Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly two thousand English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and digital recordings by John MacArthur. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

WHY GOVERNMENT CAN'T SAVE YOU

Thomas Nelson

Contents

INTRODUCTION....................................................................viiCHAPTER ONE Political Involvement: a Christian Perspective.....................3CHAPTER TWO Our Responsibility to Authority....................................19CHAPTER THREE The Biblical Purpose of Government...............................39CHAPTER FOUR Our Tax Obligation................................................53CHAPTER FIVE Jesus' Lesson on Tax Exemptions...................................69CHAPTER SIX Supporting Our Leaders: How and Why................................81CHAPTER SEVEN Daniel's Uncompromising Civil Service............................99CHAPTER EIGHT Paul's Example before Worldly Authorities........................111CHAPTER NINE How to Live in a Pagan Culture....................................129APPENDIX: CITIZENSHIP IN HEAVEN.................................................147STUDY GUIDE.....................................................................171ENDNOTES........................................................................191

Chapter One

There was a time when nearly everyone could name off all the Ten Commandments, but today most don't even know what the Ten Commandments are. There was also a time when retail stores, dining and entertainment establishments, and all nonessential enterprises would be closed on Sundays out of respect for the Lord's Day. But now for most people in the West it's fairly much business as usual on Sundays. Furthermore, there was a time (not so many years ago), when respectable citizens uniformly disapproved of homosexuality, adultery, and divorce; believed sexual promiscuity was absolutely wrong; disdained cursing or obscene language; saw abortion as unthinkable; and automatically held public officials to high moral and ethical standards. But today many citizens, when polled on such issues, view them either as acceptable practices, civil rights, or inconsequential matters.

How times and the culture have changed! All those past scenarios seem to most unbelievers better suited to the realm of an old novel or book of legends and fables. The strong Christian influence and scriptural standards that shaped Western culture and American society through the end of the nineteenth century have definitely given way to practical atheism and moral relativism. The few vestiges of Christianity in the culture are at best weak and compromising, and to an increasingly pagan society they are cultic and bizarre.

In the United States, political leaders, legislative bodies, and courts during the past half century have adopted, mainly through laws and judicial rulings, a distinctly anti-Christian attitude and agenda. The country has swept away the principles of the Christian worldview under the guises of strict separation of church and state, equal rights, "political correctness," and tolerance.

Evangelical Christians are understandably alarmed and even resentful at what has occurred in contemporary America:

? Public institutions and officials now sanction "alternate lifestyles" (homosexuality) and same-sex unions.

? "Reproductive freedom" (a woman's right to have an abortion) is an accepted viewpoint that's supported by the Supreme Court.

? Schools and government agencies promote "safe sex" for young people (secular sex education that ignores the moral and spiritual issues of premarital sex and worries only about venereal diseases and unwanted babies).

? "Judicial fairness" gets prime consideration in the court system (criminals exonerated as "victims of their environments," at the disregard of the real victims).

? "True freedom of expression" (pornographic literature, film, and art exhibitions) is all that matters in the arts.

To make matters worse, believers often feel intensified hostilities toward the government when they realize that their tax dollars are funding such ungodly ideas and practices.

During the past twenty-five years, well-meaning Christians have founded a number of evangelical activist organizations and put millions of dollars into them in an ill-conceived effort to counteract the secular undermining of American culture. They have used these groups, along with existing Christian publishing houses and broadcast networks, to lobby hard for a "Christian" political viewpoint and fight back against the prevailing anti-Christian culture. Sadly, those believers have often displayed mean-spirited attitudes and utilized the same kinds of worldly tactics as their unbelieving opponents. The problem with this overall approach should be obvious—believers become antagonistic toward the very lost people God has called them to love and reach with the gospel.

LESSONS FROM HISTORY

There is no denying the historical precedent for political, cultural, and even military activism by professing Christians. But such precedent doesn't make that sort of Christian preoccupation right or biblical. The Crusades during the Middle Ages were waged for the purpose of regaining Christian control of the Holy Lands, yet few believers today would praise that effort. Religious wars and campaigns tinged with political motivation, such as what occurred during the Reformation era in Europe and England are viewed with disapproval, or at best curiosity, by people today. For example, who today can identify with the motivations of France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and some of the German states in the early 1600s to wage a long conflict (Thirty Years' War) whose cause was rooted in the bitter rivalry between Roman Catholic and Protestant rulers as much as it was in nationalistic hostilities? Or how many present-day believers would even partially approve of the Puritans' bloody overthrow, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, of the English monarchy in the 1660s and the imposition of their austere view of church, state, and morality on the nation? (The Puritans were particularly cruel to Irish Catholics.)

Over the past several centuries, people have mistakenly linked democracy and political freedom to Christianity. That's why many contemporary evangelicals believe the American Revolution was completely justified, both politically and scripturally. They follow the argumentation of the Declaration of Independence, which declares that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are divinely endowed rights. Therefore those believers say such rights are part of a Christian worldview, worth attaining and defending at all costs, including military insurrection at times. But such a position is contrary to the clear teachings and commands of Romans 13:1–7. So the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings that God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers.

Also, many present-day Christian activists seem to be unaware of how much their methodology parallels that of liberal Christians at the turn of the twentieth century. Like those misguided idealists, contemporary evangelicals became enamored of temporal issues at the expense of eternal values. Evangelical activists, in essence, are simply preaching a politically conservative version of the old social gospel, emphasizing...