Pietism teaches that Christianity should be a purely private matter and that God’s law has no place in the governance of nations. Those that believe in Piety always tells us that we are wasting our time when it comes to being involved in seeing that good laws are established in our nation. They mock it as mere “moralizing.” For example, if one tries to help pass laws against abortion, the Pietist immediately objects, saying, “That is an utter waste of time – women are not saved by not having abortions, but by hearing the Gospel. We should just preach the Gospel.” Though what the Pietist says sounds “spiritual,” in reality their position works against men coming to know Christ (not to mention the proliferation of lawlessness it promotes in society).First, the law of God should be honored among men, and one way it is honored is that it is reflected in the laws of a nation. Second, the preborn should be protected from murder and an unjust death. And third, people who are involved in abortion are more apt to see their guilt (and therefore their need for Christ) if the laws of the nation do reflect the law and justice of God.These truths do not contradict what the Pietist is trying to accomplish — seeing men won to Christ. The two positions are not opposed to each other. It is actually the hope of both positions to see men won to Christ. The Pietist simply misunderstands that his position actually hinders precisely what he hopes to accomplish.The point is that good law which affirms or mirrors the law and justice of God helps men to see their need for Christ. Bad law that contravenes and spurns the law and justice of God assists men in ignoring and/or justifying their sin. When the law and justice of the magistrate mirror the law and justice of God, men are able to more readily see God’s justice and their guilt before Him for violating His law. But when the magistrates rebel and make law contrary to God’s law, it hinders people from clearly seeing their sin and guilt, and hence, their need for Christ.
In this short lecture, Pastor Matt Trewhella addresses the oft-asked question by those involved in public policy matters – “How do we get the pastors involved?” He defines Pietism and shares a short discourse on its history. He then responds to four slogans promulgated by the Pietists that are designed to neutralize Christians and defer their involvement in matters of seeing good laws established in a nation.
The lecture was given to a group of abolitionists who take action and speak up for the helpless preborn.
