Tough question.
Overly simplistic answer:  Work toward civil laws which are consistent with 
what the Law of Christ draws us to, realizing the enforcement of men 
(police, courts, juries) cannot achieve what the enforcement of a living 
law, the Spirit of Christ, can.

God-honoring people aren't made from the outside (even by circumcision), 
they are made from the inside by the work of the Holy Spirit (true 
circumcision).

At the very least, any external law which prevents, obscures or conflicts 
with one's obedience to the Law of Christ should be challenged and worked to 
change.  That might sound too shallow, but there are a lot of areas where 
this gets in the way already.

None-the-less, it seems too easy to let political pursuit of civil laws 
overshadow our efforts toward the great commission.
Those things shouldn't be a platform for screaming with our loudest voice 
expecting the world around us to agree, but we can and should rally 
ourselves to vote against such things, and pray God give us a majority.

Too often we want to go to war with our heathen surroundings and demand laws 
as if those external laws help christians obey Christ or help heathens 
become christian.
Divorce is an example. I hate that it's so easy, but the civil gov could 
make it profitable to divorce without having any affect on Christian Life.  
Just because the king allows it doesn't mean we have to participate.  It has 
no effect on our living for Christ.

And therein lies the opportunity.
If something common in culture is simply unheard of in the Church, we become 
a light on a hill to people who notice the difference.
However, when we fight for laws that demand outward christian behavior, they 
usually don't help us obey the Law of Christ anymore than without such laws. 
  We don't need such laws to obey Christ.  All we're doing is trying to make 
the culture look like us outwardly - by force, a sort of physical 
circumcision.

When we try to force Christian living outwardly upon the lost, it changes us 
from being salt to being horseradish.  From being a light of hope to a dark 
threat of death - a law like the tablets in which the sting of death is sin 
and the power of sin is the law.  All we're doing is giving them a replica 
of the very thing that did nothing but give power to sin and bring about 
death, instead of pointing them to a more precious alternative.

Active in law making?  Sure.
It just seems to me we should be selective about what concerns and efforts 
we entangle ourselves in and start screaming about.

As an example, look at the Amish.
They don't try to force society to reject electricity and modern 
convenience, they just adhere to it themselves.  The result is they get 
noticed, and appreciated, and inquired about, and in some ways mimicked, 
rather than hated as a threat.  They are able to welcome in those who wish 
to join them without anyone pro or con being threatened by it.
I'm not saying they are a perfect example, because their cause is not as 
important as Kingdom living, but the premise can be seen with them - they 
stand out like a light and are a form of salt.

In the end, God calls 'his elect children' to obey the Law of Christ within 
the world around them.  He doesn't force it on the civil culture, although 
he will judge them for ignoring it.
Is our obedience to Christ's law more meaningful within a civil government 
that demands the same outwardly, or in one where we stand out as unusual and 
adhere not by force but by spirit?

I say, vote for righteous laws, and fight against anything that restricts us 
from obedience to Christ, but don't become a clanging gong imposing outward 
circucision of the world around us just to make them look like us outwardly.

Steve



----Original Message Follows----
From: Brian Hedgcorth <fifthmonarchyman@...>
Reply-To: soundofgrace@...
To: soundofgrace@...
Subject: [soundofgrace] NCT and Politics
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2006 14:51:07 -0700 (PDT)

   Hey Guy's

   As residents of a democracy we have a unique relationship to the civil 
laws of our various countries. Not only must we obey the law of the land but 
we have a vital part in making it. This is an odd situation that did not 
exist at the time of the writing of the NTS. The fact is we help to decide 
what the laws of our countries are whether we chose to vote or not.


   Once in a discussion with a Reconstructionalist I was presented with the 
following argument.

   “Either we work to make God’s law the supreme law of the land or we work 
to make fallen man’s warped concept of fairness the standard in civil 
affairs.”

   He said “In Government the choice is simple Theomony or Autonomy” And 
where do we find God’s civil law? For him the answer was simple. We find 
God’s law for governments in the Torah.

   His logical argument went like this

   1. Christians are to work to establish God’s laws and not Man’s laws 
through the democratic process
   2. We find God’s laws in the Torah
   3. Therefore all Christians should try and establish God's “civil law” 
through the democratic process


    NCT teaches that it is really not that simple. We realize that the law 
of Moses was written only for the nation of Israel and as Christians we are 
to be under the law of Christ. But this wonderful truth does not address my 
friends argument. What kind of civil society should NC believers work to 
establish? Is there an objective way to determine if a particular civil law 
is a good one? Do we have any guidance from Scripture in this regard?


   Thanks in advance




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