The Law, the Gospel, and the Limits of Christian Power
The Call to Righteous Influence
Throughout history, Christians have wrestled with how the law of God should shape society. In every generation, zeal for righteousness can drift into coercion, and good desires for justice can be corrupted by human pride. The question is not whether God’s law is good—Scripture declares it holy, just, and good (Rom. 7:12)—but how it should be applied in a fallen world.
Modern debates—whether about theonomy, Christian nationalism, or dominionism—often overlook what the apostles understood plainly: the kingdom of Christ advances through regeneration, not coercion. The gospel transforms nations only as it first transforms hearts.
Paul’s testimony before Agrippa (Acts 26) shows the biblical model of influence: he reasons, persuades, and appeals—not as a revolutionary but as a witness. His aim is conversion, not control. True Christian influence flows from the bottom up, not the top down.
The Enduring Goodness of God’s Law
The moral law remains the unchanging standard of righteousness.
It reflects the holiness of God and defines justice for all people (Rom. 3:19–20).
It restrains evil, convicts of sin, and reveals the need for grace (Gal. 3:24).
It guides the believer in sanctified living (Ps. 19:7–11).
Theonomy, properly understood, affirms these truths. God’s law is not the enemy of grace but its tutor. Yet even in its perfection, the law cannot regenerate the human heart. Israel’s history testifies that even the best law cannot make sinners righteous apart from divine grace.
“For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son.” (Rom. 8:3)
The problem is never the law itself, but the flesh that resists it.
The Limits of Fallen Authority
Every human political system—monarchic, democratic, or theocratic—is constrained by sin.
Even when guided by good intent, the fallen nature of man corrupts authority.
The kings of Israel, ruling under direct divine revelation, still abused power.
The church under Christendom, ruling in Christ’s name, often persecuted His people.
Sin guarantees that any system which elevates man to wield sacred power will also open the door to abuse. The lesson of history is clear: no earthly government can fully embody God’s righteousness because no human ruler is free from sin.
Thus, the role of Christians in civil life is not to establish a perfect state but to bear faithful witness within an imperfect one—upholding justice, protecting life, and promoting righteousness as citizens of heaven living in earthly exile (Phil. 3:20; 1 Pet. 2:11–17).
The Providential Opportunity of Representative Government
Modern republics such as the United States present a providential structure that aligns naturally with the Pauline model of persuasion.
The people themselves possess a lawful voice in shaping public policy.
Christians can reason, appeal, and vote according to conscience without coercion.
The law can be influenced through truth and testimony rather than domination.
This system allows for bottom-up influence consistent with the New Testament vision of mission. As believers participate faithfully in civic life, they model righteousness within the bounds of human limitation—seeking to reflect God’s justice while trusting Him for ultimate transformation.
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5)
Christian political influence, rightly ordered, is persuasive, not punitive.
The Danger of Sacral Power
When nations have attempted to sanctify themselves through state religion or coercive law, the result has always been corruption.
Medieval Christendom blurred the gospel with the sword.
State churches bred nominal faith and persecuted dissenters.
Even modern ideological movements that mimic religious zeal reveal the same pattern: power that claims divine sanction becomes idolatrous.
The church’s mission is never to wield the sword but to proclaim the cross. The moral vision of the law points upward to the holiness of God, not outward to political control. Until sin is finally removed, every attempt to legislate holiness will end in hypocrisy or tyranny.
The Biblical Pattern: Gospel Before Government
Paul before Agrippa.
Daniel in Babylon.
The early church before Rome.
In each case, God’s people influence rulers through witness, not weaponry.
The New Testament model of cultural transformation is evangelistic and discipleship-based—a slow leavening, not a sudden takeover. The kingdom of God grows like a mustard seed, not an empire (Matt. 13:31–33). The church’s task is to proclaim Christ until He returns, not to establish His final reign by human power.
The Real Problem: The Church’s Complicity and Call to Repentance
The failures of modern society cannot be blamed solely on secularism, globalism, or political ideology. The deepest fault line runs through the Church itself.
If moral darkness covers the land, it is often because the light has dimmed (Matt. 5:13–16). Judgment begins at the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17).
The Blood on Our Hands
The Church bears responsibility where it has traded holiness for influence and truth for tribe.
We have often sought the glory of visibility rather than the glory of faithfulness.
We have built followings around personalities and positions rather than around the Person of Christ.
Our polemics have too often been about winning rather than witnessing.
When our debates become spectacles, when theology is weaponized to shame rather than shepherd, we become a noisy gong (1 Cor. 13:1).
The Power We Forsook
God has given His people one instrument of transformation—the gospel, “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).
Yet we have frequently substituted marketing for mission, outrage for evangelism, and argument for appeal. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4); they are truth, holiness, prayer, and sacrificial love.
Until the Church recovers confidence in that power, it will continue to chase influence while losing impact.
The Unity We Forgot
Christian unity is not pluralistic compromise but shared allegiance to the essentials that define the faith once delivered (Jude 3).
We may differ on polity, practice, or secondary doctrines, but there are four hills upon which we must stand or die:
The Nature of God – One God in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons.
The Nature of Christ – Fully God, fully man, the only Mediator.
The Means of Salvation – By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
The Word of God – Scripture as the inspired, inerrant, sufficient revelation of divine truth.
These are not negotiable. They define the boundary of Christian identity and the ground of Christian unity.
When we guard these hills and show charity elsewhere, the Church shines again with credible witness.
The Path Forward
The renewal of nations begins with the repentance of the Church.
We must return to the fear of God, the sufficiency of Scripture, and the simplicity of gospel mission.
The glory we seek must be reflected glory—not applause, not dominance, but the radiant beauty of Christ seen through a humble, holy people.
The Law, the Gospel, and Glory
All things, including the law and the gospel are united in one purpose: the manifestation of God’s glory.
The law reveals His holiness.
The gospel reveals His mercy.
The Spirit unites both in the redeemed life of believers.
Christian engagement in politics, law, or culture must therefore exist within doxological boundaries:
Lawful influence guided by Scripture.
Moral humility shaped by awareness of sin.
Evangelistic priority grounded in Christ’s redemptive mission.
The goal is not a sacral state but a sanctified people—citizens whose good works adorn the doctrine of God (Titus 2:10). Every righteous law we promote should serve that greater end: that the world may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).
The Church’s Enduring Witness
A proper view of theonomy honors God’s righteousness while respecting human limitation.
A proper view of government upholds justice without usurping Christ’s throne.
A proper view of mission transforms societies from within through the gospel.
Until the day when sin is no more and the King of kings reigns visibly, our task is persuasion, not domination; faithfulness, not triumphalism; worship, not worldly glory. The law drives us to Christ; the gospel drives us to worship; and together they direct every sphere of life toward the glory of God alone.
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”
—Romans 11:36
