Word of Salvation – April 2019
B.C.36 – Church And State
Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp
Scripture Readings: Romans 13:1-7 and 1Peter 2:13-17
Introd: It may surprise you that our Confession of Faith should include a statement about the government.
Here is a document that deals with matters of faith…
with spiritual things… with the church and the Kingdom of God.
And then there is also added an article about the State…
about kings, princes and the civil officers… in other words, our government.
Many people today would say: That’s totally out of place.
Today we stress that church and state should be kept separate.
The church shouldn’t interfere in politics… nor the government in the church.
Many evangelical Christians today would also take that line.
It isn’t the place of the church to pontificate on the role and place of government.
Politics is a dirty business at the best of times.
Government is worldly… and some cases even downright Satanic.
So let the government get on with its business of ruling the nation.
And let the church get on with its task of saving souls.
Government is all going to be finished anyway when Jesus comes again.
Reformed Christians will ought to have some second thoughts about that.
We never accepted the idea that the church should stick exclusively to dealing with personal salvation.
Instead we have always claimed that all of life comes under the Lordship of Christ.
Politics and government too.
So in the Reformed world it actually happened that a preacher and theologian…
Abraham Kuyper, also became a parliamentarian and eventually a Prime Minister.
In fact if we want to stick rigorously to the idea of a separation between church and state
then we are going to have problems with Romans 13 too.
Because Romans is a book where Paul deals in detail with the process of salvation
and yet he also makes some very pertinent comments…
about the governing authorities…about the role of the State.
It’s profitable for us to notice three things about that Romans 13 passage:
Firstly Paul has the audacity to spell out the true nature of government.
Secondly he even tells us what the task of the government is.
Finally also what our responsibility is towards the authority of government.
A] GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED BY GOD TO CURB SIN AND KEEP ORDER.
- In Paul’s day the situation of government was quite different from ours.
Paul didn’t have the privilege of voting for a democratically elected rulers.
His government wasn’t made up of representatives chosen by the people.
His government was the Roman government.
Theoretically it was supposed to have some democratic elements in it – the Senate.
But in practice Caesar pretty much ruled the roost as he chose.
And then Paul says of his government… as well as of all others:
That all governing authorities have been established by God.
Paul lays down from the outset this basic principle.
A principle that lies at the heart of this passage of Scripture.
And that underlies this article of the Belgic Confession.
Paul’s basic principle is this: that in this present world God still rules.
He is in control of all of life and of this whole world.
And that includes the governing authorities. God rules human affairs through governments.
IOW: All Government owes its authority to God.
Paul uses the broad term “the governing authorities”.
He does that to show nothing is excluded.
Our politicians in Canberra rule the country by courtesy of God’s grace.
The American President Obama and the Russian President Putin
are there because God has established their authority.
Now its true that this leaves us with some huge questions.
Questions which Paul doesn’t answer and which we wish he had.
We would like to ask Paul: Does that mean God put Hitler in power in Germany?
And Pol Pot in Cambodia?
However, when we remember that Paul was probably writing these words
at the time of the emperor Nero then we would have to say “Yes!”
So even though we can’t work out how human responsibility and God’s rule fit together
we have to accept that God raises up good kings like David…
…but also wicked rulers like Pharaoh of Egypt.
In fact, Paul is quite adamant about this.
“There is no authority except that which God has established.”
God rules thru all the rulership of this world.
That is also taught elsewhere in Scripture.
In the book of Proverbs we read: “By me kings reign”.
We hear it from the lips of Jesus when He said to Pontius Pilate:
You would have no authority if it had not been given to you from above.
That’s why Jesus even recognised God’s rule and authority in the cowardly Pilate.
Furthermore this teaching from Romans 13 is also implied in the fact that Jesus is Lord.
He is Lord of all – King of kings and Lord of lords.
So we have this strong reminder that God is always in control.
He rules this world and His people also thru governing authorities.
That is why Paul speaks of the State as the servant of God.
When all is said and done they are there to do what God ordains.
