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"'. . . that He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of God from Jerusalem."
Micah 4:2
| The material in the left column is a shameless wholesale rip-off of chapter 14 of Greg Bahnsen's book, Theonomy in Christian Ethics. Dr. Bahnsen earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at USC. | The links and definitions in the right column are designed to help the reader understand Bahnsen's material, as well as promote Vine & Fig Tree's radical agenda, which we call The Christmas Conspiracy. | ||
| THE foregoing sections have explained the principle of theonomy in its covenantal context based on the special revelation of God. God’s law has been shown to be indispensable to Christian biblical ethics. Based on the absolute authority of God, and in response to His gracious salvation, the Christian is taught what God requires and desires of him by the written law of God. Motivated by faith and enabled by the Holy Spirit, the Christian seeks to glorify and serve God in all his moral behavior by following the directives of God’s law. Such is the Christian ethic: covenantal use of the law of God. Because the Christian has a personal relation with God established by His sovereign grace, wherein the Spirit of knowledge, power, and holiness enables him to understand and obey the moral stipulations of God, the Christian can live a life pleasing to his Lord. The biblical ethic is constituted by this covenantal theonomy. The normative center of Christian morality, then, is nothing other than the whole law of God as recorded in Scripture. | Most of the material we have included under
the Third Archetype of Micah's prophecy has been designed to
show that the Christian is obligated to put the Scriptures -- even the Old Testament --
into effect in his life and society. Our understanding of the Old Testament is shaped by the Covenant that God has entered into with man, a peace treaty mediated by Jesus Christ.
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| The direct antithesis of Christian ethics is sin or lawlessness. Covenantal theonomy is incongruous with autonomy, for self-law does not seek to conform the person’s thoughts, words, and deeds to God’s righteousness as learned in God’s revealed word. The skills of godly living can only be acquired by Spiritual reception and obedience to the commandments of God’s word. Thus only the Christian theonomic ethic is true and effective. Adam learned this hard lesson in the garden; we do well to learn from it also. [279] | No Christian can believe in any form of
autonomy. The essential nature of the Christian life is submission to the absolute right of God to legislate for
His creatures. Obedience to God's Law restores the Image of God in man, making him more truly human. The first man, Adam, rebelled against God's right to legislate, and brought a dehumanizing curse upon his posterity. |
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Continue: Adam's Declaration of Autonomy |
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