“THE LAW”
By Steve McCoy
To understand the correct application and enactment of government law (secular law) in
a free Republic, it is essential that we first understand that our rights come from God, not
from men, politicians or judges. Second that governments are instituted by man for the sole
purpose of securing those rights. Third, when man rebels against God’s Law and does what
he thinks is right in his own eyes, he sets himself up to be god and will soon implement his
own immoral secular law.
1. NATURAL LAW: (Creator’s Law”)
Natural Law is the “True Law” because it comes from the Creator and like Him it is
eternal and universal.
Natural Law is the supreme Creator’s order (governance for the universe)
Natural Law consists of a “Moral Law” that relates to man (His creation)
The “Moral Law” attribute can only come from God the Creator.
“Moral Law” cannot be changed (altered, repealed, amended) because it comes
from God who is immutable.
“Moral Law” is the law that distinguishes between what is right and what is wrong.
The Creator is the only one capable of this.
Man’s (the creation) attempt to judge between right and wrong must always measure
up to the Creator’s standard “Moral Law”. If it does not, than man’s attempt will
always result in just the opposite (Immoral Law)..
“Immoral Law” is the opposite of “Moral Law”.
Because “Moral Law” relates to man and governments are instituted by man then
“Moral Law relates to governments as well.
Our Declaration of Independence is the supreme, unamendable (unchangeable)
“moral law” of the United States. It is the “Moral Law” of United States because it is a
proclamation that our unalienable (unchangeable) rights of life, liberty and the right of
property (pursuit of happiness) comes from God the Creator. Because the
Declaration is “Moral Law” it preceded and trumps the supreme, amendable
(changeable) “secular law”, the United States Constitution.
2. SECULAR LAW: (man’s law”)
The purpose of secular law is to secure our sacred unalienable rights from God of
life, liberty and the right of property (pursuit of happiness). “Immoral Law” is the
opposite of “Moral Law”.
When secular law is moral, it will restrain injustice and promote equal justice.
When secular law is immoral it will it will take away man’s natural God given rights. It
will promote unequal justice through legal plunder.
Legal plunder is defined by using the secular law to take from one person what
belongs to them and giving it others to whom it does not belong. Plunder is stealing
and stealing is still stealing even when the government uses the law to take from one
person and give to another person something that they themselves could not acquire
without doing so illegally”.
With elections coming issues are often blurred and sometimes it becomes difficult to
discern what is right and what is wrong and who is the right candidate to vote for. This essay
was written to be used as a filter to help you with discernment. Let me conclude with this
statement, “You do what you believe, everything else is just religious talk’”.
Author: Steve McCoy with thoughts and help from Don Jennings and Wayne Greeson
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What Christians need to know to vote righteously by Donald E. Jennings
The Problem
1.
As Christians we are to stand for righteousness in our culture
2.
Our Declaration of Independence, as our founding document, says all our rights
come ONLY from God (God’s Natural Law). Our rights do not come from men,
politicians or judges.
3.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights (man’s law) guarantees and protects those rights
for the people
4.
Therefore our voting is a righteous act as a responsibility to vote for politicians who
will protect those rights because they are God-given rights through our founding
government documents and the Bible.
5.
Unfortunately, there are people in our church who are voting for those who do not
stand for protecting those God-given rights. They may not even be aware that many
of our politicians are not protecting our God-given-rights by how they have voted in
the past or are voting now.
6.
It seems reasonable that if genuine Christians understood the following truths and if
they intend to stand for righteousness in the culture they would more likely make
righteous choices when they vote.
The Truths
1.
That their rights only come from God and are guaranteed by God, not man.
2.
That our government is founded on this truth (God’s Natural Law) in the Declaration
of Independence.
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 (God’s
Natural Law), 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. (The voters)
3.
That our Constitution and Bill of Rights (man’s law) protect those God-given rights
4.
That the governing authority of our unique republic form of government, referred to in
Romans 13:1-2, is not a king, dictator, president, congress, bureaucrats, or judges.
Our governing authority (unlike any other form of government in history) is the God-
given Declaration of Independence which codifies God’s Natural Law (our
unalienable rights), which man can not change. Man can not change (amend) them
because they are established by God and His Word.
Romans 13:1-2 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities (Our
Declaration of Independence). For there is no authority except from God,
and the authorities that exist (Our Declaration of Independence) are
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appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists (politicians, judges or
citizens) the authority (Our Declaration of Independence) resists the
ordinance of God (God’s Natural Law), and those who resist (politicians,
judges or citizens) will bring judgment on themselves.
