Self Government
Notes
Transcript
Self Government
Self Government
Self government is synonymous with self-control
Someone who can regulate his attitudes and actions without the need for external coercion.
Reuben, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, is described as a man who “boils over”
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
There is a connection between self-government and godly leadership.
Contrast Reuben with Joseph who resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife
The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
He is blessed beyond any of his brothers, by Pharaoh and Jacob alike. In Egypt he is made a ruler, and through his children, Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph receives a double portion of the promised land as if he were the firstborn.
Those who lack self-control, or those who are not self-governed need to be controlled by an external governor.
knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. So you can also say that biblical self government is ultimately an acknowledgment of and a bowing to God’s ultimate authority.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Any society that has a history of self-control among the citizenry has at its foundation a biblical moral order. Those nations that attempt to copy the fruit of a Christian society without copying the root (the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit) will eventually degenerate and collapse. Christian virtues will be counterfeited, and attempts will be made by the State (civil government at the national level), from a desire for a man-centered utopia, to force a humanistically conceived “morality” in the name of “the people.” Such regimes more often than not end in bloodshed. - Gary Demar
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” –John Adams
Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and the hungry will be fed, and the naked clothed. Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and the stranger will be sheltered, the prisoner visited, and the sick ministered unto. Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and Temperance will rest upon a surer basis than any mere private pledge or public statute. Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and the peace of the world will be secured by more substantial safeguards than either the mutual fear, or the reciprocal interests, of princes or of people. Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and the day will be hastened, as it can be hastened in no other way, when every yoke shall be loosened, and every bond broken, and when there shall be no more leading into captivity . . . - Robert Charles Winthrop
(Winthrop studied law under Daniel Webster and went on to eventually become the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives)
In his Farewell Address George Washington gave the following advise to the nation.
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports” - George Washington (September 17, 1796).
When self-government is abandoned, when we choose self autonomy over the responsibilities prescribed by God, our nation will begin to decay, and that is exactly what has happened.
Self-Government is NOT Autonomy
Autonomy means self-law. Someone who claims autonomy is a law unto himself, answerable to no one but himself.
Biblical self-government means submitting to God’s law which is the only law that is truly autonomous.
God is a law unto Himself, and His law is righteous and good because He is righteous and good. His law is a reflection of His character.
Autonomy, the belief that man is capable of establishing a righteous law code independent of the Bible, often leads to family, ecclesiastical, and civil anarchy.
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
