Because of the accusations that have been made about me and some of our present and former leaders, the highest priority we have had for several months—and will have for some time to come—is establishing a biblical system of jurisprudence for our ministry that is easy for anyone to navigate and be heard. I’d rather take the time to do it right than do it fast, so I know it may seem to some that nothing is being done. In fact, a lot has. Much was done years ago, but we are reviewing and refreshing everything and seeking to address what is lacking. The best book I have ever read on this subject is The Triumph of Justice by an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi who is a believer in Jesus as the Messiah and studied to qualify as a judge in Israel. I have known him for decades and consider him to have some of the greatest insight into this subject and the New Covenant itself—even more than most Christian leaders I know well. In fact, I don’t know another Christian leader that I consider to have a very good understanding of biblical jurisprudence. (Some may, and I am not aware of it.) I understand this because, until this friend of mine who wrote this book challenged me about it, I did not either. Spending a few hours a day with him and the Scriptures profoundly impacted me regarding my own ignorance and how important this is—an area to which so little attention has been given by Christians. Don’t feel too bad. John Calvin tried for decades to implement biblical jurisprudence into the church in Geneva and failed. However, much of what he discovered and taught about this did find its way into the U.S. justice system, which was quickly recognized as one of the fairest and most just systems in the world. For this and other reasons, Calvin is often referred to as the “Father of Modern Democracy.” If he did not directly influence any of our founders, he did influence those who influenced them. So, Calvin had a profound influence on modern government but could not get the church to embrace it. The Apostle Paul chastised the Corinthians, saying it was a shame to them that they did not have any judges who were “called to judge angels” but could not even decide minor disputes among themselves. This is still bringing great shame upon the church, as Christians still have to go to the heathen for justice because the church has dropped this ball. Because “righteousness and justice are the foundation of the Lord’s throne,” justice is one half of the equation of the coming kingdom of God. Should not the exhortation to “Seek first the kingdom…” include seeking His justice and the biblical statutes He gave us to find justice? We’re not doing too well on the righteousness side right now, and it’s likely because we’re doing almost nothing on the justice side. Can we have righteousness without justice? If these two are the “foundation of His throne,” then we will not really be able to represent His kingdom without them both. This version corrects grammar, punctuation, and phrasing while maintaining the tone and intent of the original text. Let me know if you’d like further refinements.

Posted by Rick Joyner at 2025-01-17 16:17:02 UTC