thing! Even if victorious the sacrifice, the agony and the death are heavy tolls to pay and people should not be willing to pay it over "light and transient causes". Amen to that! It might seem adventurous and romantic to revolt in the movies, in the real world it brings misery no matter the ultimate outcome. Oh, and it might be sinful as well, depending on the reason for revolt

Yet we must still answer this question, the same question the founders had to answer...how much sinful government should we tolerate? Or, when do we stop tolerating abuse? How do we know when it's go time? How can we have inward peace in revolting against a government? Where is the line?

Of course, as in all questions about moral action, the Bible must guide us. Last time we referred to the following passages: Romans 13:1-7, Acts 5:29, 1 Peter 2:13-17, Daniel 2:20-21 and Deuteronomy 16:18-20 and so we will remained focused on them here.

These passages define what God "appointed" or "instituted" government is and what our relationship to that government looks like. Any government that does not look like what is described in the verses above is not (or has ceased to be) God "appointed" or "instituted" and is therefore illegitimate. So, the answer to our question is that it is only justifiable for Christians to grab pitchforks and storm the castle when a regime is not God appointed. God appointed and instituted government must be submitted to. Government not (or no longer) appointed by God must be overthrown so that God appointed government may be established.

How do we know if a government or regime is (or has become) illegitimate? Well, take the Biblical descriptions of God appointed and instituted government in the above linked verses and flip them in order to find out.

Illegitimate, Unappointed, Not-God-Instituted Governments:

Are a terror to good (Godly) conduct

Do not approve of good (Godly) behavior

Do not serve or minister for God (it functions as if it were God)

Do not serve the people's good

Bear the sword in vain (unjustifiably)

Carry out wrath on the law abiding (good) people

Punishes those who do good (the Godly) and praises those who do evil (the ungodly)

Uses unrighteous judgment

Perverts justice

Shows partiality (multi-teared justice system)

Accepts bribes

Does not follow justice

When a nation is ruled by a government defined like this those people can be sure God did not appoint it or institute it and it ought to be torn down, allowing a God appoint government to take its place.

Governments like North Korea, China, Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Sudan, Yeman, Myanmar and about 40 other governments are all prime candidates for revolution. They meet the Biblical criteria for disqualification and anyone working to overthrow these regimes are doing God's work without a doubt.

In these politically radical times here at home I get asked from time to time if the United States government needs overthrown. Do we need to have another 1776 moment? I'll tell you the same thing I said back during the Obama regime…no. Not if you are talking about taking up arms and actually fighting our government, absolutely not. And I don't believe we are near that point either (although our government does meet at least two of the above listed disqualifiers such as showing partiality with a multi-tier justice system and accepting bribes). If we were anywhere near the point where taking up arms against our government was necessary, I wouldn't be free to write such things on this blog and you wouldn't be free to sit there and read it.

Of course, you and I could sit down and list out many evils which mark this nation. True evils such as abortion which must be confessed and repented of, there is no doubt. Sins which will cause the judgment of God to continue to fall upon us. But even with that being said, I am not being terrorized by the government for preaching the Gospel like my brothers in North Korea and China are. I am not being hit with wrath from the government like my brothers in Saudi Arabia are...and neither are you. That day may well come. The day may come when the United States government begins to shut down churches, arrest preachers, confiscate guns, ban Bibles and force abortions. And if it does come I'll be ready to unload all my ammo on them in response. I'm prepared just as our founders prescribed and I hope you are as well. But we are not there yet. Right now we are engaged in what Alex Jones has called the "infowar" and let's pray it stays that way.

Nobody should hope for violent revolution, because things must be dire before it can be justified Biblically.

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Is it ever justifiable for Christian people to be involved in the overthrow of their government? Many of you will be quick to point to Romans 13 and say, absolutely not! According to Romans 13 we are supposed to submissively tolerate anything our government does, no matter what! I wonder how many of you pious people would favor surrendering America back to the Crown of England because if we follow your line of logic that would be the only Christian thing to do!

