Biblical Citizenship: A Vital Calling for the Saints in America

By Keith Downey

This study guide provides first a scriptural understanding of citizenship, and second, practical insights to help Christians faithfully participate as citizens of the United States.

The focus is on God's revealed will for ordering our earthly lives and administering human affairs. Glimpses in the Old Testament combined with the full revelation of the New Testament provide important principles and instruction regarding freedom, government, and citizenship.

From that scriptural vantage point, the study evaluates the founding principles of our own form of government, diagnoses what is happening today in our society, and identifies the ways that churches, pastors, families, and individual Christians can and should faithfully participate.

Table of Contents

Lesson 1: What the Bible says about freedom, government, and citizenship - Part 1

Lesson 2: What the Bible says about freedom, government, and citizenship - Part 2

Lesson 3: Ordered Liberty: the founding principles of our form of government - is it biblical?

Lesson 4: "A Republic, if you can keep it" - the role of the church, pastors, and families

Lesson 5: The Christian U.S. citizen

Lesson 6: Political, economic, and cultural angles of attack against God

Lesson 7: The Christian and politics: Ways to engage

Lesson 8: The Christian response to tyranny

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350927887

Book preview

This study guide may not be reproduced in whole or in part for purposes of resale or distribution.  This study guide may be quoted and excerpted in part, while retaining the exact original language, for purposes of group or individual study.

Copyright © 2023 by Keith Downey

First e-book edition October 1, 2023

ISBN: 9-798-35092-788-7

Cover design by Alyssa Loope

Table of Contents

Introduction

Lesson 1

What the Bible says about freedom, government, and citizenship - Part 1

Lesson 2

What the Bible says about freedom, government, and citizenship - Part 2

Lesson 3

Ordered Liberty: the founding principles of our form of government - is it biblical?

Lesson 4

A Republic, if you can keep it - the role of the church, pastors, and families

Lesson 5

The Christian U.S. citizen

Lesson 6

Political, economic, and cultural angles of attack against God

Lesson 7

The Christian and politics: Ways to engage

Lesson 8

The Christian response to tyranny

Appendix:

Going Deeper: Additional Sources

Message from the Author

Scripture teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge.  He and His word alone are the source of any hope that this study will assist the saints and the church in America.

The study is based on the Word of God in scripture, informed by the writings, material, and teaching of so many others, and shaped by the accumulation of my own experiences.

References to other sources are noted where remembered, but there is almost certainly specific content or phrasing that should be credited to another individual or source material.  A general attempt to credit them is provided by including an Appendix of additional sources.  These works would most likely contain any specific content or phrasing that should rightfully be attributed to its original author. 

‘There is nothing new under the sun,’ and this study is not intended as a proprietary work, but rather in the hope that it might benefit others and the church broadly. Hopefully any oversight of attribution would be taken in that spirit and brought to my attention. 

Keith Downey

Introduction

Why Biblical Citizenship?

When Christ returns and consummates all things according to God’s plan, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  There will be no sin, and mankind’s affairs will be perfectly, beautifully, and lovingly ordered by God in a new heaven and a new earth.

But until then, we must govern our earthly affairs and order our life together.

So what does the Bible say and what should Christians do?  How can or should we participate in our system of government and politics?

Ultimately our assurance is that God is in control, Jesus is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is ever present accomplishing God’s purposes.  So local churches must be faithful to those purposes.  Families must be strong.  And we must be Christ to the world, including as citizens.

The foundation for this conviction is found in the New Testament of the Bible where followers of Jesus Christ are exhorted that while we are ultimately citizens of heaven serving a sovereign God, we are also called to live as salt and light on earth.

How to understand Biblical Citizenship

By looking to the Bible! 

This study is intended to provide first a scriptural understanding of citizenship, and second, practical insights to help Christians faithfully participate as citizens of the United States.

The lessons assume a biblical theology, i.e. the nature and revelation of the Triune God and salvation through Jesus Christ. However the focus is on God’s economy, specifically his revealed will in Christ for ordering our earthly lives and administering human affairs. 

Glimpses in the Old Testament combined with the full revelation of the New Testament provide important principles and instruction regarding freedom, government, and citizenship.

From that scriptural vantage point, we can accurately evaluate the founding principles of our own form of government and also accurately diagnose what is happening today in our society.

Then, and only then, can we identify the ways that churches, pastors, families, and individual Christians can and should faithfully participate.

While the lessons will reference the United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, and functions of government, this study is not intended to be an in-depth survey of those topics.  There are many excellent authors and organizations with resources that examine the specific Christian influences in our country’s founding.  The ideas from many of those sources are included here, but this study relies on scripture as the starting point.

Think eternally, act locally

This study is intended to be practical.

Falsehood and decay are spreading deeper into the institutions of our society.  Our culture and system of government are being subverted.  Alarmed, many are asking, what can be done?  The issues are so big, how do I make a difference?  As a person of faith, how would I even get involved?

As Christians who are called to provide a witness and want to do something about what is happening around them, becoming involved as a citizen in a faithful way requires:

discernment and an accurate awareness of what is really happening in our country, and

practical, reality-based guidance for where, how, and what it takes to have an impact in the public square and on policy and politics.

So this study is written from a practitioner’s perspective. Real world experiences shape the lesson material so that we are equipped to act locally and do so effectively.

For the Saints

This study is for the Saints.  It is intended to help faithful Christians be Christ to the world and to fulfill the witness of the body of Christ, His church, in society.

We all have to discern our callings, including perhaps providing a Christian witness in the public square or participating in public policy or politics. But we must be careful not to subordinate our Christian lives and the mission of the church as just another actor on the civic stage.

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