140105 ethics & law

CHRISTIAN ETHICS &

CIVIL LAW

Controversial Issues Confronting Contemporary

Christians© 2014 by Faith Bible Church

(www.http://faithbiblechurchefc.com)

1. Authority: to control, direct or strongly influence the actions & conduct of someone or something

2. Law: • A law is a set of rules and standards by which a society governs itself

• Implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority;

Definitions

© 2014 by Faith Bible Church(www.http://faithbiblechurchefc.com)

to control, direct or strongly influence the actions & conduct of someone or something

3. Govern:

4. Government: a system by which a state or people are governed or control-led by the use of force

Definitions


to control, direct or strongly influence the actions & conduct of someone or something

5. Politics:

Definitions

6. Anarchy: The absence of government

What is the problem with this?


Do We Need Government? James Madison: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

John Adams: “Whoever would found a state, and make proper walls for the government of it, must presume that all men are bad by nature.”



Anarchy and Tyranny

History shows that when a society rejects transcendent, universal norms for its art, culture, laws, institutions and families, then the inevitable result is anarchy leading to tyranny.

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

R. J. Rushdoony

“Look behind the law and there is your

God!”


It is said that after God died in the 19th century, man died in the 20th. For when God is dead, man becomes an untamed beast.


The Gap between God & Man

• Man is finite and imperfect (sinful), as such we cannot know what is true, what is moral or what is real apart from God

• God in Christ reveals to all mankind the way (salvation), the truth (epistemology), and the life (ethics)

Spheres of Authority

family

church state

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Grace

Ministry of Justice


Types of Law• Revealed Law:

• Natural Law:

• Municipal Law:

that which is revealed by God in the Bible.

revealed by God through con-science & reason (Rom. 2:14-16)

man-made law developed through legislation & enacted by government; valid only as it conforms to revealed and natural law


Types of Law• Case Law:

• Common Law:

a system of evolving law based on precedent setting decisions of judges on a case-by-case basis

the body of precedents based on natural and revealed laws set by judges over many years; began in the church and developed mostly independent of state government


The Nature of Government1. Ordained by God

• Daniel 4:17, 25 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.’ 25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.



• Isaiah 33:22 (For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us);



• John 19:10-11 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”


2. Protectors of the Law

The Nature of Government

• Exodus 20:1-17• Deuteronomy 16:18-20 “You shall appoint judges

and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20 You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you.




• Deuteronomy 19:14-19 “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,




• Deuteronomy 19:14-19 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.




• Romans 13:1-4 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.




• Romans 13:1-4 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For 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 God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.


Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado on First Day of Legalization

Rocky Mountain News

January 2, 2014

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper: "We can't sit idly by and allow this slaughter to continue.”

The Purpose of Government


Can morality be

legislated? Should it be?

If so, who’s morality? How do we define it?

3. Sometimes evil


• Mark 6:14-29 16 But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!” 17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. 18 Because John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.© 2014 by Faith Bible Church


The Nature of Government4. Sometimes good

• Nehemiah 2:1-9 …in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” …4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.


History of Law• The Code of Hammurabi, the

6th Babylonian king, is the oldest preserved law code created in 1790 B.C.

• The code contained 282 laws written in 12 tablets in the Akkadian language which was common in Babylonia.

• One nearly complete example of the Code is left today, inscribed on a seven foot, four inch tall, in basalt stele.


Why is Hammurabi's Code significant to us?

• This work is also a great source of information about the society, religion, economy, and history of this period.

• Each part describes in detail a crime or incident, and the punishment/procedure for it.

• Society wouldn't be the same if it weren't for this code of laws. It was the start of a civilized group of people.


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.awesomestories.com/biography/stories/hammurabi/images/in_columns_hammurabi_code.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lawbuzz.com/ourlaws/hammurabi/home.htm&usg=__2Mz_DVjXxUZMbySOrm30Udr1QKE=&h=510&w=432&sz=97&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=gqWgCDAau2uo3M:&tbnh=131&tbnw=111&prev=/images?q=hammurabis+code&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G

The Ten Commandments• Revealed by God to Moses

at Mount Sinai (1450 B.C.)

• Revealed Israel’s covenant with God distinguishing them from all the other nations

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.


Magna Carta

• 1215 first document to limit the king’s power by law and protect their rights.


Habeas Corpus Act• 1697 government must

tell you what you are being held for an show evidence against you

• Passed during the reign of Charles II by Parliament to force the courts to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner’s detention.

• Right of Petition© 2014 by Faith Bible Church


English Bill of Rights• 1628 Established “due process” • government could not tax without

consent• Government could not quarter

troops• 1689 Parliament replaced dominant

power of King (legislative supremacy)• Trial by jury• No cruel and unusual punishment• Right to bear arms


The Christian’s Duty to Government

1. Pray for • I Timothy 2:1-3 Therefore I exhort first of

all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,



2. Pay taxes to

• Matthew 22:15–21 Then the Pharisees went and how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they (Pharisees ) sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”


2. Pay taxes to • Matthew 22:15-21 16 And they sent to Him

their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?



• Matthew 22:15-21 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

2. Pay taxes to



3. Be subject to

• Romans 13:5-6 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.



4. Resist when evil • Acts 4:17-21 But so that it spreads no

further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” 18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.



4. Resist when evil • Acts 4:17-21 20 For we cannot but speak

the things which we have seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.



5. Dual Citizenship • Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles

answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

• Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,


Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

The Christian’s Duty to God


140105 ethics & law

Spiritual