The Biblical Doctrine of Humanity Compels God-Fearing Christians to Oppose Tyranny
The colonists considered that the greatest and most dreaded curse was for them to someday have impotent preachers who through ignorance of God’s Word did not know how to make it relevant to any situation. In their thinking, this was the primary cause of the religious and civil tyranny of the Dark Ages.
—wallbuilders.com—
Key points: God is the source of authentic liberty and freedom. If liberty is going to be recovered and preserved in America, the church must help the nation understand that true liberty is found in God and that counterfeit freedom isn’t liberty at all, but actually tyranny or something that inevitably leads to tyranny. Christians must understand these truths before they can help their fellow countrymen understand them, so pastors need to educate their people first. Christianity isn’t about heaven alone. It’s also about forging and maintaining freedom to live in obedience to God here on earth. That said, America’s situation still affords the church huge opportunities to share the gospel. To fail to adequately address the times in which we live is to fail to fully represent Jesus Christ in this world, and to fail to make disciples, teaching them to observe all Jesus commanded (see Matt. 28:18-20).
Last time we discussed humanity’s need to be free from government tyranny because God has created people — human beings whom He made in His image — to be free. Both nature’s “self-evident” laws and God’s revelation in the Bible — “the Laws…of Nature’s God” (to borrow phrases from America’s Founders) — testify to this reality. However, even though the created order gives us clear evidence that people are special, only the Bible tells us why.
In the biblical record of creation, no creative activity is described in the manner the Bible portrays God’s creation of the first man and woman. Here are the creation accounts of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2. In observing these accounts, we readily can note at least twenty things about God’s creation of human beings that set them apart from the rest of His created order. Significantly, we might call the Lord’s instructions in Genesis 1:28 to the man and woman (and by extension, to all people) the “capstone” of our list, even though it is item six on the list. As noted, Charles Colson and Nancey Pearcey call Genesis 1:28 the “cultural commission” and boldly declare that it “is inseparable from the great commission.” You can learn more about the cultural commission here. It still applies, even in 2022, because God’s creation still needs to be managed and stewarded wisely and responsibly. For now, note this about the instructions God gave at the dawn of time. As we said last time,
People cannot fully reflect God’s image, nor can they adequately fulfill the cultural commission God gave them, without being free to exercise their God-given, unalienable rights (a theme we also explored last time). The title of this post emphasizes this. People have been Created to Be Free! Not free in the sense of being able to do anything they get an urge to do, but free to fulfill their God-given purpose.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
—Genesis 1:26-28—
This means all forms of tyranny must be opposed. Who is in a better position to oppose them than those who understand the nature of man as presented in Scripture? This means Christian leaders, especially pastors, must “step up to the plate” and speak out when tyrants and potential tyrants abuse their power. Unfortunately, there is a “tyranny of silence” among pastors and Christian leaders today with regard to speaking out on issues related to politics and public policy — even if unalienable rights and religious liberty are at stake. That needs to change.
Be of Good Courage
When the nation of Israel stood on the cusp of entering the promised land, God told their leader, Joshua, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”
Today, we need pastors who will lead their people to retake territory that Satan has wrongly claimed. Our churches need to remind their own people and the nation that God created men and women in His image to be free — again, not in an autonomous sense, but in a purposeful sense. They should be free to honor God by obeying the cultural commission and His other commands, and they should be free to reach their God-given potential by exercising their God-given rights.
America’s Pastors Led in the Fight for Liberty During the American Revolution
On February 24, 2022, after publishing “The Way Back to Genuine Liberty” at Word Foundations, I posted links to it on Facebook in several different places, including on the page of a FB group of which I am a member.
A friend who’s also a member of the group responded by saying, “I feel we must at some point wake up and become True Patriots like our Founding Fathers.”
“I agree!” I replied. “Where are the preachers? What could be more biblical than opposing tyranny? What does being made in the image of God mean if not having been created to be free? Aren’t the Founders of America men of faith worth emulating?” I then posted a link to “Recapture the Spirit of ’76,” where I highlight twelve character qualities belonging to the Founders that we must recover in our day if we would be successful in our efforts to preserve liberty.
What could be more biblical than opposing tyranny? What does being made in the image of God mean if not having been created to be free?
The Black Robed Regiment of the American Revolutionary Era
The “Black Robe Brigade” to which my friend refers in his reply was a coalition of preachers during the Colonial era who took public stands for freedom and liberty. Often this group is referred to as the “Black Robed Regiment.”
Those pastors boldly proclaimed the Word of God in everything that applied to life, whether spiritual or temporal, whether related to eternal life with Christ or to topics such as taxation, education, government, military, or any other issue touched in the Bible. America is longing for a resurgence of the Black Robed Regiment — they want ministers who will provide much needed community leadership and speak out fearlessly on issues related to today’s culture.
America is longing for a resurgence of the Black Robed Regiment — they want ministers who will provide much needed community leadership and speak out fearlessly on issues related to today’s culture.
—wallbuilders.com—
Substantive, Courageous Leadership in Difficult Times
In his presentation on the Black Robed Regiment (showcased below), Pastor Dan Fisher cites quotations from historians Frank Moore and John Wingate Thornton. Moore complied sermons of preachers from the Colonial era to demonstrate that they “did not hesitate to attack the great political evils of their day.” Similarly, Thornton observed, “The Fathers of the Republic…did not divorce politics and religion, but they denounced the separation [of these two] as ungodly.” He further stated that these leaders
prepared for the struggle, and went into battle, not as soldiers of fortune, but,…with the Word of God in their hearts, and trusting in Him. This was the secret of that moral energy which sustained the Republic in its material weakness against superior numbers, and discipline, and all the power of England. England sent her armies to compel submission, and the colonists appealed to heaven.
Contrast that era to modern, 21st-century America, where, despite the following realities, precious few pastors and Christian leaders will utter a word in opposition to tyrants and tyranny. All of the following realities, and more, should motivate preachers to speak out.
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- God created human beings in His image to be free to serve, honor, and obey Him without interference from other people or from government.
- The responsibilities God has assigned government are limited and tied inseparably to His moral law.
- Tyrants are increasingly ignoring and even violating religious liberty and conscience rights (also go here).
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In the following video presentation, Pastor Dan Fisher explains the history of the Black Robed Regiment and how it enabled citizens to support and fight for authentic liberty. Pastor Fisher also explains why preachers today hesitate or refuse to address public policy issues in their ministries. You can hear that portion of Pastor Fisher’s informative performance on the video (starting at approximately 25:03), or by listening to the audio clip underneath it. In the clip, Fisher mentions Colonial preacher Samuel West, who lived from 1730-1807.
You can learn more about the modern Black Robed Regiment here.
The Bottom Line
Today America faces tyranny and threats of tyranny that far surpass the abuses of her Mother country during the Founding era. Under the leadership of wise, courageous, and informed pastors, the church throughout the Colonies rose to the occasion and stood and fought for liberty, unalienable rights, and freedom.
God hasn’t changed, nor has His Word. Nor have the biblical teachings of who man is and what government has been delegated to do under God.
Pray for your pastor. Learn about the Founding era of America (also go here) and the pastors in the 18th century who educated their people about God-given rights and liberty. Also learn about unalienable rights and how they differ from the “rights” for which most Americans clamor today. Finally, speak out. Stand up for liberty, and encourage your pastor to do the same.
Remember: Human beings were created by God to be free. Oppose tyranny, because, as we noted last time, our Founders were right when they said, “REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.”
Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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