Today that is rarely understood by those in authority.
Presidents and Prime Ministers today tend to exercise authority like Nebuchadnezzar.
They see their position as something they worked for and achieved.
Not as an office they hold… by the grace of God.
It’s a pity that when Australia changed to decimal currency in 1966…
then our coins with the head of the queen were also changed…
and the words “by the grace of God” were dropped from our coins. (DG – Deo Gratia)
At least that had been a recognition of God’s authority in government.
- What Paul does not say in Romans 13 is the reason why God sets up rulers.
But it is implied. It is implied when Paul speaks of governments punishing wrongdoers.
IOW: Government is part and parcel of life in a fallen and broken world where sin is real.
Paul certainly pointed out earlier in Romans the fallenness of this world.
The fact is that in a perfect world as God originally made it
there would be no need for Prime ministers and Presidents.
Government is needed because of our sinfulness and rebelliousness.
When sin came into the world chaos also came into the world.
Every man began to do what was right in his own eyes.
That is the theme of the book of Judges… before God raised up Israel’s kings.
So government serves the purpose of restraining evil in the world.
It is there as God’s servant to keep order and decency in society.
So regardless of what kind of government we are talking about…
whether democratic or autocratic…
they are all meant to serve as a vehicles of order for society.
Evidence of God’s common grace at work in our world restraining sin.
B] CIVIL GOVERNMENT’S TWOFOLD DUTY.
- Let’s in the second place consider the duty – or task – of these God-appointed governing authorities.
We could sum it all up by saying it has a two-fold task.
Although that two-fold task is not immediately obvious in Romans 13.
One of the problems we have is that too often we read Romans 13…
only in terms of OUR responsibility to the government.
We rarely read it to learn the responsibilities of the authorities towards us.
So Christians – if they bother with Romans 13 at all – usually end up saying:
Well, there you see, God wants us to submit to authority.
Paul says that clearly, “Everyone must submit himself to the government”.
And then we feel as though that’s all that is relevant to us. Full stop.
Except of course that there is also that unpleasant bit about paying taxes.
But that is not where it ends.
Paul has tied up in these verses some clear duties of the government.
In fact these verses that speak so clearly of our responsibility
also have some clear things to say about the duty of government.
The first duty is that it must serve the welfare of its citizens.
In verse 4 Paul says quite clearly: He is God’s servant to do you good.
Or to put it another way:
Paul is saying that government exists for the good of the people.
Not the other way around… as if the people are there for the good of the government.
That was certainly a radical thought in the days of the Roman government.
And today it is often overlooked by dictators, even by elected politicians.
There has always been a tendency to see government as an end in itself.
Scripture says, “Not so!”
Government’s task is the welfare of the citizens of the State.
Actually, God’s Word even goes further than that.
It gives the authorities a sword in their hands to punish wrongdoers.
Because the first duty of government is the wellbeing and protection of its citizens.
And – by the way – that sword that God puts in the hand of government…
is an implied approval for capital punishments if that should be needed.
- The second duty of the government that is mentioned is somewhat more controversial.
The B.C. says that government also has the duty
to protect the gospel ministry so that Christ’s Kingdom may make progress…
and that it must allow the gospel to be preached everywhere.
[Originally this article went further: it must promote the gospel.]
Some claim that in a society such as ours even protecting the gospel is unrealistic.
Maybe in the days of the Reformation that was okay.
In those days the whole State was one religion.
And if you didn’t go along with the religion of the State you moved to another State. Simple!
Today society is far more complex.
How can a government protect the gospel ministry of the Christian Church?
Don’t the Muslims in our society have a right to have their beliefs too?
Shouldn’t the government also guard the right of the Hindu religion?
Yet here we have this second duty of government spelled out as protecting the gospel ministry.
Something that will surely not work in a pluralistic society.
To solve this problem folk have suggested that the State should be neutral.
Separation of Church and State. That’s a strong theme in the US society.
But the trouble with a neutral State is that when it comes to the crunch
the only belief permitted is unbelief.
