Rushdoony has written that God's Law is God's Plan for Victory and Dominion. God's Law commands us to build the Kingdom of God, and tells us exactly how to do this. God's Law both commands and promises success in building the Kingdom of God.

Such Promises ("blessings") are found in our fourth text: Leviticus 26 (see also Deuteronomy 28).

Obedience to God's commandments brings blessings, specifically, the blessing of peace.
Peace means freedom from the initiation of force or threats of violence by others. Since archists are those who employ violence as a means to an end, "peace" means "freedom from archists." The Bible distinguishes "workmen" from the "horns" of power (Zechariah 1:18-21), and if we work to build God's Kingdom and do not become archists, God will keep those nasty archists away from us:

Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

3. The Purpose of Man

Our text here is "the Dominion Mandate," Genesis 1:26-28. Also, Genesis 2:15,19

Here we read the purpose for which God created Man.
Human beings were created to "exercise dominion" over the earth as stewards of God's property.
This means growing and building the Kingdom of God, for the glory of God.
This means transforming a wilderness into a Garden, and the Garden into the City of God, the New Jerusalem, a city of unlimited growth and wealth.

I have benefited from a book entitled, Images of the Spirit by Meredith G. Kline. Kline suggests that the physical theophanic Glory of the Holy Spirit, who hovered over the original earth creation in Gen 1:2, served as the "divine model" for man's creation. In expounding these themes, Kline develops a system of typology where the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle, temple, priest and prophet are all modeled after the archetypal form of the Glory-Spirit, which is a model of heaven itself. Jesus taught us to pray that God's will would be done "on earth as it is in heaven." Comparing the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of Revelation suggests that man's original purpose is nothing less than building the City of God, the New Jerusalem. Edenic motifs are clearly seen in Revelation 21. The "newness" of the "New" Jerusalem is the absence of the ceremonial temple, and the liturgical or restorative patterns of reconciling God and sinners found in the Old Covenant. Just as man was to "dress and keep" the Garden, so he was/is to dress the entire world into the City of God.

Many people object to the idea that man builds the Kingdom of God. They say this is "humanistic," and that the Polis of God must be created wholly by God with no participation by man, and then handed to man on a silver platter. Correct thinking on this issue requires a "paradigm shift." Hal Lindsey represents the old paradigm:

There used to be a group called "postmillennialists." They believed that the Christians would root out all the evil in the world, abolish godless rulers, and convert the world through ever-increasing evangelism until they brought about the Kingdom of God through their own efforts. Then after 1000 years of the institutional church reigning on earth with peace, equality and righteousness, Christ would return and time would end. These people rejected much of the Scripture as being literal and believed in the inherent goodness of man. World War I greatly disheartened this group and World War II virtually wiped out this viewpoint. No self-respecting scholar who looks at the world conditions and the accelerating decline of Christian influence today is a "postmillennialist."
Hal Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth, 1970, p. 176

The idea that Christians would bring about the Kingdom of God "through their own efforts" is a real red-flag for these kind of Christians. They say it reeks of "secular humanism."

Obviously, "anarcho-preterists" do not believe that The City of God is designed by a joint act of Congress. The New Jerusalem is not the vision of an ecclesiastical council or synod, or ecumenical one-world religion. But even as the leaders of church and state conspired together to kill Jesus, even today they are unwittingly orchestrated by the "Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" to enlarge the City of God.

The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, and she must adorn herself for her Husband with righteous acts (Revelation 21:2; 19:7-8; Psalm 45:9-14; Isaiah 54:5; 61:10; 62:4).

But God still gets all the credit.

Consider the "Division of Labor" (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12).
There is not a single person on planet earth who can build a pencil from scratch. This is because all the labor and skills required to extract the raw materials from God's Creation and assemble them into a pencil are divided among many human beings, no one of them possessing all the skills and knowledge needed to plant and harvest trees, extract and refine chemicals, and build the equipment which fabricates a pencil. While Faber-Castell might get credit for making pencils, many other companies had a hand in the task. Previous generations saw the global human economy as being overseen by an "Invisible Hand." Also called "Providence," about which we'll see more below.

Ultimately, only God can get credit for building the New Jerusalem, but man is commanded to do the work.

Imagine the construction of a large apartment. I mean really large, like 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential building in New York. Or five of the ten tallest buildings in the world, found in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. One of these buildings can house 25,000 human beings. Who gets "credit" for building one of these buildings? Maybe the architect -- except it was a team of architects. Maybe the CEO of the Construction firm, but he personally does not know how to build a cement mixer. Suppose your vocation is being a plumber, and you were hired to install a unique sink in one of the residences on the 32nd floor during the construction of one of these buildings. Do you get credit for building the building? Of course not. You knew very little about what kind of building was being constructed. You were just fulfilling your individual calling as a plumber. Should you say, "This is not my building, so I'm not going to contribute to its edification?" That would be disobedient.

Each human being has a calling to build part of the Kingdom of God. It is man's job to build the kingdom. God gets all the credit.

Man's divine purpose on earth is to create a flourishing anarchist society, overseen only by an Invisible Hand.

Click bait. To "click," just keep reading.

The Fall of Man

Man's basic sin against God is the desire to "be as gods."

Genesis 3
⁴  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

An aspect of this rebellion is the desire to get something for nothing, or something without working for it. (James Jordan has argued that Adam and Eve would eventually have been allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, but they were required to work for it first and earn it.)

This is a major motivation for forming "the State" and conquering other people. (The other one being vengeance.)

God is man's Governor. Man rejects God's Government by desiring to be his own governor.

God punishes man for his rebellion by granting him his wishes. When man lusts for political power, God gives it to him.

Then in His mercy, God saves the repentant sinner by delivering him from the political disease.

If we obey God's commandments, we will not have war; God will not send "the sword" against us.

