George Floyd and the Police

This is such a disappointing article by Shai Linne, at the Gospel Coalition.

I'm going to get really controversial, here, just to warn you.

While I believe and sympathize with the "driving while black," and myriad other subtle, similar experiences Shai Linne shares, his blame of police or white people for profiling him is misplaced.

When police pay more attention to a fancy luxury car out of a suspicion of potential speeding or other lawbreaking, they are not being prejudiced against rich people.  They just know that drivers of such cars tend to speed, and be looser with the rules.  Similarly, it is not racist for police to give more attention to a minority if it is known that the minority crime rate is significantly higher.  Which it is.  This explains Linne's experiences, which again I do not deny.  As Candace Owens likes to say, the fault lies mainly with lawbreaking minorities.

At the same time, everyone should resist stereotypes that lead you to treat people as of less worth than you, just because of their race.  It is a lie that white people always do this.  A lie Shai Linne is perpetrating.

George Floyd resisted arrest for a good half hour.  That doesn't justify Chauvin's prolonged knee on his back (not neck).  But it did make sense to restrain Floyd until an ambulance came.  Floyd was high as a kite, saying he couldn't breathe, before he was on the ground.  Based on the charges Chauvin was convicted of, I believe mob rule and false assumptions about the facts prevailed, instead of real justice.

But it's just a lie that I or most Americans treat all minority folks as Chauvin treated George Floyd.  As if Black Lives don't Matter to us.  Of course they do, and my God insists I treat every person of any race as made in His image, of equal worth and dignity.

But most minority folks don't try to pass counterfeit money, and they aren't drug addicts who resist police instruction and arrest.  In the lunacy of our times, if I don't praise Floyd to the skies as a complete victim, I'm a racist.  I'm the problem.  Sorry.  My emphasis will remain on criminals being the problem (of whatever race), not the police (of whatever race) who seek to stop crime.  Over-reacting to crime IS a problem.  Chauvin certainly deserved punishment for maintaining the knee hold for far too long.  

But we have turned this isolated incident into a widespread assumption that all police are out to get all black people.  What?

The left is manufacturing this police brutality/shooting crisis, in defiance of all facts and statistics, for their own political gain.  And Shai Linne (and the Gospel Coalition) is playing right into their hands.

Joshua 15-19 - Bible Notes

1. Text summary
2. How is Christ in the text?
3. Application

1. The tribe of Judah receives its inheritance first.  Caleb defeats the Anakim giants in Hebron.  The rest of the tribes receive their inheritance.

  a. Joseph's tribe complains they don't have enough land, and about the Canaanites' iron chariots.

  b. Joshua gets his inheritance last.

2. Jesus is the pioneer of our salvation.  He makes the first, decisive victory, and receives His reward first.  The rest of His people will receive both victory and reward, too.

  b. Jesus prepares a place for us.  He doesn't rest until our inheritance is ready.

3. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance (Psalm 16:6).

  a. We tend to complain about the ungodly among us.

Conquering Canaan - Joshua 11-14 - Bible Notes

1. Text summary
2. How is Christ in the text?
3. Application

Chapter 11-12

1. Joshua conquers all the major cities of Canaan.  Chapter 12 lists them.  God hardened their hearts so the only option was annihilation.
2. Jesus will crush all opposition to Him, in the end (Psalm 2:9).
3. God does not give us the option today of physically destroying those who reject Christ.  But we are to remove them from the church.

Chapter 13
1. Land still to be conquered described.  Land given to the 2.5 tribes east of the Jordan described.  Levi gets no land inheritance, but lives off of the offerings of the rest of the tribes.
2. Jesus leaves plenty of work for us to do, once He takes the promised land (dies and rises for us) decisively.
3. We need to support church leaders full-time, so they can devote full attention to their work and build up the church.

Chapter 14
1. Caleb asks for land where the Anakim (giants like Goliath) live, determined to drive them out.
2. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, as Caleb was, and they lead the attack on God's enemies, defeated the worst (Satan, at the cross), then leaving the mop-up work for His church to do.
3. Take on great challenges in your life and world, and God will bless you for it.

