I want to introduce my church to theonomy, so I wrote up a little article and passed out a few to several families. I haven’t got much feedback yet, but my pastor likes it. I printed it up as a little booklet on one page. Feel free to use this for your church. I love theonomy.

God’s Perfect Law

In our morally mixed up world, we need to know: What is right and wrong? What is truth and justice?

Ideas about truth abound. Many atheists—who of course adamantly reject God and His moral absolutes—love to speak of good and evil. They may offer a pragmatic definition of what is good, such as, “We ought to cause as little harm as possible.”

This statement reflects Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But for an atheist, wanting to cause as little harm as possible is merely a personal opinion—a belief adopted in blind faith. It is likely an atheist won’t be able to explain why he or she believes that. And if he or she has no Creator or basis for that belief, it is just as valid for another person to describe goodness this way: “We ought to cause as much harm as possible.”

World religions have unique takes on morality and justice, too. For example, there are Muslim governments that believe that cutting off a thief’s hand is a just punishment for stealing.

Most of us would say that is too harsh. But do we as Christians have anything to offer on this question besides—like the atheist—our personal opinion?

An opinion cannot be the basis for truth and justice. I believe chocolate ice cream is the best flavor, but that can be overruled by anyone whose taste buds disagree.

How, then, should we approach this topic? How do we know, for example, that adultery is evil?

Some good reasons for rejecting adultery as acceptable—such as the fact that it breaks up marriages and hurts families—certainly exist. Ultimately, though, the only reason adultery is wrong is because the Bible commands, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).

God alone determines right and wrong, good and evil. He is the only one who can establish moral absolutes. God, whose law reflects His character, loves fidelity in marriage; therefore, adultery is wrong. This is true for everyone, everywhere, past, present and future.

The law, which is detailed for us in God’s Word, provides the foundation for our individual morals—and for understanding how society should respond to good and evil.

There are some 613 laws in the Old Testament. Many of us think of the moral laws—such as but not limited to the Ten Commandments—which form the basis for biblical morality that we follow today. We think about the ceremonial laws, fulfilled by Christ’s work on the cross. (We obey the ceremonial laws by trusting Christ for our salvation.)

A final area of the law that often gets little consideration: civil law. Some Christians dismiss the civil law as irrelevant for today. But what if this portion of the law ought to be followed by all societies around the world? The implications of this notion are many—and they are perhaps shocking.

The belief that the biblical civil law is still valid today is called theonomy, which means, “God’s law.” The only alternative is autonomy (self law)—a rejection of God’s law. Theonomy is a new name for an old concept that most Christians have believed throughout history, but which has been slowly forgotten since the founding of the United States.

For example, the biblical penalty for stealing is that the thief pays restitution plus a penalty. In most cases, the thief should repay double the value of the item he stole (Exodus 22:3-4) to the victim—not the state. This punishment is God-instituted and just. Any other punishment for stealing is not just.

Theonomists can say that Muslims cutting off a thief’s hand is too harsh and unjust, and offer a valid, biblical reason—not just their opinion. They can explain to non-Christians that God has a standard for justice, good and evil, found in His Word.

Some Christians may argue that theonomy isn’t relevant because it is based only on the Old Testament. Does the New Testament have anything to say about whether the civil law is just? Hebrews 2:2 says the punishments are just. In 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Paul says the law is good if it is used lawfully. We must read the law to see how to use the law. He also says in that passage that the law conforms to the gospel.

Other believers brush theonomy aside because they believe today’s world governments are free to make up their own laws (at least as far as establishing punishments for crimes). Since the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), they say, the penalty for a crime such as stealing can be anything, up to and including death. But that doesn’t work. One of the available punishments for crimes in Old-Testament law was flogging. Judges couldn’t order more than 40 lashes (Deut. 25:1-3). While committing some crimes did lead to the death penalty, God put an upper limit on the punishment for certain crimes. His justice isn’t anything up to and including the death penalty.

On the other hand, some believers concede that the Old Testament correctly advises us of the proper punishment for stealing, but additional portions of the civil law aren’t valid or just. Other than their opinions, these individuals seem to have little basis for accepting some parts and rejecting others. Whether they intend to or not, they are setting themselves up as judge and jury over God’s law—an unwise position.

In fact, these Christians start to sound eerily similar to atheists as they mock God’s law: “Are you telling me that we should stone disobedient children, homosexuals, and adulterers? That’s ridiculous!” They may even grossly misrepresent the content of God’s law (see http://tinyurl.com/p2latv8 and http://tinyurl.com/opo5wfy). What standard are they using to claim it to be ridiculous? It is a mere opinion.

The truth is in God’s Word: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul” (Ps. 19:7).

Christians ought to admit freely that God’s law is perfectly just. The only option is to use some arbitrary standard (again, a mere opinion) to judge and reject His law. You can’t use the only absolute standard (God’s law) of justice, good, and evil to reject God’s law.

Why does theonomy matter? Should it concern you? With the current state of our society—complete with varied religious beliefs and shifting moral values—could it ever even be implemented in our lifetime?

Theonomy is important today for several reasons:

• Christians must seek the truth; what we believe affects how we live. If we believe something that is true, it will improve our lives and the lives of those around us.
• The law we obey shows who our God is. If we strictly obey the law of Washington, D.C., we are effectively claiming the U.S. government to be our god. Christians must obey God’s law and resist unjust laws.
• Even if theonomy takes generations to come to fruition, it has to start somewhere. If we use the rapture as an excuse to not work to improve society through the power of the gospel, we are misapplying that doctrine.
• Change can happen. Implementing biblical law will most likely occur by persuading individuals and implementing changes on the local level. We don’t have to convince millions of people. We just have to convince a majority at the local level and we can better resist unjust laws. And, unlike Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, we don’t have to use statistics and worldly wisdom to sway people. We will use God’s Word.

There are a lot of implications to theonomy. Some are exciting, and some are astonishing.

Many Christians consider themselves politically conservative. While biblical civil laws are largely in line with conservative beliefs, some things might surprise us. God’s law would make us so free that it would seem foreign. But if there is no biblical reason to reject a law, there is no valid reason. God’s way is best; anything else is idolatry.

Imagine a society with perfect laws. It would be free and prosperous. There would be no IRS. Property taxes and vehicle registration fees would be considered thievery. You could start and run a business without having to jump through a million ridiculous government hoops. The law would be written so that people could understand it and could carry it around in a single book. It would correspond to human nature, so that what is considered criminal would be agreed upon by society, as if it were written on our hearts. Other societies would envy the wisdom they see in our law, desire it for themselves, and praise God for what they see (Deut. 4:6-8).

If God’s law was just in Old Testament times, there is nothing that has changed that would make it unjust. If it is just, then it is obligatory to all world governments today.

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18).

Obviously this is only a bare introduction to the topic. I can recommend some books and websites:

• Restoring America One County at a Time by Joel McDurmon
• Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Greg Bahnsen
• AmericanVision.org
• BojidarMarinov.com

I look forward to discussing this and growing in knowledge of God’s Word and application of it.