Liberating Planet Earth
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Liberating Planet Earth

by Gary DeMar by Gary DeMar

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12.07.2013 Views

The lneuitabili~ of Liberation 137 obey the law.G The Spirit’s empowering is a fundamental distinction between the two covenantal periods. But this greater empowering by the Spirit must be made manifest in history if it is to be distinguished from the repeated failure of believers in the Old Covenant era to stay in the “positive feedback” mode: blessings . . . greater faith . . . greater blessings, etc. It is this positive feedback aspect of Biblical law in New Testament times which links Biblical law with optimism toward the future (dominion theology). Does the great power of the Holy Spirit really mean anything in history? If we were to argue that the greater empowering of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament era is only a kind of theoretical backdrop to history, and therefore Biblical law will not actually be preached and obeyed in this pre-final-judgrnent age, then we would really be abandoning the whole idea of the Holy Spirit’s empowering of Christians and Christian society in history. Yet people argue this way: “Yes, the Spirit empowers Christians to obey Biblical law; however, they will not adopt or obey Biblical law in history~ Will the progressive manifestation of the fruits of obeying Biblical law also be strictly internal and not external? If so, then what has happened to the positive feedback aspect of covenant law? What has happened to empowering by the Holy Spirit? I argue that the greater empowering by the Holy Spirit for God’s people to obey and enforce Biblical law is what invalidates the implicit anti-dominion position regarding the ineffectiveness of Biblical law in New Testament times. If Christians obey God’s law, then the positive feedback process is inevitable; it is part of the law-governed aspect of the creation: “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). If some segments of the church refuse to obey it, then those segments will eventually lose influence, money, and power. Their place will be taken by those Christian churches that obey God’s laws, and that will therefore experience the covenant’s 6. Greg L. Bahnsen, By This Stambrd: l%e AuthoriQ of God!s Lxo Today (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1985), pp. 159-62, 185-86.

138 Liberating Planet Earth external blessings. These churches will spread the gospel more effectively as a result. This is the positive feedback aspect of Biblical law. If we accept the possibility of a defense of God’s law that rejects the historic inevitability of the long-term expansion of Christian dominion through the covenant’s positive feedback, then we face a major problem: how to explain the dz#immce between the New Testament church and Old Testament Israel. If the Christian church fails to build the visible kingdom by means of Biblical law and the power of the gospel, despite the resurrection of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, then what kind of religion are we preaching? Why is the church a significant improvement culturally and socially over Old Testament Israel? What does such a theology say about the gospel? What kind of power does the gospel offer men for the overcoming of the effects of sin in history? Is Satan’s one-time success in tempting Adarn never going to be overcome in history? Will Satan attempt to comfort himself throughout eternity with the thought that by defeating Adam, he made it impossible for mankind to work out the dominion covenant in history, even in the face of the death and resurrection of Christ? If we argue this way — the failure of a Spirit-empowered Biblical law-order to produce the visible kingdom– then we must find an answer to this question: Why is sin -triumphant in history, in the face of the gospel? Then there is the impolite but inevitable question: Why fi@s a loser in htitory? Pessimists, by preaching eschatological impotence culturally, thereby immerse themselves in quicksand – the quicksand of antinomianism. Some sands are quicker than others. Eventually, they swallow up anyone so foolish as to try to walk through them. Antinomianism leads into the pits of impotence and retreat. No one wants to risk everything he owns, including his life, in a battle his commander says will not be won. Only a few diehard souls will attempt it. You can build a ghetto with such a theology; you cannot build a civilization. Biblical law must also be preached. It must be seen as the tool

The lneuitabili~ of Liberation 137<br />

obey the law.G The Spirit’s empowering is a fundamental distinction<br />

between the two covenantal periods. But this greater empowering<br />

by the Spirit must be made manifest in history if it is to be<br />

distinguished from the repeated failure of believers in the Old<br />

Covenant era to stay in the “positive feedback” mode: blessings<br />

. . . greater faith . . . greater blessings, etc. It is this positive<br />

feedback aspect of Biblical law in New Testament times which<br />

links Biblical law with optimism toward the future (dominion theology).<br />

Does the great power of the Holy Spirit really mean anything<br />

in history? If we were to argue that the greater empowering of the<br />

Holy Spirit in the New Testament era is only a kind of theoretical<br />

backdrop to history, and therefore Biblical law will not actually be<br />

preached and obeyed in this pre-final-judgrnent age, then we<br />

would really be abandoning the whole idea of the Holy Spirit’s<br />

empowering of Christians and Christian society in history. Yet<br />

people argue this way: “Yes, the Spirit empowers Christians to<br />

obey Biblical law; however, they will not adopt or obey Biblical<br />

law in history~<br />

Will the progressive manifestation of the fruits of obeying Biblical<br />

law also be strictly internal and not external? If so, then what<br />

has happened to the positive feedback aspect of covenant law?<br />

What has happened to empowering by the Holy Spirit?<br />

I argue that the greater empowering by the Holy Spirit for<br />

God’s people to obey and enforce Biblical law is what invalidates<br />

the implicit anti-dominion position regarding the ineffectiveness<br />

of Biblical law in New Testament times. If Christians obey God’s<br />

law, then the positive feedback process is inevitable; it is part of<br />

the law-governed aspect of the creation: “from glory to glory” (2<br />

Corinthians 3:18). If some segments of the church refuse to obey<br />

it, then those segments will eventually lose influence, money, and<br />

power. Their place will be taken by those Christian churches that<br />

obey God’s laws, and that will therefore experience the covenant’s<br />

6. Greg L. Bahnsen, By This Stambrd: l%e AuthoriQ of God!s Lxo Today (Tyler,<br />

Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1985), pp. 159-62, 185-86.

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