Achan - Ai - Gibeonites - Sun Stands Still - Joshua 7-10 - Bible Notes

1. Text summary

2. How is Christ in the text?

3. Application

Achan - Chapter 7

1. Israel is defeated at Ai, because of Achan's sin. He and his family are stoned.

2. Jesus removes every spot and blemish from His people (Eph. 5:24-27).

3. Don't overreact to setbacks like Joshua did (vss. 6-9).  Disobedience hinders success.

Ai - Chapter 8

1. With divine aid in military strategy, Joshua and Israel defeat Ai.  They renew covenant as Moses commanded them before they crossed the Jordan.

2. Jesus leads His church with the Father and Spirit's help to disciple the nations to be obedient to Him.

3. Be faithful to God in whatever vocation you have (Joshua's was to defeat Ai).

Then re-gather with God's people and renew covenant.

The Gibeonites - Chapter 9

1. Nearby Canaanites pretend to come from far away and get a promise of peace from Joshua.  Bad move on Israel's part, but they subdue them as menial laborers.

2. Jesus will rule every nation, though each may be ruled differently, depending on how they approach Him.

3. If you try to get one over on Jesus in life, He will deal back shrewdly with you.  Best to come clean and honestly submit to Him.

Sun Stands Still - Chapter 10

1. Canaanites ally together against Israel, but God makes the sun stand still to give Joshua time to complete Israel's victory over Canaan.

2. Jesus does supernatural things to show and accomplish His victory over His enemies, too!

3. When God's enemies join together against you, don't worry but trust to His supernatural power to win you the victory!

Stones, Circumcision, Joshua 4-6 - Bible Notes

1. Text summary

2. How is Christ in the text?

3. Application

Chapter 4
1. Israel sets up stones to remember what God did at the Jordan.
2. Jesus sets up a memorial at the time of the cross - the sacrament of Communion - to remember what God did to bring His people into the promised land.

3. Find ways (holidays, family rituals and customs, etc.) to remember what God has done for you.

Chapter 5
1. Israel is circumcised before entering the promised land.
2. Jesus at the cross is circumcised - cut off from God - so we can enter the promised land.
3. Cut off remaining sin in you!

Chapter 6
1. God gives unusual marching orders for Jericho's defeat.  Joshua saves Rahab.
2. Jesus saves or destroys all His enemies.  He will save some (Rahab) that we don't expect.  He will destroy some (Achan, next chapter) that we don't expect.
3. Have compassion and include people who aren't like you, when they come to the Lord in faith.

Joshua, Rahab, Canaan - Joshua 1-3 - Bible Notes

Chapter 1

God promises Joshua He will be with him to help him take the land.

Jesus receives the same promise from God the Father to inherit the nations.

We should be courageous to "take the land," to sanctify the territory (spiritual internal life and public square) that Christ has already given us.

Chapter 2

The Jericho prostitute Rahab helps the Israelite spies, believing their God will conquer.

Jesus is the scarlet rope that saves from destruction any house that trusts Him.

Declare your loyalty to Jesus for your house, so you will be saved.

Chapter 3

When the ark steps into the Jordan River, it stops flowing miraculously, so Israel can "pass over."

Jesus as the New Ark makes entry into Canaan possible.

We need faith to step into the chaotic waters with Jesus (the ark), so we can enter the promised land.

The Politics of Titus

Titus 3:1-2

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Do you realize how counter-cultural this is, in our political discourse?  Almost every political headline we read speaks evil of someone, and quarrels with little gentleness.  We conservatives would rather see liberals "owned and destroyed."

Where is the winsome case being made without descending to insults, or to imputing motive to the other side?  Political discussion is almost completely demagoguery now: preaching to the choir how evil the other side is, instead of respectfully challenging the other side with logical argumentation.

Like the market for drugs, it's a demand-side problem, too.  You consuming demagoguery is as much the problem as those spewing it.  If you don't read and click on the sensational headlines, if you read more reasonable news sources and arguments, the level of discourse will rise, as radical and extreme sources see demand for sensationalism taper off.

