The Divine Institutions and the spirit of lawlessness (2) - a podcast by The Oxford Bible Church

God governs this world through delegated authorities, through human beings, who carry His authority. There are 7 different realms of delegated human authority called the Divine Institutions. The spirit of lawlessness in the world comes from satan. Lawlessness is not just disobedience to God, but the very rejection of God’s authority and His right to rule over us. It is rebellion against all law and authority. Jesus said in Matthew 24:12: “Because LAWLESSNESS will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” This spirit of lawlessness will come to its fullness in the antichrist, the man of lawlessness (2Thess 2:3), and it involves a rejection of all Divine Authority, including His Divine Institutions.

The 4 Divine Institutions established by God BEFORE the FALL: (1) Free-will, (2) Work, (3) Marriage, (4) Family. Free-Will is the first and fundamental Divine Institution (D.I). The other DIs are built on the foundation of free-will. When they work properly, they protect our freedom by creating a society of order and peace. This video focuses on the what God's Word tells us about the DIs of WORK, MARRIAGE (husband and wife) and FAMILY (parents and children).

The lawless view says authority is the problem, and if you remove authority then all will be well, but actually sin is the real problem. So, children need the restraint of authority, until they learn to master their flesh (sin-nature), at least in a basic way. They need authority to grow up properly, otherwise they become spoilt and selfish. If you just let children do whatever they want, their selfish sin-nature will be fully expressed and thrive, and you will spoil them, and they will end up disrespecting their parents, teachers and other authorities. When you take the restraint of authority away, lawlessness thrives, and as a result everyone loses their freedom, because it becomes a lawless environment - chaos reigns. Righteous authority creates an atmosphere of order, peace and unity. It protects freedom and good self-expression. Abusive authority should be dealt with, but not by diminishing or destroying the principle and institution of authority itself. Rather we need to teach authorities how to express their authority correctly in love.All authorities should sanctify God as the final authority, to whom they are accountable.
Your authority is delegated to you by God, in order to represent Him. It does not give you the right to do what you want. God will hold you accountable and judge you for how you have used your authority. We are to carry our authority in humility before God and man. Don’t be ashamed to claim and operate in your authority, but if you misrepresent God, and treat your children wrongly or unfairly, don’t be ashamed to apologise, for you are acknowledging that you are under a higher authority. Let them know that you are under God’s authority, and that your authority comes from God (it is not intrinsic to you), and that you are to represent God, and are accountable to Him. This is how you sanctify God. This makes you accountable, and will cause them to respect you more. If they understand that you are acting under God’s authority, then you will carry more authority in their eyes, because they will see you as representing God and acting with His authority, so that by submitting to your leadership, they are also submitting to God. Sanctifying God also makes you accountable, so when you fail, you apologise, and that will cause them to respect you more.

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