Reform; Restore; Repeal; Renew

What Jesus and Britain’s great reformers teach us about real change

One of the most striking differences between biblical renewal and modern politics lies in a simple question. Do you build upon what already exists, or do you return to first principles? The answer explains why genuine reform is so rare.

The Problem of Accumulation

By the time Jesus began His ministry, the Torah had become surrounded by centuries of rabbinical interpretation, commentary, precedent, and tradition. Most of these additions had begun with good intentions. The rabbis sought to protect God’s law by building safeguards around it. Yet over time the safeguards became almost as important as the law itself. Each generation inherited the assumptions of the previous one and added another layer. The result was a religious system built on accumulation. Jesus did something radically different.

Rather than adding another interpretation, He repeatedly stripped away the accumulated layers and returned to God’s original purpose. When questioned about divorce, He bypassed contemporary debates and declared: “From the beginning it was not so” (Matt 19:8). When challenged about the Shabbat, He replied: “Shabbat was made for man, not man for Shabbat” ( Mk 2:27). Jesus was not interested in endless modifications to an increasingly complex system. He went back to foundations. His approach was not accumulation. It was a restoration.

The Biblical Principle of Return

The Old Testament concept of repentance is built around the Hebrew word ‘shuv’, meaning to return, turn back, or restore. Biblical renewal rarely begins with innovation. It begins with returning. When Israel drifted, God did not call them to invent a new covenant. He called them back to the one they had abandoned. Jeremiah expressed it beautifully: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it” (Jer 6:16). The question was not: What should we add? The question was: What have we forgotten?

When Israel drifted, God did not call them to invent a new covenant. He called them back to the one they had abandoned.

The Reforming Kings & Governors of Judah

The greatest reformers in Scripture understood this principle.

• Hezekiah: Removing what had become sacred King Hezekiah is remembered not for creating new institutions but for dismantling corrupted ones. Remarkably, he even destroyed the bronze serpent originally made by Moses because the people had begun worshipping it: “He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made” (2 Kings 18:4). Its history was not enough to justify its existence. Its original purpose had been lost.
• Josiah: Renewal through repeal When Josiah rediscovered the Book of Torah, he realised how far Judah had drifted. His response was sweeping. Altars were demolished. Idolatrous priests removed. False worship abolished. The nation experienced renewal because Josiah understood a truth often forgotten today: Real reform requires repeal.
• Ezra and Nehemiah Following the exile, Ezra and Nehemiah again pursued renewal through restoration. They did not seek novel solutions. They returned to covenant foundations. The principle remained the same: Back to the source.

Transposing this concept to politics

Now, all of these reforms were focused on spiritual renewal, not the institutions of government itself. That said, we know that a return to Torah includes a return to sound principles for governance, as well as worship. Torah has plenty to say about the principles of both legal and economic justice, care for the poor, workers’ rights, immigrants, and environmental stewardship. Therefore, it isn’t too much of a stretch to apply biblical examples of reform and repeal to modern politics. And it has a precedent in British history too.

Britain’s Forgotten Tradition of Repeal

Many people assume that the British government has always operated by gradual adjustment and incremental change. In reality, some of Britain’s greatest reforming periods were characterised by the courage to repeal.

• The repeal of the Corn Laws One of the most important reforms in British history occurred in 1846 when Sir Robert Peel repealed the Corn Laws. For decades, these tariffs had protected agricultural interests by keeping imported grain expensive. The repeal dramatically lowered food costs and transformed Britain’s economy. It was not a modification. It was abolition. Peel did not ask how the Corn Laws could be improved. He asked whether they should continue to exist at all.
• Religious freedom through repeal The nineteenth century also saw the dismantling of numerous laws restricting Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. Again, reform was achieved not by creating new controls but by removing old ones.
• Statute Law Revision Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Parliament repeatedly undertook large-scale repeal programmes, sweeping thousands of obsolete laws from the statute book. Ancient regulations, obsolete taxes, redundant offices, and outdated restrictions disappeared. These reforms were based on a simple principle: A law should not survive merely because it already exists.
• Margaret Thatcher and the post-war consensus Regardless of whether we admired Margaret Thatcher or opposed her, her significance lay in her willingness to challenge inherited assumptions. She removed exchange controls. She deregulated industries. She privatised state-owned enterprises. Rather than simply managing the post-war settlement, she dismantled parts of it. That is why her reforms remain controversial today. She was one of the last British leaders willing to repeal before replacing.

A genuinely reforming government would begin by asking a different question. Not: what new laws should we create? But: which laws should no longer exist?

The Westminster Consensus

Modern British politics operates very differently. An unwritten agreement appears to exist between Labour and Conservative governments. Each may criticise the other’s legislation. Each may promise reform. Yet once laws are established, they are rarely removed. Instead, they are amended, expanded, updated, regulated, and supplemented. The machinery grows. The state grows. The regulatory framework grows. Like the traditions that surrounded the Torah, layer is added upon layer until few remember the original purpose. This is not reformation, it is accumulation.

What Might a Modern Reform Movement Look Like?

A genuinely reforming government would begin by asking a different question. Not: what new laws should we create? But: which laws should no longer exist? Such an approach would not be unprecedented. It would be thoroughly British. Possible candidates might include: -

• Net Zero legislation and associated statutory obligations.
• Elements of the Human Rights Act.
• Planning regulations that inhibit housing construction.
• Layers of equality and compliance bureaucracy.
• Quangos and arm’s-length bodies whose original purpose has long since disappeared.
• Regulatory burdens that have accumulated over decades without periodic review.
• Some employment laws.

The point is not whether every one of these should be repealed. The point is that repeal itself should once again become a legitimate tool of government.

The New Testament Vision of Renewal

The Greek New Testament distinguishes between two kinds of newness: Neos, which means new in time; and Kainos, meaning new in nature or quality.

Modern politics excels at producing ‘neos’. New departments; new agencies; new strategies; new programmes.

Biblical renewal seeks ‘kainos’. Transformation through restoration to original purpose.

Britain does not necessarily need more government activity. It may need more government clarity.

A lesson for reforming the UK

If a government wishes to move away from the failed consensus of the last 30 years, it may find its greatest opportunity not in promising new legislation but in identifying what should be removed. The most successful reformers in Scripture did not begin by building. They began by clearing away. The most successful reformers in British history often did the same.

Britain’s greatest periods of renewal have often started with the courage to ask: What no longer serves its purpose?

From Robert Peel’s repeal of the Corn Laws to the Victorian clean-up of obsolete legislation and Margaret Thatcher’s challenge to the post-war settlement, Britain’s greatest periods of renewal have often started with the courage to ask: What no longer serves its purpose?

Conclusion

Jesus did not merely improve the religious system of His day. He exposed its drift from first principles and called people back to God’s original intent. Hezekiah did it. Josiah did it. The Victorians did it. Even some of Britain’s most significant modern reformers understood it. Real reform is not endless accumulation, it is restoration. It is repeal where repeal is necessary. It is renewal built upon foundations rather than bureaucracy.

In an age addicted to adding, perhaps the most radical political question is also the oldest: What should we have the courage to remove?

Nick Thompson is a father and grandfather of six with a background in  sports, telecoms & technology business.  He also writes on Substack - NPDThompson: Just Jesus, and Conservative Woman.

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