The Micah Mandate
By George Grant
(His dates: 1954- , Copyright 1995, 1995, Publisher: Cumberland House)
(No notation) = Direct Quote, [P] = Paraphrase, and [Magee] = Magee Observations
[Magee] Introduction
I am not a Theonomist or a fan of the reconstruction of American government according to Old Testament Law
Contents
Introduction: A Fractured World
Part One – An Imbalancing Act
1. From Pillar to Post
2. In, Out, or Of
Part Two – Justice: To Do Right
3. Legal Entanglements
4. Good News vs. Nice News
Part Three – Mercy: To Do Good
5. Living as if People Mattered
6. Oddities and Rarities
Part Four – Humility: To Do Well
7. Our Codependent Love
8. Just Do It
Part Five – The Right Balance
9. Having It All
10. Where the Action Is
Teaching Notes
Introduction: A Fractured World
Divided
[P] We need to be heavenly minded so that we will do earthly good.
The best that I can offer you is the tried and true, the old and familiar, the well-trod sod.
Part One – An Imbalancing Act
1. From Pillar to Post
FINDING BALANCE
Biblical balance… entails far more than a happy medium between virtue and vice… A well-rounded, wholehearted fully integrated life… It is the singular fruit of incarnational faith.
A SHORTHAND STATEMENT
Micah 6:8 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
A snapshot of Biblical balance
A COVENANT LAWSUIT
[P] Context of verse
JUSTICE
Justice and righteousness
MERCY
Mercy and authority
HUMILITY
The proper attitude toward the person of God Himself
TIPPING THE BALANCE
Thomas Chatterton
WE LIKE HE
2. In, Out, or Of
A good theology will invariably produce a good garden
WORLDLINESS
A worldview is simply a way of viewing the world.
A vision of life and faith that integrates justice, mercy, and humility before God will cover the whole spectrum of heaven and earth
BACK TO THE GARDEN
The spiritual revealed and made manifest in the physical
THE GREAT COMMISSION
A full-scale assault on the evil and privation of the dominions of darkness
BOTH/AND – NOT EITHER/OR
A BALANCED WORLDVIEW
Patrick Henry
MICAH’S WORLDVIEW
Part Two – Justice: To Do Right
3. Legal Entanglements
FAITH, HOPE, AND POLITICS
Smothering influence of partisan ideology everywhere
LEGALISM
Legalism abolishes the significance of the cross.
LAWLESSNESS
Like legalism, lawless disobedience is heresy.
THE PURPOSE OF THE WORD
There must be a basis for truth and justice… The Bible is that standard.
1. Reveals the moral standards of God’s sovereign rule.
2. Convicts us of sin and leads us to Christ
3. Testimony to the nations
4. Blueprint for living
[Magee] This seems more to be a discussion of the purpose of the Law, rather than a purpose of the Word, which may be revealing.
MANIPULATING GOD
[P] The pagan way of viewing God
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians
BETWIXT AND BETWEEN
Whitefield
TAKING THE OFFENSIVE
4. Good News vs. Nice News
TAKING OFFENSE
People can’t be ambivalent about Biblical justice.
PLURALISM
Now the assumed basis of American culture and life.
HELL ON EARTH
Rampant immorality has begun to significantly erode the stability of our cultural foundations.
LEGISLATING MORALITY
That’s what legislation is.
Good and bad matter.
HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE
Edwards – Sinners in the hands…
TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE
Provokes us to an unflinching demonstration of justice – in both word and deed
Part Three – Mercy: To Do Good
5. Living as if People Mattered
SERVICE
Biblical service is a priestly function of mercy
DOING UNTO OTHERS
God cares for the needy. And His people are to do likewise.
Mercy goes far beyond mere politeness.
The balanced Christian life necessarily includes merciful service.
GOOD DEEDS
Titus 2:11-14 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
TO THE UTTERMOST
Most of the church’s greatest heroes are those who willingly gave the best of their lives to the less fortunate. Service was their hallmark. Mercy was their emblem.
Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase…
A LIFE OF SERVICE
GOOD SERVICE
Where there is mercy there is hope.
Jonathon Edwards: “That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, lifeless wishes, raising us but a little above a state of indifference. God in His Word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in mercies.”
6. Oddities and Rarities
WINNERS AND LOSERS
There was a time when martyrdom was among the church’s highest callings and greatest honors… But no longer.
E. M. Bounds
PEER PRESSURE
The worldliness of the modern church
COMPROMISE
Daniel was a man of principle…. Daniel understood the nature of his opposition. Compromise would have been fruitless.