I will argue below that peace is possible only in a state of "an-archy," that is, the absence of "archists." This too is a "paradigm shift."

When we disobey God's Law, God sends archists as a judgment/curse against us.

We see this repeatedly in the Scripture. Israel lusts after gentile archists (like Moloch, which means "king"). God delivers Israel into the hand of these pagan archists, and Israel cries out for deliverance, and God delivers them by sending a deliverer, or "savior" or "judge" who "saves" Israel from the pagan archists.

Here's how Nehemiah sums up Israel's history of rebelling against God's Law and then being "saved" from the consequences of their disobedience:

Nehemiah 9:23-31

²³ Thou also multipliedst their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

²⁴ So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

²⁵ And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

²⁶ Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

²⁷ Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

²⁸ But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

²⁹ And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

³⁰ Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

³¹ Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

God sent Israel many "saviors." When Bible-believers think of a "savior," they think of someone who will save Israel "out of the hand of their enemies." The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, and said:

Matthew 1:18-23

Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

A first-century Jew, steeped in the Scriptures, would hear this as a promise to save "His people" from the consequences of their sins, the curses imposed on them by God because of their rebellion against His Law. John the Baptist's father "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying"

Luke 1:67-80

⁶⁸ “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
⁷⁹ To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The Babe born in Bethlehem saved Christians in the first century from their enemies: the Jews who collaborated with Rome. Then the Rock destroyed Rome, and has filled the earth with Christian Civilization -- The City of God. The growing and filling continues.

Consider this classic Christmas text:

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴        “Glory to God in the highest,
              and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

What would a first-century Israelite think if an angel of the LORD announced the coming of a "savior?" They would doubtless think back to all the saviors in the [Old Testament] Scriptures. Those saviors did not just promise a ticket to heaven when everyone died. They promised to save Israel from the consequences of her sins. Those consequences included "the Sword." Freedom from the sword is one aspect of the holistic Biblical concept of Salvation, and one of the benefits of a Biblical savior. The savior brought the benefits ("blessings") of obedience upon a people who had not been obedient, but who had repented of their disobedience.

Jesus was a Savior in this Biblical tradition. He came to bring Salvation. He came to save His people from their enemies, so they could get on with the work of building the New Jerusalem.

A Biblical "Savior" Brings Biblical "Salvation"

"Salvation" is holistic/cultural/economic, not just a ticket to heaven when you die. We'll see this below in more detail.

1. The word: yasha
2. The deed: what "saviors" did -- they did just not pass out tickets to heaven when you die

1. evil/enemies were raised up by God as "punishment" or incentive to repent
2. evil/enemies are the consequence of unrepentant sin
   1. idolatry - false religion
   2. political alliances with pagans
   3.  trusting in violence/archism
3. Deliverance from evil = saved from sins (and the consequences of sin, which are God's judgments)

The Hebrew word in the Bible

5. Government

A society that is Biblical is archist-free. Our next three texts show this.

Our fifth text is Isaiah 33:22

For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us

Notice all three "branches" of government are seen here.

God governs from heaven through Providence, not visible physical enthronement in Jerusalem. This is the major error of the "pre-millennialists." See the discussion of the "invisible hand" above. Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy (Micah 4:1-7) says

And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.

While it's true that Jesus is the Word, the Word does not judge by sitting on a visible, physical throne in Jerusalem. "The Word" that judges nations is God's Law:

For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

As we saw above, man's chief purpose on earth is to build the City of God. The New Jerusalem is not handed to man on a silver platter fully-built. It is built by the "invisible Hand" of "Divine Providence," but God uses obedient and responsible human agents. An "invisible" Hand requires visible human servants, who are hands, feet, eyes, and other "members" of the Body of Christ.

Israel rejected this concept.
Israel wanted visible physical archists like the Gentiles had. Emperors, Pharaohs, Molochs, and Caesars.
This brings us to our sixth key text: 1 Samuel 8

Read the passage. Read the commentary in that link. The Bible says Israel, in desiring a king like the Gentiles had, was rejecting God. This is an awe-ful and profound indictment. Israel, "the chosen people," rejected the God who chose them, preferring the central-planning archist gods of the pagans. The Israelites were idolators.

Of course, Israel's rejection of God didn't stop God from governing. We hear much from premillennialists that Jesus offered Himself to Israel as Messiah, but Israel rejected Him as King, so He could only be "savior." This is nuts. Jesus was King whether the Jewish establishment wanted Him or not, and He destroyed apostate Israel in a day of fiery vengeance.

Luke 21:20 
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” 

Luke 19:14,27
¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
²⁷ But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”

Matthew 22:1-14
But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)

We see the error of 1 Samuel 8 in Christ's apostles before they were filled with the Spirit. They not only wanted Jesus to be a visible physical archist to overthrow the Roman occupation army, they too wanted archist powers to take vengeance on their oppressors. None of this has a place in Christ's Kingdom. This is seen in our seventh text, Mark 10:42-45, where the Greek word underlying the English word "anarchist" is found. (We looked at this passage above.)

In the ancient world, all empires and politicians were religious. The emperor/pharaoh/caesar was a deity. Politicians were gods and mediators/priests.
Today the politician -- and the Polis -- is said to be "secular," but this is only evidence of the religion of Secular Humanism.

In the Old Testament, archists were called "gods" (Ps 82, etc.).
The desire for a physical, visible archist = idolatry
Human archists = false gods = idols

There is no such thing as a "good" archist.
By definition, "the government" is an institution which claims the right to steal, kidnap, and murder. If it doesn't make that claim, and does not accomplish its goals through violence (which would otherwise be universally acknowledged as sinful in "the private sector"), it's not a "government" and is not made up of archists. It's just a Rotary Club or some other voluntary association. (Which would be a good thing. Voluntary non-violent non-coercive associations provide all the governance any human society needs:
       • homeschools educate,
       • businesses discipline, and
       • competitive free market Dispute Resolution Organizations resolve disputes.
This is "governance" without "the government.")

