Category: Biblical Principles

What are the general truths that should guide our thinking in all areas of life? Here are some possibilities.

Principle: Property/Stewardship

  

Throughout this blog, I’ve pointed to a number of principles upon which Christians should base their thinking. If we would analyze everything through these principles, we would come to more Biblically based conclusions. The principle of property is very important. If you look at property from a worldly perspective, you see it potentially in a number of ways. For instance, one can be quite selfish and focus entirely on accumulating “things.” This is one end of the spectrum. The other end is… Read more »

American Self-Government: Example #2

  

All of America’s early colonies had legislatures of their own. Most of them, from the start, had been allowed self-government in their charters. When the British government began to change the rules by taxing them without any representation in Parliament, the colonies reacted. Their first line of defense was the charters they had been given. When the British government dismissed their arguments, they turned instead to the idea that God had given each person the right to direct his own… Read more »

American Self-Government: Example #1

  

They were called Separatists in their native England. They got this name because they couldn’t abide being part of a state church where the government controlled the worship and doctrine. So they set up their own churches based on their understanding of how God wanted His church to work, following what they perceived to be the model in the New Testament. When they set up these churches, they had to start from scratch with church government. Consequently, they relied on… Read more »

Principle: Self-Government

  

In an age when we look to Washington, DC, for everything we need, we have forgotten one basic Biblical principle that was part of the foundation of this country. It is a principle simply called self-government. It’s not hard to explain. God has created each of us with the ability to make decisions. That is part of His image that He placed within us. Government, by definition, is “control and direction.” Whenever anything is governed, that means it is controlled… Read more »

Principle: Made in God's Image

  

In early America, there was little debate about who man was. Nearly everyone agreed man was a being made in the image of God. What did that mean? First, it meant that God had transferred many of His attributes to his creation: man was given intellect, emotions, and the power to choose good and evil. He also had a spirit. Just as God is a spirit, so man was more than a material being. He also would live forever, the… Read more »

Principle: God the Creator

  

Continuing with a review of Biblical principles, I want to focus now on the truth that God is the creator of all things. If God “is,” then it is not a great logical leap to conclude that He also “does.” We don’t really grasp the concept of how astonishingly creative He is. All that we see around us began with an image in His own mind. He then transformed that image into something tangible. The universe sprang from His creativity;… Read more »

Principle: I Am Who I Am

  

As noted in the previous post, a foundational principle is that God actually exists. At one point, in Hebrew history, a man named Moses, a shepherd without any real status in society, saw a most unusual sight: a bush that burned but wasn’t consumed. Out of the midst of the bush, he heard the voice of God telling him to embark on a mission to free his people from Egypt. When Moses asks the name of the voice, he is… Read more »