This episode is a rebroadcast from The Presbyterian and Reformed Churchmen podcast, hosted by George Sayour — now rebranded as Grace at the Gates. Sayour, who serves as the State Capital Minister to the State of Florida (https://www.ministrytostate.org/), talks with Pastor Aldo Leon about what it truly means to be a Christian nationalist from a biblical and Reformed perspective. The original episode was sponsored by Birmingham Theological Seminary (https://bts.education).

• Aldo Leon joins George Sayour to explore what "Christian Nationalism" should mean under Christ's rule, contrasting his Christ-centered vision with modern nationalist movements.
• Aldo explains that Christian nations must be ordered under Christ's crown rights, where the law and gospel together define civil and moral order.
• His theology of nations begins not with natural law or culture, but with Christology — Christ's mediatorial kingship shapes every aspect of family, church, and state.
• The discussion highlights how modern pluralism and cultural nationalism often lose the Reformation's conviction that the magistrate must oppose false religion and uphold true worship.
• Aldo critiques how the church's response to COVID revealed a surrender to state control (Erastianism), calling believers to recover a biblical understanding of Christ's authority over all realms.
• In addressing Romans 13, he clarifies that civil rulers are "deacons of God," obligated to uphold both tables of the law — moral and spiritual — for the flourishing of society.
• The episode concludes with a reflection on Aldo's book Christ's Crown: Christianity and the Civil Realm, emphasizing that any true Christian political vision must begin with personal devotion to Christ, not national identity.

Support Kingdom Polemics by visiting https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kingdompolemics, and join the discussion on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@kingdompolemics. Share your thoughts and comments — your engagement helps spread these important theological conversations.

Also, check out Aldo Leon's book In Christ's Crown, Christianity, & The Civil Realm. In it, Aldo presents a clear and compelling case for the Reformed doctrine of Christ's mediatorial rule over the civil magistrate — showing how His authority extends to every sphere of life. Available now through Berith Press: https://www.berithpress.com/bookstore/p/christs-crown-christianity-the-civil-realm.

In this powerful and necessary episode of Kingdom Polemics, Pastor Aldo Leon sits down with guest Drew Poplin, Associate Pastor at the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (https://www.firstrpcdurham.org/), to confront a rising theological distortion in Reformed circles — Kinism and race realism. The conversation centers on Poplin's new book -The Canvas of Creation- and explores why claims of racial superiority are not merely theological errors but heresies that undermine the gospel, the nature of the church, and the law of God itself.

• Drew Poplin explains how the resurgence of Kinism in conservative Reformed communities has emerged under the guise of defending heritage, culture, and order. He details how his pastoral encounters and sermons led to the writing of -The Canvas of Creation-, published by Crown and Covenant (https://tinyurl.com/mrbcmd68).
• The discussion begins by addressing the false dichotomy Kinists create between "civil" and "ecclesial" concerns. Poplin clarifies that this ideology isn't simply wrong—it is heretical, directly condemned by the church through its confessions and acts.
• Aldo and Drew trace how Kinism distorts anthropology, twisting the doctrines of creation and the fall to elevate certain ethnicities above others, thereby corrupting the gospel of grace. Aldo points out how this perverted anthropology bleeds into an equally false soteriology and ecclesiology.
• The conversation exposes the Darwinian and eugenic roots of modern race realism. Despite its appeal to natural law and Reformed heritage, Poplin demonstrates that its underlying assumptions mirror evolutionism and deny the imago Dei in all humanity.
• Poplin provides a theological framework for understanding human nature through the classical causes (formal, material, efficient, final) and argues that race is circumstantial, not essential, to humanity. Every person, regardless of ethnicity, shares equally in the image of God.
• The two address Scripture misused by Kinists — from Genesis 9 to Deuteronomy 7 to Titus 1 — showing that these texts concern covenantal faithfulness, not racial purity. Intermarriage prohibitions were religious, not ethnic; the gospel now gathers the nations into one people under Christ.
• The conversation also uncovers how Kinism corrupts the law and gospel by reviving ceremonial separations abolished in Christ and how its teaching forbidding interracial marriage aligns with the "doctrines of demons" Paul warned of in 1 Timothy 4.
• Finally, Poplin argues that Kinism is contrary to the very nature and government of the church. The body of Christ is one, ruled in parity by elders and ministers from all backgrounds. Any system that reintroduces racial hierarchy defies the gospel unity expressed in Christ's mediatorial kingdom.

This episode pulls no punches—it's a theological and pastoral response to a growing cancer within parts of Christendom. Aldo and Drew call believers to reject both woke distortion and racialist heresy, clinging instead to the biblical gospel that unites all peoples in Christ.

Support Kingdom Polemics by visiting https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kingdompolemics, and join the conversation on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@kingdompolemics — leave your reflections and questions in the comments.

In this episode of Kingdom Polemics, Pastor Aldo Leon tackles a highly charged and often misunderstood question: should Christians forgive those who remain unrepentant? The conversation, sparked by recent public discourse around forgiveness in tragic circumstances, goes well beyond the headlines and dives deep into Scripture, theology, and the nature of divine justice and mercy. Aldo challenges sentimental, one-dimensional notions of forgiveness that have become common in the modern church and instead builds a robust biblical argument grounded in God's character, the necessity of repentance, and the proper understanding of Christ's atonement.

Highlights:

• Forgiveness is a divine act that originates with God, not a horizontal gesture independent of Him. Only God can forgive sin, and believers may only extend forgiveness insofar as it reflects His forgiveness.
• True forgiveness is never separated from repentance. The Bible consistently ties remission of sins to repentance; to declare someone forgiven without repentance is to proclaim what God has not declared.
• Forgiveness among believers is relational and covenantal. Even within the church, Jesus commands rebuke and repentance before forgiveness, highlighting that grace is not license for unrepentant sin.
• Aldo explores the parables of Jesus, church discipline, and the necessity of maintaining doctrinal integrity regarding God's justice. He explains that hell exists precisely because forgiveness is withheld from those who refuse repentance.
• The episode examines Christ's words on the cross — "Father, forgive them" — not as a universal declaration but as a priestly intercession for the elect that assumes repentance granted by God's sovereign grace.
• Finally, Aldo addresses the tension between love and justice. Drawing from Psalms and the broader witness of Scripture, he argues that Christians may, at times, rightly pray for God's judgment on the unrepentant wicked, just as they may pray for the repentance and salvation of others. Christian love, he contends, is not sentimental permissiveness but alignment with God's multifaceted purposes — both redemptive and judicial.

This episode challenges modern assumptions about empathy, forgiveness, and the character of God, reminding listeners that biblical forgiveness is rooted in divine holiness, not human emotion.

Support Kingdom Polemics by visiting: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kingdompolemics and join the conversation on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@kingdompolemics — share your thoughts, questions, and reflections in the comments.

Also, don't miss Aldo Leon's powerful book -In Christ's Crown, Christianity, & The Civil Realm-. In it, Aldo presents a compelling biblical vision of the civil magistrate's role under Christ's mediatorial reign — a vital read for anyone seeking to understand how Christ's lordship extends to every sphere of life. Available now at Berith Press: https://www.berithpress.com/bookstore/p/christs-crown-christianity-the-civil-realm.