How Does The Church Impact Our Culture? (Update)

Phil Johnson has completed his series on the church and politics.

Here is a summary of his posts:

Preaching, not lobbying, is how we are supposed to make the truth known.

Gospel, not law, is what changes sinful hearts.

Service, not dominion, is the most effective way to win people in any culture.

Christ, not moralism, should be the primary substance of our message.

Phil is speaking of the corporate duty of churches and of the ultimate priority of individual believers. He concludes:

"...It's highly unlikely that we'll find ourselves under a more hostile or more volatile political regime than Nero's Rome, which is where Paul ministered. Under those circumstances, Paul did exactly what we need to do: he preached the gospel in every possible venue. And the church flourished."

This material is largely taken from a seminar Phil presented at Shepherd's Conference, 2008.

Download an audio presentation of this seminar.

View a transcript of this seminar.

Pastor John MacArthur has also recently posted a series on "The Gospel and Politics" at Pulpit Magazine.