This is not an argument for a moderate tone, generally.  Joe Biden has mastered the art of sounding moderate while pushing radical left policies.  It is appalling.

We need to robustly oppose unbiblical policies in the public square, while doing so without reviling people.  Did you notice the difference between Tim Scott in his rebuttal of Biden, and Donald Trump's typical brawling political rhetoric?  That isn't just a stylistic difference.

Scott's manner is morally better.  And more biblical.

He's still pointing out the flaws in Biden's policy and actions just as much as Trump did, but without disobeying Titus 3:1-2.

SCOTUS is Not a Neutral Umpire

John Stonestreet's daily missives from the Colson Center are quite good.  

Here was today's, copied and pasted.  Get your own email subscription!

The idea of a politically neutral Supreme Court is one of our nation’s most persistent and appealing myths. The Court’s job, at least according to our founding documents, is to interpret existing legislation and arbitrate disputes about that legislation. In practice, especially over the past several decades, the Court hasn’t always stayed in that lane.

In a crucial chapter in his important book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman shatters the notion of political neutrality within the Court, as well as the notion that the Court is impervious to cultural pressure. For example, in the landmark 1992 decision Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey, which struck down abortion restrictions, the court famously offered this incredibly consequential line: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” The justices went on to say that for the Court to define those concepts (i.e. to define reality) would be for the Court to deny freedom itself.   Though this sort of thinking is largely taken for granted today, it would have been utterly unrecognizable to America’s founders, not to mention much of the world throughout all of human history. As Trueman points out in the book, this script was first espoused by Romantic-era philosophers like Jean Jacques-Rousseau. Rousseau suggested that true reality is found not in something bigger-than or outside-of ourselves, but merely in what we feel. This radical notion is, of course, entirely incompatible with the idea of a Creator who had a purposeful design for what He made.   Yet, when the Court issued their opinion in Planned Parenthood V. Casey, the idea of self-determining meaning, identity, and reality itself had so deeply seeped into our collective imaginations that the supposedly neutral U.S. Supreme Court took it for granted. Even more, the Court appealed to the centrality of precedent in its reasoning. Roe V. Wade, after all, had already been decided, said the justices, as if to ignore other landmark cases in which precedent was rightly overturned.

In 1954, the Court overturned the awful “separate-but-equal” Plessy vs. Ferguson decision from 1896 that legalized racial segregation. Precedent should be respected, of course, but an appeal to precedent is not an argument. Wrong decisions that do not align with reality should be overturned.   On the other hand, Trueman points to the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, in which the Court struck down anti-sodomy laws. This decision overturned precedent set in 1986. In his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia specifically pointed to Planned Parenthood v. Casey, noting how the Court claimed precedent should be respected above reason.   Scalia’s concern is instructive for all of us today. The Court has a history of showing itself susceptible to cultural tastes. Justice transcends culture. It is not best served when based on the latest social fads.   This history, especially in light of the major and more contemporary shifts in cultural tastes about selfhood and sexuality, reveal how vulnerable the Court is to cultural fashions. The 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, which effectively struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, and the 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which imposed same-sex “marriage” on the nation, were clearly driven more by cultural winds than some “long arch of the universe that bends toward justice.”

Doom and Death; Blessing and Future Promise - Deuteronomy 32-34 - Bible Notes

 Chapter 32

The Song of Moses is a dire warning that Israel will rebel against God, and He will surely punish them.

The same day Moses delivers it to Israel God sends him up Mt Nebo and commands him to die, after showing him Canaan.

Jesus, Psalm 2 tells us, will break rebellious nations, just like pottery is easily smashed.

Chapter 33

Moses blesses each tribe, after reminding them that God appeared to them at Sinai and they took Him as their King.

God has provided a place for Israel, against their enemies.

Jesus inherits the nations from the Father.  He knows each tribe, as He knew the seven churches in Revelation.

Chapter 34

Moses dies, and Joshua succeeds him.

Jesus is the prophet who comes after Moses, not Joshua.  His death doesn't prevent entry into the Promised Land, but causes it!

