Regarding 501(c)(3) Status—A Note to Pastors… This Christian Civics Primer does not endorse any political party or candidate; it meets all IRS and FEC guidelines and is appropriate for distribution in churches, synagogues, and by all 501(c)(3) organizations.
It is designed to encourage ongoing participation in shaping public policy by teaching Christians about:
1. The Biblical principles of liberty (and their application to the individual, family, church, and civil government),
2. America's Christian history and form of government,
3. Our Scriptural duties toward government, and
4. Ongoing actions we must take to secure Christian liberty for posterity.
This information is non-partisan, principle-based, may be duplicated, and is freely available at PreserveLiberty.com. ALSO, check “Vital Action Items” and “Printable Tools” links.
Christian Civics Primer: Advancing Biblical Principles
in Civil Government—A Call to Prayer and Action
Mark A. Matta, MBA
Senate District Representative (1988-1992)
Americans have been blessed with an unparalleled heritage of Christian liberty based explicitly on Biblical principles; there would be no America if there were no Christianity! For generations, Christians and their pastors understood that life, liberty, and property are secure only when Christian principles are honored in our families, churches, and civil government. Because many Christians have neglected their Scriptural duty to select God-fearing leaders in civil government (Exod. 18:21, Deut. 16:18, and 2 Sam. 23:3), we have voluntarily ceded control of the governmental “sword” (Romans 13) to anti-God and anti-family forces, resulting in marked decreases in liberty, morality, and lawfulness in America, primarily since the early 60’s.
We are the generation that will define, by our action or inaction, whether subsequent generations will continue to enjoy the light of liberty or live a thousand years of darkness under a non-Christian (totalitarian) form of civil government.
But there is hope! As Christian families, churches, and their pastors once again understand and actively work to advance Biblical principles in all three institutions created by God (family, church, and civil government), God will restore America’s liberty, morality, and lawfulness!
From a Gospel ministry perspective, America has produced much “fruit:” an estimated 80-to-85+% of the Christian missionaries and Gospel resources that have flowed to the world in the Name of Jesus Christ since America’s founding have come from the USA! America’s liberty and sovereignty are worth preserving!
“The religion that has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… to this we owe our free Constitutions of Government.” [Noah Webster, Founding Father, Author of Webster’s Dictionary, educator, he was largely responsible for Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution]
“Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?” [John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth President]
“It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.” [George Washington]
“It is the duty—as well as the privilege and interest—of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” [John Jay, First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and one of the three men most responsible for the Constitution]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Christ is the Author of All Liberty (page 2)
B. Every Religious System Begets a Form of Civil Government (page 3)
C. The Purpose of America’s Liberty (page 4)
D. Three Ongoing Actions Required to Advance Christian Liberty (page 5)
E. The Three Institutions Created by God (page 5)
F. Key Definitions (page 6)
G. Unique Christian Principles (“Biblical Blueprint”) of Liberty in America (page 6)
H. The Educational Approach of the Founders (page 9)
I. America’s Christian History and Form of Government (page 9)
J. Our Biblical DUTIES Related to Civil Government (page 10)
K. Actions of Individual Christians DETERMINE The Destiny of a Nation! (page 12)
L. Principles Against Which Leaders Should Be Measured (page 13)
M. Liberty Under Attack—WHAT’S AT STAKE? (page 14)
N. Nehemiah Approach to Working with Civil Government (page 15)
O. Effective ACTIONS STEPS to Advance Christian Principles in Government (page 16)
P. WHAT CHURCHES CAN DO To Impact Public Policy (page 16)
Q. Truth about Christian Participation in Government—Clearing Up Misconceptions (page 17)
R. Resources for Learning More (page 19)
S. Christian Liberty’s Requirements (page 20)
A. Christ is the Author of All Liberty: Know Christ, Know Liberty; No Christ, No Liberty.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” [Romans 8:2]
“Connecting the Dots” on God’s Gift of Liberty
From Genesis to Revelation, God is about liberty! From the beginning, He gave us individual sovereignty (highest authority, freedom to choose), freedom to fellowship with Him, and freedom from want!
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ ” [Genesis 2:16,17]
God gives liberty and blessing to man based on obedience to Him and His principles, yet mankind seems predisposed to break covenant and live in bondage. As Adam and Eve chose to violate God’s command, the covenant (solemn agreement) relationship with God was broken, and man was sent out from the Garden of Eden. God re-established covenant relationship with His people Israel, but they too broke the covenant (multiple times) and as a result went into bondage. However, God is a covenant-keeper to a thousand generations:
“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments…” [Deuteronomy 7:9]
Despite man’s repetitive unfaithfulness, God had already planned a new covenant to set us free from sin based on the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ:
“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” [Matthew 26:28]
From the new covenant flows spiritual liberty (freedom from sin’s control and the resulting “self-government” by the power of the Holy Spirit); this is the seed of all religious, economic, and civil liberty.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” [II Corinthians 5:17]
Old Testament law had focused on external actions and consequences:
“Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal. If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.” [Leviticus 24:17-20]
Christ emphasized internal Self-Government:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment… You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” [Matthew 5:21, 22, 27, 28]
B. Every Religious System Begets a Form of Civil Government
Ideas have consequences. All religious systems have principles which, as they are applied, produce a form of government. The Christian form of government works from internal to external (from cause to effect) based on the principle of self-government to produce the maximum liberty for each individual in society (not just a select few at the top).
