Bravado vs Rule of Law

I am utterly amazed at the bravado of those that would call for violent resistance to the federal government. Many of those same people that voice such bravado.....turn around and literally cower in fear over the thought of using the lawful, peaceful, Constitutional process given to us by the framers in Article V in order for the states to amend the Constitution and rein in the staggering power drunken federal Leviathan. The bravado on one hand and the sheer cowardice on the other....betrays a disconnect...or a fraud.

For those of you reading this that claim Christ....you have nowhere to go on this. Perhaps you think that a rather assuming perhaps even arrogant position. Permit me to explain. If you claim to be under Biblical authority….as do those of us that claim Christ…you are duty bound to follow the Rule of Law as long as you have recourse under the Rule of Law. Romans 13 tells those that claim Christ that they are to obey the governing authorities. There is no ambiguity there, it is a crystal clear command. Unfortunately, there is mass ignorance as to who that governing authority is in our country. For decades now, the Church has suffered from erroneous or no teaching on Romans 13. Let’s go through this piece by piece. Unlike most other countries around the world, certainly outside the west…the governing authority in the United States of America is not a human....the governing authority in the United States is the Rule of Law. The great reformer Samuel Rutherford wrote about this in his work titled “Lex Rex”, Latin for law is king. Rutherford wrote about the Biblical principle that Law should be King, not the other way around as was the prevailing political philosophy of his day where the King was Law (Rex Lex). A radical concept in the mid 1600s….radical enough to cause you to lose your head under your King.

Indeed it is clear that God infused the minds of many of the founders / framers with the understanding that because of the Biblical doctrine of the Depravity of Man, civil government under a Biblical Worldview would involve setting law above men. That is precisely what our founders did with the United States Constitution. Every federal elected official and every member of the Armed Forces takes an oath to that document. Now before anyone misunderstands....I will remind you that for the one who claims Christ, our ultimate governing authority is the Word of God. That said, we do not live in a theocracy, we live under a Constitutional Republic where the Rule of Law (Lex Rex) is set above the Rule of Men (Rex Lex) in order to protect the people from despots and tyrants. Unfortunately, the people that ought to have the most interest in protecting this (The Church) since we were blessed to inherit this radical, Biblical form of civil government, unfortunately we have been left in the dark on these principles and Truths due to a vacuum in training from the Church….for various reasons that I will not go into here. We have been asleep at the wheel for so long, we know see a growing “soft tyranny” to use the words of radio talk show host Mark Levin.

Therefore, under Romans 13, the Christian is duty bound to follow the Rule of Law and our Constitution. That means before following ANY idea that is outside the Rule of Law, the Christian is duty bound to use all recourse UNDER the Rule of Law. Many people will bring up the founders and the American Revolution to refute this, but they show a lack of historical perspective. The founders had no option under the Rule of Law; there was no rule of law. They were under tyranny with no recourse under a “Rule of Law”….which is instructive in and of itself to understand what they did when they set up a governing manual based upon a law higher than men.

Which brings us full circle back to Article V of the United States Constitution. Under the Rule of Law in the United States of America today, there is a lawful, peaceful, Constitutional (think Rule of Law) available to us that has never been exercised. Now this does not mean that the Christian that does not think that the use of a Convention of States is a good idea is somehow being sinful, that is NOT what I am saying at all. Honest people can disagree. However I take great issue if the opposition is based on fear rather than reason….which defines about 99% of the oppositions today…but I digress. What I am saying is that if you claim Christ and you advocate for ANY solution outside the Rule of Law BEFORE utilizing the solution INSIDE the Rule of Law….then yes….you are clearly way out of bounds. SHAME on any believer that would advocate for going outside the boundaries of the Rule of Law and advocating for any solution that clearly today would lead to violence….shame on them for doing so before exhausting all lawful, peaceful, Constitutional options that God has blessed us with.

The Article V Convention of States is not an easy solution. I heard one so called conservative leader the other day state that using it was wrong because we (those of us involved) think it is a “quick fix”. That statement alone told me volumes about this individual and that he has never taken the time to even look at the process to amend the Constitution in either mode of Article V nor has he taken the time to perform due diligence on the Convention of States Project itself. This is no “quick fix”….I tell everyone that gets involved with the Convention of States Project that the framers intentionally made the amendment process very difficult…and for good reason…they did not want our governing document amended on the whims of just a few people. Therefore it takes VERY broad consensus across the nation to get an amendment proposed through either mode much less run the gauntlet of 38 states ratifying any proposed amendment. This effort is probably the most difficult political effort in our nation’s history since the founding era. Indeed, if God grants us favor…and we are successful….it will be the greatest single historical event in our nation’s history since the founding era.

If you desire to learn more about the Biblical Worldview of civil government in order to be able to better connect the dots between your faith and our Constitution, just click on the image below and send the website link to your pastor. I would be more than happy to bring the course series I specifically developed to teach these principles into your church if your pastor is willing.

Christian Worldview Studies: The United States Constitution and American Government

God is in Control

Have you ever heard or had another Christian (or even a non Christian) say to you "God is in control"?  Those words of truth can be reassuring and comforting words of reminder to us when we are overcome by the heaviness of our circumstances. Make no mistake about it...the scriptures are replete with the testimony that those words are indeed the absolute Truth. Indeed the God of the universe is in complete control.

I bring this up because of the amount of times I hear those words stated to me in relation to my passion to encourage Christians to be, at a minimum...cognizant of what is going on in their nation, if not much more engaged in pursuing a minimum understanding of how our government is designed to work under the Constitution. The statement "God is in control" is not used so much to relate its truth, as it is as some sort of message to silence those that are engaged. I am convinced that it also is used many times to relieve oneself of his/her responsibility to be engaged.

Let's try this on for size...how many people that use that phrase are apt to let go of the steering wheel on their vehicle as they are driving around town? After all, "God IS in control"...right?  Are you not trusting of God enough to "let go and let God" when it comes to the steering wheel of your vehicle as you hurtle down the road navigating turns, lanes of traffic, and intersections?? After all God is in control....why "worry", He will take care of everything for you!

You say, "come on Bob, that's way different, and your being silly and making a ridiculous comparison....you can't just let go of your steering wheel on your car, it's a machine...and after all Bob, you got into the car of your own mind, God would expect you to keep your hands on the wheel".  All true.  I couldn't agree more.

But let me show you why you're telling me the EXACT same thing when you tell me not to "worry" about what is going on in our country, because God is in control.  I would be the first to agree with you again, that as Christians, we never have to "worry".  We serve a God that we know IS in control.  However, just as you would not let go of the steering wheel of your vehicle as you drive down the road, why would you let go of the "steering wheel" of your government? Both the vehicle and our government are designed to operate with people at the controls. Just as you would never quit steering your car as you go down the road, why would you think you could quit "steering" our government which was actually designed for much more input from you than the few corrections you make on your steering wheel as you navigate the streets and highways.

Permit me to take this illustration a few steps further. Any sensible driver will pay at least minimum attention to the gauges on the dashboard to see if everything is running ok.  Why would you not pay attention to the "gauges" on the dashboard of our government to make sure that everything is operating within the parameters of the design manual?

God is indeed in control. He left us here on earth specifically to "operate" and make a difference in His Kingdom until he returns, so let's keep our eyes on the gauges and our hands on the wheel.