November 2nd, 2008

Christ or Politics?                George Warnock

Ever since Emperor Constantine put the cross on his battle standard and went about to Christianize the Roman Empire, the church has been confused as to her responsibilites toward earthly governments. Up until that time the Christians were a SEPARATE PEOPLE, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and were hated and ostracized by pagan Rome. But when Constantine came to the throne, the whole strategy of the enemy of Christ suddenly changed.

We believe it was due to the subtle tactics of Satan that Constantine sought to Christianize paganism by making Christianity the state religion, by baptizing his armies into the new Christian religion, by elevating the ministry to places of leadership in the land, and by granting the Christian church all kinds of earthly favors. From this unhoy union of church and state, the church of Jesus Christ has never recovered.

It now sounds like strange doctrine to most Christians, and to most men in the ministry, that the church was intended of the Lord to be SEPARATE from the world structure. If Satan is indeed the “god of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air,” then only in the power of the Spirit are we going to be able to wage effectual warfare against the anti-Christian forces that are at work in the earth (See Ephesians 6:10-16)

If the ills of our nation or any other nation are considered to be merely of a political or economic nature, then it really doesn’t matter all that much if our statesmen are pagan or Christian: and ungodly men will readily support any man seeking political power as long as the ECONOMY rather than CHRIST is the main issue—as long as our standard of living will continue to rise—-as long as it is generally understood that the lifestyle of Sodom with all her debauchery and her unspeakable licentiousness will not be seriously tampered with. Sodom’s economy was one of the best in her day, but God was not the least impressed with her abundance and prosperity.   In fact, God considered her booming economy to be her fundamental sin: PRIDE, FULNESS OF BREAD, and ABUNDANCE OF IDLENESS” (Ezekiel 16:49). How well this sume up the situation as it exists today, especially here in the Western world!

God wants His people to be assured that a Spirit filled, Spirit-taught, Spirit-anointed, Spirit-led people is the only answer that God has for human need; and that He is in the process of creating such a people. Apart from national repentance and a turning toward God, the Bible gives no hope whatsoever for the renewal of our society. Nor are we to try to change it by any other means. When men desire to continue in their rebellion God literally withdraws His restraining grace and gives the society over to greater and greater wickedness and finally to a “reprobate mind,” which means, “a mind void of moral discernment.” It is no longer capable of knowing right and wrong, but it calls GOOD evil and EVIL good and actually believes the lie (See Romans1:24-28)