Pastor on Vacation

What’s a pastor on vacation to do?

 

Usually we go somewhere else to worship.  What’s the point of going to the office Monday morning, just to pal around with your office buddies, but do no work? 

 

But it’s complicated.  All Christians should go to church, even pastors who are on vacation.  And my children have good friends there.  Will other churches require masks?  Will they sing at all?

 

A couple weeks ago, we wound up going to the church I pastor, the Sunday I was on vacation from pastoring. 

I think this was the first time I have EVER done it!  Why would I do this?

 

At first, I did it because of some of the factors above.  But on reflection, the main reason is this:

It reminds me, and shows our church members, that the pastor is a normal Christian in need of the same means of grace as they are.

 

As I sat there taking in a great sermon (thanks Christopher!), I was reminded again that the chef needs to eat, too.  All the private devotions in the world don’t make up for receiving a message from the pulpit from a trained minister of God’s Word.

 

Pastors, make sure to feed yourselves with sermons, not just for theological information, or to learn how to preach better yourself, but to feed your own soul.  Act like a normal Christian on vacation, for the sake of your own humility.  We take in a LOT of sermons, podcasts, articles and books in a given week.  Don’t professionally critique a sermon, for once!

 

To sit under the preaching of God’s Word in person on a Sunday morning is a unique blessing.  One that I more deeply appreciate every time I get to do it (about 4 times a year!).

 

And I want those I pastor to know that I need to be fed, too.  I’m not some super-Christian.  Although I represent Christ to the church when I lead worship, I need to have been fed earlier that week, to lead them well.

Discipline Your Social Media Use // CRT // Educating Yourself

This is quite good, surveying the negative effects of social media, though I'm not so stringent.

Read this to motivate you to discipline your social media use.

Social media is a good distribution method, but not a good forum for in-depth interaction.

A helpful review of Critical Race Theory, coming soon to a public school near you.

“I am educating myself.”

These days, this phrase is code for being sympathetic to woke and leftist causes. (Or to tell you that your view is too neanderthal to waste time on.)

Yet, the literal meaning of the phrase is a good one. Be open to learning new things, to having your assumptions challenged.

But who you decide to learn from is really the key. Are you going to learn from Black Lives Matter? From Ibram Kendi’s intolerant and revolutionary “anti-racism”? Or from Scripture and the western canon of great books? They lead you in fundamentally different directions.

“Educating yourself” can be a signal to friends that you really are up to speed with their politically correct agenda, so you can stay on the good side of those who “matter.” For many, it is now a password for entry into dialogue. Others with just as much humility are derided and excluded, for not using the passcode.

It fits the pattern: Orwellian revolutionaries take a phrase full of edifying truth, and twist its meaning to an anti-truth agenda. (Anti-racism is extremely racist; Black Lives Matter really means something else; etc.)

On the other hand, in substance, this phrase, "educate yourself," is a lifelong pursuit of truth, not conforming yourself to the spirit of the world, but letting God transform and renew your heart and mind. (Romans 12:1-2).

Curses, Covenant, and Joshua - Deuteronomy 26-31 - Bible Notes

 26

Take the first of your harvest to offer to God.  Declare your loyalty to God and purity before the priest.

Ask God's blessing, for you are His chosen people.

Give Jesus your first and your all.  Remove anything in your life that opposes Him.

27-28

Carve this law into a rock you set up on a mountain in the promised land.

Pronounce curses for disobeying this law, and have the people agree with an "Amen."

Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.  The threatened curses are four times as long as the promised blessings!

Jesus is the end goal of the law.  There are pleasures forever more at God's right hand, where He is (Psalm 16:10).  But the wrath of the Lamb is also real.

29

After 40 years, I (God) am making a covenant with you (Israel).  Not with your fathers, but with you, and your children who aren't even here yet.  God will remove and exile you from the land if you disobey.

Jesus takes us and our children as His people, but will come in judgment against those who reject Him.

30 - Love God and choose life

Jesus is the way, truth, and LIFE.

