This returns us to the point that I am making, as my focus is not in fact on political theory. Rather, our discussion concerns the Bible's relationship with mankind, and the point is that since the Bible is the revealed portion of God's mind, and no person is separate from his own mind, the Bible therefore carries God's very authority, so that when it comes to knowing the will of God, the two are to be identified. God has ordained this book to rule over mankind. It follows that no person and no institution can remain guiltless that deviates from the Bible's teachings.

Indeed, every institution consists of people whom God holds accountable, so whether we are talking about individuals, the church, or the state, we are still talking about people who are required to believe and obey all of God's precepts all the time, and in whatever capacity they are functioning. You cannot preach like a Christian and then vote like an atheist. If you do, you are probably just an atheist. You cannot rally against abortion, and then support a law that grants unbiblical rights to homosexuals, regardless of whether you think it is the American thing to do. God will not hold you guiltless just because you are dealing with matters of the state. He might just "separate" you from the church altogether and send you to hell. There you can sort out your politics.

So God judges by the Bible. Because the Bible maintains the above relationship with mankind, and because it is the revelation of divine commands and precepts, it is the reference point by which God will judge every person. To think through this clearly, we must again emphasize that because the Bible (or the incorporeal Word of God) is the revelation of a portion of God's mind, and the mind of a person is the person, there is no difference between the authority of the Bible and the authority of God, and in our present context, there is no difference between the Bible as the reference point and God as the reference point.

It is God who sets the standard. To disbelieve and disobey God is sin, and to believe and obey him is righteousness. Since there is no difference between the Bible (the incorporeal Word of God) and God, it follows that a person's attitude and reaction toward the Bible is to be taken as his exact attitude and reaction toward God. This means that no one can obey God and disobey the Bible. And no one can claim to love God more than he loves the Bible. Anyone who disbelieves any part of the Bible calls God a liar.

Whatever the Bible says is what God says. If not for unbelief, this statement would be unnecessary and redundant, for all it means is that what God says is what God says. Now, God is the one who judges and the one who damns. Therefore, it necessarily follows that it is the Bible that judges and the Bible that damns. God damns to hell whomever the Bible damns to hell. There is no difference.

Thus we should never hesitate to take a decisive position regarding the nature and fate of a type of person, a belief, or an action that the Bible has addressed. We should never use the excuse, "Only God knows." No, we know as well, because God has revealed his thinking on the subject to us. Non-Christians will go to hell. Homosexuals will suffer everlasting hellfire. Feminism is of the devil. Greed leads to perdition. Liars will be exposed and punished. Oppressors will be destroyed by divine wrath. We know all of these things.

To play humble and non-judgmental when God has already revealed to us his verdict is to defy him to his face. One professing Christian was unwilling to say that Mormons will go to hell because "only God could make such a decision." What an insult to God! Suppose I tell you that I enjoy beef but that I detest pork, and then you turn around and tell someone, "I do not know what to bring Vincent. Only he can tell us what he likes." Right, and I just told you, but you had so little respect for me that it is as if you either paid no attention to me, or you ignored what I said. And it is as if this professing believer never read the Bible, or else she disregarded what she read. As for me, I know that true Mormons, Muslims, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, and all who reject Jesus Christ will go to hell. God has spoken, and I dare not pretend that nothing happened.

(to be continued)

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