Christian American leaders overthrew their government and when declaring independence, they wrote and signed these famous words…

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident...

Let's make note of a few assumptions they were working with at that time. Do you see that word "when"? Notice how it does not say "if". They believed revolution was inevitable. Then notice the word "necessary" …not only did they believe revolution was inevitable, they believed times would come when revolutionary overthrows of government are essential and needed…they believed they would become necessary!

There is no doubt that they thought like that, but were they right? Can that position be justified in light of Scripture? Should Christians agree with a sentiment like that? Here are a few relevant passages we need to be mindful of before answering a question like that:

Romans 13:1-7 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Acts 5:29 ESV

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."

1 Peter 2:13-17 ESV

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.

Daniel 2:20-21 ESV

Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 ESV

"You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

Certainly, there are many other passages that we can look at, but these five are important. The first thing you will see, as we have pointed out repeatedly on this page, is that God ordains human government. Also notice that not only is disobeying government an option, it is a requirement when submitting to government causes one to disobey God. We also see that God does cause kings to rise and fall, God is directly involved in uprisings and overthrows. And lastly, God commanded His people to appoint their rulers (later on He allowed them to have a king to rule over them just like the heathen nations had, but that was a concession, it was not the first form of government God created).

You will also note in these passages and other passages like these, that God specifically defines what legitimate, appointed government is, and by logical deduction, what legitimate government is not. We don't have to guess at this, we know for sure what the traits of valid government are and what the traits of usurping, unlawful, imposter government are. A "God appointed" government is not a terror to good conduct. Those who do good receive the approval of God appointed government (not oppression). God appointed government is God's servant for our good, it is an avenger of God who carries out wrath on wrongdoers (not on lawful citizens). Governments sent by God punish those who do evil and praise those who do good. Governments are forbidden to judge with unrighteous judgment, to pervert justice, to show partiality or to accept bribes. A God appointed governmet will follow just one thing, ultimately...justice. We see all of these identifiers in the verses above.

While every human government is comprised of sinners, none are perfect, there does come a point when a government no longer functions at all by the standards God has for them in the Bible. They become a terror to good conduct. They pervert justice. The carry out wrath on lawful citizens. They are bribed and paid for. When it is obvious that a government is no longer resembling the way in which God defines His appointed government, then their authority is forfeited. The authority given to rulers is a trust, it is not a right. No person has the right to rule, no regime has the right to govern. They stand as minsters of God, they derive their authority from God and can be replaced when they no longer serve Him according to His standards. This is true of every minister of God, it is no less true for kings, governors, presidents, chiefs, khans, sultans, shahs and kaisers. They can be rejected and replaced when they reject their role as God's servant, and the people can rise up and force them out with violence if needed in order to install governors who will serve God and the people justly. Christians revolt in an effort to establish a Godly leadership in government. Christians never revolt in order to do away with government as an institution.

We will stop right here, for now. You should notice we have not described the sinful threshold needed to be reached to justify revolution. Obviously, no government is perfect because none of the people running it are perfect. Every government sins because people sin. So, at what point can the people be sure that they are justified to actually rise up, or in other words, how much sinful government should Christians peacefully tolerate? We will unpack all of that next time, for now let's just leave it suffice to say that the concept of revolution is not unBiblical and such action may be necessary at times.

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"For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God..." Romans 13:6 ESV

Yesterday we examined the charge that "Taxation Is Theft" in light of Biblical revelation and concluded that such a sentiment is unbiblical, unchristian and untrue. However, we did leave the door open to the idea that taxation may well become theft at a certain point. That seems hard to argue with from any perspective short of full-blown Marxism. The Bible never suggests the government has the right to take all of our wealth, but only to tax a portion of it. The tricky part however is that the Bible never defines those parameters in clear cut terms. That would seemingly make this much easier, wouldn't it? "The Bible says right here in 2 Corinthians that the state can not tax citizens beyond 20%" …end of discussion.

