What Comes After Repentance?
Our perseverance ought not to be just because we feel an obligation to pursue an impossible goal that will never be achieved. The first words of the risen Christ in that commissioning were, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” That is the condition of our Lord’s presence with us.
- Mark R. Rushdoony
I spoke recently with a long-time supporter of Chalcedon, someone who came to know my father decades ago. She was concerned with the lack of vision for the Kingdom of God and any call to obedience to God’s law or dominion preaching from the pulpit, though her church is far better than most.
The emphasis of one minister was on personal and corporate repentance. When she pressed him on what came after that repentance, he became ambivalent. She was ready with an answer if that minister was not. She recalled the closing words of Matthew’s gospel which we call the Great Commission:
…All power is given unto me in heaven and in the earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt. 28:18b-20).
She emphasized more than once those worlds I have underlined – “teaching them” with the assurance that “I am with you.”
Do you see the connection between our commission to teach men obedience and the fact that Jesus is with us and our efforts? This world currently shows few signs to encourage us in our work to teach all nations. If we evaluate our prospects by any human metric our hope is a lost cause. But if Jesus Christ is with us, then we can say, with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13).
Our perseverance ought not to be just because we feel an obligation to pursue an impossible goal that will never be achieved. The first words of the risen Christ in that commissioning were, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” That is the condition of our Lord’s presence with us.
We do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ if we assume He is in any way a loser. On the contrary, His victory is accomplished, and He now sits at the right hand of God while His enemies are made His footstool (Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:13). We are privileged to be His workmen for a very brief span of years in the unfolding of His victory in time and history.
- Mark R. Rushdoony
Mark R. Rushdoony graduated from Los Angeles Baptist College (now The Master’s College) with a B.A. in history in 1975 and was ordained to the ministry in 1995.
He taught junior and senior high classes in history, Bible, civics and economics at a Christian school in Virginia for three years before joining the staff of Chalcedon in 1978. He was the Director of Chalcedon Christian School for 14 years while teaching full time. He also helped tutor all of his children through high school.
In 1998, he became the President of Chalcedon and Ross House Books, and, more recently another publishing arm, Storehouse Press. Chalcedon and its subsidiaries publish many titles plus CDs, mp3s, and an extensive online archive at www.chalcedon.edu. His biography of his father will be published later this year (2024).
He has written scores of articles for Chalcedon’s publications, both the Chalcedon Report and Faith for all of Life. He was a contributing author to The Great Christian Revolution (1991). He has spoken at numerous conferences and churches in the U.S. and abroad.
Mark Rushdoony has lived in Vallecito, California, since 1978. His wife, Darlene, and he have been married since 1976. His youngest son still resides with him. He has three married children and nine grandchildren.