Christians and Public Policy – The Law of God and Public Policy

Christians and Public Policy
The Law of God and Public Policy

The spirit of the Law is demonstrated in works of justice and love.

“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear, only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.” Exodus 21:18, 19

The Law demands justice, but it guides us in the practice of mercy, generosity, compassion, and selflessness. We are practicing the spirit of the Law when its words lead us to show such neighbor-love to the people around us.

Christians take up the Law of God as a holy and righteous and good standard for following Jesus in bringing justice and neighbor-love to their communities (Rom. 7:12; 1 John 2:1-6). They do not require acts of Congress or local commissions to move them to follow the Spirit of God as He teaches and empowers them to live out the spirit of God’s Law.

At the same time, they recognize that just public policy requires strictures and sanctions; not all people in our community have the Spirit of Christ. If the goodness and benefits of God’s Law are to extend to all the members of our community, that servant for good which God has appointed (Rom. 13:1-5) will need to draw on God’s Law to help in determining which policies are most likely to maintain the balance of justice and neighbor-love in the community.

The duty of the Christian community is to show the way to justice and neighbor-love and to work for public policies that will enable government to mirror the words and spirit of the Law of God. Especially in a democratic society such as ours, this is an essential part of what believers owe to Caesar.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.