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The “sovereign…is one who is above all.”² All systems of thought are governed by a sovereign. For many the human mind or science determines fact from fiction,  right from wrong. But when we tighten the definition it shows the absurdity of these types of false sovereigns.  The sovereign is “[o]ne who is above all, is independent and unlimited by any other, and has independent and original authority…”³ The ultimate sovereign can thus only describe the God of the Christian Scriptures. So far, so good. Just about every evangelical Christian would say yes and amen, our God is the sovereign. But there is more. What bearing does this have on the lives of those who profess it? What relevance does this have on the 21^st century church? Perhaps another question will help. Ultimately, “[w]ill your life be founded upon the sure rock of God’s word [the Bible], or the ruinous sands of independent human opinion?”⁴ When all is said and done, where does your ethical buck stop? Where does your ultimate authority lie? These questions have vexed the modern church. Christians squirm at the idea of an absolute ethical standard, one that we ought to conform to and disciple society in. It is uncomfortable to our acceptance seeking nature. Often we seek to serve two masters. What we must note is that every non-Christian philosophy of life ultimately anchors its sovereignty, and therefore its ethical norms, in autonomous man. Secular humanism wants nothing less than us to forget about the Scripture in everyday (personal and societal) life. This causes a collision of sovereigns. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

Christianity flows in a direction - from death (unto self) to being resurrected by the Spirit of God. It is glorious pattern and is neither static nor stagnant. Every kingdom is governed by its god. All false lords grope at sovereignty through claiming ethical ultimacy. Caesar claimed to be the Lord, god on earth. He demanded civil obedience to his laws. What is important to note here is that all civil laws are ethical and ultimately religious by nature. Do not steal, murder and the like are firmly anchored in the nature of God. By the very nature of the case civil laws are religious. This is why the early church was persecuted by Rome from the time of Nero Caesar. All citizens of the Roman empire were to pay homage to the lord of the kingdom. Sovereigns collided as the church proclaimed “all authority in heaven and earth” ( Matthew 28:18) resided in the resurrected Messiah.⁵ The sovereignty of governments (and man) is either limited or tyrannical. Salvific flow is from bondage to liberation. The individual, family, church and society are freed from tyranny. However, freedom is not unto lawlessness ( 1 John 3:4). The ruler of the kings of the earth ( Revelation 1:5) demands obedience to His law ( John 14:15, 1 John 5:3). Obedience is ethical in nature. Every kingdom is undergirded by societal norms of right and wrong. If this were not the case licentiousness and chaos would rule. As the children of the covenant we have been saved unto good works. It is our responsibility to walk in faithful obedience ( Luke 6:46-49). Good works are not the vehicle to reach salvation. Rather, they are the road godly saints travel within the kingdom. We must ask an important question here – what is Christianity’s yardstick? In other words, how do we know we are travelling on the right road? The answer is rather straight forward. But it will be both necessary and profitable to first explore culture.

Henry Van Til aptly asks; “[a]re we justified in turning the world and culture over to the enemies of God?”⁶ TS Elliot frame culture as “religion lived out.”⁷ This is a fundamental Biblical them. Out of the heart flow the issues of life ( Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 12:34-35). Outward actions reflect inner, heart, convictions. Christianity is not a navel gazing religion. God demands us to be perfect ( Matthew 5:48) and knows that all sin ( Romans 3:23and 1 John 1:10). John the Baptist’s parents were “both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” ( Luke 1:6). They were perfect. However, Zacharias and Elizabeth were conceived in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), personally sinned and fell short of the glory of God ( Romans 3:23). But they were perfect. The flow of the text is not perfectionism or legalism, righteousness outside the grace of God. Rather the text follows the pattern of death and resurrection. These two faithful saints obeyed the Law of God because God first loved them ( 1 John 4:19). When they sinned both fulfilled the requirements of the Law; repent, bring the appropriate sacrifice and make restitution if necessary. There is no inconsistency here. The text follows the pattern and flow of Scripture. Zacharias and Elizabeth were not legalists. They simply trusted and obeyed their King. Should we not follow the same pattern?

What does this have to do with culture and external actions? A great deal! The power of the Gospel is both inward and outward. God is concerned with our hearts and our actions. He is not satisfied with the individualism of navel gazing nor the naivite of a fruitless salvation. The flow of salvation is again, onward and upward. We are saved from death to life; being baptised with Christ in death and raised with Him in life. Sinners are taken from darkness into the light. The effects of salvation must flow through our fingertips. All that we do is to bring glory to God. The question is how? Now we can join the sovereignty and culture dots. God is sovereign. His Christ is: the King of kings and lord of Lords, the holder of all authority in heaven and earth ( Matthew 28:18), the king of the rulers of the world ( Revelation 1:5), seated in heaven having all His enemies subdued ( Psalm 2, 1 Corinthians 15, Ephesians 1:22 Hebrews 2:8). Like all kingdoms the King’s empire is governed by His sovereign Law ( Matthew 5:17-19, Luke 6:46-49, John 14:15). Now where is this kingdom? Is it merely in the heart? No, the flow of Scripture determines that the earth is the Lord’s and everything therein ( Psalm 24:1, 1 Corinthians 10:26). Is it simply within the church? Surely not, the pattern is for the church is to go out and disciple the nations and teach them to obey the King’s Law (Matthew 28:18-20). So salvation and discipleship should not simply be an inward, personal activity. It needs to flow out. Just as Adam was to go out glorifying the world. As the rivers flowed from the Garden he was to take dominion from the Garden of Eden, through the land of Eden and down to ends of the world. We are to do likewise.

But how? Are we talking about conversions or relationships or missions? Yes and no. The Bride of Christ is to make the surrounding peoples jealous! How, through faithful obedience to the Law of God ( Matthew 5:17-19, Luke 6:46-49, John 14:15). Following our own inclination of what is righteous and proper either leads to licentiousness or legalism. Our minds are not sovereign. We are not capable of pleasing God, no matter how good it feels. As Christians the Law of God is written upon our hearts ( Hebrews 8). God is unchanging. This is the same Law as that of the Old Testament. Of course we are not to become Pharisaically oriented. But “[n]ot only did the Pharisees demonstrate their unlawful legalism by concern merely for external behavior, they also abused the law by not using it in the manner God intended. The Pharisees had set out to establish their own righteousness by means of the law; they expected that God would justify them on the basis of the moral merit they had earned. The Pharisees attempted to justify themselves by means of the law.”⁸ Our justification is rooted in the righteousness of God ( Jeremiah 23:6). We are saved by grace through the gift of justifying faith ( Ephesians 2:8-9). The Law does not bring salvation ( Galatians 3:11), it identifies sin ( 1 John 3:4) and is the yardstick for obedient faith. Our actions are to flow from a new heart. Only from a redeemed heart will a life of faith to the Scriptures proceed. As Christians we should be debating the application of the entire council of God, rather than whether it applies to our lives. With all good conscience we cannot discard more than two thirds of the Scriptures. God is both interested in our hearts and actions. They are not mutually exclusive realms. In fact Jesus states they cannot be. The heart produces external fruit.

Published in : Worldviews, Ethics

Keywords : Image bearer, Biblical ethics, God's Law, Christianity and Old Testament Law, Christian lifestyle, religious ethics, ethics morality, Christianity ethics

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