Someone noted something to the effect that church groups can be classified based on what Scriptures they tend to quote; specifically, in Reformation times the Protestant reformers leaned more toward the epistles of Paul, while the Anabaptists leaned more toward the Gospels. Today, this method of classification has not necessarily become as obsolete as one might think at first glance. Some groups which descended from the Anabaptists still draw much of their doctrine from the Gospels, and much of Protestant doctrine is still drawn from Paul.

Recently we’ve received calls to political action from several different organizations with religious ties, urging us to become involved in the political battle for “freedom.” As this call is likely to intensify, and we will be pressured more and more to involve ourselves in politics, it may be good for us to study the Scripture, specifically the New Testament, to see what plan God has for His church regarding politics.

This article is part of a series.

In the previous articles in this series, I’ve covered how the New Testament cannot be taken at face value, and still justify the idea of a Christian nation; it does not conform to the idea of Christians improving politics. In this article I want to explore further along these same lines.

Let’s look first at Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:38-45) These commands basically assume that Christians will not be involved in politics, because these commands can hardly produce an effective government, which is “a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Romans 13:4)

This article is part of a series.

In the last article I briefly addressed the impossibility of a “Christian nation.” In this article I would like to do a more in-depth study on this possibility. As I mentioned in the last article, the most important problem with “Christian” nations is that Christianity has no commands for nations, no guidance for government. The Old Testament certainly has commands for the nation of Israel; however, these rules are specific to this nation and do not transfer to other nations. One example of this is found in the issue of divorce. We find another in the commands regarding the cities of refuge. Numbers 35:14 says, “Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.” Certainly not every nation can have three cities on either side of the Jordan River, and it probably wouldn’t fulfill the purpose of the cities of refuge even for some of the nations that could—the cities would be too close together or too far apart.

This article is part of a series.

In the Old Testament, people were not expected to be completely focused on God to be a member of God’s Kingdom; after all, beyond a few issues, God’s Law did not actually cover much of a person’s life, unless he happened to be a priest, Levite, or prophet. Those who were not in these groups, yet wanted to live in a way that was more focused on God than the ordinary, could become a Nazarite, but this tended to be a temporary thing, performed only for a specified period. Evangelism outside the Israelite nation appears to have hardly even been considered. Many of those who wanted to live a life of service to God may have seen only one remaining option—enter the national scene, in government or the army.

Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) It’s easy for us to think of serving mammon as trying to get rich; then the verse does not apply to us because “trying to get rich” seems like something for Bill Gates, or John Rockefeller, or Andrew Carnegie, not us—we feel that we’re just “making a living” or “working toward a goal.” And maybe we are.

This article is part of a series.

In the last article in this series, I discussed how religion was linked to the nation in Old Covenant Israel. The true religion was tied to Israel, and it was disadvantageous to be a Gentile. In the New Covenant, however, the true religion is decoupled from the state. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Paul is saying here that now the people of God no longer have a national identity; rather, they are distributed throughout the nations of the world. Their identity is in Christ instead of their country. “But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” (Acts 10:35)

In my article Peace on Earth, I discussed Jesus’ words, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34) Immediately after this pronouncement, He explains some of the division that His gospel would cause. “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:35-36) Following this, He tells us the cost of Christianity.

This article is part of a series.

God gave Old Testament Israel the Law, His commands for them to follow. The Law basically seems to consist of two different parts, the national law for Israel as a nation, and the personal law for each follower of God in the nation (and also for those of other nations who would follow God with the Israelites).

This is the first article in a series on the Kingdom of God.

The “Lord’s Prayer” contains a beautiful expression of our desire for revival, both in our lives and in the church, when it says, “Thy kingdom come.” Revival is simply the time when we enter the kingdom of God, and revival continues as we continue to live in the kingdom. “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The Pharisees hoped for a physical kingdom, a visible realm with government and territory. But Jesus explained that the true kingdom would not come this way. It would not be seen, but would consist of people whose lives God had quickened, people who had found revival.