Of course, the Bible never defines things in that way. Why is that? Certainly, if God had something in mind, an absolute standard regarding the levels at which the government can tax the people He would have made it clear, cut and dry for us. But He doesn't make it clear so one can only presume that He doesn't have any set, hard and fast standard. Presumably the government has discretion to set tax policies as needed.

As needed.

And that seems to be the key. Clearly the government has the right to exist, God created and ordained it after all (see, Romans 13:1-7). And since it has the right to exist and has the right to extract taxes from the people, it seems highly plausible to conclude that the government has the right to gather enough taxes from the public in order to exist and serve the people appropriately. It has the right to tax the people to the degree needed for it to function as it was designed and ordained by God. It also seems reasonable to conclude that taxation crosses the line into legalized theft once the government exceeds the tax levels needed to operate within the parameters God has set for it. The government has the right to exist and to perform its God ordained functions but has no right to exceed those functions. It furthermore has no right to wrest taxes from the people to pay for that usurpation of authority. The people are not required by God to pay for their own abuse and if they are willing to pay the temporal consequences of defying the régime they are free to disobey the government and not pay the excess taxes.

So far, so good, right? The government only has the right to tax as needed for it to exist and properly function…but…what does God ordain for the government to do? How do we know the difference between a legitimate government expenditure and an illegitimate one? How do we know when lines have been crossed and governments are stealing from the people?

We will get into that next time because understanding the Biblical role of government is where we are heading in ensuing articles here at The Under God Blog…

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What is your opinion of illegal immigrants? I'm not asking you what you think about illegal immigration nor am I asking what you think immigration policy should look like. I'm asking you what you think about illegal immigrants, as in, the people?

As Christians we are called to see life, situations and people in the way God does. What does God think about illegal immigrants? Does He love them? Does He have concern for them? Does He have compassion for them? Does He care about their suffering?

Of course, He does. The Lord sees them for who and what they are, His image bearers. And He loves them. He demands they be treated with dignity and justice.

How do you see them?

They're not second class, they're not a disease and they are not locusts. They are (generally) suffering people doing whatever they can to get out of a terrible culture which perverts justice and impoverishes its citizens. There is no doubt about the fact that there are plenty of bad hombres in the mix, but most are not bad hombres. Most are coming to America to have a shot at living the American dream which includes not just prosperity but more importantly, the rule of law. Can you blame them? What would you be willing to do to get out of a s-hole country? And can you blame them for breaking our immigration laws when we've been so lax, so inconsistent and such a joke in our enforcement of them for the last 30 years? I mean, come on, unless you come here to sell drugs, gang-bang, murder, rape or mug, ICE is not likely to bust your doors down in the middle of the night to haul you off. They know what we all know which is if they can get in here and keep their head down for a while, they'll blend into the mix and will not be bothered. Not only will they not be bothered, their kids will be educated, treated for ailments and welfare is on the table. So really, can you blame them for at least taking a shot?

I don't blame them and neither should you. It's hard to blame someone for ignoring a law that is all but unenforced if doing so means you have a shot at a safe and prosperous future. Seeing all of this and taking advantage of an opportunity to come here doesn't make them bad, it means they're real. They're human. Most of them are decent and that is exactly why they want so badly to get here.

Now, before we go any further, let me just stop some of you from having an aneurysm on me. I'm very much against illegal immigration. Americans have every right to enjoy sovereign and secure borders. Americans have every right to vet foreigners who wants to move here. And unless Americans want to stop being a welfare state, having open borders is way beyond crazy. If Americans want to be serious about stopping illegal immigration, then building a massive border wall is only common sense. And illegal immigrants should be shipped back home to Mexico or wherever they are from if they are caught. Businesses that hire illegal immigrants should be punished and anyone assisting an illegal immigrant in voting in our elections should be jailed. Cities which provide sanctuary to known illegal immigrants should have its leaders prosecuted for aiding and abetting criminals. Did I miss anything? Am I clear? I was for a massive border wall long before being for a massive border wall was cool.

