Theonomy’s argument that the world will be sufficiently evangelized to make possible the implementation of the Mosaic Law worldwide and thus bring about God’s kingdom on earth, is simply not consistent with biblical facts and sound theological reasoning. The unified picture of the visible earthly kingdom of God as presented in both the Old and New Testaments is that Christ will come to personally establish and rule over His kingdom. Furthermore, the Bible teaches that the kingdom will be inaugurated with the binding of Satan and his confinement to the Abyss and the resurrection of the righteous dead, who will come to life and reign with Christ (Rev. 20:1-4)—that’s pre-millennialism, not postmillennialism. We have also seen that Theonomy’s central mechanism for establishing the conditions of the millennium is a worldwide reception of the gospel—a phenomenon that flatly contradicts the teaching of both Christ and the New Testament writers. Additionally, theonomists ask us to accept some propositions that are patently absurd. For instance, they asks us to believe that the Law is more effective in bringing about righteousness than the Holy Spirit operating under the new covenant. They also ask us to believe that unperfected men can establish and rule Christ’s kingdom until He comes. Such a thought exceeds mere illogic, and can only be characterized as either ignorance of man’s present condition, or ignorance of the nature of the kingdom, or shear arrogance. Theonomy is nothing more than a “pipe dream”—the musings of theological thought that has strayed very far from God’s Word.
Does this mean that Christians shouldn’t be concerned about societal institutions? Of course not, we are salt and light; we have an obligation to be light-bearers in a dark place. We should seek to change the world for the better as we have opportunity, but we should not be under the delusion that in so doing we will bring in Christ’s kingdom on earth—that would be to ignore the plain statements of Scripture. Our task it to be God’s instruments in bringing His sheep into His fold and caring for them in His absence; good will come of that, because it is our God appointed task, but it is not our mission to establish Christ’s kingdom—only Christ is sufficient for that task. Let us do the task Christ has given us, and God will be faithful to perform what He has promised.