Is God In Government

9/21/2008

IS GOD IN GOVERNMENT?

ROMANS 13:1-7

Romans 13:1 (NIV)
1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

The diversity of government. The Scriptures do not present us with one model of politics. Abraham was a type of tribal chief: he was a father and priest of his tribe as well as its head. This stage of Israel’s life was a literal patriarchy. Moses was a priest and ruler and lawgiver, though no longer the father of the people. Later God appointed priests and then judges, so that the priestly and political tasks became distinct. Still later God reluctantly appointed kings to rule the nation (1 Samuel 8:6-9). The roles of kings and priests were kept clearly distinct. In fact, two kings, Jeroboam and Uzziah, were severely punished (one by death from leprosy) for taking over the role of the priests and offering sacrifices, even though their motives were not bad ones (1 Kings 12:25-13:6; 2 Chron. 26:16-23). In this sense the so-called separation of church and state is not an American invention but has roots in the Old Testament.

We strongly uphold the principle of separation of church and state, but we do not endorse the separation of God and the state. God is Lord of the state as much as He is Lord of the church, but His sovereignty over the state is not exercised through religious leaders.

In the Old Testament, God strictly forbade the vesting of religious and secular power in the same individual. The priests came from the Tribe of Levi, the kings from the Tribe of Judah. Only in Jesus Christ are the two offices combined, as Zechariah 6:13 shows: “He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne.” No man of the offspring of Adam is capable of being both civil ruler and priest. History teaches that the attempt to combine the two has brought tyranny worse than any other tyranny.

The limits of politics. The biblical directives of justice, impartiality and limits mean, among other things, that we should not think of governments as the solvers of all social problems nor be surprised when we discover that they cannot deal with everything. After all, the major sin, the root of all sin, is failing to love God, and no government power can overcome this. The fact that something is properly condemned or properly advocated by the church does not mean that the government has to rectify it. Our politics should not be merely a listing of human ills coupled with a demand for political action. Rather we need to discern what type of actions properly fall within the government’s ministry, ability and jurisdiction.

Paul states the believer’s duty to government when it functions properly within the framework of law. No Christian is to be a law unto himself. No individual is exempt from the duties of citizenship.

 Let us carefully follow, in outline form, Paul's argument:

In summary, Paul's argument is this: It is God's intent that human life in the context of community will be life in harmony and peace and order (see Romans 12:10, 18). Since life in community becomes chaotic and anarchistic without the presence of regulatory laws enforced by authorities, the presence of these are part of God's overall intent for human existence. Therefore, insofar as the state and its rulers exercise their authority in keeping with God's intent, they act as God's ministers for the common good of society.

The Bible sets forth certain conditions under which an individual Christian must disobey his government. First, the Christian is to obey God and not human authority in all matters connected with the preaching of the Gospel. This is demonstrated in the Book of the Acts. The disciples had been arrested for preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

“Decently and in Order”

In America we are at liberty to preach Christ, but Christians should obey ordinances prescribing the time and place of preaching. An overzealous young man complained to me that his Christian freedom was being violated by his employer who had ordered him not to speak to other employees about religion. I replied that during working hours his time belonged to his employer and he was being paid to work, not to preach. He could preach by the way in which he did his work. He could witness orally at lunch-time or after hours.

A Christian’s liberty is not infringed if he is forbidden to preach in the street in a loud voice in the middle of the night when people want to sleep. Nor is Christian liberty infringed if ordinances forbid a crowd to obstruct traffic. When it is necessary to get a permit from the police to hold a street meeting, the permit must be secured. The possession of such a permit does not give the Christian the right to exercise bad taste. He may preach that men are sinners and must be born again; but he may not criticize the religion of his hearers. It is enough to preach the historical facts of Christ and the salvation purchased by His death. God will take it from there.

We Christians are to be law-abiding citizens; but if governments forbid our preaching the Gospel, we will disobey and preach the Gospel. If governments order us to do evil, we will disobey.