Biblical Arguments Against Christian Nationalism

The problem with Christian Nationalism is that you can not justify the idea of the “Christian nation” without taking away from who Christ is. It does not matter which of the formal or informal teachings you adhere to. You can not believe in the “Christian nation” without making Christ’s authority and power lesser. 

For example, we can not adhere to Theonomy because Christ is the fulfillment of The Old Covenant. He has made The Law obsolete, and with it disposed of the guaranteed prosperity that came with The Law.  The good news is that this has made way for a superior covenant, one that brings not prosperity but hardship and suffering. (Hebrews 8:1 -13)

We cannot have a Government that is led by The Church because Christ’s Church is a nation all its own. A heavenly kingdom is unbound by borders, whose king is none other than the king of kings himself. Scripture tells us time and time again that we are to “submit to the earthly authorities in all things” (Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 2:13 – 14, Titus 3:1) For this reason the Church must never have authority over the earthly authorities. For because God did not give the church any earthly authority, if any Church receives earthly authority of its own it will cease to be God’s church.

We also can not have a nation led by religious authorities. For with the new covenant came a new priesthood and a new law. Unlike the priesthood of the old covenant, the new covenant leaves us without an earthly high priest to act as our leader in worship. Instead, Christ acts as our heavenly high priest, who brings our problems directly to God in his throne room and leads the great congregation in worship now and forever. Amen.

There can also be no secular government built on “Christian Values” because  Christ told us the first and greatest of all the commandments is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”. There are no Christian values if we do not first submit to Christ’s divinity. Jesus Christ is The King of kings, The Prophet greater than Moses, and our great High Priest. It is this which all the law and the prophets point to. It is this which is the rock, the foundation of the church. For the Church to lead the United States Christ himself would have to descend from his heavenly throne. 

Just as there is no definition for “Christian Nation” that does not diminish Christ. There is no end goal, no motivation for building the Christian Nation,  that does not diminish his Gospel. If building a Christian Nation, whatever form it takes, guarantees us Prosperity then we must still be bound by The Law and Christ’s death and suffering was meaningless. 

If the mission of The Church is to reclaim the authority God intended for us that was stolen then it can not be said all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Christ. For Christ distributes his authority to whom he pleases freely. For us to reclaim is to suggest that there is authority that belongs to another source. Dominionism and Kingdom Now Theology both suggest that the church is called to continue the work Christ started of reconciling the earth. For this to be true, Christ’s death and resurrection must have been insufficient. It would mean that Christ merely wrestled with death rather than conquering it.

We can not say that christian nationalism is an important part of evangelizing and making disciples of all nations because the earthly authorities do not have the power to soften the hearts of men. For the hearts of men can only be softened through Christ’s sacrifice, only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord can we learn to love and fear God.

Finally we can not say God Commands us to take up positions of earthly authority and create a Christian Nation because God does not command us to do this. Once again The Disciples of The Church are commanded to submit to earthly authorities in the name of peace so we may be left alone to worship God according to his commandments.

Christ said “It is finished,” as he died on the cross. Not it begins, not “I got you halfway there”, he said “It is finished” (John 19:30). We can not create a christian nation because Christ has already done so. The church is the only christian nation and its government is Christ. 

How then are we to see the Government in a biblical worldview? To suggest that governments are demonic instruments or tools of the Devil is blasphemous. No authority exists on heaven or earth that does not come from God. However, the earthly authorities should not be exalted as an execution of God’s will either. God does not and can not cause evil to happen, but all things still happen according to his plans. Government, whatever form it takes, whatever nation it’s leading is just people. Rebellious wicked people who bear the image of the living God. People who even in their rebellion still yearn for the good things which only come from the very God they rebel against and that includes his authority and his justice. God distributes earthly authority as an outpouring of common grace according to his good and perfect will.

This does not mean Christians should not vote, run for office, or engage in politics. These are good things to do. Voting is an exercise of authority and we are incredibly blessed to live in a Country where earthly authority lies not solely in the hands of a king or emperor but in the hands of the people. To say that Christians “should not vote because it’s ungodly” is once again to suggest that there is authority in creation that does not come from God. Run for office, vote, engage in the democratic process but do all of this understanding these in of themselves are common graces not weapons of spiritual warfare. It is not spiritual warfare, it is not evangelism, and it will not put God in debt to you. It is simply necessary work. We should praise and thank God whenever we engage with it. Then we should praise and thank God again because the necessary work of politics is a temporary thing of this current creation which we can look forward to being done away with.