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Originally Posted by timmopussycat  If Theonomy is Scriptural, non-Theonomic Christians who do not follow, teach and promote the civil laws hinder their sanctification and add to humanity’s rebellion against God. |
Indeed; but it cuts both ways. Likewise, if theonomy is un-Scriptural, theonomic Christians who follow, teach and promote the specific principles found in the civil laws as being not merely good/wise in some cases, but universally
required (which is what theonomy teaches, by definition), then they are guilty of binding the conscience of believers and unbelievers alike by an extra-biblical standard.
It's similar to the issue of baptism: Between credobaptism and paedobaptism, either credos are withholding a commanded biblical sign and blessing from their children, or paedos are applying that sign in an unbiblical way which deprives the children of themselves embracing it in the biblical way. As such, the
practice of
one of the two is necessarily sinful, a fact which adherents of each must acknowledge if they are being consistent with their view, whichever one it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timmopussycat If they do not repent, on the last day they will be found among the least in the kingdom of heaven. |
As Dr. Bahnsen's quotation wonderfully summarizes, the utterly amazing process of the Lord's redemption of His people, namely our
salvation, encompasses both our justification as well as our sanctification, and the latter is, always has been and always will be an equally
real,
actual and
necessarily present part of salvation just as much as the former.
But there is nothing in that biblical truth (or even in theonomy for that matter) which implies, and indeed I would say it is a far cry from, a belief in degrees of reward or honor in the eternal state of glorification. I explained in a previous thread why I furthermore see that belief as in fact being unbiblical as well as theologically illogical:
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Originally Posted by Me Died Blue Regarding the various passages throughout both the Old and New Testaments that specifically speak of reward for various ways of life, good deeds, and endurance of persecution, I honestly see nothing in the texts that specifically point to or implies anything beyond the reward of eternal life and glorification that all believers are guaranteed on the basis of their unity with Christ and their credit of His active obedience - and I certainly see no (systematic) theological reason to believe such, either.
Theologically, when God looks at us and the lives we lived, why (or even how, logically and in a legally consistent way) would He see the perfect record of our imputed righteousness in Christ when asking, "Are they righteous enough to dwell in my presence and obtain eternal life," yet see the imperfect record of our actual deeds in gradual conformity to Christ when asking, "How righteous are they for the nature and level of the reward and acknowledgment I should give them?" Sounds arbitrary.
Textually, verses like Matthew 10:41-42, Mark 9:41, Luke 6:35 1 Corinthians 3:14, Colossians 3:23-25 and Hebrews 10:35 (often cited as alleged support for the doctrine of degrees of reward in Heaven) all speak of specific good deeds and heart conditions that will lead to "reward" if kept - but many verses throughout the Scriptures likewise speak of works and obedience as being the way to eternal life. We always understand the latter in light of Christ's imputed righteousness, yet somehow seem to forget about or disregard that doctrine when considering the former. Another example is 2 John 1:8, which speaks of winning a full reward, and not losing what we have worked for - but how is that any different than the various salvific warning passages to the visible New Testament congregations, or Philppians 3:11-14 in which Paul speaks of the prize that he is pressing to attain as being "the resurrection from the dead " and "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"?
I think Proverbs 22:4 is a good verse illustrating the nature of this issue overall: "The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life." The "riches" and possibly even "honor" spoken of here have the exact same apparent nature and contextual appearance as do the "rewards" spoken of any of the various passages often cited to support degrees of reward in Heaven. Yet in this verse, what is the third benefit indiscriminately spoken of right next to those other two? "Life." And we certainly agree on that being something that we fully and solely obtain through Christ's righteousness. So the burden of proof would seem to be on those who would make the "riches" or "honor" a different story. |