"The State" is a criminal enterprise. It is prohibited by God's Law, even if God Himself "ordains" it (brings it into existence), like God created Assyria (Isaiah 10) or Rome (Luke 21:20-22) to judge (rape, pillage, burn, destroy) Israel.

6. Salvation

Anarchist optimillennialism is a new paradigm. A new way of looking at human social organization ("government").

And a new way of looking at "salvation."

Let's elaborate a bit on the "blessings" and "cursings" which are found in God's Law (e.g., Leviticus 26).

When Israel rejected the government of God and lusted after Gentile archists, God delivered Israel into the hands of her archist lover/idol. Then Israel cried out for deliverance from these archists. This deliverance is the doorway through which we can gain a larger understanding of the Biblical doctrine of "salvation."

Most Christians think "salvation" means "going to heaven when I die." They focus on a tiny fraction of the Bible, and ignore the vast majority.

"Salvation" -- in the vast majority of Biblical texts -- means "anarchism." "Salvation" means a "libertarian" society. Some would call it an "anarcho-capitalist" society.

The Libertarian Party requires party members to affirm but one proposition:

I do not believe in or advocate
the initiation of force
as a means of achieving political or social goals.

People who will not make this pledge are "archists." They believe they have a right to impose their will on other people by force, usually by "the sword" -- political or military power.

Being an "archist" is un-Christian (Mark 10:42-45). We are not to spread Christianity with the sword. We are not to vote for archists who promise to bring salvation.

What is "Salvation" in the Bible?

Not "What is 'salvation' in the minds of most professing Christians?"

What does the Bible say?

The Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation" or "save" is yasha'. In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.")

What does the government promise? We have a Department of Health, a Welfare Department, a Department of Homeland Security -- all components of the Biblical concept of "salvation." "The Government" (a.k.a. "civil government") is always a substitute for God. God is our Governor (Isaiah 33:22), and He brings salvation.

The Hebrew word for "save" or "bring salvation" is "yasha." Here is how a very mainstream, non-anarcho-preterist scholar defines that Hebrew word:

Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.

I admit that I say many controversial things. That definition is not one of them. It is thoroughly Biblical. That's a very conservative, mainstream reference work. Let's look at it in more detail.

Consider first the phrase "safety and security necessary to maintain life." This is also the "safety and security necessary to maintain a prosperous and humane society." In order to go to WalMart and buy a shopping cart full of food and household accessories, there has to be a global network of businesses who create and transport millions of products by making billions of economic calculations and transactions. Millions of human beings have to get to work on time, run the trucks on schedule, choose to work instead of stealing and robbing, and work the graveyard shift so that when you get to the store, all the items you want are neatly arranged on the shelf in an order which makes it possible for you to quickly find what you need and get on with life.

Who should we trust for "safety" and "security?" What does the Bible say?

The Bible repeatedly says that if we obey God the Lawgiver by loving our neighbor through productive service, God our Judge and King will "bless" us with peace and prosperity. "Peace" means "safety" and "security." These are all components of the Biblical picture of holistic "salvation."

But there are those who want to supplant God the King by promising to give us salvation if we will vote for them.

• "safety" is part of holistic Biblical "salvation"
  • the government has a "National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."
  • it also has an Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • there's the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  • don't forget the Consumer Product Safety Commission
  • I'm sure you check the government's FoodSafety website every day, just like Betsy Ross, Dolley Madison, and Abigail Adams used to do.
• "security" is part of "salvation"
  • we've been trained to think the government provides "National Security."
  • or " Homeland Security
  • or Social Security (not)

"Safety" and "security" are blessings from God, not government. We enjoy "safety" and "security" when our nation is Christian and observes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," that is, the Bible. Nobody enjoys "safety" and "security" when the government becomes a tyranny which bans the Bible and people behave like pagans.

• The Bible promises that as Christianity pervades a society, even pagans will start acting like Christians.
• Then we will all enjoy "salvation."
•  Jesus is "the savior of all men, especially those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:10

Here are other key descriptions of Biblical "salvation," according to our mainstream source above:

• being placed in a "wide" space
• having "sufficient" quantities of things needed (God's Covenant promises more than you "need")
• opposite: having your options "narrowed"     \   Q.: Who does these things?
• opposite: being "restricted"                             | A.: Archists
• opposite: experiencing "distress"                   /   "Blessing" = "salvation" = freedom from archists
• "the ability to pursue one’s own objectives" without someone else telling you what to do and imposing their will on you by force
• living life unafraid of "dangers" [dangerous people, i.e., archists who threaten your liberty and prosperity]

The Bible describes "salvation" as being placed onto a large piece of property that supplies everything you need:

• Psalm 118:5 
  I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
• 2 Samuel 22:20 
  He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
• Genesis 26:22 
  He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” 
• Hosea 4:16 
  For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: can now the LORD feed them as a lamb in a large place?
• Psalm 31:8 
  and hast not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a broad place.
• Psalm 18:19 
  He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
• Psalm 66:12 
  Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
• Psalm 69:35
  For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

In the Bible, Godly men are shown to be concerned about living in a “large” land. Of course, in a more agrarian society, “large” is better, as far as land goes. But when God promises to save us by putting us into a “large land,” it’s clear that more is included than going to heaven after living for decades in a narrow land before we up and die. What is the modern equivalent of a “large land?” It varies from person to person, but it includes some form of economic prosperity and political Liberty. “Liberty” and “large” are Biblical concepts we are not familiar enough with. Let’s review them and put them in our brains, so that as we read the Bible we will be more aware of them.

