Gospel-Friendly – The Law of God and Public Policy

Gospel-Friendly
The Law of God and Public Policy

Christians must be vigilant on behalf of religious freedom.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 1 Timothy 1:1, 2

Paul adds a fourth criterion of the good society: It is friendly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “This is good,” the Apostle observes, and therefore it is the duty of government, which is God’s servant for good, to ensure through public policy an environment in which the Gospel can flourish for the benefit of all.

Here we venture into the realm of freedom of religion, which our Constitution guarantees, at least for the present.

An environment hospitable to the Gospel does not just “happen.” Nor does it continue apart from continuous vigilance on the part of those who understand the true nature and importance of religious freedom. Indeed, as Paul indicates in Romans 1:18-32, the natural tendency of humankind, once God is rejected and replaced with idols of various kinds, is to drift further and further from the kind of moral environment which the Gospel finds hospitable to one in which the Gospel is regarded as an enemy of human “freedom.”

No one is going to come to our defense in working to maintain the religious liberty our Founders inscribed in the Bill of Rights. Christians must work to ensure that the government which serves them remains friendly, not just to “religion” in general or to some vague notion of “worship,” but to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the faith once for all transmitted to the believing community.

Scripture provides grounds and means for civil disobedience of any government which would hinder the preaching of the Gospel, and Christians must be neither ignorant of these nor reluctant to employ them when appropriate. God’s desire is for all to be saved. They will not all be saved, of course; but public policy must not be the reason for that. Government must not throw up a hindrance to anyone hearing the Good News.

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.