Those First Principles, Pound said, were tied to an agrarian society that an urban industrial society had replaced. The evolutionary process thus required a revamping of a legal system more akin to the modern era. He therefore developed a legal philosophy of sociological law wherein "the State takes the place of Jehovah." So a 21st century constitutional perspective is devoid of God without an accounting to the eternal LAW with its 18th century "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" that granted early Americans authority to dissolve their political ties to England and to create a new nation among the powers of the earth. Because highly visible Christian leaders support and promote such a constitutional perspective, those influenced by them should know and understand the TRUTH regarding their rejection of God and His principles in government.

So what difference does the absence of the First Principles make? Well, for Americans, it makes all the difference in the world. For rejection of God as the Supreme Authority over all things in the earth undermines the purpose of all of our nation's constitutions. The Declaration proclaimed that "all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" and that "governments are instituted among men" to protect those rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights and the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution set forth such unalienable rights that all created men receive.

With God, government is to recognize the Creation covenant wherein He makes all men in His likeness and image with the free will to obey Him in all things. And He gives each person authority over all earthly things and unalienable rights to fulfill the purpose for which each person is created. So in governing any society, Creation authority principles should apply. And the people of America determined the extent of power they chose civil government to have through written constitutions. The perfect law of liberty rules in our nation because Jesus, Who has all authority in heaven and in earth, commands us to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

Jesus thus affirms for all people their God-given rights such as religious exercise and parental rights. For these rights are unalienable and their discharge is a duty, which all Americans owe to their Creator. Not to the civil government. So anyone may live in accord with them without government intrusion. Moreover, Scripture says that His kingdom rules over all to include civil government employees. So in America the State's right to rule is limited while God's authority is supreme over all, unlimited, and has certain areas of exclusive jurisdiction.

The U.S. and Virginia Constitutions show God's exclusive authority at work with respect to religious exercise. The U.S. Constitution says that "Congress shall pass no law...prohibiting [the free exercise of religion]." And Virginia is the only state that provides true religious liberty.

That religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.

Other states provide no definition of religion so its meaning is left to the discretion of governmental employees. And the U.S. Supreme Court invented a compelling State interest test in which any government employee may claim the power to restrain a person's free exercise of religion if the State employee opines that such exercise is a detriment to the State or the society. Virginia's Statute for Religious Freedom says that such power in the hands of a government entity "is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty."

Some states severely limit religion to a person's practice of worship. So any action taken by Christians to obey the Holy Spirit's command to "expose the evil deeds of darkness" is not secured. Some states even have "hate crime" laws that punish anyone who has the boldness to condemn homosexuality and lesbianism, among other things, in discharging the duty, which they owe to the Creator. Moreover, "the mutual duty of all" to the Creator points to a corporate duty "to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other." Such mutual duty is the essence of self-government under God's rule of LAW. For such practice precludes wrongdoing and unauthorized control of someone else's life. And Christian love recognizes that there is no authority except from God.

Jesus introduced the unique idea of a civil servant when He instructed us:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your servant--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt 20:25-28).

"Rulers of the Gentiles" are magistrates who rule Godless nations. And their "great" ones are elites who have power, influence and money to control the lives of others. As "lords," magistrates have supreme authority over their subjects, and the "great" manipulate so that magistrates exercise supreme power in the best interests of the great ones. But Jesus commands that such is not to be the case with His followers. For those who desire to be "great" and "first among you" are to function as public servants. Such a teaching of servant leadership was truly revolutionary at the zenith of the Roman Empire where Caesar, a man, was worshiped so that the State took the place of Jehovah.

Without God in government, evolutionary principles of power apply and government employees answer to the passion and whim of the people a.k.a. mob rule. The ideas of a Creator, true authority found in God alone, God-granted unalienable rights, and self-government grounded in eternal LAW no longer exist. Absent these ideas, democracy rooted in men's opinion grants power to the people, government granted privileges replace unalienable rights, and survival of the fittest elevates power, influence, and money to be the determining factors for controlling the lives of others. In short, a closed society controlled by elitists takes the place of a free, open society based on self-control under God's rule of LAW.

The most recent Presidential election underscores operation of government run amok in which principles of a democracy, a form of government without God, trumped the principle of the separation of powers under the American Republic. The Florida Supreme Court set aside a duly enacted law of the Florida legislature and substituted its own opinion based on a perceived "overarching principle" to allow a vote recounting process. This, of course, parallels the U.S. Supreme Court's own invention of a "compelling State interest" that it uses to dictate to the people and the other branches of government when promoting the interests that wish to control life in America. In TRUTH, these concepts are contrived tools of tyranny that help build a foundation for totalitarian government.

What Happened In America?

The short answer: Christendom has failed to obey the Great Commission of Jesus. Christians are to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" and expect signs of power to follow. But "the gospel" preached in Christendom today often bears little resemblance to the gospel Jesus and the apostles preached. The New Testament "gospels" say that Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and report that the apostles preached the same gospel with power in teaching the nations "to obey all that He commanded" us.

Jesus said that the works He did, we Christians are to do also and greater works are we to do because He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all TRUTH. Yet few Christians believe that they have the same capacity to minister to the nations in the same manner as Jesus. So little manifestation of His power appears in the churches of America today. Our work also suffers because many believe they are still sinners and act accordingly. Others commonly believe that sin is part of their nature.

Christendom must awake to righteousness and sin not; and believe and act in faith to obey our Lord by proclaiming to the people and leaders of our nation the gospel of the kingdom of God and the acceptable year of the Lord. So it is imperative that we Christians seek and do the TRUTH for restoration of the American Republic established by our constitutions to fulfill God's will in allowing the people to practice self-government under the rule of LAW.