Joseph
David
Early Christians
STEADFASTNESS
The enemies of the gospel often mistake this single-minded dedication to the work at hand as a kind of prideful know-it-all aloofness. That many Christians today make the same mistake is a telling commentary on the modern evangelical mindset.
WORK
1. All honorable work is holy.
2. God calls each person to his or her gifts.
3. Work is intended for the benefit of the community.
4. The high ideals of the work ethic can only be attained through Christ’s restoration.
BEYOND THE WICKET GATE
Bunyan
DONE WITH
In the center of
The Lord Magistrate of
A world and life view rooted in the grace of the sovereign God and the uncompromised maturity of diligence in daily work.
Part Four – Humility: To Do Well
7. Our Codependent Love
Cotton Mather
KNOWING GOD
If we fail to come to a full and accurate knowledge of God… then we are not only like to miss God’s purpose and will for our lives, we are likely to make a mess of the world around us as well.
THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S
Nebuchadnezzar
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson and changed his heart and his life. What about us?
FEAR OF GOD
Richard Baxter: “The proper knowledge and fear of God leads us but to two postures of the spiritual service of worship: corporately in yielding of our praise in the church, and individually in the yielding of our time in the world.”
The balanced Christian life always maintains this two-fold expression of holy knowledge and fear: putting a high priority on the centrality of the church and sanctifying whatever time God grants us.
THE CHURCH
1. The church renews the minds of fallen men through the teaching and preaching of the Bible.
2. The church readjusts men to genuine life through sacramental worship.
3. The church reforms the lifestyles of men through discipleship.
TIME
Our time is not our own.
[Magee] Important idea here of ordering our lives according to the patterns of the New Testament. This point is obscured by the author since He accepts the church seasons as normative without any persuasive biblical basis. I think that the answer from the Scriptures would be a full understanding of the week and the day that would form the appropriate rhythm for the Christian life.
Diligence
Patience
INFORMED BALANCE
C.S. Lewis: “It was through pride that the devil became the devil: pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
While all the world runs from dependency and co-dependency, the knowledge of God beckons us to humbly welcome them both – the former as we fearfully acknowledge God’s sovereign rule and reign in the world and the latter as we yield to the gracious provisions of the church in space and time. Living the balanced Christian life demands both.
8. Just Do It
THE DISCIPLINE OF FASTING
[Magee] We used to fast until the dinner meal once per week in the years of the life of the church. I am not sure what happened to that practice. Perhaps next year as we start our walk through the Bible and our once a month gatherings we can resume the practice on a monthly basis.
THE DISCIPLINE OF PRAYER
Athanasius prayed five hours each day. Augustine once set aside eighteen months to do nothing but pray.
1. Not a means of self-promotion
2. Habitual
3. Hedged by God’s will
THE NEHEMIAH MODEL
HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE?
They fasted and prayed.
RIGHT WHERE HE WANTS US
Dependent
Part Five – The Right Balance
9. Having It All
The Micah Mandate is peculiarly the domain of the ordinary.
PRIESTLY SERVICE
Salt of the earth
PATRON SAINT
James Alexander Bryan (Brother Bryan)
10. Where the Action Is
The cure is simply the church adhering to its essential calling. It is found when the elect of God yield to their divine mandate in every aspect and in every detail of their lives.
A CULTURE WAR MAELSTROM
Augustine
TINY PUSHES
Titus 3:8-9 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
[Magee] Closing Thoughts:
1. The premise of this book is excellent (a look at Micah 6:8 as a snapshot of a biblical way of life). I am very distracted by the exegetical leaps that the author takes to move us in the direction of reconstructionism. I do not believe that the Great Commission sends us off to remake the civil magistrate according to Christian principles.
2. I do think we should give some hard thought to how we are living out these three ideas together: justice, mercy, and humility.
3. The three are interesting… Why are they given together? Justice and mercy make sense. One without the other will be an excess for a creature. To do both is quite a trick. We could easily begin to think too highly of ourselves for achieving such a great goal. Humility is the constant reminder of who we are, and requires us to define justice and mercy from the Word of God, in the presence of God, and by the power of the Spirit of God.
4. Our best bet to live according to Micah 6:8 is to have communion with God in a life of word-sacrament-prayer by the power of the Holy Spirit. A life of that kind of humility before God will surely be expressed in righteousness and mercy.
5. Another way of looking at the life for us is 2 John – with truth, love, and obedience.
6. Stay in the Bible all the time, and you will address all issues that should be addressed.
7. We need to be zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14
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