Using the ARP Westminster Confession of Faith As a Template For Moving Forward
Good Morning,
Last week as we continued to talk about what a Christian’s relationship to politics should be I made mention of what our denomination, my denomination, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church testifies to in our version of the Westminster Confession of Faith. A confession for those who may be kind of raising an eyebrow at the moment are an agreed upon summary of what we believe the Bible to teach. But why should we codify that? Let me take a second to say something about why confessions matter. You and I need to think through what we believe. We can’t just be “Bible and me” type people. To say the Scriptures are the only guide means us as individuals are in charge of figuring out how the word of God works. I’m not smart enough to do that on my own. We rely on the wisdom of community gathered together in a document like a confession to help us in discerning truth for all of life.
Those of you reading may not know that the Westminster Confession of Faith that we in the ARP have as our own differs on the subject of political affairs from what some other Presbyterian churches have, especially the PCA and the OPC. The twenty-third chapter, and to a lesser extent the twentieth and the thirty-first chapters each in their way inform how we as believers should think about the role God has in mind for government. For the courthouse to have a play in the life of the church and the society-at-large can be a little scary. It is my opinion that we don’t spend enough time thinking about why our Lord would have there be civil authorities at all, and especially in how they should relate to us as Christians, or how we relate to them. For our prayer and worship help today we are going to use our confession as a start so that some of the fear can be taken away. The third section of the ARP WCF 23 says this:
The civil magistrate may not assume to himself administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; yet, as the gospel revelation lays indispensable obligations upon all classes of peoples who are favored with it, magistrates as such, are bound to execute their respective offices in a subserviency thereunto, administering government on Christian principles, and ruling in the fear of God, according to the directions of his word; as those who shall give an account to the Lord Jesus, whom God has appointed to be judge of the world. Hence magistrates, as such in a Christian country, are bound to promote the Christian religion, as the most valuable interest of their subjects, by all such means as are not inconsistent with civil rights; and do not imply an interference in the policy of the church, which is the free and independent kingdom of the Redeemer, nor an assumption of dominion over conscience.
A few things to kick this off. First of all notice how the above uses the term gospel revelation. What that means is not so much the gospel as the way of salvation, but the Bible itself in light of the kingship of Jesus Christ. His rule as Sovereign includes the fact that all people, but especially those in positions of leadership in home, church, and state must follow the law as revealed in the Fifth Commandment. No one gets out of that responsibility just because you happen to be a mayor or a governor or even a president. Everyone in an authoritative role should listen to what our Lord has to say and then provide care for those under them in an equitable and honest manner for their benefit. We believe that the Christian faith is for the betterment of all people, regardless of whether they trust in the Redeemer. As the paragraph makes clear no one thinks the leader of the free world is the chief priest or pastor of a nation. He is not to proclaim the gospel anymore than he is to oversee some kind of countrywide taking of the Lord’s Supper. That is not his job. So how then is he to enforce Christian principles?
Good question.
Traditionally Presbyterians have understood that part of the call of a civil magistrate is to ensure that there is structure in his kingdom and that the church is protected and provided for. This means law and order is the rule of the day. Petty crime and lawlessness has as much to do with problems related to life for the believer as anything else. We shouldn’t overlook basic competence from our leaders. Being able to do the job matters. In one sense we’d probably rather live in a country where the leader us non-Christian personally but grants us an ability to meet, worship, and preach and are then not hindered by any enemy, foreign or domestic rather than have a man who has asked Jesus into his heart who can’t run a one-handed clapping machine.
That’s part of the plea of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2. That is all Cyrus offers when he sends the Israelites back to the land after the Babylonian captivity, and that is really the basics of what we need and should expect from those in positions of political power. In many ways when the church has a Cyrus and is free to be itself we should be thankful, but that doesn’t mean we should not desire then to have what the WCF 23.3 assumes should be the norm. Our prayers for Cyrus should include that he might become a Nebuchadnezzer. Daniel 4 is a beautiful witness to what happens when Christians by hope live out their biblical faith quietly and show that being a believer actually matters. Often the real solution to gaining a Christian Magistrate and a Christian Nation is to do Christian things, and to do them in a way that makes being a Christian attractive for those who are weary and heavy laden. It was this kind of evangelism that brought much of pagan Europe to its knees. It’s hard to worship Odin when Jesus is right there in love.
In closing, as we take time to wrap up this season of our Tuesday devotion well we are going to camp out on some of the ideas we’ve started to think through. Getting our heads around exactly how we go about Christianizing things means not biting off more than we can chew. It also means having a right perspective on what has to happen. I say all the time we often have not because we ask not. We make half-hearted requests for prayer but do not then gather together with the church to see it happen in bulk. It’s hard to Christianize the nation when we struggle so much to Christianize the church. Let’s get that going first, and the rest will take care of itself.
One more for the road:
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church
