In AD 324 the controversy over Arianism was dividing Emperor Constantine’s recently-unified Roman Empire. Constantine had converted a mere decade ago and achieved spectacular success on the battlefield over his rival Licinius (pronounced LI-SIN-E-US), but was dismayed to return and find that the religion and church he had come to love to was torn apart with squabbling, division, and dissensions.

So what happened? Did the church realize their need for clarity on the divinity of the Son and come together at Nicea because they knew they had to hammer out these doctrines? Did Alexander and Arius sit down willingly for the good of the church?

Nope.

Instead of the church leading the way, Emperor Constantine issued an imperial summons to the warring bishops of the East and West, demanding they convene at Nicea. The result of that month long council was the Nicene creed, a creed that has stood the test of time and is the foundational confession of practically all Christian traditions 1700 years later. This happened again under Emperor Theodosius I & II at Constantinople and Ephesus, under Marcian at Chalcedon, under Justinian again at Constantinople, and on and on.

This pattern plays out again and again and again. The church wars, divides, errs, and even apostatizes, and the means of correction that God uses is often the State. This causes us Americans to bristle and protest but it is undeniable that the bulk of church reform has been initiated, carried out, and completed at the hand of the sovereign. Perhaps for all of our spirituality and airtight systematic theology we have forgotten the ordinary, practical means that God uses to save, purify, and protect his church.

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Today we are going to defend the forgotten and controversial historical pattern that God uses the State to correct his often erring bride. Tune in now.

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