• Genesis 34:21
  “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
• Exodus 3:8
  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
• Judges 18:10
  When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.” 
• 1 Chronicles 4:40
  And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful; for some Hamites formerly lived there.
• Nehemiah 7:4
  Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt.
• Nehemiah 9:35
  For they have not served You in their kingdom,
        Or in the many good things that You gave them,
        Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
        Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

One of the blessings promised to the obedient in the Bible is "liberty."

• LEVITICUS XXV.X (25:10)
  proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.
• Psalm 119:45
  And I will walk at liberty,
           For I seek Your precepts.
• Isaiah 61:1
        “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
        Because the LORD has anointed Me
        To preach good tidings to the poor;
        He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
        To proclaim liberty to the captives,
        And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 
• Jeremiah 34:8
  This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
  Jeremiah 34:15-17
  15 Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. 16 Then you turned around and profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’
  17 “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the LORD—’to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.
• 2 Corinthians 3:17
  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
• James 1:25
  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
• James 2:12
  So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

"Liberty" means "freedom." But "freedom from what?" In the pages of the Bible, the answer is almost always: "freedom from archists."

One of the blessings promised in Leviticus 26 is "peace," or freedom from those who bear the sword. Those who bear the sword are archists. They are also called in the Bible "enemies."

Of course, "freedom from" is always for the purpose of "freedom to" -- freedom to serve and obey the Lord.

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." "Jesus" means God will save. It was said of Jesus at His birth:

Luke 1:71  

That we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us;

74 That He would grant unto us, that we
being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him [exercise dominion and build His Kingdom] without fear [living under our "vine and fig tree" "with no one to make them afraid" (Micah 4:1-7)]

This is what "salvation" means in the Bible.

The specific enemies Christians had in the first century were of the Jewish establishment, but I believe Jesus the Messiah will save us from our enemies today -- whoever they may be, whenever we live -- if we obey God's Law.

"But isn't the real meaning of salvation 'being forgiven of your sins and going to heaven when you die?'"

Most church-goers ask this.

Forgiveness of sins = restoration to fellowship with God,
Forgiveness of sins = restoration to our original Edenic Mandate to build the Kingdom of God.

Forgiveness of sins is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

The overwhelming majority of Christians today agree with Jews who say that Jesus is not the Messiah. The vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus will not reign as Messiah until there is a second Christmas -- a second Advent, or "second coming of Christ" -- which is really the first coming of the Christ, since at His first Advent Jesus came only as "savior," -- that is, someone who secures for us a ticket to heaven when we die -- and not as "Christ" -- that is, someone who delivers us out of the hand of our enemies, sets us in a wide open place, opens the bounties of heaven, and makes our land like Eden, so we can enjoy a  “Vine & Fig Tree” society.

Many Christians in our day say that the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, therefore He could only offer to be their Savior. This is so confused it's hard to know where to begin.

1. Most Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah; only the corrupt upper-crust establishment rejected Jesus (Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 12:24; 19:20; 21:20; Matthew 13:31-33; John 12:24,42; 3:2; 11:45; 19:38; Colossians 1:6).
2. Jesus' claim to be a "savior" (i.e., to forgive sins [but not to punish sins as a Messiah would]), was considered blasphemous by the Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12, Luke 5:18-26)
3. Just because someone does not want Jesus to reign over him as Messiah is no impediment to Jesus (Luke 9:14,27). Jesus reigned as Messiah over the apostate Jews by directing Titus to destroy those who rejected Jesus as Messiah with the Roman legions in AD 70.
4. There is no Biblical distinction between a "Messiah" and a "Savior."
   Most Christians today say Jesus came 2,000 years ago only as "Savior," and only when He comes again (in our future) will He reign as "Messiah." But if you look at how the Scriptures use the words "save" and "savior," you can easily see why no 1st-century Jew would have understood such a distinction. It is not in the Bible. In the Scriptures, "saviors" did the work of "messiahs." We saw above how Nehemiah says God sent many "saviors" to Israel after they became dissatisfied with their Gentile archist lovers:

   Nehemiah 9:27

   Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies that vexed them: yet in the time of their affliction, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from the heaven, and through Thy great mercies Thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries (cp. Luke 1:71,74).

   The idea that Jesus is only a "savior" but not the Messiah is is not a Biblically tenable position. There is almost no hint in the Bible that any "savior" would do nothing to "save" his people in this life, but only in the next.

A "savior" brings "salvation." Doesn't that make sense? But what is "salvation?" It is not, Biblically speaking, going to heaven after you die, having lived a life without being "saved" in the holistic Biblical sense of that word. In the Bible, saviors brought freedom from archists for God's People. See the discussion of the Hebrew word for "salvation" above.

These "saviors" were sometimes called "judges." The various "kings" of Israel could also serve as "saviors" because they would "save" Israel from her oppressors (1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 3:18, etc.).

"Saviors" in the Old Testament served what we could call primarily "messianic" functions." Biblically speaking, "savior" is virtually a synonym for "messiah." And "Messiah" is a political term, that is, a term that does not have primary reference to us after death, but reference to our lives today, in their holistic cultural, social, political, civil, economic, recreational, and legal dimensions.

A "Messiah" brings political changes. A "savior" brings "salvation." But the Biblical definition of "salvation" is not just a short-term relief on the battlefield, but long-term liberty from archists. See the definition of the Hebrew word for "salvation," yasha, which we looked at above.

A true "savior" is the Messiah who brings Christian civilization, that is, "salvation" over the long haul, now over twenty centuries.  See the five books listed here: Christian civilization. (That's an important link.)

