Christendom is a lie.

…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

2 Peter 2:9-10a

Christians have always lived in a world that opposes the gospel. And we should expect nothing less until Jesus returns. There is however a dangerous heresy that has begun to show itself in my lifetime. I think it began in the 1980’s with the “moral majority”, but shows itself in many different ways today as Christians look to politics to save the world. Some even suggest that a new “Christendom” (a Christian government or a government whose laws are solely derived from scripture) is the call of the church. Christian Nationalism is gaining a following and it is so very anti-gospel that the very reputation of the gospel is at stake if it is allowed to gain traction. Christendom is absolute heresy. It replaces Jesus and the gospel. It does not fit the history of the biblical narrative from its earliest pages. It does not fit with the teaching of Jesus. It does not fit into any of the apostle’s doctrine. Christendom theology is a destructive heresy expounded by false prophets.

God does not handle evil with a light touch. And in the very worst evils imaginable, God saves His people and carries out His plan. He never does so by the use of human means. Peter gives three examples in the context of 2 Peter 2 to establish these facts.

1) Angels sinned and were cast into hell, chained in darkness for a yet future judgment (2 Peter 2:4). This was the worst rebellion… angels, the ministering spirits in the very presence of God’s heavenly throne, were led into rebellion by Satan. God dealt with them definitively and soundly. He did not slowly change their minds! He swiftly executed judgment.

2) The pre-flood world of men that were evil in God’s sight were swiftly judged in Noah’s time (2 Peter 2:5). God spared Noah and his family, but wiped out everything else. He did not make Noah influential to turn the culture around or create a new kingdom or political system. He washed the world clean in a flood, preserving a remnant for His glory.

3) Sodom and Gomorrah were made extinct (2 Peter 2:6-8). Again, Lot and his daughters were spared but God did not reform the twin cities by Lot’s kingdom politics! He instead judged completely, kept a remnant, and showed His power in the smoldering sulphuric ruins of His swift judgment. In fact, it appears from the text that Lot’s attempts at influence were part of the problem and he barely got out alive!

Peter uses these truths to point to Christianity’s future. Whether the threat to the gospel is a wicked society from without, or false wicked teachers from within the church, God will keep the unrighteous in punishment until His appointed day of judgment. AND God will rescue the godly. The godly don’t “turn” the culture around to some secularized, sanitized Sunday School class. No… God promises to save a remnant and judge the culture. PERIOD. That’s what will happen. Christendom is a lie.