Cohesion 3.14.09

March 14, 2009

Dear Dennis, You know the last time we spoke, when we were sharpening each other’s resolve with heavily weighted words, I was put to task. Is there evidence of cohesion between the laws of God with man’s laws, or more specifically, American Charters, Declarations and Constitutions? I would be remiss if I failed to mention my gratitude to you for having placed this burden of proof on my plate. I was relatively aware of twenty-two principles of God’s law that were incorporated in these Documents of our Nations infancy, but I did not know just to what degree. After seven days of study, I can honestly say there is an overwhelming amount of evidence which points only to solidify this cohesion. Make no mistake, by looking at history and learning about the characters who penned these documents, one can become increasingly aware of how and why our nation has come to this point. Conversely, obscure quotes from those deliberate writers of old become illuminated with prophetic vision ..."A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury(listen to the promises being made by candidates in this year’s upcoming elections), with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy (taxing and spending), always followed by a dictatorship." Alexander Tyler 1790

In effort to stay course, I shall highlight briefly whether or not Scripture, old and new, should be considered a Law Document; within this boundary of thought, I would like to challenge the relevancy of the Old Testament laws today. Outside the scope of human institutions of law, that is, the ‘powers that be,’ are God’s laws still as much effectual today as they once were. Is there a difference between law, principle and suggestion? Finally, I would like to follow up with an abbreviated list of specific topics of law that were lent from the Creator and adopted, for a time, by our ‘Founding Fathers.’ Of course, much could be said about the effect these laws have had on our nation, but I am certain we can save that topic for a later time. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. [Ps. 33:12.] Upon close examination of the Mosaic Law, one can identify three general classifications: Namely, eternal moral law, the judicial or civil law and the ceremonial law. As to the latter, it is proposed here that the ceremonial law is the law pertaining to the Levitical priesthood and the system of

sacrifice for personal atonement it administered. The ceremonial law is no longer effective, because it has been abolished. Thus, it does not apply even to Israel any longer. Hebrews 8:8 confirms this with prophesy from Jeremiah 31:31-34. We can identify the civil law by contrasting it with the moral law; which is essentially the Ten Commandments. It is proposed that the eternal moral law is none other than the law of nature applicable to all people today. Arguably, many of the specific Mosaic laws were simply applications of the law of nature to specific situations. To the extent these laws are based upon the nature of the creation, they still apply to everyone today. Civil law contains the remainder of the Mosaic Law; boiling the kid in its mother’s milk, the mixing of unclean blood, hybridized seed or mingled fabric and so on. Many have argued that the civil law pertained exclusively to the nation of Israel, while the moral law is currently applicable to one and all today. ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:’ [2Ti 3:16]. Notably, all Scripture, not just a portion, is profitable for instruction in righteousness. ‘For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:’ [Pro 6:23]. Upon further consideration, I fail to see how any Christian can delight whole-heartedly while reading any portion of Psalm 119 or much less, the Book of Wisdom. When David wrote in Psalm 51:4 about his sin, he explicitly acknowledges his offence directly to God. 1John 3:4 simply defines sin as transgression of the law. How can David lament about his violations, stricken with grief for his human failure, and in another text, within the same book, offer praise and adulation to God for the purity and righteousness that is found in His law. There seems to be a considerable disconnection here. When we begin to negate the validity of the Scripture by suggesting that the law has been abolished, we also distance a relational aspect of the characters illustrated in the first thirty-nine books of Scripture. I am confronted with these concepts of law which presumably hold only the power of suggestion or to a lesser degree, have been completely diminished. How can one emulate the character of Christ, derive a system of principles from one Man’s life, and offer a sense of spiritual sanctity on the one hand, and then completely abandon most every work that perfected this Messiah? What made the Messiah sinless is his adherence to the law of God. I mean, practically every contemporary religious doctrine promulgates a halt to God’s law; not only is it outdated but it is offensive. Christ has proclaimed God’s law. Matthew 15:3 questions the validity of tradition and Matthew 15:9 condemns it. What was Christ doing? How was Christ living? Did he live in