Jay Wile writes (An Interesting Observation from China | Proslogion):

Recently, I read an article by Dr. Paul Copan entitled, “Jesus-Shaped Cultures.”¹ In that article, he makes the case for how faithful Christians have transformed the societies they have served. For example, he discusses the Ethiopian famine that took place in 1984 and 1985. Brian Stewart, a CBC journalist, noted that it was Christians who were on the front lines of the famine, giving aid to the suffering. Their service was such a powerful witness to him that it started him on his journey to becoming a Christian himself.

While Copan’s article is interesting, it led me to a book that I thought was even more interesting. It is entitled Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, and it is written by David Aikman, who served as a journalist for Time Magazine from 1971 to 1994. In his role as a Time correspondent, he visited China several times and even lived in China for two years as Time’s bureau chief. He returned to China in 2002 to gather the information he needed to complete his book.

He begins the book in a dramatic way. It is worth quoting at length:²

The eighteen American tourists visiting China weren’t expecting much from the evening’s lecture. They were already exhausted from a day of touring in Beijing. But what the speaker had to say astonished them.

The Victory of Reason Listen Now | Download

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” he said. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next, we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

This was not coming from some ultra-conservative think tank in Orange County, California or from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. This was a scholar from China’s premier academic research institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing in 2002. (emphasis mine)

In his book, Aikman suggests that Christianity will transform China to the point where it won’t even be communist anymore. He suggests that in the next thirty years, nearly one-third of China could be Christian, making it one of the largest Christian nations in the world and a strong ally of the U.S.

2. David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, pp. 5-6

See also: The Iona Institute | Christianity the reason for West's success, say the Chinese

In asking whether Habakkuk's prophecy has been or is being fulfilled, and whether the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, don't ask those who should admit that they know the Lord; ask the Scriptures whether they ought to admit it. Sometimes they won't, but many times they will. Truth is truth, whether we admit it or not.

Today, the Chinese are "streaming" to Zion (Micah 4:1-2). So are people in Latin America, Africa, and even India, according to Philip Jenkins. Humanity has been flowing to Zion for 2,000 years, but the rate may be accelerating. This phenomenon is not yet on the radar of archists. It will dramatically increase when Christians become widely recognized as a Dispute Resolution Forum. It will exsanguinate the State by doing so.

7. Gospel / Good News

• It is a way of looking at God and Providence. ("Government")
• It is a way of looking at our duty to serve our neighbors and the world. (service)
• It is a way of looking at prophecy and the future. (civilization)

Freedom from archists is the Gospel (good news).

Galatians 3:8
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed."

The Scripture preached "the Gospel" to Abraham.

Q.: What was the good news?
A.: World-wide blessing.
Q.: What is "blessing?"
A.: Salvation: Being delivered from our enemies and living securely in peace and prosperity, free from archists in a  “Vine & Fig Tree”  world.
Q.: How do we obtain God's blessing?
A.: By faithfully obeying His commandments.
Q.: Is that possible before the Second Coming?
A.: That is the promise of the New Covenant.

Jeremiah 31

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
²⁰ That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:27

²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Jeremiah 31:33 + Galatians 3:8
New Covenant = obedience to God's Law
New Covenant = blessing throughout the world
New Covenant = salvation/peace/safety
New Covenant = freedom from archists

Your church will not likely support you in pursuing New Covenant obedience to God's Law.
Especially if God's Law is understood as prohibiting archism.
You may be interested in joining "The Perfect Club."
Your church may become your mission field.

A Political View of Life
Why Our Bible Studies Should Be
Predominantly Political*

The Chronology of human history in the Bible records a shift in the basic pattern of social organization from the patria (family), which God created in the Garden of Eden, to the polis (city-state). In other words, from Patriarchy to Politics.

We live in a political society. The question is whether God's will is our compass (as seen in the God-established family-centered human society in the Garden of Eden), or whether our paths are being charted by the political forces of the secular polis (human society in rebellion against God).

Most Christians are completely unaware of how their lives are dominated by the secular polis rather than the Word of God.

Two Themes: Archism and Secularism

• Jesus said the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists," but Christ's disciples are to reject this in favor of being servants (Mark 10:42-45).
• Jesus said we are to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

The shift from Patriarchy to Politics is a shift from service to archism.

And in our day, the shift is from a society "under God" to a secular society, from a society that publicly and officially acknowledges its duty to God, to a secular society that refuses to acknowledge that duty publicly and officially, refuses to endorse the most fundamental "self-evident truths."

The political society in which we live is based on both archism and secularism.

• Archism: It teaches us that when our goals are frustrated, and people don't do what we think they should do, we are allowed to "vote" for others to take vengeance against them, or use force and threats of violence to coerce them into doing what we think they should do. "Archism" is the biggest government lie in all of history.
• Secularism: It also teaches us that God and religion are "private" matters, and God's Commandments should not be brought into any discussion about the "public" policies of the polis, including the basic question of whether our lives should be dominated by archism or by service.

When God's People determined to emulate the pagan nations around them, making the shift from Patriarchy to Politics, God told them that this represented a rejection of God's government and law, and with all such violations, would come the curses of the covenant. The curses specifically detailed by Samuel to the people included taxation to the tune of 10%.

When America's Founding Fathers took up arms to fight against "taxation without representation," they were fighting tax rates that historians estimate at 3-5%.

Today, combined taxes taken from our paychecks by all levels of the polis average 50%.

The wealth that is left to us by all levels of government is then taxed again, as corporations and manufacturers pass on accumulated anti-business taxes to consumers.

• As much as half of the price of gasoline at the pump is made up of taxes by various levels of government.
• How would you like to purchase a new $23,000 Ford Taurus for only $12,650? That's the price you would pay if the government didn't tax every product you buy at every stage of its production, reports Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).
• The amount of taxes you pay for every product you buy runs from 30% to 70%.

In other words, the government not only takes half "your" money before you spend it, it takes half again when you exchange "your" money for the goods and services you want.

