THE LAWS OF DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE DIVINE INSTITUTIONS

THE LAWS OF DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT

    In His omniscience God knew in eternity past that man would choose to sin. To preserve and perpetuate human existence during the course of the angelic conflict, God instituted the laws of divine establishment for believer and unbeliever—principles designed for the protection, stability, orderly function, survival, and blessing of the human race. The laws of divine establishment declare that freedom is man’s most valuable possession. Human freedom is the heritage of human birth, the extension of the volition of the soul as the uncaused cause of man’s thought and action. Freedom is self-determination, the function of free will uncoerced by threat or violence and not determined by environment, society, or genetics. When mankind observes the laws of divine establishment, he restrains the sin nature and exhibits the highest expression of individual freedom.

    The human race cannot long endure without a system of control. Legitimate authority, the umbrella of divine establishment, protects human freedom. Authority is the power delegated by God through the laws of divine establishment whereby certain members of the human race have responsibility for and jurisdiction over other members of the human race. Authority protects self-determination, privacy, property, human life—the basic components of freedom.

    A perfect example of the laws of divine establishment is the Ten Commandments ordained exclusively to govern the theocratic client nation of Israel. This “Magna Carta” of human freedom defined liberty, morality, and divine authority for believers and unbelievers within Israel. The first five commandments embodied the sovereign rule of Yahweh over the national entity and served as an evangelistic witness to the unbeliever. For believers in Israel these commandments defined individual spiritual freedom and provided the environment for developing a spiritual life (Exodus 20:1-12; cf. John 8:32) [but did not constitute the spiritual life]. The last five formed the biblical paradigm for morality and summarized the hallowed precepts of civil independence that protect the privacy and property of believers and unbelievers alike (Exodus 20:13-17). Although this code was designed by God specifically for Israel, these same truths guarantee personal freedom and national liberty to any nation operating under its divine establishment axioms.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTIONS

    God ordained four divine institutions through which the laws of divine establishment function: the individual, marriage, family, and the national entity. For each divine institution God created a system of authority. The authority for the individual is volition, for marriage the husband, for the family the parents, and for the national entity the government in whatever form it is established.

    While the divine institutions were in God’s plan from eternity past, they came into existence at various points in time. The individual was ordained with the creation of Adam in Genesis 1:26; marriage with the creation of the woman in Genesis 2:22; family with the birth of the first child in Genesis 4:1; the national entity with the formation of nations in Genesis 10:5. These four institutions apply to every human being regardless of race [ethnic, linguistic group], nationality, gender, social status, spiritual status, or any other factor.

    Each divine institution is related to each other because each is merely a different categorization of mankind. All four divine institutions stand or fall together depending on man’s adherence to each divine institution’s legitimate authority. On the negative end, when the legitimate authority within each divine institution is corrupt [dominated by its sin nature], then the divine institution becomes corrupt and fails. Volition that is corrupt is negative, causing the individual to cease to function in moral uprightness, in grace, and in truth. Husband who is corrupt void his duty to his wife as provider, protector, and head of his marriage. Parents who are corrupt neglect their responsibilities as caregivers, instructors, and head of the family. Government that is corrupt is self-absorbed, misuses its power, terrorizes its citizens, and neglects its responsibility to lead its nation to peace and prosperity. The legitimate authority that is corrupt cannot hold the integrity of its respective divine institution and so the divine institution fails. The individual falls first, then marriage, then the family, and finally the national entity fails and falls like a stack of cards. When the legitimate authority within each divine institution is influenced and overrun by an illegitimate authority, then the divine institution becomes distorted [twisted from its original design] and fails. The legitimate authority that has its authority usurped by another entity cannot hold the integrity of its respective divine institution and so the divine institution fails. The individual who loses control of his own volition to the volition of another individual or entity becomes robotic, mechanical, a slave with no free will [no volition] and so the divine institution given to him by God as a free thinking, free acting individual fails. The husband who has his authority usurped by his wife, who’s function is, by design, a helpmate to her husband, loses his legitimate status as head of his marriage and so the divine institution fails. Parents who have their authority usurped by their children loses their legitimate status as head of the family and so the divine institution fails. Government who has its authority usurped by the mass population loses its legitimate status as head of the nation; the national entity becomes rife with strife, chaos, and anarchy and so the divine institution fails. The collapse of the divine institutions would cause the sin nature to run rampant, causing complete chaos. The fate of each divine institution rests upon the other divine institution with the integrity of the individual of foremost importance, then marriage, then the family, and finally the national entity. The integrity of all four divine institutions rests upon the ability of the individual to restrain his sin nature. On the positive end, when the legitimate authority within each divine institution [the individual’s volition, the husband, the parents, and the government] successfully restricts its sin nature [is free from corruption] or is correctly followed by those subject to it, the integrity of the entire divine institution structure is maintained, the opportunity for absolute objective truth [Bible doctrine] to enter mainstream thought is maximized, order is established, freedom abounds, and peace and prosperity flourishes.