A Christian is only dead to the law as a legal sentence of death against them, Christ having died for them; but they are made alive to the law as the righteousness of God. Since Jesus himself is the true mediator between God and man, he rejected the law as mediatorial, in order to re-establish the law in its God-appointed role as law -the path of holiness.The Mission of God, 97
God is not at a distance from history, uninvolved and on the periphery, an interested spectator or distant 'first cause;' rather he is governing all things by his providence and wisdom.
we live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. "Burning Hearts Are Not Nourished by Empty Heads", Christianity Today (Sep 3 1982)
The biblical tradition rediscovered during the Reformation viewed theocracy and democracy as necessary compliments: human rule flowed from God's rule.The Mission of God, 121
In reality, it is not the Puritan mind that is suffering from an over-realized eschatology, it is surely the two kingdoms theorists who suffer from an under-realized soteriology! Salvation is limited to personal salvation and does not have the kingdom of God in view for history.Mission of God, 385
Brothers, for the sake of the truth, and for the good of your people, and for the glory of God in the world, don't confuse timid uncertainty with truthful humility. Brothers, We are Not Professionals (166)
We cannot know like God knows (archetypal), but we can know as God wants and allows and helps us to know (ectypal). Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology (32)
We can no longer afford to be pious functional deists as Christians who regard God as no longer active in history to judge & bless nations in terms of obedience to the gospel & who, whilst speaking of biblical inspiration deny its material authority & application in the world.
we must recognize that God's basic institution throughout Scripture, starting from the Garden of Eden, is the covenant family. From a biblical point of view, all modern forms of government are variations on monarchism, of rule from the top down, whereas in Scripture, the family is the central social government.Mission of God, 67
Theonomy simply means God's law and implies the abiding validity of the moral law in every sphere of life, including the civil, so that the general equity of those laws with civil or judicial implications should be candidly applied in society.Mission of God, 62
It's hard to convince people that the loving God they can't see sacrificed His Son for sinners & calls them too repentance to escape the wrath to come, when a church they can see celebrates & indulges the very sins that sent His Son to the cross.
Either God exists or he does not. There is no middle ground. Both cannot be true. No amount of philosophical trickery can hide from the greatest antithesis of them all ... We cannot leave this question for the intellectuals, scientists, philosophers and theologians alone ... We must answer it for ourselves.
The laws of the Bible, outside the Ten Commandments, are case laws, and I have been arguing that largely, the Reformed faith has viewed it as the duty of the Christian ruler to extend the equity of these cases to cover whatever details they find in their own society.Mission of God, 343
In the providence of God we are placed in a community (neighbourhood/church/family) to show compassion by taking responsibility for the needs around us. The Puritans did not contract this task out to the state and its welfare programs.
Since Christ's purpose is the reconciling of all things to himself (Col. 1:20), the transformation of culture by faithfulness to the gospel and the total word of God applied to all of life is central to the Christian's calling.Mission of God, 366
The concern of God's word is with impartial justice and with righteousness. Nowhere does God permit partiality in men's dealings with men based on their economic status; such an attitude is a perversion of justice.
His book is a good example of what happens when well-meaning evangelicals fail to clearly define justice and righteousness in terms of obedience to the law of God and instead import present cultural fads into their interpretative exercise: they end up with a hybrid abstraction that in the name of being biblical, reads humanistic views of justice onto Christianity.Mission of God 6.5