God has given us four areas of federal government: personal, familial, ecclesiastical, and civil. Federal here not referring to things national, but covenantal -- bound to a head or representative on our behalf. Government here not referring to piles of paperwork and the passing of bills, but duties, obligations, and responsibilities associated with and corresponding to a subsequent jurisdiction.
SELF GOVERNMENT
God has given us families. Everyone is born into or as an extension of an existing one. When a man leaves his father and mother and becomes one flesh with a woman, he lays the foundations of a new family. He is responsible to govern its well-being and it stands or falls under his headship. He is the representative of that family. He is either a good representative or a bad one, but he can't not be one. He is THE representative without question. He is to gladly assume the sacrificial responsibilities of service, provision, protection, and procreation. He is to conquer to the cultivate his homestead. He is to expand its borders and improve its bounty, to seek its fruitfulness and mend its fences to the best of his ability. He is to look to Jesus, his Head, as the Father of all fathers, Husband of all husbands and Lover of all those responsible to love others.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
"By definition, the elder structure of government is a collective form of leadership in which each elder shares equally the position, authority, and responsibility of the office" - Alexander Strauch
God has given us the church. Every believer is part of the universal capital "C" Church and should belong and be enrolled in a lower case "c" local church. You cannot be a body part disconnected from the rest of the body without becoming a crime scene. The local church is governed by God's Word and sacraments under the headship of local leadership in the form of Elders. The local church's government is by a plurality of qualified men of character, competence and chemistry striving together to honor their Chief Shepherd, the Head of the Church universal, Jesus Christ.
STATE GOVERNMENT
God has given us the state. Every person is born into a kingdom. Every person is a citizen of somewhere. That somewhere is governed by something and someone. A head can interact with or declare war on the people or representatives of other states and nations on behalf of his people. A representative Head of a people is defined by their borders. If one lives and moves and has their being within a particular geographical space, they are under the Headship of the One assigned to represent the citizens of that space. The state would do well to remember that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. The land is God's land. The people are God's people. And the governing of a King, president, Head, etc... is under the scrutiny of THE Head whose named on the deed of every inch of square land and on the birth certification of each and every citizen. The Head to whom all heads must give an account of their headship.
SELF GOVERNMENT
"Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying." - Martin Luther.
God has given us ourselves to govern. We must do our own living and our own dying. Our own believing and denying. But we do not represent ourselves entirely. Even at the most fundamental, individual level we discover a federal representation in of our government. We are without exception either in Adam or in Jesus. We are all born under the jurisdiction of Adam. He is our covenant head. In him, we all fell. We are fallen because he fell. He is our representative and as he does, so go we. Only by being reborn can we experience different representation and this can only take place by adoption which requires the grace of God and faith in His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Everyone in Adam will die after they live. Everyone in Christ will live after they die. The same rules apply to Christ that did to Adam. As Jesus goes, we go. As He lives, we live. As He rose, so shall we, indeed.
FAMILY GOVERNMENT
"Every family of the pious ought to be a church." -- John Calvin
FAMILY GOVERNMENT
"Every family of the pious ought to be a church." -- John Calvin
"Each home is to be a small republic, with a representative head who represents that family, and who in a covenantal sense is that family. " - Douglas Wilson, Angels in the Architecture
God has given us families. Everyone is born into or as an extension of an existing one. When a man leaves his father and mother and becomes one flesh with a woman, he lays the foundations of a new family. He is responsible to govern its well-being and it stands or falls under his headship. He is the representative of that family. He is either a good representative or a bad one, but he can't not be one. He is THE representative without question. He is to gladly assume the sacrificial responsibilities of service, provision, protection, and procreation. He is to conquer to the cultivate his homestead. He is to expand its borders and improve its bounty, to seek its fruitfulness and mend its fences to the best of his ability. He is to look to Jesus, his Head, as the Father of all fathers, Husband of all husbands and Lover of all those responsible to love others.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
"By definition, the elder structure of government is a collective form of leadership in which each elder shares equally the position, authority, and responsibility of the office" - Alexander Strauch
God has given us the church. Every believer is part of the universal capital "C" Church and should belong and be enrolled in a lower case "c" local church. You cannot be a body part disconnected from the rest of the body without becoming a crime scene. The local church is governed by God's Word and sacraments under the headship of local leadership in the form of Elders. The local church's government is by a plurality of qualified men of character, competence and chemistry striving together to honor their Chief Shepherd, the Head of the Church universal, Jesus Christ.
STATE GOVERNMENT
“Arbitrary governing hath no alliance with God.” -- Samuel Rutherford
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