Vol
12 Edition 3, Forth Quarter 2002
Who
Makes the Rules - God or Men?
The Quest for Supremacy
In any culture the source of law is the god of that society.1
In the Bible, God says "I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You
shall have no other gods before Me." 2
In the South African Constitution man says, "This Constitution
is the supreme law of the Republic; law or conduct inconsistent
with it is invalid, and the obligations imposed by it must
be fulfilled." 3
The
Bible consists of 66 books written by 40 prophets and
apostles over 1 500 years in 3 languages on 3 continents.4
The South African Constitution was written by about 490
people, taking about 3 years, in one language.5
The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Constitution
is the collective wisdom and compromises of conflicting
political parties and lobby groups.
Which should be supreme?
A Matter of Principles
God's
Law is Unchangeable
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son
of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak
and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
Numbers 23:19
"Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change
like shifting shadows." James 1:17
"Jesus said 'Do not think that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them.'" Matthew 5:17
Applying God's Law will lead to Justice
God's promised One will establish His Law - "He will
not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice
on earth. In His Law the islands will put their hope."
Isaiah 42:4
God's Law sets the standard for justice. Rulers must pay
careful attention to it.
"When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to
write for himself on a scroll a copy of this Law, taken
from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be
with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life
so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow
carefully all the words of this Law and these decrees
and not consider himself better than his brothers and
turn from the Law to the right or to the left. Then he
and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom
in Israel." Deuteronomy 17:18-20
Blessings come from obeying God's Law - and curses follow
if we do not.
"If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully
follow all His commands I give you today, the LORD your
God will set you high above all the nations on earth."
Deuteronomy 28:1
Solomon's
wisdom to apply justice was acknowledged as being from
God (I Kings 3:28). A pagan king even commanded Ezra to
administer justice by applying God's Law (Ezra 7:25).
God has the rights - man has the duties
God is the Creator and His rights include worship and
praise6, the earth and all property7
and the obedience of all people and nations.8
Man has the responsibility to worship, praise and obey
God. Man is set as a steward over the creation.9
As God's Laws are applied, evildoers are punished and
law-abiding men's interests are protected.
Why Should Christians Get Involved?
1. Salt of the Earth, Light of the World
We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.10
If Christians refuse to be involved, the world will be
in darkness and decay.
2. Administering Justice is a sign of Faith
"… Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel
and the prophets … through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice, and gained what was promised"
Hebrews 11:32-33
3. We don't want to be least …
"Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be called least
in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of
Heaven."
Matthew 5:19
4. God's Law is a tool of evangelism
"See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD
my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the
land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe
them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding
to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees
and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people.'" Deuteronomy 4:5-6
"Listen to Me, My people; hear Me, My nation: The
Law will go out from Me; My justice will become a light
to the nations." Isaiah 51:4
5. To Live in Peace, with God's Blessing
"When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
but terror to evildoers." Proverbs 21:15
"Evil men do not understand justice, but those who
seek the LORD understand it fully." Proverbs 28:5
6. The World Can't Figure it Out
We have the revealed truth of God. Sinful man cannot "naturally"
figure out what's right and what's wrong. Right and wrong
are reliably defined in God's Word - we need to use it!
7. If we don't …"
In the last century, few Christians have insisted that
all legal systems must be founded on God's Law. As a result,
in South Africa we see:
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The justice system is a very complex mix of Roman-Dutch
law, principles decided by the courts, laws made
by parliament, constitutional law and even indigenous
law. It's too complex, unpredictable and contradictory
for the man on the street to know, understand or
expect justice. |
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The
justice system is inaccessible to the poor because
of its complexity. Expensive lawyers are also required
in many cases and so poor people do not have justice. |
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The
emphasis is on procedure, not justice, and so the
guilty are being acquitted on "technical grounds". |
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It's
normally not worth the effort to try to get criminals
to pay for the damage they have done. |
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Some
offences "prescribe" (they are no longer
prosecuted if too much time has passed since they
were committed) and so justice is not done. |
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It takes a very long time for cases to come to court,
and trials can also be long. |
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There
is bribery and corruption in the system - dockets
are lost and criminals escape. |
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Without
the death penalty, career criminals have no fear
for their lives from the "justice" system
. |
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Rebellion
and abominations are now being promoted as just
e.g. homosexual co-adoption and "marriage"
and the legalisation of prostitution is proposed. |
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In
divorces, the innocent party can be financially
penalised and lose custody of the children to the
adulterous party. |
But How would it Work?
God has told us that men entrusted to implement His justice
have to know His Law, be capable and fear Him.
"Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the
way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select
capable men from all the people - men who fear God, trustworthy
men who hate dishonest gain - and appoint them as
officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens."
Exodus 18:20-21
There would be many judges in this system, and
so justice would be accessible to people in their local
area. Interestingly, in South Africa, there are informal
justice systems (makgotlas) that work on this principle
to provide justice to those who find the courts inaccessible.
God is very concerned that the poor not be denied justice.11
If a person thinks they have not received justice, they
can appeal upwards.
But it's not enough for just the judges to know the law
- everyone needs to know God's standard of right
and wrong. To ensure that this would happen, the Israelites
were commanded to come together as a nation every seven
years and read the whole Law so that everyone would know
it and fear God (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).
