The Founders recognized that the inalienable rights endowed by the Creator would not be sustained in society unless they were protected under a code of law that was itself in harmony with a higher law. They called it "natural law," or "Nature's law." Such law established limits for all of man's laws and is intended to protect the natural rights of all men. The Declaration of Independence established the premise that in America a people might assume the station "to which the laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them…"
Parts I and II showed from the Scriptures that the ceremonial and judicial laws associated with the Mosaic economy have passed away with the coming of the New Covenant. Christ has established a new order, a ‘new and living way’ to approach the living God. [Hebrews 10:19-20] ‘With His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.’ [Hebrews 9:11-12]
Consistent with the new order there is minimal doctrine addressing the outward state. New Testament emphasis is on the spiritual. The church is the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God, not a kingdom of this world. Christians are commanded to submit to the governing authority as instituted by God. There is no theocracy in the New Testament.
The Christian ethic and moral law
This article will address the moral law embodied in the Ten Commandments and the morality of a nation instituted in its civil law. The issue of the law and the gospel will be covered in more detail in the next article.
The Christian ethic teaches that all men, regardless of religion, race or gender, are worthy of respect because they bear the image of the Creator. Therefore, we are to do good to our neighbor, and as far as it is in our power we will pursue peace with him. How do we define what is good?
The fundamental error of the new culture is that the authority of the Scriptures has been compromised from secular and religious enemies of the gospel. Without the authority of the Bible and the supremacy of Jesus Christ we are hopelessly lost. Finite man requires a reference to the absolute that the Scriptures give him.
The first tablet of the Ten Commandments defines how man is to love God. To implement those commandments in civil law would return us to an Old Testament theocracy and to the types and shadows of the Mosaic economy. This is contrary to the New Covenant.
The second tablet defines love toward other men. ‘Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law’ [Romans 13:10]. Moral law defines what is good toward our neighbor and therefore is applicable to civil law. This is the law that formed the basis of our civil law.
The origin of the rule of law
We assume the rule of law, but this principle is relatively new in history. It did not occur by natural processes. By nature, men rule over other men. We can trace the origin of the rule of law to Biblical Christianity. The rule of law requires an ethic and a consensus among the people that the ethic is righteous. Ethics depend on the religious foundation of a nation.
The American system of law is rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic. The English Puritans were children of the Reformation. They gave us the rule of law rather than the anarchy of the French humanists. The Reformation man believes that God has spoken in the Scriptures. Therefore, there is truth about God and truth about man on which to base law and morality.
Oliver Cromwell championed the revolutionary idea that kings were not above the law after Samuel Rutherford demonstrated from the Scriptures that the Law is King. These men stood up in faith against the English monarchy. King Charles was executed for conspiracy and with him fell the tyranny of kings.
The New England Protestants, with influence from Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening, made the same case against King George. They stood up in faith and threw off the tyrannical rule of a king who violated English law. They helped birth a new nation with freedoms never before seen on the earth; a nation founded on individual liberty under the rule of law.
Moral law reaffirmed in the New Testament
Christ dealt with the woman caught in adultery with gentleness, not with the harshness that Moses demanded. He told her to ‘go and sin no more’. He did not advocate her public stoning. [John 8:10]
‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor…Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.’ [Ephesians 4:25,28] Paul affirms the positive aspect of the law by advocating truth telling. He admonishes the former thief to labor so that he will be able to give.
In Galatians 5:22 Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit including ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.’ He then says that against such there is no law.
In I Timothy 1:8 Paul teaches that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless. He then lists an assortment of sins including murder, sexual immorality and perjury.
In Romans 13 we have one of the few instances in the NT that addresses the Christians responsibility to the civil government. ‘The ruling authorities are not a terror to good works, but to evil…He is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is…an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.’ [Romans 13:3-4]
The state has authority from God to use the sword to enforce what is good. In context Paul lists the second tablet of the law to define what is good. [Romans 13:9]
Moral law necessary for a free society
The early American civil codes were strongly influenced by the moral law defined by the second tablet. The death penalty was enforced for murder. The institution of marriage was protected against frivolous divorce. Before ‘no fault’ divorce, a legitimate cause, either sexual immorality or abandonment was the only grounds for divorce. The perjury laws provided protection for the legal system. There was no ambiguity on the sanctity of life or marriage.
Even though our culture has lost its original consensus of right and wrong, the ethic is still codified in the law. When the Court or the Congress redefine existing law, they are really exchanging the Christian ethic for a new ethic evident in the cultural decline. Because the consensus has changed, they are not removed from office. Civil law always reflects a morality. The question is whose morality will prevail.
How is it possible to have a free society among men? Men desire freedom over tyranny, but the fallen nature of men cannot be let go without restraint. In most of history this was accomplished through totalitarianism. The Founders understood something about man that is lost to the new culture. Men cannot be free neither can men be expected to love their neighbor while they are bound to their sin. Real freedom is experienced in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Free societies are made up of self-governing men. This is only possible where the gospel is freely preached and practiced.
The first amendment is intended to protect the free exercise of the Christian religion from government intrusion. The neo-Americans are intent on tearing down the Christian religion and its influence over the culture. We contend that the only way to maintain a free society is to return to the ethic that saw freedom flourish. There must be an ethical foundation for civil law. The new culture has no ethic. The fallen nature of man is set free from restraint. Lawlessness abounds and moral relativism abounds as liberty gives way to oppression.
Some men think that freedom comes without the boundaries of moral law. The Bible says that rather than being free, they are really enslaved to their sin. ‘Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin…If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’ –Jesus Christ from John 8:34 and 36