None of that has to do with the point of this article. Although we are not given the impression by the right and left wing talking heads, it is entirely possible to support strong border security and immigration policy AND love illegal immigrants as people. It is possible to support the strict enforcement of our laws AND have compassion on illegal immigrants.

My Christian brothers and sisters, we need to be aware of our hearts when it comes to how we discuss these issues. God forbid we ever come off as calloused or uncaring or indifferent to the real life suffering that goes on in war-torn and/or third-world nations. If we are uncaring we need to ask God to melt our hearts because that isn't right. Christians are called to champion the cause of the downtrodden and the oppressed. Not only should we educate ourselves to the suffering of those people, not only should we express our compassion, but we should be strong advocates for them. I promise you that your church either directly supports missionaries in those countries or your church supports agencies that do. Get involved. Learn about those missionaries, learn about their work and the people they are serving. Pray for them. Send them letters of support. Send them money. Seek out opportunities to go on short term mission trips yourself to serve those people personally.

Not only should we be active in the benevolent care of those trapped in third-world nightmares, we need to be very clear as to why those "s-holes countries" are "s-hole countries" in the first place. The answer to illegal immigration is to EXPORT the principles of liberty, the rule of law and sound money! Socialism and other totalitarian systems are why those people are suffering and Christians need to be the champions of free markets not just here but there as well! We simply cannot take in every suffering immigrant or refugee in the world, that's insanity. Instead of propping up these terrible and failed regimes we need to pressure our governing leaders to insist on real reforms in those nations receiving our foreign aid. And I mean big time reforms. Christians must insist the real issues which are causing their suffering be addressed firmly and effectively. That is the solution, it's the only solution. How many Mexicans would rather leave their homeland if their homeland was ruled by law and not cartels? If they were free to arm themselves to protect themselves? How many Muslims would be on rubber rafts trying to flee their homes if justice and prosperity were hallmarks of their birthplace? America isn't prosperous on accident and third-world countries aren't impoverished on accident. The answer isn't bringing them here, the answer is sending our formula there. (And no, I'm not talking about dropping freedom bombs all over the place like we do in the Middle East, I'm talking about strong-armed diplomacy and education).

So yes, we need to love illegal immigrants AND send them home when we find them, we have to. If we could take them all in without hurting Americans in the process, then that would be one thing. We can't do that, we have to send them back. But as we do so it should be with a degree of heaviness. We should not hate them or disparage them or malign them or mistreat them. They are people, very desperate people who need relief and we must see them as such. As Christians we should be tripping over ourselves to provide aid to them…and we are. Christians get very little credit for the incredible work with the poor that we do, but it takes more than our giving of dollars. May God truly melt our hearts for these hurting people, let us speak out for them and help them as best as we can while our government applies the appropriate pressure needed against their failed governments for true reform.

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It still amazes me to hear the term "globalism" bounced around on the mainstream news as if it's the most commonly used geopolitical term of all time. In reality not even five years ago the term was used only by those kooky "conspiracy theorists" we are told by the sophisticated people to pay no attention to. The term "globalism" was never discussed or debated or commonly used in mainstream politics whatsoever until Donald Trump decided to finally run for office and made it an issue, a big one…a central one. During a major foreign policy speech given in Washington during the campaign he very famously said, "We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism". I remember hearing that and just about coming out of my seat in joy! Finally, someone running for the Presidency had a clue! (Yes, Ron Paul had a clue, but never came near the Republican nomination, the establishment saw to that). Someone was finally "breaking the Matrix" and drilling down on the number one issue which imperils the liberty and prosperity of the American people, globalism! Americans were beginning to have their "red pill moment". Global government is by far the greatest threat to humanity of all time, and suddenly a massive number of people were being jolted awake to the threat!

