What is a Christian Nation?
Please read the following excerpt of a forthcoming book from Gospel Covenant Publications. It's called "What is a Christian Nation?" and is a compilation of sermons by Greg L. Price.
It is in the design and review process.
What Is a Christian Nation (Psalm 2:10-12)?
A. Let's consider our text and note some characteristics of a Christian nation. And let me say that though one may find certain aspects of this psalm applied historically to David or Solomon, clearly the Psalm is ultimately fulfilled in the mediatorial rule of Jesus Christ (as quoted by the apostles in reference to Christ in Acts 4:24-27).
1. In verses 1-3 of Psalm 2, we find a description of the hostility of the Gentile nations and their rulers who proudly and defiantly oppose the reign of Jehovah's anointed Prince saying, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." Note carefully that these rulers of the nations do not necessarily dispute the fact that Christ, the Messiah, rules as God's appointed Mediator and King. Nor do they necessarily dispute that they are bound by the bands and cords of His Moral Law. These Gentile magistrates rather hate the fact that Christ rules as King over them and their nations and that His Moral Law binds them to obedience to Him. Also note that this rule of Christ over the Gentile rulers and nations is not merely His essential rule as the Second Person of the Trinity, but rather focuses on His mediatorial rule which is given to Him by God as God's "anointed" (verse 2), i.e. as God's Christ (from the Greek) or as God's Messiah (from the Hebrew). Thus, in this first section of Psalm 2, we see that Christ's dominion as Mediator (not merely as Creator) extends not only over Israel, but also over all Gentile nations and their rulers, and that Christ holds that appointed position whether or not the Gentile nations and rulers submit to Him out of faith, love, and holy fear. The universal dominion of Christ as Mediator depends not upon the response of nations or kings, but depends only upon the decree of God who has seated Christ at His right hand (Psalm 110:1).
2. In verses 4-6 of Psalm 2, our eyes are turned from the hostility and hatred of the nations and their rulers against God and His anointed Prince to the response of the Lord Almighty from His heavenly throne where the Lord laughs at these lowly, pitiful nations and their vain rulers who futilely act as though they can unseat Christ from the throne or can tear themselves away from the unbreakable bonds of His Moral Law. In spite of all the futile attempts of earthly magistrates to rule the kingdoms of this world as rebels against the Messianic King of kings and Lord of lords, Jehovah sovereignly declares, "YET [i.e. in spite of the rebellion and resistance of Gentile rulers and nations against Christ—GLP] have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (the earthly Zion in Jerusalem stands here for that heavenly Zion from where the Lord Jesus Christ reigns as we see in Acts 2:29-36). It's as if the Lord said, "You fools, do what you will to hate and despise my anointed King, YET I have seated Christ upon the throne as my mediatorial King, and you can do nothing to unseat Him." Thus, in this second section, we note that the nations of this world and their rulers fight a futile battle against Christ and His kingdom.
3. In verses 7-9 of Psalm 2, the anointed King, Jesus Christ, speaks for Himself, and in His own words He reiterates and confirms what God the Father has just stated in the previous verses. God's eternal decree in the Covenant of Redemption was that the Son should become the Messianic heir of all nations upon the earth. The Gentile nations and their rulers are therefore Christ's possession over whom He exercises His universal dominion to the good and benefit of His church. Thus, in this third section, we note that Christ's universal dominion as Mediator is firmly and unalterably anchored in the eternal decree of God as found in the Covenant of Redemption.
4. Now we come to our text in verses 10-12 of Psalm 2, where the kings and judges of the earth are exhorted to be wise and not foolish by serving the LORD and kissing the Son. Let me say that kings and judges of the earth are here spoken to in their official capacity as rulers of nations (and not simply in their personal capacity as private individuals) as we see from what is said in Acts 4:24-27 (where Herod and Pilate are addressed in their official capacities as rulers of nations and kingdoms). The Lord is not saying in these verses, "Submit to Christ, the Son of God, in your personal, private life, but rule however you wish in your public, official life." What a mockery and complete distortion of those obligations the Lord lays here upon the nations and their rulers. Both to "serve" and to "kiss" communicate similar ideas: namely, humbly submit to the gracious and righteous rule and Moral Law of God through His only Mediator, Jesus Christ (note in 1 Samuel 10:1 that Samuel kissed Saul as a sign of humble submission to Saul's rule as king). In effect, this portion of Psalm 2 says, "If you civil rulers refuse to humbly submit to Jehovah and His Mediator, you will perish in your sin and rebellion. Submit or perish. Life and death is placed before you: choose life. However, know that if you will not officially in your rule and in your government and in your constitutions submit to Jesus Christ as God's mediatorial King, you will be crushed." And so, dear ones, it has ever been throughout history. Christ may be patient with nations for shorter or longer periods of time, but Christ, the Mediator, will sooner or later show forth His judgment to obstinate rebels as a demonstration of His mediatorial dominion over all things.