But the Bible says to pay your taxes, so that's not the complaint of this essay, and joining the "tax protest" movement is not advocated. Taxes are a symptom, as 1 Samuel 8 makes plain. The important point to be made with regard to the fact that government takes 75% of everything we earn, is that the government then uses that money to regulate our lives and transform our culture, turning us from Christ to the principles of archism and secularism. It may be safe to say that 75% of our day is dictated by the government. Where we live, where we work, what we do for a living, what products we consume, and many other questions are determined directly and indirectly by government regulation. Whereas homeschoolers know that only 3-4 hours a day are needed for "schooling," most students in government-run schools have a much larger percentage of their waking hours governed by state schools. After-school hours are not dictated by family businesses, but by government's child-labor laws and minimum wage laws, which keep young men and women unemployed and lacking in entrepreneurial skills and experience. Fear of lawsuits also dictate actions by private citizens who are to one degree or another tied to public institutions. Mention of religion or even permitting the free exercise of religion can be deemed an "unconstitutional" "endorsement" of religion, and invite expensive litigation from the ACLU and other anti-Christian forces.

We can complain about MTV, but how much of our money does MTV take? Could MTV come into existence in a culture that was explicitly Christian and taught the Bible in all its schools? The real influence in our culture is the institution that gets our money. And that influence is of a decidedly secularizing force.

The influence is pervasive. Few people have ever given much thought about how our lives -- and thoughts -- have been shaped by the secular polis. Those who have attempted to change society, to inject an explicitly Christian message into the public square, have run into the obstacles. They've been told by the bureaucrats, "We can't do that. That would be a violation of the separation of church and state." Most people have never tried to make our society more Christian.  Most people have not directly tried to repel the forces of secularism in our society. Most people are completely unaware of who is calling the shots in their lives. Most people walk in line, following the person in front of them. We learn this lesson in the earliest years of government schooling.

We are where we are, who we are, and doing what we do largely because of

• how the government has organized our society,
• how we unconsciously go along with their agenda,
• even how our parents went along with the government's agenda.

The Myth of Salvation

"All this talk about politics is missing the point," some will say. "The REAL point of the Bible is our salvation, and you're distracting us from that central issue."

This concept of "salvation" is a dangerous myth, and is part of our idolatrous thinking.

We don't think self-consciously about what God wants us to do and compare and contrast that with what Caesar demands of us. We have been trained to narrow our field of vision to exclude Biblical choices and promises for the entire planet. We serve the State because we believe the State will provide us with health, comfort, victory over enemies -- in short, everything that is contained in the Biblical word for "salvation." Strong's Dictionary has the following entry for the Hebrew word commonly translated "salvation":

The Biblical word for "salvation" means much more than going to heaven when you die. It has to do with this present world.

 

Some pundits and commentators have said we live in a "welfare state."

A major part of government budgets consist of redistribution of wealth to the "needy" to aid them and ensure their welfare.

Others have said we live in a "warfare state."

A huge part of our budget goes to the military so they can deliver us from our enemies, and give us victory.

Both are correct. We live in a "welfare-warfare state."

And if Hillarycare ever passes (Hillary Clinton's proposal for nationalized health care), some will say we live in a "healthcare state."

All are true.

We live in a "Salvation State." A state that promises everything that God promises in His Covenant. And we believe the promises of the State more than we believe God's promises. We look to the state for salvation in the Biblical sense of the word, relegating God to a completely neo-platonic sense of the word "salvation" (a spirit floating in heaven when I die). We think we're going to heaven after living a truly and comprehensively idolatrous life on earth.

Jesus said we are to love and serve the Lord with all our being, heart, mind, soul, and strength. When He said we are to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's," He was not justifying the existence of the secular Salvation-State, but indicting those who did not love and serve the Lord, but worshipped Caesar. The Bible says that being under "tribute" is a curse upon a faithless people (Proverbs 12:24). "Taxation" (tribute) is a curse. The act of taxing is evil. An obedient heart does not blithely accept being under tribute as though the situation were normal. A heart that is faithful will not act as the violent revolutionary to remove a symptom of faithlessness without dealing with the underlying idolatry that offends God, but the faithful heart will seek to discern God's will, motivated in part by the desire to avoid God's curse. The point is not just taxes. The point is that Israel accepted slavery. Slavery was comfortable. Slavery meant their salvation, their health, safety and welfare. They didn't want Jesus rocking the boat. "We have no king but Caesar," they said (John 19:15). They rejected the Messiah in favor of a messianic state.

Rushdoony quotes Prof. Stauffer who pointed out a well-known and oft-repeated imperial decree which stated, "There is no name under heaven by which men may be saved than that of Caesar Augustus." The Empire promised salvation, just as God promises salvation: health, welfare, prosperity, security. All nations had to be a part of the Roman Empire. All their gods were admitted to the Parthenon, because there was "freedom of religion."
But Christians had a different idea. The Apostle Peter said, There is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved than the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). And Christians were arrested, jailed, and martyred, while other religions were approved, licensed, and accredited by the State.

Most Christians today would rather have salvation from Caesar than risk everything for Jesus. "If I speak out I might lose my job."

We have re-defined "salvation," giving Caesar lordship over everything in this life, and expecting God to let us go to heaven after a life of idolatry.

Samuel warned the people that if they imitated the nations around them, they would be subjected to a 10% tax. If Samuel could view our society, with 50% overt tax-rates, 50% covert tax rates, and voluntary submission without complaint or protest to a vast array of regulations which completely dominate our lives, he would conclude that we worshipped Caesar.

A Biblical Christian must examine himself to see who is truly lord of his life. The first question he should ask as he reads every verse of the Bible should be "Who is the lord of my life?" "Who am I serving?" "Why do I do the things I do?"

