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Torture is terrorism. You cannot be pro-life and defend torture. A very important book on this topic is (from Mercer University Press) “Religious Faith, Toerture And Our National Soul.” Different chapters by different authors. Excellent.  Dr. R.J. Rushdoony, in a piece titled “Justice and Torture”, in “Roots of Reconstruction,” says:
“…In terms of God’s law, thus, even a God-established confession must have the corroboration of evidences. Clearly, confession in itself had no real standing in Biblical law. In this respect, Biblical law preserves the person of the suspect with all the respect due to one created in the image of God.

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When a people reject God as their King, and make man or the state their king (1 Samuel 8:7-9), God declared the consequences:                 

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.  And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.  He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day ( 1 Samuel 8:11-18).


Several aspects of the state which rejects God are here cited:
  1. Anti-Biblical  military conscription will be instituted and enforced
  2. There will be compulsory labor battalions conscripted for state service
  3. This is will include young men, young women and animals
  4. The state will expropriate property , both and landed property and livestock
  5. Because the state is now playing god-king, it will demand like God a tithe, a tenth of man's increase as it's tax
  6. God will not hear a people complaining at paying the price for their sins

So what does this teach us?  Christians must begin more and more defending the Crown Rights of King Jesus in family, church and state.  Christians must declare that this King has a Kingdom with just and holy laws (Deuteronomy 4:8) .  Christians must declare openly and vocally that Christ, not man, is King (Revelation 1:5).
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The reformation position was that every jurisdiction had a sign of enforcement.  The family had the rod of correction (Proverbs 13:24, 22:15).  The state had the sword or authority for capital punishment (Romans 13:1-8).  The church carries the keys (Matthew 18:19).  Three separate jurisdictions.  All under God’s authority and Law (Psalm 103:19).
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The state may not spank children.  The church may not spank children.  The family may not execute evildoers.   Only the state has the authority to execute evildoers.  The state cannot punish a man for thinking adulterous or hateful thoughts.  The church has ecclesiastical authority to deal with heart issues.  The state deals with the external manifestations of breaking of crimes.  It deals with behavior.  The state can only punish those areas in which the Word of God says.  One sign that the state may have a particular right in a particular area are whether God gives sanctions.  Sanctions are a clear sign of a legitimate civil responsibility.  The church shepherds and oversees the people of God in heart matters.  The family trains the children both in action and in heart.  The church does not have authority to choose the path of training for children.  The state has no authority to tell you that you cannot baptize your children or adults.  The state does not speak to matters of church doctrine.  

Three circles of jurisdiction side by side are all under God’s Law.  The state is under God’s law.  The church is under God’s law.  The family is under God’s Law.  One does not have preeminence over the other.  
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I was very much informed on the agenda  of communism in the USA by listening to this Kevin Swanson podcast.  You want to listen to this.  

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Friday, November 05, 2010
America Moves Towards Communism  

How Theologians are Contributing to the Rise of SocialismHere Kevin Swanson reviews the recent movie, “Agenda – Grinding America Down,” the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival 2011 Winner. America is moving towards communism, but what are Christian theologians saying about it? Kevin looks at three different theological perspectives concerning government, from Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur, and Carl Trueman. He concludes that Wayne Grudem is the most balanced, but all of them are reticent to apply God’s law to the condemnation of a socialist social order. Theologians have and will continue to pave the way for what happened in the Soviet Union and Germany.
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Genesis 9:6 says, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."  Two things should be noted:  the command was given immediately following the wickedness, violence and corruption that had resulted in the flood (Gen 6:5,11).  In other words, God gave man the responsibility to prevent wickedness on that scale from ever happening again.  Secondly, the reason that God declared that human life is precious is that we are made in His image.  Thus, the death penalty for the punishment for murder is not just for Noah's time, but for all generations to come (Gen 9:12).  Exodus 21:12-14 says, "He that smites a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death...if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die."

Numbers 35:33 says, "...blood defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it."  God's justice is seen in His requirement that more than one witness must give testimony of guilt before the person is sentenced to death (Numbers 35:30).  A person could not be executed on the basis of rumors, hearsay, conflicting testimonies or even his own unsupported confession.  The justice of God is also evident in that He decreed that anyone who accidently killed another should not be executed.  But he should flee to a city set apart for a city of refuge, where his case could be tried, and if found not guilty, then could live there for rest of his life or until the High Priest died; the equivalent of going into exile (Numbers 35:9-15).  
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ELECTION DAY! 11/02/2010
 
So today is election day.  I hope everyone voted for righteousness at the poles today.  I went early in the morning.  There were not many people there.  Praise God we live in America where we can vote in and OUT our representatives.  America was founded as a Republic.  That means we elect people to represent us in the civil government whether that is local, state, or Federal.  Sadly we are losing our republic that once stood on the Declaration of Independence.  But we persevere.  We keep standing for what God says is right and what God says is wrong.  We get this idea of representation from the Bible.  We read in Exodus 18:21 that Moses' father-in-law gave Moses some advice.  Elect representatives for families of tens, fifties, hundreds, etc.  "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" and "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."  The more we apply Biblical principles in family, church, AND STATE we will continue to be blessed.
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The Wisdom of God in the book of Proverbs is a good place to start when seeking the will of God for your nation.  Proverbs 14:34 says "Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people."  God is saying if you build and maintain your country my way then I will exalt and bless you.  That means we must conform our standards and laws to the Laws of God.  There is no other way to get around it.  In Psalm 33 it says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD."  In the beginning of the Ten Commandments God tells us to have "no other gods before him."  That means the God of the Bible is our source of law and authority.  "Where there is no vision the people perish, but happy is he who keeps the law."  Again it comes back to God's laws.  The laws found in the New AND Old Testaments are an expression of God's holy, pure, and just character.  God does not change.  His standards do not change.  Therefore we must change.  Stop promoting and living by the laws of man that are  cruel and unjust and let's lift up and promote the perfect Law of God in family, church and state again.  And pray for the mercy of God to not give us the tyranny that we deserve.
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