Feigned Obedience – The Law of God and Public Policy

Feigned Obedience
The Law of God and Public Policy

Feigned obedience is better than none at all.

“Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever.” Psalm 81:13-15 (NASB)

In Psalm 81:13-16 God explains how the obedience of His people brings Him glory even from those whom He regards as His enemies (among whom we sometime were counted, Rom. 5:10): “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!” Here is our most basic calling as citizens of the Kingdom of God’s Son and people of God through Jesus Christ: We are called to hear and obey His Word, beginning with His Law. We cannot expect the benefits of God’s Law to flow through us to the surrounding world unless we are committed to reading, meditating in, and studying the Law of God. God’s longing for us is to know Him, and to enjoy the blessings that come from a life of obediently loving God. Such a life begins, as we have seen, as the members of the Christian community take up afresh the study of and obedience to the Law of God (Ps. 1).

“I would soon subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries.” This we may understand, in the first instance, as a reference to the spiritual warfare in which Christians are continually engaged. As we live in obedience to God’s Law, we may expect to gain ground against the enemy of our souls, even as Jesus did (Matt. 4:1-11). When Satan attacked the Savior in that desolate wilderness, it was the Law of God to which Jesus appealed, and which He obeyed, in turning back each temptation.

At the same time, not even the most violent of human enemies can rob us of our blessings in the Lord when we walk in obedience to His Word.

“Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever.” An earlier version of the NASB is more accurate here: the enemies of the Lord would “feign obedience” to Him—just as they do this day.

Unbelievers may hate God, but they are happy to have the State protect them against thieves, slanderers, libelers, and murderers. They emboss Moses on the front of their Supreme Court building, acknowledging, at the very least, their need of the last six of the Lord’s Ten Commandments. Those who do not believe in God or His Son nevertheless seek the benefits that come from obedience to His Law. They may not like to be reminded of this, and may, indeed, insist that such precepts and statutes are only “common sense” or the product of evolutionary trial and error. All the same, they cannot disagree that conforming their behavior to aspects of the Law of God is the way to a just society.

The more God’s people are faithful in knowing and living the Law of God, the greater will be the “feigned obedience” of those who have no regard for the Lord or His will.

Such “feigned obedience” does not save those who thus “keep” the Law of God; their divinely appointed fate is yet upon them and will “last forever.” However, such obedience does honor God by bringing a modicum of justice and neighbor-love to society.

“But He would satisfy you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” God’s people will want for no good thing as they follow the path of obedience to His Law. And the more consistent they are in obeying the Law, and the more they will be able to bring the benefits of that obedience to the communities in which they live. Thus the blessings of God will be extended through the believing community in the form of neighbor-love and justice.

In a society where such justice is observed, the believer has the duty to make known the glory of God by reminding his neighbors of where such justice, wisdom, understanding, and goodness have their origin (Hab. 2:14). Moreover, believers must work, by the Law of God and all the means of persuasion, to bring more such blessings to their community, in ways appropriate to the spiritual and policy needs of the day and the readiness of the community to submit to the wisdom and understanding of God.

Here Christians must be exemplary in conduct, informed regarding the issues, and wise in promoting public policies that line up with the holy and righteous and good counsel of the eternal Law of God.

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.