31

Read the law out loud to all Israel every 7 years at the Feast of Booths

Joshua will succeed Moses as Israel's leader.

Before you die, Moses, teach Israel this song, which will testify against them when they disobey Me in the future.

Jesus' name is virtually the same as Joshua, in Hebrew.  He is the greater Moses, as Hebrews describes.

Deuteronomy 23-25 - Bible Notes

Chapter 23
No physical or moral blemish allowed in the temple.
Physical cleanliness in the camp.
Don't return an escaped slave to his master.  Let him live free among you.  Interesting to compare this with Philemon, and the Fugitive Slave Act of America's 1850s.
No prostitution allowed, or interest charged to fellow Israelites.
Keep your vows.  Feel free to take a snack passing through a vineyard, but not more than your hands can hold.

Jesus had no fault or blemish - the perfect sacrifice for God.  So we can approach Him with our blemishes.  Jesus and His disciples took a handful of grain on the Sabbath, which wasn't considered work, just enough food gathering for the day or moment.

24
Don't use the fiction of marriage as an excuse for debauchery.
Newlyweds are free from the draft for a year.
Don't take one's livelihood as collateral.  Unfair.
Man-stealing for slavery is a capital offense.
Respect the dignity of those who need a loan.
Don't hold back employees' wages too long.
Don't punish children for their fathers' sins.
Don't do injustice to widows, orphans or aliens.  It's really easy to do.  Resist the temptation.
Leave some of your harvest for the poor to glean.  (Remember Ruth.)

Jesus agreed to take the punishment for His people, which was "unfair."  But this means we don't have to bear Adam's guilt anymore!
Love your neighbor in the economic realm of life.

25
Limit physical punishment to 40 lashes.
Let the ox (laborer) have some of the fruit of his work.
When a husband dies with no children, his brother should continue his line by bearing a son with his widow.  If he won't, he should be publicly shamed.
A woman who fights dirty should have her hand cut off.
Don't cheat when you deal in currency.
Annihilate Amalek.

Jesus continues our line by "marrying into it" in a way.
But those who oppose Him, He will destroy.

War, Family, and Sex - Deuteronomy 20-22 - Bible Notes

20

Don't make the newly married, the new homeowner, or the fearful, fight in war.

Offer peace before fighting, but they must serve you.

Don't cut down the trees when you besiege a city.

21

Have the nearest city make atonement for unsolved murders.

Wait a month to take women captured in war as wives, removing all adornment and letting her grieve.  Let her go free, not as a slave, if you don't want to marry her after a month.

Give the oldest son the inheritance, even if the parents favor a younger son.

Stone older children who refuse to obey their parents and stubbornly do egregious things.

When you want to show God's special curse in capital punishment, hang the criminal on a tree, but don't leave him overnight.  Don't overdo it.

22 - Various rules nurturing life, maintaining boundaries of creational design, and sexual purity.

Kings, Prophets and Justice - Deuteronomy 16-19 - Bible Notes

Deuteronomy 16

Required feasts reviewed: Passover/Unleavened Bread, Weeks (50), and Booths.

Appoint judges who won't take bribes.

Don't set up Asherah poles by My altars or anywhere.  I hate them.

Jesus is a righteous judge who, when tempted, served God alone.  He IS our passover, and we must keep the feast (1 Corinthians 5:8)!

Chapter 17

Stone idolators, on the testimony of 2-3 witnesses.

Abide by the decisions of the priests and judges installed at the place I choose.

You may have a king in the future, whom I choose, who doesn't amass wealth and who follows My Word.

Jesus in the end, will sentence to death those who refuse Him.  He doesn't amass wealth, unlike His professed (counterfeit) vicar on earth in Rome.

Chapter 18

Support your local Levites with your offerings.

No sorcery or child sacrifice.

God will send a prophet like Moses.  Listen to Him!

Jesus is the prophet predicted here.  At His baptism, God the Father quoted this verse to prove that!

Chapter 19

Set apart 3 cities of refuge for unintentional homicides to be protected from avengers.