vain? Did He obliterate sin or did He present Himself as a sacrifice, once and for all, to relinquish us from the penalty of sin? Should we walk in unrighteousness that grace may abound? Nay, Romans 6:1 Addressing the difference between principle, suggestion and law, one should begin by defining the terms. If a law has been repealed, then there should be no fear of penalty when it is not observed. We should not suffer the penalty when the statute has been nullified. That is only fair, isn’t it? Although the word, ‘principles’ may be cited two times in the entire Scripture, within the book of Hebrews, which as far as I could tell, offers little to no definition whatsoever; the word ‘law’ alone received the attention of four hundred fifty nine citations in Scripture. One hundred seventy two citations are received in the New Testament. That does not include any derivations of the word. When a law is broken there is a penalty, but when a suggestion is left with no adherence, there is little to no consequence. After all, James 4:12 and Isaiah 33:22. I would like to challenge the relevancy of the Old Testament laws today by examining an abbreviated list of specific topics of law that were lent by the Creator and, subsequently, adopted by the ‘Founding Fathers.’ Was there any merit to be found within these God-given constructs? "For I proclaim the name of the Lord . . . His work is perfect." Deut. 32:3-4. "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Mat. 5:48. Truth be told, there is a

host of Declarations and Charters formulated by the legendary men who virtually penned our independence and founded their God-given authority to establish a new nation, conceived in liberty and drawn from inalienable rights, also given by God. (These are just a few, but please refer to the portions of documents cited below.)

Equality: No State shall grant any Title of Nobility. (Art. 1 Sec. 10 cl. 1) Positively exclude the development of a privileged class in the United States ‘There is no partiality with God,’ Romans 2:11 ‘You shall fear no man,’ Deuteronomy 1:17 "You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice, and only

justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you." Deut. 16:18-20. Just Weights and Balances: Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility Proverbs 16:11 - "A just weight and balance are the Lord's: all the weights of the bag are his work." Proverbs 11:1 - "A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight." Deuteronomy 25:13-15 - "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges October 28, 1701 BECAUSE no People can be truly happy, though under the greatest Enjoyment of Civil Liberties, if abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences, as to their Religious Profession and Worship: And Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father of Lights and

Spirits; and the Author as well as Object of all divine Knowledge, Faith and Worship, who only doth enlighten the Minds, and persuade and convince the Understandings of People, I do hereby grant and declare, That no Person or Persons, inhabiting in this Province or Territories, who shall confess and acknowledge One almighty God, the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World; and profess him or themselves obliged to live quietly under the Civil Government, shall be in any Case molested or prejudiced, in his or their Person or Estate, because of his or their conscientious Persuasion or Practice, nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious Worship, Place or Ministry, contrary to his or their Mind, or to do or suffer any other Act or Thing, contrary to their religious Persuasion. AND that all Persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, shall be capable (notwithstanding their other Persuasions and Practices in Point of Conscience and Religion) to serve this Government in any Capacity, both legislatively and executively, he or they solemnly promising, when lawfully required, Allegiance to the King as Sovereign, and Fidelity to the Proprietary and Governor, and taking the Attests as now established by the Law made at New-Castle, in the Year One Thousand and Seven Hundred, entitled, an Act directing the Attests of several Officers and Ministers, as now amended and confirmed this present Assembly THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH, OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA I. That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, amongst which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

II. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences and understanding: And that no man ought or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any ministry, contrary to, or against, his own free will and consent: Nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a God, be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen, on account of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of religious worship: And that no authority can or ought to bc vested in, or assumed by any power whatever, that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner controul, the right of conscience in the free exercise of religious worship. III. That the people of this State have the sole, exclusive and inherent right of governing and regulating the internal police of the same. IV. That all power being originally inherent in, and consequently derived from, the people; therefore all officers of government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees and servants and at all times accountable to them.

Deu 4:8 And what4310 nation1471 is there so great,1419 that834 hath statutes2706 and judgments4941 so righteous6662 as all3605 this2063 law,8451 which834 I595 set5414 before6440 you this day?3117