Those who believe in theonomy frighten me... the Bible gives zero indication that God's law should be forced on non-Christians against their will...
I'm sorry I frighten you Hazelelponi but I assure you God's word should be brought to bear on every aspect of life including society. Modern evangelicals including Calvinists seem to forget the Second Use of the Law (I blame the influence of Dispensational Premillennialism) and neglect to influence culture scripturally. A note from the Reformation Study edited by Sproul, "A second function, the “civil use,” is to restrain evil. Though the law cannot change the heart, it can to some extent inhibit lawlessness by its threats of judgement, especially when backed by a civil code that administers punishment for proven offenses (
Deut. 13:6-11;
19:16-21;
Rom. 13:3,
4). Thus it secures civil order, and serves to protect the righteous from the unjust."
So, you would rather secularist society continue to abort babies? By giving up the public square you are essentially removing Christianity from society which is a secular belief, not a Christian one.
"One use of the law is, to inform us of the mind and will of God; it is a transcript of his holy nature and unchangeable will; and therefore is itself
holy just and good,(Romans 7:12) as it must needs be, since it comes from him; it teaches us
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God; it points out to us our duty both to God and man; what should be done or not done by us; it directs us to
love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength; and to love our neighbour as ourselves; which, in a few words, contain the sum and substance of it.
Another use of the law is, to convince of sin:
for by the law is the knowledge of sin; (Romans 3:20) of sin original and actual, of the sin of our hearts and nature, as well as of the sin of our lips, lives and actions:
I had not known sin, says the apostle
but by the law: for I had not known lust, that is, known it to, be a sin, and sinful, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (Romans 7:7) Not that the law can or does of itself, really and thoroughly, spiritually and savingly, convince of sin; for this is the work of the Spirit of God: but then the Spirit of God makes use of the law to work in men thorough convictions of their sinful, lost, and miserable condition by nature.
Again; Another use of the law, not made void by the doctrine of faith, is, to be as a glass to believers themselves; to behold therein by the light of the divine Spirit, the deformity of their souls by sin, and the imperfection of their obedience; whereby they grow out of love with themselves, and quit all dependence on their own righteousness for justification. So the apostle
Paul, comparing himself, his heart and services, with the pure and holy law of God, thus expresses himself;
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14) In this view of things the psalmist
David was able to make such an observation as this;
I have seen an end of all perfection: thy commandment is exceeding broad; (Psalm 119:96) that is ” I see that the law of God is so large and broad, and my obedience to it so short of it, and so imperfect, that I despair of ever attaining perfection by the deeds of it.” It was, no doubt by the light of the Spirit, and as beholding herself in the glass of the law, that the church saw, and so said, that her
righteousness was as filthy rags, and herself
as an unclean thing. (Isaiah 64:6) Hence,
There is a farther use of the law to believers, and that is, to make the righteousness of Christ more dear and valuable to them for when they see how imperfect their own righteousness is, and how far short of the demands of the righteous law of God their obedience comes; and when they behold what an everlasting righteousness Christ has brought in; how perfect it is in itself, and how agreeable to the law; insomuch that it is not only fulfilled by it, but magnified and made honourable; they are at once delighted with it, fix upon it, and desire
to be found in Christ not having their own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ; the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)" - John Gill
Please keep in mind that scripture places everyone under a covenant. Believers are under the New Covenant of Grace while unbelievers are condemned by the old covenant of Law, either way, we are in covenant to God. Without this understanding Romans 2 makes little sense. It would also invalidate the Cross, Christ died on the Cross as a substitutionary atonement for our Law breaking, it makes little sense to say there is no Law under which unbelievers will be condemned what you have to do is bring those ideas together. Law and Grace are not enemies to the Christian only to unrepentant sinners.
While the Christian has a King (Jesus the Messiah) and are citizens of His Kingdom, the Gospel is to be shared in love, not forced.
No one is taking about forcing non-Christians to 'believe' the Gospel and you, as a confessed Calvinist should know better. The Law restrains evil and not does force conversion. You are relying on a theonomistic bogeyman trope and in so doing prefer unbelievers to 'force' their beliefs on us.
Paul the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 that we need not concern ourselves with the actions of those outside the church, but rather, our job is to make sure we are minding how we, as Christians, are following the examples before us in Christ and the Apostles, with the aid of God's Holy Spirit. In short - let the church judge the church. Those outside the church is God's purview alone, short of us sharing the Gospel in love as we show a living faith to the world through our actions.
You are misusing the passage. Paul is explaining how sexual immorality affects the church, he is concerned with the holiness of the church, not that we shouldn't concern ourselves with the actions of the world because Paul judges them as sinners in the very passage! Paul names societies sins but that isn't the point of the passage.
Democracy is found nowhere in Scripture, so it's difficult to say what our responsibility as Christians is here other than to vote according to our own conscious, allowing faith to guide us without becoming the Christian version of Da'esh...
'Let our conscience be your guide.' - Jiminy Cricket
Your conscience needs to be informed with scripture and even the unbelieving, pagan, unrepentant sinner can have the Law brought to bear on their conscience so they will be guided rightly. What frightens me is how many Christians fail to understanding that in denying the Third Use of the Law they have allowed a multitude of sins into the public square but, 'how dare we infringe upon someones conscience!' We should make abortion illegal even if the parents are committing murder. See my point?
I do think this is something every true Christian should discuss in this hour, as it's important for us to make biblical decisions now in our hour of trial.
We have allowed the secularists the place we use to inhabit and God is judging us for it. The Gates of Hell will not prevail but that doesn't mean 'Merica only' but the church in general. We have been unfaithful with what we have been given.
But Christ's Kingdom is not of this world, setting one up in His name seems to me to be a false understanding of Scripture that ends only in sin.
The Bible asserts that Christ is enthroned now and is ruling and reigning now, Christ is King over Heaven
AND earth. That means the fulfillment of this prayer found in Psalm 72 takes place
in history, that Christ is fulfilling His promises now. Because the Gospel has gone into literally all the world the world is a better place. Why? Because the Gospel influences where it takes root and that means it shows up in real, tangible ways. With the spread of Christianity due to the Missions Movement poverty is down, education is up, GMO's are helping to solve the world hunger problem and yes, the Gospel is being accepted and preached throughout the world.
Remember, "on earth as it is in heaven..."
I'll watch your video later, and then we can discuss exact points.
Yours in the Lord,
jm