What is so dangerous about globalism? What is wrong with a global authority which moves nations in the direction of bringing all people together? Why not concentrate global power into lifting the poorest in the world out of poverty, to make sure peace and worldwide stability is maintained? What would be so wrong with a governing body to oversee trade between nations? Wouldn't such an authority be able to solve disputes peacefully rather than to allow such a quarrel between nations to spiral out of control and into armed conflict? Sure, sounds great, doesn't it? But make no mistake, the end result of concentrated power, of course, is never great. The greater the concentration and centralization of power the greater the suffering, poverty, and suppression of the people. This has been the case in every nation where the power of government has been centralized, it's hard to fathom how bad it would get for humanity if global power was centralized.

Globalism is based in Marxist philosophy, it is Marxism on a global scale. It announces the same utopian promises and follows the exact same line of reasoning as how to get there (really smart people guiding society in a fair way). It also has the same demonic lust for power and cruel indifference to the suffering of humanity which quickly ravages as a result.

Globalism (like its evil mother, Marxism) is entirely about controlling wealth and resources for a select, elite few. It has nothing to do with benefiting the masses, nothing at all. Marxists always promote and justify revolution by declaring their selfless love for the masses. Always. Always. Always. Globalists are Marxists and so they also frame their subversive, treasonous actions in the name of justice. Their real intentions are easy to discern simply by looking at where they've taken us. In the name of prosperity, the world…the WORLD…is hopelessly in debt to international banking cartels. In the name of peace, the world is more chaotic, unstable and treacherous than ever in history. In the name of equality, wealth is horded by a super-ultra-elite class in amounts so huge the mind can't even comprehend it. In the name of tolerance, western culture is being dismantled. Globalists are not working to create a better society for the masses of humanity, globalists are working to crush the structures which allow for human freedom to create prosperity. Globalists can't control a free, prosperous and peaceful world so the structures which undergird such things must come down first. And so, for just over 100 years now,there has been a nonstop effort to usher in a "New World Order" where international law is supreme and state sovereignty becomes increasingly meaningless. Globalists have shown no ambition to serve, only to rule. Ruling is the ambition of every Marxist.

The Bible of course foretold this so it should be no surprise for the Biblical Christian to see that global governance has begun to take shape. The structures standing in the way of the Antichrist are being torn down all while the arrangements and systems he will need to rule over a one world government are being erected. This is what the UN, EU, NATO, OPEC and the TPP are about. They are significant steps in the direction of world government. Can you imagine trying to corral nearly 200 independent, nationalistic, patriotic nation-states into one totalitarian centralized system? It would be impossible, and it has been impossible since Babel. It just can't be done with so much ethnic, economic, religious and political diversity. It can't be done unless those nations lay down their nationalism, unless they open up their borders, unless they get into massive foreign debt, unless they become regionally aligned. The idea is to get Europe to consolidate and intertwine, and Asia, and North America, and South America and Africa. Now, instead of 193 independent nations to coordinate, all there really is to deal with are 5 or maybe 6 regions. Obviously 5 or 6 regions will be far more manageable for the Antichrist to dominate over than 193 independent, sovereign nations.

There are only two world leaders defying the globalist conspiracy…President Trump and President Putin. Now, let's not get carried away…I'm not suggesting that I admire or support Putin, far from it. He's an old world strong man, a throwback to another time for sure and I'd never want to live under his fascist authority. But, none the less, he's a Russian nationalist and while he'd certainly like to get along with the other nations of the world, he's not at all willing to surrender Russian sovereignty to globalist control. And President Trump is an American nationalist with similar resistance to globalism and so it should be no surprise that globalists in the media and establishment politics, along with shadow government elements within the Deep State, are so ardently targeting and vilifying them both. Remember, the Antichrist will end up going to war with the Russians one day because apparently the Russians will be the last power standing in his way…and he will defeat them. There is no clear mention of the United States in end times Bible prophecy and so that would indicate to me the United States will not be a significant player on the world stage when that time comes, that's a hard thing to even imagine (more on that in future articles).