Protect people from hostile, false witnesses.  Require 2-3 witnesses.  Do to false witnesses what would have happened to their accusers.

Jesus protects His people from disproportionate punishment and false accusations.

Worship God, Love Neighbor - Deuteronomy 12-15 - Bible Notes

Deuteronomy 12
Don't worship the gods of the land you are entering.
Go to the place God picks, and make offerings to Me from there only.
You can kill and eat meat anywhere (not the blood).
Just like God gave Israel one place, one temple at which to worship Him, so He gave us one name, one person through whom to come to Him: Jesus.

13

Do not tolerate a false prophet who entices you to worship gods other than Yahweh.

Jews apply this to Jesus, rejecting Him.  But He was the true prophet sent from God, and He DID call us to worship His Father.

14

Do not mourn the dead, or eat, as the nations around you do.

Tithe every year, not forsaking the Levites among you.

Living for Jesus means living distinctly from others, and giving everything you've got to serving Him.

15

Forgive debts every seven years

Lend to the poor, even if the seventh year is near.

Free Hebrew slaves every seven years, and help them on their way.

Jesus calls for compassion for the poor.  Don't take advantage of anyone.

Promises and Tests - Deuteronomy 8-11 - Bible notes

Chapter 8

God tested you in the desert, if you would live by His Word.  Now you are coming into prosperity.  Don't forget Yahweh, and think you got all this wealth by your ingenuity.

Ch 9

God isn't giving you this land because you are morally superior.  You are stubborn in disobeying Me!  (Remember the golden calf?  But I prayed for you, and God had mercy.)

God is giving you this land to punish the current inhabitants, and to keep His promise to Abraham.

Ch 10

God had me make new tablets and an ark to put them in.

Obey Him, for He chose You, and He is good.

Love the sojourner, for God does, and you were one in Egypt.

Ch 11 - Obey God, because of all He has done.  He will bless you in this good land.

God saves you to keep His promise to His Son.  We need to live for Him completely.

Deliverance and Destruction - Deuteronomy 7 - Bible Notes

 Deuteronomy 7

Destroy the Canaanites and their idols and altars.

God loves you not for your worth, but because of His choice, so obey Him.

God will bless you.

Don't be afraid of the Canaanites; remember what God did to Egypt.

This is the same pattern in the New Testament, not something Jesus sets aside.

God chose the church and calls her people to Himself, for His own reason, not for anything in us.

We inherit the earth in Jesus, but the blessing can only be enjoyed by putting away all wickedness.

We are prone to fear Christ's enemies, but need to take heart from what God has already done for us.

Piety in Prosperity - Deuteronomy 5-6 - Bible Notes

 Chapter 5

The Ten Commandments.  The introduction shows that this is a covenant, and Moses was the mediator.  The conclusion, where Israel asks Moses to speak instead of God Himself overwhelming them, shows they needed a mediator.

Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant we have with God - better than Sinai.  He does more than speak for God to us.  He dies to God for us.

Life application: the introduction hits home the theme of covenant succession.  Even if we were raised in a faith that wasn't our own, WE are in covenant with God, because our parents experienced and knew the Lord.

Chapter 6

As Israel enters the promised land, Moses gives them the Shema (Yahweh is our only God), and the greatest commandment - to love God.  Don't forget to fear Him when you prosper in there.  Teach your children about the things from which God delivered you.

Jesus quotes verse 5 when asked what is the greatest commandment.

We have some experience with forgetting God because of the distractions and cares that prosperity brings.

A Defense of Theonomy (Sort of)

The Gospel Coalition published a critique of theonomy a couple days ago, that just cries out for a response.

So you know where I'm coming from, I don't believe the goal of a Christian society should be to adopt the Torah's civil law wholesale and to the letter.  The resurrection has transformed the "telos" (goal) of the law to Christ.  Some OT laws that called for death now would call for excommunication, or a lighter civil punishment, or none.

But I also don't like the author's pluralist assumptions, that the state should be neutral to any and all religious claims.  Of course, no state should make religious minorities live as second-class citizens, but for the state to assume Christian truth pleases God and will helpfully impose morality on many who disagree (no murder, pedophilia, abortion, etc.).

