“The thing that makes me tick is 2 Timothy 3:16–17: ‘So that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work,’” Congressman Todd Akin said, explaining that the Bible provides a blueprint for anything believers need in order to fulfill the tasks God has given them to do.
“You won’t find the details of calculus or some scientific thing in the Bible, but you will find all the principles for life. Now if I were to make a statement to the majority of evangelical churches: ‘the Bible is the blueprint for all of life,’ they would say ‘of course we believe that,’ but their actions suggest that they don’t believe that at all.”
The Bible, the way the founders looked at it, was much more of a blueprint for all aspects of society. As they read it, they discovered the idea of establishing a civil government based on a covenant between groups of people as found in the New Testament church. As a result, the founders replaced the idea of the divine right of kings with a covenantal view of civil government.
“This was a completely new technology built on biblical principles. They believed that if they followed the principles in Scripture, they could build a better civilization. They had the optimism and zeal to go forward and build a new country because they didn’t believe the world was getting worse. By using the principles of God’s Word they believed they could build the “shining city on a hill, a light to the nations.”
“So with this perspective when a person goes to Sunday School class, it’s not ‘if you have enough faith, you can pray for a Cadillac?’ but rather, ‘what does the Bible say about socialism? What does the Bible say about the use of firearms for defending your family? What does the Bible have to say about government?’” Akin asked.
“We should be taking the Bible seriously and applying it to all practical issues, but we’re just not doing that. God has laid this on my heart to see what the Bible has to say about everyday practical matters. The founders viewed the Bible as a gold mine of truth. They believed that society could continue to improve their conditions by building on the blueprint. Today’s populace has barely scratched the surface of what’s there to find,” he said.
Thank you for the blueprint of your word, your Scripture that is my map, my foundation for understanding your plan for life.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)