God and Government
If you want to start up a good argument … start talking about ___________ or ______________ (Fill in Blanks)
Few things cause as much difficulty than the unholy alliance between Religion and Politics
But if you want to understand the true relationship between God and Government … you might want to hear Jesus.
Now we come to the Q&A
We need to ask …
What are the things that are Caesar’s?
Paying our taxes
Praying for our leaders
Practicing Civil Obedience
In the words of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, “The Gospel does not introduce any new laws about the civil estate, but commands us to obey the existing laws, whether they were formulated by the heathen or by others, and in this obedience to practice love” (Article 16).
Of course, there are some exceptions to this. We are not obligated to do anything immoral, or anything that directly conflicts with the revealed will of God. Nor can we ever give up our duty to share the gospel, whatever the government may say. Thus there may be times when, as a matter of conscience, we have to say what Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
J. C. Ryle said, “So long as we have liberty to worship God in Christ, according to our conscience, and to serve Him in the way of His commandments, we may safely submit to many requirements of the state, which in our own private opinion we do not thoroughly approve.”
Participation in Public Life
What are the things that are God’s?
But Jesus Christ absolutely refuses to bow at Caesar’s throne, which is why biblical Christianity keeps coming into conflict with secular society. We believe that everything is for the glory of God, even politics. As the famous Dutch preacher and politician Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’ ”
As we have seen, this does not mean that Christians are supposed to be in charge of Caesar. This point needs to be emphasized because it is so often misunderstood: God never intended the state to become an extension of the church. There are two different kinds of government in the world. There is an earthly government and there is a spiritual government; there is Caesar and there is the church.
Jesus acknowledged the authority of the state when he said we need to “render unto Caesar.” But he said nothing—either here or anywhere else in the New Testament—about Christians taking control of the Roman Empire or claiming any other kind of political authority. This is what many people wanted him to do, but Jesus never did it. In fact, he constantly had to correct this kind of thinking. Far from saying to his disciples, “Listen, if you want to get anything done for the kingdom, you have to get more politically involved,” he said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Nevertheless, Jesus always insisted that Caesar and all the other secular powers are under the sovereign authority of almighty God. Therefore, both of the two kinds of government that there are in the world—the earthly and the spiritual—are ultimately under the rule of God.
The Protestant Reformers explained this by talking about “the two kingdoms.” One kingdom is the secular government that is conducted by the state. The laws of this government, said Martin Luther, rule our bodies: “Secular government has laws which extend no further than to life and property and to external things and relations on earth.” The other kingdom is the spiritual government that is exercised by the church and that rules our souls. “For over the soul,” said Luther, “God can and will let no one rule but himself.”
What is crucial to understand about this “twofold government” is that both the secular kingdom of the state and the spiritual kingdom of the church are under the rule and authority of God, who thus has two instruments of government in the world. In one kingdom God rules by the sword; in the other he rules by the Spirit. One kingdom is for the restraint of evil and the promotion of social order; the other is for the proclamation of the gospel and the spiritual good of the soul. As Christians we belong to both the church and the state, and in both kingdoms we have unique obligations to honor God.
Everything we owe
If we ask what belongs to God, the answer is everything! If we ask what right God has to claim all this from us, the answer is that he gave it to us in the first place as the God who made us, takes care of us, and is saving us in Jesus Christ.