Applying God's Law to murder, we see that deliberate
murder is to be punished with the death penalty.12
However this is not required for accidental killing.
For theft, a thief had to pay back 2 to 5 times
what he had stolen - to the victim, not the state.13
Of course, many thieves don't have money. The Bible makes
provision for debt service - the thief's future labour
can be sold to the highest bidder. This is in conflict
with the South African constitution, which says no one
may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour
(section 13). As Christians, are we going to believe God's
Word or the South African constitution? Which provides
justice - to both the criminal and the victim?
Two or three witnesses would be required to establish
each matter.14 The penalty for lying
in a court case was very severe - the false witness would
receive the sentence the man he was trying to harm would
have received.15
Much more could be (and has been) written on applying
Biblical Law today - as the Psalmist said in the longest
Psalm in the Bible:
"To all perfection I see a limit; but Your commands
are boundless. Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on
it all day long." Psalm 119:96-97
We need to remember that we will never have perfection
on earth, even if we apply Biblical Law. We are limited
and will not be able to establish some matters because
two or three witnesses are required. However, we can trust
that on Judgement Day, all matters will be judged with
perfect justice.
"The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials
and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgement,
while continuing their punishment." 2 Peter 2:9
"Your Kingdom Come …"
How do we get from our Godless legal chaos to a Godly
ordered system?
Study the Bible - how many times have you read
through the Bible? Do you read through the whole Bible,
or only the bits you like? Start reading systematically
through the Bible (if you read 4 chapters each day you'll
get through the Bible in less than a year).
"Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous
Laws. Great peace have they who love Your Law, and nothing
can make them stumble." Psalm 119:164-165
As we study the Bible, we will see how far from God's
plan we are. We need to pray prayers of repentance,
for God's forgiveness, insight and victory.
"'Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace
cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both
we and our fathers; from our youth till this day we have
not obeyed the LORD our God.' 'If you will return, O Israel,
return to Me,' declares the LORD. 'If you put your detestable
idols out of My sight and no longer go astray, and if
in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely
as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by
Him and in Him they will glory.'" Jeremiah 3:25-4:2
Read good books - who needs to incessantly watch
TV anyway? See the back page for reviews of some great
books - buy them for yourself and your family for Christmas.
Implement Biblical principles in your family. For
example, make restitution to (repay) those you wrong,
and teach your children to do so too. When disciplining
your children, teach them the Law of God and make sure
that the punishment for crime is swiftly carried out!16
Use your church to decide disputes between believers.
"If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he
take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before
the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge
the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you
not competent to judge trivial cases?" 1 Corinthians
6:1-2
To do this, your church needs to implement Biblical
discipline. She must cleanse Herself of those who
will not submit to God's standards.
"But now I am writing you that you must not associate
with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually
immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard
or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat."
1 Corinthians 5:11
Victory Guaranteed!
In Psalm 2 we read how the nations try to throw off God's
rule. He rebukes them, because Jesus is God's anointed
Ruler, and all things will be put under His feet. Wise
nations will obey God and take refuge in Him. Psalm 110
describes how all of Jesus's enemies are to be made into
a footstool for His feet.
"In His days the righteous will flourish; prosperity
will abound till the moon is no more. He will rule from
sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The desert tribes will bow before Him and His enemies
will lick the dust." Psalm 72:7-9
"The only reason why the Devil is so often winning,
is that the Church is so seldom fighting!"17
"He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the
Law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach
their children, so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would
tell their children. Then they would put their trust in
God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His
commands." Psalm 78:5-7
Jeanine
McGill
National Co-ordinator
Recommended
Websites
Christian Liberty Books (a great selection of books available)
- www.christianlibertybooks.co.za
Over 900 Christian Reconstruction books and articles,
downloadable for FREE at www.freebooks.com
Chalcedon - the relationship of Christian Faith to the
World www.chalcedon.edu
Douglas Shaw - legal questions answered www.dougieshaw.com/lawspecifics.html
Frontline Fellowship - www.frontline.org.za
1. Rousas John Rushdoony, "The Institutes
of Biblical Law, Volume 1", p4, The Craig Press,
1973.
2. Exodus 20:2-3
3. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996,
Chapter 1, Section 2.
4. Dr. Peter Hammond, "The Great Commission Manual",
p55, Christian Liberty Books, 1998.
5. South African Institute of Race Relations, "South
Africa Survey, 1996/1997".
6. Romans 1:21
7. Psalm 24:1-2
8. Genesis 49:10, Revelation 17:14, Ephesians 1:20-22
9. Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 9:1-7
10. Matthew 5:13
11. Exodus 23:6, Leviticus 19:15, Psalm 140:12, Proverbs
29:7, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Isaiah 10:2, 11:4, Ezekiel 22:29,
Amos 2:7, 5:12
12. Exodus 21:12-17
13. Exodus 22:1-15
14.. Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Numbers 35:30, Matthew 18:16,
2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Hebrews 10:28
15. Deuteronomy 19:16-21
16. Ecclesiastes 8:11
17. Peter Hammond, "Faith in Action", 1989
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For
more information and resources contact:
AFRICA CHRISTIAN ACTION
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