n the United States, there are thousands of governmental entities at the local, state, and federal level whose only purpose for existence is to pass laws. Every one of the laws they pass is premised on the belief that the law is, in some final sense, right. It is what justice requires. Something was wrong before the law was passed, and now it has been corrected.
Watch any election campaign in the coming year, and listen to what the various contenders for office are advocating. You will hear arguments that current policy X is on the wrong track, that it is unjust, and that policy Y is what really needs to be done. It is just. It is right. It will bring salvation.
Justice is certainly what must be sought by elected officials. The question is, whose justice?
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) The Bible assumes that there is one standard of justice (God's), that it is discoverable to man (in God's Word), and that man is required to do it. This has far reaching implications for all aspects of life. What are the implications for the political realm?
First, it is clear that there are only two basic choices to make. One must either do justice as defined by God, or one must do injustice and walk in darkness. There is no middle ground. Obviously, no politician is going to admit that he is stumbling blindly about, but that is what he is doing when he advocates an unbiblical position and calls it just.
It is also clear that doing justice requires searching God's Word to understand what justice is. If Scripture is authoritative for all matters of faith and practice (and it is), then those who are responsible for civil matters must go to the Scriptures for instruction. Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book . . . and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes . . . (Deut. 17:18-19). The Word of God must guide a legislator's steps.
If a public policy not based on biblical principles is by definition an injustice, it follows that blessing will never come from such a policy. Life might be relatively better, but it will not be what God requires. For example, laws which impose low income taxes are economically better than laws which impose high income taxes. That does not answer the question of whether income taxes are biblical.
When Christians vote, join political action groups, or run for office, they need to consider what it means to do those things in obedience to God. Americans have been so indoctrinated with the concept of "separation of church and state," and the fallacy of religious pluralism, that actually to cite Scripture in a political debate smacks of civil blasphemy and electoral suicide. Yet citation of Scripture is what God requires of civil authorities.
To choose between civil government based on God's law and civil government based on man's law is not to pick between competing public policies, each of which may be valid, and any of which may work. It is to select between truth and a lie, to embrace either justice or injustice. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether (Ps. 19:7-9). The Psalmist goes on to say that His laws are to be preferred above gold. Why, then, would we deny God's law in favor of the dross of the Democratic and Republican platforms? When it comes to ethics in public policy, we need to return to the gold standard; we must return to the gold of God's law.
The objection is often raised that it is not fair to unbelievers to force them to live according to a standard they deny. This, however, is a problem without a solution. Civil government necessitates a standard of right and wrong. It is not a question of whether a standard of justice will be imposed; it is a question of which standard will be imposed. In a religiously heterogenous society, some people are going to have to conform to a rule of law with which they do not agree. Christians are not being fair to anyone by pretending that God's law does not apply in the civil arena (1 Tim. 1:8-11). This compromise is saying that it is better to be made to bow before Baal than to make anyone else bow before the Lord.
It would be a fatal mistake to suppose that any particular form of government, or any particular standard of justice, will bring salvation. It will not. The politician who says that he has the government program which will finally solve society's ills is attempting to usurp God not honor Him. Salvation belongs to the Lord, and men will not be made new apart from His saving grace. This does not mean, however, that God's law has no relevance. As Christians work out the salvation God is working into them (Phil. 2:12-13), application of all God's requirements will be the result. As Christians, we seek to apply biblical standards to ourselves, our homes, at work, and in the church. Why do we stop at the statehouse door?
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was (Jas. 1:24). A Christian who looks into the Bible, and then goes off to the political realm armed with the latest political fad to come out of some think tank, has forgotten that he is a Christian. He has been redeemed from the sin and folly in which the world walks. He has been turned from darkness to light. He has been enabled to be obedient to God, and to bring every thought captive to Christ. In short, he knows better.
It is imperative that Christians who are called to political roles operate according to God's revealed standard of justice and righteousness. This requires study of the Word on topics of political importance, prayer for wisdom and guidance through territory which has been untravelled for many years, and boldness to declare what is true in the face of intense and bitter opposition.