The neutrality of the State should be laid to rest as a myth.
I think we ought to notice two things about this matter.
First: the B.C. no longer says that governments must actually promote (or preach) the gospel.
It simply says that it must protect the gospel ministry and allow it.
Government must not oppose the Christian faith nor allow others to suppress it.
Secondly: if it is true that governing authorities rule by God’s appointment
and if they are the servants of God for the good of society
then they also have an obligation to acknowledge that in policy making.
IOW we as Christians have every right to expect some God-ward orientation in government.
And the Christian church has every right to expect Government
to create an atmosphere that is helpful to the spread of the Christian faith.
C] CITIZENS HAVE A TWO-FOLD DUTY TOO.
- Finally, let’s now (in the third place) also consider the obligation of citizens towards government.
And at this point we do have to stress submission.
Paul spells that out loud and clear in the first verse of Romans 13.
By submission we would include things such as honour, respect and obedience.
We would include as Paul does, the paying of taxes,
no matter how unpleasant that may be at times.
After all we want governments to do a thousand and one things for us.
And they have to get the money from somewhere.
And Scripture calls us to faithfulness in that area.
In all these things there must be obedience to the law of the land.
Paul tells us that such obedience is indirectly obedience to God Himself.
Those who rebel against authority rebel against what God instituted.
If governments are not honoured and obeyed then society becomes chaotic and impossible.
Today we often hear of civil disobedience being promoted.
If you don’t like a certain law you rebel against it and refuse to obey.
Paul says, “No!” Instead Christians submit to government as to God Himself.
However Romans 13 does NOT in this way give government a blank cheque.
As though it can do what it likes and that Christians will always obey regardless.
Not at all.
Scripture too knows of civil disobedience.
And that civil disobedience is even enshrined in our confession.
But then not because we don’t like a certain law.
And not because that law affects us negatively.
There is only ONE ground for civil disobedience in Scripture.
Only in one specific instance do we not have to submit to and obey those in authority.
That is when government calls us to do that which is contrary to the Word of God.
So our civil disobedience must be tested by Scripture.
That’s why during WW2 many in Europe had no hassles with hiding Jews in their homes.
Despite the fact that it was illegal and met with severe punishment.
Because these folk knew…
as did the early apostles when they were forbidden to preach the gospel…
that when it comes to a choice… then we must obey God rather than men.
There even comes a time when Government becomes an apostate servant of God.
Then we must side with the Word of God & against the governing authorities.
But when that is not so then we have the duty of submissive obedience.
- There is also a second duty we owe to governing authorities. The obligation to pray for them.
That’s not in Rom.13 so turn with me to 1Tim.2:1-4 where this is clearly spelt out to us.
There are three reasons why you and I ought to pray for our governments.
First: in a broken and fallen world the job of government is complex and difficult.
Our Premier and our Prime minister need your prayers:
Prayers for the difficult task of leading our State and Nation.
Second, and even more important: If they rule as servants of God and by His grace
then how important it is for our politicians to know this God whose servants they are.
We may and ought to pray for them to know the Lord.
Third, in 1Tim.2 Paul another reason is given why we should pray for them:
That we might live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and holiness.
Then Paul further adds that in this way the gospel of God’s love in Christ
has the ability to be freely promoted in a peaceful society.
Before I said: One of the tasks of government is to create an environment
in which the gospel can be freely preached and promoted.
Now it is also our task to pray for governments so that this may actually happen.
IOW Pray for the government also so that in a fallen and broken world
there may be order and peace – also for the preaching of the gospel
so that men and women may come to know the love of Christ.
Amen.
BC stands for Basic Christianity. What are the fundamentals of the faith?
BC also stands for Belgic Confession – a document in which the Christian church (in a time of great persecution) spelled out the basics of what she believes.
When Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep it needs to grasp again the basics of the faith and confess them in a world where the faith is increasingly under attack.
Those who drew up the BC declared that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags and their whole bodies to the fire” rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession.