At one time, all Christendom recognized God's law as the governing word for men and nations. The 20th century, especially, has seen a major revolt against God's enscriptured law. The consequences are not good for men or nations. It is an illusion to believe that men can live without law. In a fallen world, with men in revolt against God, God's law is the only effective and valid check against evil, the only true way of justice, and the necessary condition of life.
According to the rabbinic reckoning, the Torah has 613 laws. In terms of Christian tallies, the number is somewhat less because the ancient rabbinic count sometimes divides a single statement into more than one law. Whichever approach to counting laws is used, a very significant fact emerges. God's purpose is that all of society, and all men and nations, be governed by His law. Of the 613 laws, many are not enforceable by man, but only by God. This means that the jurisdictions of church and state are very limited. We have here a godly libertarianism which severely limits the powers of all human agencies. Through Jesus Christ, we are freed from the condemnation of the law, its death penalty, into power to live within the law, now written on the tables of our hearts.
God's law provides us with His law for every sphere. It can alone equip us to resist the encroachment of alien powers. It alone empowers the individual person and the family to govern properly. We cannot expect our present-day church and state to be favorable to God's law, because it denies to them powers they claim and use. We are in the latter stages of the growing decay and collapse of statist law. It is time to reconsider God's law. Our freedom depends on it. This is the purpose of The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. III.
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