With that intro, here's a walkthrough of the article.

1. The author is a Southern Baptist, with understandable reactions against established religion.  In Reformation history, it was Calvinists, Lutherans, and other state religions that drowned them for disagreeing with paedo-baptism, for example.  So the deck is stacked against theonomy from the start, by who is writing.

2. Intro - Walker is right that newer teachers are taking up the mantle of Reconstruction, from a generation or two ago.  There is a direct line from Rushdoony (RJR) to Fight Laugh Feast and Jeff Durbin.  No need to hide this, though the latter seldom cite their sources.  I don't think they are being sneaky, just not looking to dredge up old debates.

3. Yes, there is a distinction between Reconstruction (culture building) and Theonomy (reading the Bible a certain way).  But they are inseparable, inherently.  If you read Scripture with any sort of theonomic impulse, you are motivated to conform your culture to the standards of the whole Word of God.  Is this wrong?  Is it the same as Handmaiden's Tale theocracy?  (Hint: no.)

4. Interesting claim, that theonomy is more a "mood and mode of engagement" today than an intellectual movement.  This rings true to me.  Today's proponents are standing on Bahnsen's and RJR's shoulders, assuming their work as valid, and doing something different from them.  They are arguing against contrary assumptions in the Reformed world today: "Radical Two Kingdom theology," natural law advocates, the stay-out-of-politics crowd, and the overall pessimism regarding culture wars.

5. Walker distinguishes between General Equity Theonomy (apply all God's law generally in some way), and RJR theonomy (apply the letter of the whole law to society).  Since I'm a general equity advocate, the rest of the article seemed a straw-man fallacy to me.  Walker critiqued the RJR brand (a form of theocracy), and seldom the general equity brand.

6. One of the disagreements is over natural law and revealed law.  The theonomist would ask, if the fall has twisted our thoughts and common sense (noetic effects of the fall), how can we rely on natural law?  The critic would ask, "hasn't the OT civil law passed away in application, with the coming of Christ?  Hasn't God revealed more to us than just a law code specific for Israel at one time?  Bringing Adam and Eve together in the garden affirms everything about the design of marriage that the civil codes do," the argument goes.  Here, I side with the theonomist: Exodus-Deuteronomy law expands on the design of marriage in very specific ways that go beyond common sense, or what we can figure out from creation.  Why would we ignore that, or assume such creational marriage principles passed away with the coming of Christ?

7. Walker: "The error of Theonomy is that its hermeneutic stretches beyond the Bible's understanding of its own authority."  

This is a fancy way of saying, "the Bible doesn't mean what you think it means.  It doesn't mean for the OT scaffolding to remain after the NT building is finished."  This begs the question.  What part of the law is scaffolding that comes down once the building is finished (Christ has come), and what should remain as a goal to pursue today in our personal and cultural life?

8. Walker's assertion that theonomy "instrumentalizes religion" is fascinating.  I take his point to be that the real goal in theonomy is transforming society, and saving the soul is just a means to that end.  In his mind, the goal should be the soul spared damnation.  The end of the Bible shows both, without priority given.  Souls are spared the lake of fire, and the New Jerusalem is a "reconstructed" society without sorrow and sighing.  

Walker is on to something that many in my circles seem more passionate about changing society and winning culture wars, than saving souls.  Some of us pursue a theology of glory too much, rejecting the theology of the cross.  That is a fault, but they are also right to not reduce the gospel to a conversion experience.  How now shall I live?

9. Walker gives away his baptist assumptions when he says "the NT affirms nine of [the Ten Commandments]."  To him, if the NT doesn't reaffirm it, it is passed away.  To me, if the NT doesn't undo the OT specifically, it remains in effect.  