For this reason, a Godly Bible study will always have political implications and seek to answer political questions. In fact, the title of this page is completely inaccurate. It should be:

An Anti-Political View of Life
Why Our Bible Studies Should Be
Predominantly Anti-Political

www.TheChristmasConspiracy.com

The Politics of Salvation

On November 4, 2008, millions of Americans did not vote for "the President of the United States," that is, the Executive Officer created by Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Instead, they voted for a Messiah.
This webpage is not about churches and preachers who sell "salvation" when you die.
It's about totalitarian dictators and tyrants who offer you their salvation -- and if you don't accept it, then you must die.

Holistic Salvation

One of the greatest myths of the 20th century is that God intends only to snatch a few individuals from the global dictatorship of "The New World Order," taking them off to heaven while all of culture goes to hell. The modern "gospel" is that I get to go to heaven; ME, ME, ME, the big Numero Uno; I get to go to heaven while the nations around me collapse.

"Salvation" -- that is, "going to heaven when you die" -- is a major theme of the television preachers. There are over 1,000 chapters in the Bible; pick one of those chapters and you're likely to find more verses related to "governments" in that one chapter than there are verses in the entire Bible which expressly reveal what happens when you die. Most of the chapters in the Bible are about evil politicians. There are whole books of the Bible on this subject (1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings), and the Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Micah, etc.) are mostly denunciations of evil kings and the judgment they are bringing down on their nation. The opposite of "judgment" in this context is "salvation."

The "war on terror" and the October Bailout both promise what the Bible describes as "salvation": security, safety, and economic well-being.

There are more promises in the Bible about the salvation of entire nations than there is about the salvation of one single selfish individual. God is more concerned than we are about the Salvation of a culture, of an entire society (which is composed of many individuals, the sum of which is in some ways greater than the parts).

Salvation: A Definition

Strong's Dictionary has the following entry for the Hebrew word commonly translated "salvation":

3444. yeshuw'ah, yesh-oo'-aw; fem. pass. part. of H3467; something saved, i.e. (abstr.) deliverance; hence aid, victory, prosperity:--deliverance, health, help (-ing), salvation, save, saving (health), welfare.

These words are physical and this-worldly. The Biblical word for "salvation" means much more than going to heaven when you die. It has to do with this present world.

The "Welfare State" and the "Warfare State" = a "Salvation State"

• Some pundits and commentators have said we live in a "welfare state."

A major part of government budgets consist of redistribution of wealth to the "needy" to aid them and ensure their welfare. You can see that this is a promise of "salvation" in the Biblical sense.

• Others have said we live in a "warfare state."

A huge part of our budget goes to the military so they can deliver us from our enemies, and give us victory. This too is part of the Biblical meaning of "salvation." "National Security" is part of "salvation."

• Both are correct. We live in a "welfare-warfare state."

And if Hillarycare (Hillary Clinton's proposal for nationalized health care) is passed as "Obamacare," some will say we live in a "healthcare state."

All are true. We don't just live in a "welfare state," or a "warfare state,"

We live in a "Salvation State."

We are under a State that promises everything that God promises in His Covenant. And we believe the promises of the State more than we believe God's promises. We look to the state for salvation in the Biblical sense of the word, relegating God to a completely neo-platonic sense of the word "salvation" (a spirit floating in heaven when I die). We think we're going to heaven after living a truly and comprehensively idolatrous life on earth.

Under the influence of "neo-platonism," modern Christians have reduced "salvation" to a completely other-worldly, non-physical status. All the blessings of Biblical salvation are ignored. This has had two disastrous effects.

1. Christians are "so heavenly-minded they are of no earthly good."
   • We have industrial park rent-a-churches instead of cathedrals designed to last a millennium.
   • Missionaries "save souls" but do not transform culture. (Today's multiculturalists condemn missionaries of the past for their "colonialism": eliminating cannibalism, suttee, human sacrifice, thuggism, witch-doctor dictatorships and other "indigenous" religious practices.)
   • Our culture slides into the abyss. Sexually-transmitted diseases skyrocket among 13 year-olds. The "Bible belt" has higher rates of divorce than among atheists. Shattered lives, broken hearts, scandalized unbelievers. "Pie in the sky by and by" means hell on earth (compare Matthew 6:10).
2. Secular Humanists attempt to create salvation through the State.
   • Hillary's Socialist Medicine Health Care plan (compare Exodus 15:26).
   • Millions of innocents murdered by NATO and the Military Industrial Complex; no demonstrable gains in "national security."
   • Attempts by the Federal Reserve Board to create prosperity result in oppression of the poor, and redistribution of power and wealth to a Secular Humanist elite.
   • Welfare state enslaves minorities, dumbs-down majorities, creates hard hearts and resentment.

At the bottom of this page are a few examples of how the Bible speaks of "salvation."

Two Themes: Archism and Secularism

The political society in which we live is based on both archism and secularism.

• Archism: It teaches us that when our goals are frustrated, and people don't do what we think they should do, we are allowed to "vote" for others to take vengeance against them, or use force and threats of violence to coerce them into doing what we think they should do. "Archism" is the biggest government lie in all of history.
• Secularism: It also teaches us that God and religion are "private" matters, and God's Commandments should not be brought into any discussion about the "public" policies of the polis, including the basic question of whether our lives should be dominated by archism or by service.

When ancient Israel decided to emulate the pagan nations around them, making the shift from a family-centered society to a political society, God told them that this represented a rejection of God's government and law, and with all such violations, would come the curses of the covenant. The curses specifically detailed by Samuel to the people included taxation to the tune of 10% (1 Samuel 8).