Globalism is Marxism, it is totalitarian, it is antihuman, it is an elitist conspiracy to control the resources of the planet for the benefit of only select few. It is also the movement which will pave the way for the rise of the Antichrist. We have every reason to resist it. We have every reason to reject international law, courts, governments and trade regulation…all of that stuff undermines our national sovereignty. We have every reason to support President Trump any time he speaks against this wicked movement and any time he takes steps to untangle our nation from it.

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"Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" Matthew 22:17 ESV

"Taxation is theft!" If you have spent much time around libertarians at all (especially online) you have certainly heard this cry and in this day and age of big government running our lives it sure does sound refreshing! It's short, sweet, clear and packs a big rhetorical punch! I mean just think about it, the line of reasoning seems clear enough:

1. You own money.
2. The government wants at least some of that money.
3. You do not consent to them having any of your money.
4. The government demands you give them the money, or they will come into you house with guns and will haul you off to jail, and then take the money.
5. You give them your money because you really have no other good choice.
6. They call it taxation.
7. It's actually legalized theft.

The Christian libertarian (which in full disclosure I count myself as one) might add these last two points in for good measure:

8. Theft is a sin.
9. Taxation is therefore a sin.

When laid out like this it certain does seem like a compelling argument to make. Taking money from someone without their consent absolutely IS theft in any other context, so why is it ok when it is the government doing it? Does it make it right just because they're able to dress the action up by calling it a "tax"? Those are indeed valid questions, no doubt about it.

Let's unpack all of this and establish a bit of a framework and set up some basic categories. First of all, if you are a Christian you must acknowledge that not only does the Bible allow for taxation, it commands it! The Bible commands God's people to pay taxes and if you are a CHRISTIAN before anything else (such as a libertarian) that ought to be the end of the argument for you. Just look up passages like Matthew 22:17-21, Luke 3:12-13, Romans 13:6-7 and you'll see it's clear...I'm not making this up…God commands it!

So, what should we make of this? Is God condoning legalized theft? Of course not! God commands "You shall not steal" and that goes for all people in all ages and at all times! The whole concept of stealing being sinful proves God establishes the right of individuals to own private property and that idea alone utterly destroys the basis for Marxist philosophy, economics and politics. No Christian could ever be a Marxist, the two worldviews are diametrically opposed to one another. Marxism denies the God given right to own private property, there's no more such thing as a "Christian Marxist" as there is a "Christian Atheist", you just can't be both. And yet God does command people to pay taxes to the state, how is all of this reconciled?

We must first examine what we mean by "theft". Theft is when one takes property from another without any right to it. So, for example, if I come over and take your car without your permission that would be theft, unless I had the right to take that car with or without your permission. Let's say for example I sold you that car, but instead of having the money all upfront you agreed to make payments to me until the agreed upon purchase price was met. And then let's say that you stopped paying me back. Well, that would certainly change things because I'd obviously have certain rights regarding that car. Coming for it would be within those rights even though the car is your property. That's just one example, theft is not simply taking property without consent. Theft is the unjust taking of property, it is taking property that one has no right to take without permission.

And that is the catch. According to the Bible, the government has the right to tax and therefore we owe the government a portion of our wealth in taxes. We owe it to them and it is the right of the government to claim it. Therefore, it is not theft for them to take it. Look what the Lord says (emphasis added), "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's". The Apostle Paul drills down into even greater clarity (emphasis again added), "For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."

Notice at this point we are not touching on the amount "owed". The Bible nowhere explicitly details that amount,  however there are ways to reasonably deduce a basic context regarding how to think through that particular question. It certainly can be argued that taxation can become theft at a certain point. Jesus said we are to pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and no more than that. But the point of today's post is not to figure out how much actually is "Caesar's". Today's post is to detonate this idea that taxation is in and of itself theft…it's not. That's an unbiblical position to take, so don't take it. Taxes are owed to the government and the government is right to demand what is owed from its citizens.

Tomorrow we will get into how to determine what is and is not owed, and no, the government doesn't get to simply declare what is owed. There are certainly parameters, more on that tomorrow.