Last week we discussed the fact that there is no neutrality in life; as Jesus said in Luke 11:23 that we are all either “for Me or against Me.”
This is true in EVERY AREA of life, including civil government, i.e., POLITICS! This is an “inconvenient truth” which a huge percentage of our evangelical churches either ignore or resist. When was the last time you heard a pastor preach a sermon on the biblical characteristics of civil government, followed by a discussion on which candidate for public office best advocates policies that make him the most qualified candidate?
Of course, you have never heard such a thing, because preachers all know that it is illegal and explicitly unconstitutional to promote a political candidate in church in our politically pluralistic nation. What a tragedy!, In all other areas besides religion, our Constitution is diamonds!. For example, even our three, distinct branches of government were taken straight from the Bible by our founders: “For the LORD is our judge (judicial); the LORD is our lawgiver (legislative); the LORD is our king (executive); He will save us“ (Isaiah 33:22).
I believe that these three, simple changes in the Constitution will completely alleviate what, I believe, will be an eventually fatal problem:
Revision #1 – A federal Constitution Preamble that states the necessary truths that will follow in the body of the document. Each of the state constitutions would begin with the same general statement as this one, but applied to the state instead of the nation:.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, hereby acknowledge that Jesus Christ rules over this nation as our legitimate sovereign Lord and King from His place of authority at God’s right hand. We recognize that He and His law in the Bible are the source of all justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare and liberty for ourselves and our posterity. We ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Revision #2 – Currently, Article 6, Section 3 of the Constitution says:
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” This would be changed to read:
“All office holders, both Federal and State, must be United States citizens who have subscribed to a Trinitarian oath and be a member in good standing of the national church in order to hold any office or public trust under the United States.” The “national church” is any Trinitarian Christian church that subscribes to the Apostle’s Creed and has an accountable membership.
Revision #3 – The First Amendment of the Constitution currently begins with: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” That would be changed to read:
“Congress shall make no law restricting the establishment of the Trinitarian Christian religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; the establishment of all other religions is prohibited.”
These proposed amendments are not, obviously, a final word on a model for a biblical constitution. My goal is simply to introduce ideas that will open discussion and help us to begin to think biblically about the United States Constitution, rather than simply accepting our current document as infallible and permanent.
I fully realize that the ideas I have proposed will be viewed by some as unworkable, impractical and impossible, even the thoughts of a madman! However, I have lived long enough to have seen our society in America change radically.
I know that cultural change is inevitable, and we are invariably resistant to that change, as we should be if change takes us away from God’s ways. On the other hand, the changes I am proposing are an attempt to take us closer to the pattern for civil government that God has revealed to us in the Scripture. I am offering a biblical vision for our future as a nation, which every Christian can begin to think about, discuss, and develop.
For those who want to study this in more detail, click on this link to give you a free PDF copy of my 75-page book , Let Earth Receive Her King!
