“Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
It’s popular amongst libertarians to claim that taxation is theft. If by that they mean that taxing one’s property or income for anything and everything is theft, the Bible would appear to agree. The principle is that the civil magistrate’s role is clearly defined by God as the avenger of wrong and that itself is defined specifically as interpersonal violence, theft or fraud alone. Now we see that it’s for this reason that government should issue taxes. The best way to do that is likely through some form of sales tax or “contract” tax (that is, as a means of providing for courts, judges and police) – as a percentage when making an enforceable agreement. Taxes upon property and income are, in the main, burdensome and prone to great abuse. This is always the case with the principle of autonomy (self-law) – invariably and inevitably it leads to conflict.
The state has a derivative authority, given to it by God, and must not assume for itself any powers or rights not thereby delegated. The presumption that the state may take income and property from citizens that haven’t committed a crime against another citizen for which they (the victim) need to be avenged makes the state out to be an aggressor. Government is created by God and must be funded. God ordains taxes to fund government’s righteous conduct. The best means of doing this is through as direct a tax as possible – a poll tax when voting for sheriffs or judges, perhaps and other such means are best.
The government today has a fundamental assumption that it may tax whatever it wants and is restrained only by the voting public. That’s a sin. The government that doesn’t respect private property is a criminal and is acting outside its mandate from God.
A direct tax, poll tax, limited sales tax and the like, also provide for proper morality in the tax code since a tax evader would have to literally commit a crime to avoid paying the tax. In other words, they’d have to go out of their way to get something for nothing in order to run afoul of the law. In our current system, a man or woman can violate a tax law without even knowing it. That’s a clear sign that there’s something wrong with our tax policy.
It’s helpful to note that God commands us to pay to all whom we owe. In this passage He directly states for the third time that the civil magistrate is His minister (servant). No other vocation receives such a specific designation in the New Testament outside of the church and family. This is clear evidence that in the age of Christ, in which we live, God has ordained three separate spheres of sovereignty – the church, family and state. Each are given directives and instructions and neither may transgress the God-given authority given to the others. For example, children are instructed to obey their parents but, likewise, fathers are told that they are not to exasperate their children, but to lead them in the Lord. The church can excommunicate an unrepentant sinner – which is its highest form of discipline. It may not use the sword, however.
Insofar as raising revenue is concerned, we must read this passage, as we should with all of Scripture, in the context of the rest of Scripture. The church raises revenue through the voluntary giving of its members. No person is forced into the church and no person is forced to give even when in the church as the Lord demands that no one give under compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:7). Consistently, however, the Scripture tells us that we “owe” it – that is, cheerful giving – to the church. No tithe is mentioned or demanded in the New Testament. None. Not a single line. Zip. Nada. Yet each believer will give because the love of God has been poured into their hearts and we serve now, not under the old written code, but in the new life of the Spirit. Indeed, a Christian who doesn’t give freely and happily to the church is like a “runner” who never runs or a guitarist who doesn’t have a guitar. A Christian who’s unwilling to give is a contradiction in terms. In this way, there’s no “minimum” tithe in this age. Many pastors, pressed for time in having to explain this to new members, often just use the ten percent tithe as a baseline and there’s nothing wrong with that as a short answer. The truth of it is, though, that a Christian – as seen in this passage – will “pay” to all what is owed. And we owe all to Christ, so we will give of our time, resources and money in ways that seems utterly bizarre to the rest of the world.
Likewise, the family is to provide for itself and not be slothful, wasteful, or negligent so as to end up needing the charity of the church or anyone else. This is the clear mandate in the New Testament. A man that fails to provide for his family is antithetical to the principle of loving service and submission to God (1 Timothy 5:8) in that, by neglecting his responsibility, he makes himself a burden for others, a practice forbidden in the Bible. Specific instructions are provided by the apostle Paul to determine who is deserving of charity. The principle is clear: if you won’t work, you won’t eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10), which is to say that personal negligence is not to be construed as worthy of charity. In other words, God says that poverty and need due to conditions beyond one’s control – sickness, accident, etc. – are to be met with loving charity. The Christian “owes” it to others in this case. The opposite is true in regard to those that, through self-destructive habits and actions, reap the consequences of sin. To fall into a sorry state of affairs due to personal neglect is a form of God’s judgment upon the wrongdoer and this in no wise places an obligation on others for assistance.
In our day, due to socialist philosophy and the corresponding dilapidation of the family, it’s common to assume that the state has an obligation to care for the poor. This, however, not only stands in contradistinction to the Scripture, but actually encourages and engenders sin.
First, it assumes that one person owes another in a way that the Scripture forbids. The Scripture assumes the separation of powers, so to speak, of family, church and state. No family has a right to another family’s income, property or vocational skills. The only thing a man “owes” is to his family, then his church, and, finally, to pay taxes to the state that provides physical protection as God’s minister by literally punishing criminals. This is the correct social order – it is, to use the popular term, social justice. Any other social order is, as a rule, unjust in that it must enslave citizens with ungodly and completely arbitrary debts. The saying that “you have a debt to society” is nothing short of an idolatrous usurpation of God’s authority and no Christian should ever say it.
Thus, taxes may only be collected in a way that doesn’t penalize what God has demanded men do: work for income and property. To tax either income or real property is a gross violation of God’s law. Such is common today and, sadly, most Christians are unaware of the arrogant usurpation at the root of our governing philosophy. Current America is, in point of fact, governed by socialist and fascist principles in that both errant ideologies assume state ownership and preeminence in all things. Any Christian who votes for and supports such tax philosophy is guilty of syncretism (mixing false religion with Christ) as they disregard at least four of the ten commandments[1].
God commands that the civil magistrate avenge victims of crime and for this reason alone it may collect taxes. To collect taxes for sinful activities outside of this mandate (such as income redistribution, foreign aid, etc.) and in ways that violate the freedom of citizens (compulsory income and property taxes rather than sales, poll or head taxes that are the same for everyone) is the root of what ails our political structure and operation. Since the tax philosophy and collection are both sinful it’s a breeding ground for conflict, as sin always is.
If America desires peace, it must repent of its idolatry, renounce socialism/fascism, reject the preeminence and/or co-deity of the state and God, and fully embrace the principles of freedom and Godly rule of law for all.
[1] In regard to the 1st, socialistic tax schemes assume that the state has power God didn’t give it. In regard to the 3rd, many Christians wrongly and sinfully believe that state-run welfare schemes are biblical, thus taking the Lord’s name in vain and stealing His glory. In regard to the 8th, taking income or taxing property without consent is pure theft, whether legalized or not and no matter what the money is used for. God forbids it. In regard to the 10th, American tax policy is based on punishing those who have more than you do, hence it directly violates the law prohibiting covetousness.
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