5. In summary, I would submit that Psalm 2 provides us with the following 5 characteristics of a Christian nation.
a. For a nation to own God is to own The Triune God (as revealed in the Old and New Testaments) as alone and distinctly "served" as the ultimate end of a Christian nation and is specifically stated to be so in the constitution of a Christian nation (Psalm 2:11).
b. For a nation to own Christ is to own Christ as the only Mediator between God and man, and it is distinctly to "kiss" Him and to submit to Him as having universal and national dominion over the country, and it is specifically stated as such in the constitution and laws of a Christian nation (Psalm 2:12).
c. For a nation to own Christ as God's only Mediator is necessarily to own as a Christian nation the Moral Law given by Christ (as summarized in the Ten Commandments and found throughout Holy Scripture). To own God's Moral Law as a nation is to own it as that universal, binding rule according to which all laws of the nation must conform (and not just Commandments 5-10, but also Commandments 1-4—i.e. both Tables of God's Law). Lawful civil rights are not founded upon people's desires, people's opinions, people's consciences, the majority of people, the reason of man, or what is alleged to be in the best interests of the nation, but rather lawful civil rights are founded upon the Moral Law of God who has instituted civil government for His own glory (Romans 13:1) and civil magistrates as His ministers (Romans 13:4). A Christian nation then will explicitly state in its constitution that God's Moral Law is the supreme Law of the land (Deuteronomy 4:5-8; Matthew 5:17-19).
d. For a nation to own Christ as God's only Mediator is to own the one true Christian religion ordained by Christ, the Mediator, and revealed in the Old and New Testaments of Holy Scripture (and as professed by faithful, biblical Reformed nations in their national Confessions of Faith) as that religion alone that must be officially established, supported, and protected by law. For a nation that merely tolerates Christ, merely tolerates the Scripture, and merely tolerates biblical Christianity along with every other religious sect and expression of religion or lack thereof (from atheism to Satanism) has simply enshrined Christ and Christianity as one religion among many, one religion among equals, one religion in the pantheon of religions of that nation. There is no neutrality in religion (a nation cannot serve two gods or thousands of gods and yet claim that it is a Christian nation). The official religion of such a nation is not Christianity, but is rather polytheism (and is no different from the polytheism of Greece or of Rome). According to the First Commandment, the God of the Bible will not tolerate any rival gods or religions ("Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3). And that doesn't mean that God tolerates other gods as long as they're not placed ahead of Him in importance but simply placed beside Him. The commandment means that God does not tolerate any other god before Him i.e. in His presence at all (whether superior, equal, or inferior to Himself). For Jehovah's Divine presence fills all the universe and even transcends the universe He has created (so that any nation within God's universe that tolerates other gods, falls under God's righteous judgment). God did not tolerate other gods in Israel, nor did He tolerate other gods in the Gentile nations (as we see from the judgments He brought upon those nations due to their specified idolatry, Isaiah 19:1ff). There is an important principle here that we must understand: that which a nation officially tolerates by law, it officially promotes, establishes, and protects by law. In other words, a nation that officially tolerates all religions by law (including Christianity) is a nation that has officially declared by law its religion to be polytheism (rather than Christianity).
e. For a nation to own Christ as God's only Mediator is to own the view that only those who give sufficient testimony and swear before the Triune God of the Bible that they adhere to the previous characteristics of a Christian nation (just mentioned) may serve as civil magistrates within a Christian nation. If any person (regardless of the god he worships, or the religion he professes, or even the denial of all religion) is qualified by the constitution and laws of the land to serve as a civil magistrate, then clearly you cannot have a Christian nation nor view Christ as God's only Mediator between God and man as taught in Psalm 2 (see the qualifications for civil magistrates in Exodus 18:21; 2 Samuel 23:2,3; Romans 13:4). For in such a nation where this is the case, the offices of state will be occupied by men from various religions who will govern according to the precepts that their religion teaches them (contrary to the moral precepts found in Holy Scripture). I submit, a nation can only be a Christian nation in so far as the official representatives of that nation profess the Triune God of the Bible, Christ as God's only Mediator, the Moral Law of God as summarized in the Ten Commandments as the supreme law of the land, and the one true Christian religion of the Bible (as summarized in faithful Confessions of Faith like the Westminster Confession of Faith). These, I submit, are 5 characteristics of a Christian nation. Nations that do not own all these truths and declare them in their constitutions, covenants, and laws are not Christian nations.
Some eBooks from Gospel Covenant Publications...
A Refutation of Religious Pluralism, by John Brown of Haddington, edited by Greg L. Price
For Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MMESAU
The Anglosphere's Broken Covenant, by Michael Wagner
For Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004KSQXAE
God bless you!