5.
That any law, enacted by our politicians, that does not protect God’s Law is
unconstitutional and therefore unrighteous. (Ex: legal plunder -See the paper titled
“The Law” -also see Truth Project DVD #9 
). Only man’s laws that protect God
law’s are righteous laws
6.
That our vote is a righteous act to chose politicians that will protect those God-given
rights so that God may be glorified. A vote can be unrighteous when they are cast for
a politician who resists the authority of our government (Declaration of
Independence) therefore resists the ordinance of God (God’s Natural Law) .
Romans 13:2 Therefore whoever resists (politicians, judges or citizens) the
authority (Declaration of Independence) resists the ordinance of God (God’s
Natural Law), and those who resist (politicians, judges or citizens) will bring
judgment on themselves.
The Solution
1.
The right and wrong of any political issue can be easily discerned by filtering it
through both the Bible and our founding documents without the mentioning of
any specific political candidates or political parties.
2.
These truths can be taught without telling the student who to specifically vote
for or even mentioning a political party. That part is left up to the discernment
of the Holy Spirit.
3.
Since we help Christians to walk in righteousness in all other areas of their
lives we can also show them where each politician stands (the facts) on each
righteous issue involving the government. These would only be comparative
charts which will still not tell them who to vote for but help them make their
own righteous decisions as to how to vote righteously. Right-to-Life people do
this all the time on the abortion issue just giving us the facts in comparative
charts. This can be done on many of the other Biblical and constitutional
issues so a sincere Christian, who understands these truths, can filter any
issue through the Bible and the founding documents They can now make
righteous choices when they vote, pleasing and honoring God in the process.
A righteous vote is protecting God’s Law given to us in the God-given
document of the Declaration of Independence..
4..
We are told to be wise
Author: Donald E. Jennings with thoughts and help from Steve McCoy and his “The Law”
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Voting For The Lesser of Two Evils
(What Christians Need to Know to Vote Righteously)
By Steve McCoy
Today many Christians find themselves at a crossroad as they struggle with the
ramifications of their civic responsibilities and decisions in the arena of politics. We
ask ourselves, “How do I honor God when I vote? How do I discern who to vote for?
What does God ask of me concerning voting? Do I continue to vote for the lesser of
two evils?
These types of questions weigh heavily on our minds and hearts as we observe our
country being dismantled and transformed before our very own eyes. Freedoms and
liberties are diminishing on a daily basis and approaching rapidly on the horizon is
the loss of the first amendment.
Yet there remains those that sleep on. They are more concerned with playing church
than being the salt of the earth and a light to the world.
Edmund Burke said ”All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing”. So much of the history of the struggle between good and evil can be
explained by Edmund Burke’s observation. Time and again those who profess to be
good seem to clearly outnumber those who are evil, yet those who are evil seem to
prevail far too often. Seldom is it the numbers that determine the outcome, but
whether those who claim to be good men are willing to stand up and fight for what
they know to be right.
When good men do nothing, they get nothing good done. To be good, one must do
good. The Lord commands his people to do good (Luke 6:35; Eph. 2:10). Christ
“gave himself for us, to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a
people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:14).
Jesus rebuked the church at Laodicea for doing nothing. “I know you inside and out,
and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold
or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m
rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a
pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.” (Rev. 3:15-17).
Too many Christians and too many churches do nothing. They are standing idly by,
they are mere spectators. They sit on the sidelines instead of actively participating
and working for the good. If good wins, they join in the celebration though they did
nothing to produce the victory. If evil wins, they will complain long and loud though
their own apathy helped produce the undesirable result..
When good men do nothing, evil triumphs. Evil, sin and sinful men must be opposed.
God commands those who are good, not just to avoid evil but actively oppose it.
Christians are to “Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the
worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.” (Eph. 5:10,11). Those
who do nothing about sin and evil, help the sin and evil to prevail. One who is silent
when there are those around him in sin becomes a partaker with them (Eph.5:7).
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In the days of Elijah, the silence of many had allowed the evil of Ahab and Jezebel to
prevail throughout the land of Israel. “Elijah stood up in front of all the people and
asked them, “How long will you try to have it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow
him; if Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.” (1 Kings 18:21). The
silence of the people spoke volumes of their indecisiveness and inaction. Their
failure to stand up, speak up and speak out permitted wicked and evil men to run
rampant.