The issue here is the NT political context, not at all friendly to the emerging Christian religion (think Nero!).  Did Paul, when writing Romans 13 and Philemon, mean for us to stay in that posture of compliance with and distance from the state, or to advance to a point where we disciple the state, magistrate, and nations to follow Christ in their official policies?  Was Knox wrong to preach to Queen Mary?  Shouldn't the church say to its culture and government: "Stop keeping slaves!"  "Stop killing babies!"  Was John the Baptist wrong to apply the Levitical code to Herod in his marriage, winding him in jail, then executed?  Paul worked the personal angle with Philemon.  Are we limited to that?  Is it wrong to take a prophetic tack with the state as John did?

10.  The OT law is not just a contextualized timestamped snapshot of the natural law, which we can figure out from the rest of Scripture and common sense.  (This seems to be Walker's view.)  The OT law is God's Word.  It is not retired wholesale with Christ's coming, nor is it something to follow to the letter without change, as Hebrews shows.

11. Walker is right that theonomy "presupposes a Christian society that does not exist."  But he begs the question to assume it never could.  We ought to work toward this, even if it is several steps down the road.  It is unhelpful to try to do step 4 of the instructions before step 1, that part of his critique is valid.  But to assume we will never get beyond step 1 is equally unhelpful.  Some cultures in history have been at step 3 or 4, out of 5.  To assume none have gotten beyond step 2, and none ever can, is prejudicial pessimism.

12. "Theonomy cannot build a just society"

No the law can't do that, and that is not the theonomist argument.  The gospel can!  The gospel points people to obey God's Word and if this happens widescale in a society, reconstructing Christian culture is not a Quixotic quest.  Later, Walker commits the fallacy of bifurcation to assert that a widely converted society would pursue freedom for all, not "enact a theonomic agenda."  For the most part, these two options actually overlap.  

When they don't?  What do you do with the blasphemer - stone him?  I would say, no.  As with the woman caught in adultery, in the New Covenant, sentences are lightened, though the sin is still recognized and dealt with.  Here is Walker's straw-man again, assuming the theonomist would do exactly as was done to the blasphemer in Exodus, when that is not the theonomic position, as I understand it.

13. Can we build a just society on common grace?  That is a question dividing these two camps.  The baptist asserts that a government can stumble along with decent enough justice, given God's law written on the heart and common sense.  The theonomist asserts that common grace can only take us so far.  Such a society will be riddled with inconsistencies and corruption in the state, since they suppress the truth that God reveals to them by His common grace.  Only submission to Christ and God's revealed truth can bring a just society.  I think the latter is right.

14. "We are not discipling nations for the sake of political hegemony."

Goodness, no one said we were!  It is for the sake of Christ.  Walker's view, on the other hand, seems to be to NOT disciple the nations.  Shall we do what Jesus SAID to do, even when we are tempted to do so for the wrong reasons (political hegemony)?  Or shall we NOT do what Jesus said to do, so we aren't tempted to do it for the wrong reasons?

15.  Is theonomy inherently statist?

Walker ends with this assertion.  Theonomy is opposed to a state granting freedom of religious expression.  This critique suffers from the secular (devilish, really) assumption that freedom is the right to do whatever you want to do.  But biblical freedom is the freedom to obey and serve God, not bound by our sinful desires.  Should that truth never touch the government's policy?  That's the libertarian's mistake.

Inheriting Land, Obeying God - Deuteronomy 2-4 - Bible Notes

Chapter 2

The text: God directs Israel to leave Moab alone, and to attack the Amorites.

Jesus' work brings us into a specific inheritance.

Life application: In wisdom, we should know what enemies of Christ to fight, and who to leave alone.

Chapter 3

The text: Israel conquers Sihon.  Moses gives Reuben and Gad the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan.  Moses may not enter the promised land because of his disobedience.

Jesus gives His people a unique inheritance and gifts.

Life application: Disobedience may lessen our reward, our enjoyment, of the inheritance God gives us in glory.

Chapter 4

The text: Moses calls Israel to obey God, because of all He has done for them.

Jesus recaps this in the Great Commission: "teaching them to obey all I have commanded you..."

Life application: We serve and obey God because He made us, yes.  But the Scriptural emphasis is because of what He has done for us.  "I am Yahweh, who brought you out of Egypt.  [Therefore] You shall have no other gods before Me."