1. INTERNAL LIBERTY causes the external/effect liberty (#2) below
a. Spiritual Liberty: freedom from sin's control and the resulting self-government according to God’s word (by the power of the Holy Spirit) is the seed of all liberty.
Giving one’s heart to Christ makes him a new creation, free from sin’s control.
The Gospel in a nutshell…
ü “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” [Romans 3:23]
ü “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 6:23]
ü “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:8]
ü “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” [Romans 10:13]
The effect of giving one’s heart to Christ is spiritual liberty (i.e., freedom from sin’s control) and the development of Christian character and conscience, and resulting self-government under the power of the Holy Spirit:
·“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” [John 8:32,36]
·"The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” [Romans 8:21]
·“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” [II Cor. 3:17]
·“Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” [Lev. 25:10]
(See also: James 2:12, Psalm 119:45, Isaiah 61:1, Gal. 4:31 & 5:1, Gal. 5:13, James 1:25.)
b. Liberty of Conscience: a conscience void of offence toward God and man.
Being right with God through Christ allows us to live harmoniously (without offense) toward man…
·“This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” [Acts 24:16]
(See also: Romans 9:1, I Timothy 1:5,19, & 3:9, Hebrews 13:18.)
2. EXTERNAL LIBERTY results from the internal/cause liberty above…
From the internal liberty (#1, above) flow religious, economic, civil, and political external liberty. Governments throughout history have been tyrannical, top-down, and oppressive with little freedom for the "common man." But Christ gave us a self and civil government model wherein the individual (not just a select few at the top) enjoys:
a. Religious Liberty: the freedom to worship, evangelize, educate, and disciple according to the dictates of one’s own conscience;
b. Economic Liberty: the freedom to use, possess, enjoy, and dispose of the fruits of our time, labor, ideas, reputation, or signature;
c. Civil Liberty: freedom from the arbitrary will of control of the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of civil government; and
d. Political Liberty: freedom from control of another nation.
SUMMARY: Six Kinds of God-Given Liberty[1]
Cause Gives Rise To Effect
(Unseen, invisible, internal) (Seen, visible, external)
C. The Purpose of America’s Liberty
To advance Christian self and civil government (liberty with order under law) for Providential (Gospel) purposes. Consider the fact that over 80% of Gospel and missionary resources sent out to the world in the Name of Christ over the past 200 years have come from America!
D. Three Ongoing Actions Required to Advance Christian Liberty:
What are you doing today to advance Christian Liberty?
1. Evangelism: spreading the Gospel, producing spiritual liberty* (freedom from sin’s control) and liberty of conscience*, Christian character, Christian conscience, and Christian self-government (the seed of all liberty), in those who come to Christ! These internal liberties (*above) give rise to four external liberties: religious, economic, civil, and political.
2. Equipping / Educating: passing on an understanding of Christian principles of self and civil government (page 6 ) and Scriptural duties toward civil government (page 10 ). The four steps of the Principle Approach to Education used by our nation’s Founders which enabled them to develop the three-branch system of government reasoned from Jeremiah 17:9 with structure based on Isaiah 33:22 include: Research, Reason, Relate, and Record (“4-R”)
Christians must replace ignorance and apathy with UNDERSTANDING and ACTION!
3. Political / Public Policy Participation: occupying till He comes… being salt & light… influencing “the sword” for good (Luke 19:13b; Matt. 5:13,14; Rom. 13).
a. Prayer and fasting (Neh.1), repenting for sins, and committing to keep God’s law (Neh. 9,10)
b. Action with everyone involved (Neh. 3:18+) Proactive—Long-Term—Now!
c. Battle¾girding on the sword and preparing to fight when needed (Nehemiah 4:13-18)
“The Church must take right ground in regards to politics... Politics are part of a religion in a country as this [America], and Christians must do their duty to their country as part of their duty to God... God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.” [Charles Finney, 1792-1875, one of the greatest American preachers and educators of the 19th century]
Evangelism and Liberty are Interrelated…
Church involvement in advancing Biblical principles in civil government does not detract from evangelistic efforts, rather it help ensure unobstructed future evangelism! Evangelism and liberty are interrelated. Evangelism begets liberty as those who come to Christ become self-governing (a necessary prerequisite of liberty). Liberty (religious, economic, civil, and political) creates an ideal, unrestricted opportunity for the Gospel to advance. Therefore, Christians should be involved in both areas, primarily concerned with spreading the Gospel, but also actively investing in preserving the liberty that allows Gospel dissemination to proceed unhindered.
E. The Three Institutions Created by God—A Mandate to Advance Biblical Principles in All Three…
The preservation of Christian liberty requires the advancement of Christian principles in all three institutions created by God:
1. Family / Home [Gen. 2:18, 24; Matt. 19:5-6; I Cor. 7:2; Heb. 13:4] Collective body of persons including parents, children, and as the case may be, lodgers or boarders. (Webster’s 1828) responsible to cultivate Christian character, conscience, self-government, and scholarship needed to advance liberty with law in the nation.
“No country can long endure that does not honor the ministry of the Christian home and church. And free Christian churches and homes will lose their liberty if they do not understand God’s purpose for civil government and exercise the Biblical basis for maintaining righteousness in public policies.”