Jesus told of a traveler who was robbed, beaten and left him half dead. The men
who did this were wicked and did a very wicked thing. But the Levite and priest
allowed this evil to continue unanswered by doing nothing as they each “passed by
on the other side” (Luke 10:31-32). Fortunately for the traveler there was one man, a
Samaritan, who was willing to stand up for what was right (Luke 10:33-36).
Jesus warned “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side,
you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.” (Matt. 12:30). In
the fight against evil there is no middle ground, no gray area, no neutrality. Those
who are not actively and vigorously fighting against evil are helping evil to triumph.
When good men do nothing, they are no longer good. Many have the mistaken
notion that good is merely the absence of doing that which is wrong. Not so! One is
good not merely because he does no evil, but because he is actively working for
what is good. “Let him turn away from evil and do good;” (1 Pet. 3:11). James
explained, “In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is
evil.” (James 4:17).
Do not allow evil to triumph. Do not sit by and do nothing. Stand up and be counted,
speak up against evil and speak out against evil men and their sinful deeds.
The most obvious area that needs to be spoken to today is in the sphere of politics.
And it is spoken to through the way we vote. Do we use our cognitive mind to vote
with or do we use our emotive mind? Do we fall back on our default setting paradigm
of the way our parents voted and vote party line or do we override the default setting
and vote according to the character of the candidates? Which is the responsible
choice for an adult to make? What choice would triumph over evil?
”But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.”
(1 Pet. 1:15) Can a person be holy and vote for the lesser of two evils? For me the
answer is pretty easy, NO! For the “billy goat” (but, but, but) Christian the answer is
not so easy. They begin by making excuses as to what will happen if they don’t vote
the party line. God has said “Thou shall have no other gods before me” and yet their
allegiance to the party over what is right proves that the party has become their god.
Many remain (as Apostle Paul would say) ignorant. Interesting word because it has
three basic meanings: (1) You do not know because you lack information. (2) You do
not know because you do not understand. (3) You do not know because you are
unwilling. I believe we can observe all three of these meanings taking place in the
voting booth at every election.
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We are all aware of the verse, “If you know the truth, the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:32). We need to take a look at the opposite of this verse. Untruth (lies and
error) will keep you in bondage. This principle seems to be in more abundant display
than the other.
As Christians we are told to judge with a righteous judgement. “Be honest in your
judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but
judge fairly and righteously.” (John 7:24). It seems reasonable that if genuine
Christians sincere in being the salt of the earth and a light unto the world were given
some basic information on their civic voting responsibilities they would (guided by
the Holy Spirit) make the right choices in the voting booth that would reflect
righteous judgement and therefore impact our culture for God.
In the first 126 words of the Declaration of Independence our Founding Fathers
declared the philosophy of our government. (1) There is a Creator. (2) He gives
unalienable rights. (3) He has a “moral” law that governs man. (4) The government
exists to protect the unalienable rights He has given. (5) Below God given rights we
are ruled by the consent of the governed (the voters).
An error that has kept many Christians in bondage is a mis read of Romans13:1-2
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling
against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on
themselves.”
Many have interpreted this verse as if we are under King George’s rule (Rulers
Law). When quite the opposite is true. Our Founding Fathers did not give us “Rulers
Law” but “Peoples Law”. It was based upon what the Anglo Saxons had developed
in their culture and can also be traced back to what Moses instituted in the
wilderness. They did not give us a Democracy but a Republic. With the Declaration
of Independence our Founding Fathers declared to be separate and equal according
to the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God. Therefore because we are a Republic
and are established on the basis of “Peoples Law”, then the authority resides with
the people (employers) and not the employees (politicians and judges).
Consequently we have the “moral” responsibility to resist and bring judgement
against those politicians and judges that would resist God’s Natural Law. Those who
would do what they think is right in there own eyes. Those that would set up their
own immoral secular laws. Any law, enacted by our politicians, that does not protect
God’s Law is unconstitutional and therefore unrighteous. Our vote then becomes
righteous when it becomes self evident that the nominated politician protects our
God given unalienable rights. Our vote becomes unrighteous when it is cast for a
politician who resists the authority of our government and therefore resists the
authority of God (God’s Natural Law).
Author: Steve McCoy with thoughts and help from Don Jennings and Wayne Greeson
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