“Other than instructing us to be model citizens, Scripture says nothing at all about Christians engaging in politics. It says nothing about Christians engaging in civil change. Those things are not our priority. But that doesn’t mean we’re not to be involved as citizens. For example, in the Old Testament Israel was a priestly nation. It was God’s design for Israel to bring men to Him. And it was the primary function of the priests to do just that. There were other people to take care of menial problems and social issues. But the heart of the nation was the priesthood. The priests could not abandon their role of bringing men and women to God. That was God’s design, and it is the same for the church. I believe we are a kingdom of priests, not a kingdom of politicians. Our purpose in the world is to bring men to God. You say, “Don’t you care about change?” Of course I do, but I also know that change comes from the inside, not the outside. We must administrate the things of the Kingdom of God.”
John MacArthur
The Christian & Government
Romans 13
1.) Other than instructing us that Marriage is a noble estate Scripture says nothing at all about how to get a woman pregnant. Does that mean that sex in marriage is not a priority?
2.) Israel was not only a Priestly nation but it was a Kingly nation as well. It was God’s design that Israel would be a light to the Nations exhibiting the glory of God’s law.
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:2)
Therefore we can conclude it was God’s design that the Nations might learn God’s laws from Israel, the Kingly nation. Even so, today the Church has the role of announcing God’s Kingdom to redeemed Nations that they might walk in God’s ways.
3.) MacArthur divorces Christ’s Kingship from His High Priestly role and therefore divorces the the role of God’s people as kings under sovereign God from their roles as priests under sovereign God. The effect of this is that this move makes the Church a place that heralds salvation but then has no word to say on what salvation looks like in the public square. MacArthur offers a truncated Christianity.
4.) The Church is indeed comprised of a Kingdom of Priests, just as it is comprised of a Kingdom of Kings and a Kingdom of Prophets. We, as the Church, are prophets, priests, and kings under sovereign God. MacArthur offers a truncated Christianity.
5.) Our (The Church’s) purpose in the World is indeed to bring men to God so that they in turn may be those who take godly dominion (Kingship) under their Liege-Lord and great High Priest, Jesus Christ and so expand the already present expansive Kingdom.
6.) Change does indeed come from the inside and then looks like something on the outside. Getting people saved without instructing them in building up the Kingdom in their families, cultures, politics, jurisprudence, education, etc. is like birthing a child without then feeding them. MacArthur offers a truncated Christianity.
7.) It is precisely because we must administrate the things of the Kingdom of God that we preach a whole Christ — Prophet, Priest, and King. MacArthur has condensed the meaning of the Kingdom to be exactly synonymous with the Church. That is a fatal move. The Church is indeed the fire that warms the whole of the Kingdom but it is not alone the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God covers every domain, jurisdiction and area of life. MacArthur is seeking to redeem men without redeeming the things that men put their hands upon. MacArthur offers a truncated Christianity.