America's Founding Fathers took up arms against a government that taxed only 3-5%. Today government takes fully half of everything we earn. Then when we try to spend the money that wasn't withheld from our paychecks, we find that the wealth that is left to us by all levels of government is then taxed again, as corporations and manufacturers pass on accumulated "anti-business" taxes to consumers.

• As much as half of the price of gasoline at the pump is made up of taxes by various levels of government.
• How would you like to purchase a new $23,000 Ford Taurus for only $12,650? That's the price you would pay if the government didn't tax every product you buy at every stage of its production, reports Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).
• The amount of taxes you pay for every product you buy runs from 30% to 70%.

In other words, the government not only takes half "your" money before you spend it, it takes half again when you exchange "your" money for the goods and services you want.

But the Bible says to pay your taxes, so that's not the complaint of this essay, and joining the "tax protest" movement is not advocated. Taxes are a symptom, as 1 Samuel 8 makes plain. The important point to be made with regard to the fact that government takes 75% of everything we earn, is that the government then uses that money to regulate our lives and transform our culture, turning us from Christ to the principles of archism and secularism. It may be safe to say that 75% of our day is dictated by the government. Where we live, where we work, what we do for a living, what products we consume, and many other questions are determined directly and indirectly by government regulation. Whereas homeschoolers know that only 3-4 hours a day are needed for "schooling," most students in government-run schools have a much larger percentage of their waking hours governed by state schools. After-school hours are not dictated by family businesses, but by government's child-labor laws and minimum wage laws, which keep young men and women unemployed and lacking in entrepreneurial skills and experience. Fear of lawsuits also dictate actions by private citizens who are to one degree or another tied to public institutions. Mention of religion or even permitting the free exercise of religion can be deemed an "unconstitutional" "endorsement" of religion, and invite expensive litigation from the ACLU and other anti-Christian forces.

We can complain about MTV, but how much of our money does MTV take? Could MTV come into existence in a culture that was explicitly Christian and taught the Bible in all its schools? The real influence in our culture is the institution that gets our money. And that influence is of a decidedly secularizing force.

The influence is pervasive. Few people have ever given much thought about how our lives -- and thoughts -- have been shaped by the secular polis. Those who have attempted to change society, to inject an explicitly Christian message into the public square, have run into the obstacles. They've been told by the bureaucrats, "We can't do that. That would be a violation of the separation of church and state." Most people have never tried to make our society more Christian.  Most people have not directly tried to repel the forces of secularism in our society. Most people are completely unaware of who is calling the shots in their lives. Most people walk in line, following the person in front of them. We learn this lesson in the earliest years of government schooling.

We are where we are, who we are, and doing what we do largely because of

• how the government has organized our society,
• how we unconsciously go along with their agenda,
• even how our parents went along with the government's agenda.

The Myth of Salvation

"All this talk about politics is missing the point," some will say. "The REAL point of the Bible is our salvation, and you're distracting us from that central issue."

This concept of "salvation" is a dangerous myth, and is part of our idolatrous thinking.

We don't think self-consciously about what God wants us to do and compare and contrast that with what Caesar demands of us. We have been trained to narrow our field of vision to exclude Biblical choices and promises for the entire planet. We serve the State because we believe the State will provide us with health, comfort, victory over enemies -- in short, everything that is contained in the Biblical word for "salvation."

Jesus said we are to love and serve the Lord with all our being, heart, mind, soul, and strength. When He said we are to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's," He was not justifying the existence of the secular Salvation-State, but indicting those who did not love and serve the Lord, but worshipped Caesar. The Bible says that being under "tribute" is a curse upon a faithless people (Proverbs 12:24). "Taxation" (tribute) is a curse. The act of taxing is evil. An obedient heart does not blithely accept being under tribute as though the situation were normal. A heart that is faithful will not act as the violent revolutionary to remove a symptom of faithlessness without dealing with the underlying idolatry that offends God, but the faithful heart will seek to discern God's will, motivated in part by the desire to avoid God's curse. The point is not just taxes. The point is that Israel accepted slavery. Slavery was comfortable. Slavery meant their salvation, their health, safety and welfare. They didn't want Jesus rocking the boat. "We have no king but Caesar," they said (John 19:15). They rejected the Messiah in favor of a messianic state.

Rushdoony quotes Prof. Stauffer who pointed out a well-known and oft-repeated imperial decree which stated, "There is no name under heaven by which men may be saved than that of Caesar Augustus." The Empire promised salvation, just as God promises salvation: health, welfare, prosperity, security. All nations had to be a part of the Roman Empire. All their gods were admitted to the Parthenon, because there was "freedom of religion."
But Christians had a different idea. The Apostle Peter said, There is no other name under heaven by which we may be saved than the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). And Christians were arrested, jailed, and martyred, while other religions were approved, licensed, and accredited by the State.

Most Christians today would rather have salvation from Caesar than risk everything for Jesus. "If I speak out I might lose my job."

We have re-defined "salvation," giving Caesar lordship over everything in this life, and expecting God to let us go to heaven after a life of idolatry.

Samuel warned the people that if they imitated the nations around them, they would be subjected to a 10% tax. If Samuel could view our society, with 50% overt tax-rates, 50% covert tax rates, and voluntary submission without complaint or protest to a vast array of regulations which completely dominate our lives, he would conclude that we worshipped Caesar.

A Biblical Christian must examine himself to see who is truly lord of his life. The first question he should ask as he reads every verse of the Bible should be "Who is the lord of my life?" "Who am I serving?" "Why do I do the things I do?"

For this reason, a Godly Bible study will always have political implications and seek to answer political questions.

David Chilton writes about the Book of Revelation (c. AD 66):

National Socialism as Religion

Let's look at some of the occurrences of the word "salvation" and learn more about the mind of God. For best results, read these verses in their context. (If your favorite commentator has a helpful observation on any of the passages below, please email it to us.)