“For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God….For he (the state) is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Romans 12:1,4
What about the separation of church and state? Doesn’t Jesus say to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s? Doesn’t this verse, often quoted by statists, prove that there’s supposed to be a hard separation?
To answer this we go back to the concept of authority. If this means that the government is a moral free agent, capable of defining right and wrong, good and evil, on its own terms, then this must mean the state is God. Well, duh…we know that can’t be true because “for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Romans 11:36) and “there are no authorities except from God (Romans 13:1).” And Jesus says Himself that He’s been given all power and authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). These verses unequivocally teach that the state isn’t a power outside of God, and logic dictates that it can’t be lest the state be a god too.
Christians must understand this. They must reject the heretical idea of shared authority implicit in the flawed separation concept of our age. This humanistic premise – of the state having a unique authority/power outside of God – means that Christians are guilty of polytheism (worshipping multiple gods). The principle stated at the end of Romans 11 and beginning of Romans 12 (11:33-12:2) carries with it an obvious rejection of idolatry or syncretism. It also carries with it the dominion mandate (Matthew 28:18-20) that Christians are to work in their homes and vocations all to the glory of God. This is how Christ calls us to redeem culture, not through revolution and politics. The revolution must happen in the heart of man and this can only happen through grace. If laws and regulations could save mankind, Christ would not have had to be born. Christ has come to deal with sin at the cross and the church, His bride, brings this message of reconciliation to the world. In the gospel we lay our sword down. But until He comes again in power, there’s still evil in the world, so there must be self-defense (by the individual) and justice against crime (the state).
Don’t be naive. All so-called “neutral”, that is, secular, institutions (education and politics) are messianic. They attempt to set themselves up as the saviors of mankind, righting wrongs and providing purpose. Listen to the way we speak of education and see the religious overtones. Don’t be deaf to them. They’re speaking of the soul, not the mind. But only the righteousness of faith in Christ will fix what ails mankind. All humanistic utopian schemes are like trying to keep the Titanic from sinking by baling out water with a spoon. Sin will always drown us in that cold and dark water unless we come to Him.
Also, watch political rallies and notice the ringing passion soaring to the heavens. Is this not a secular worship service? In both cases, in public education and politics, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, is excluded. Secular man tells Him, “You may not pass. This is our domain. You stay over there…in the building…on Sunday…here you may not tread. This is ours. This is our Tower! Look, the City of Man has it all. Everything. You have that building one day a week. On a morning. We have everything else and allow you to stay over there in that corner of the world, but no farther may you tread.”
We should also understand that the question of taxation that Jesus was answering was put to Him in order to trick Him. It wasn’t asked in earnest but as a gotcha. To build a doctrine on the Lord’s answer requires, therefore, that we reject the other verses mentioned. To build doctrine logically requires that we take every verse of the Bible and put the whole of Scripture on top of it. Jesus Christ is, after all, the pure logic of God. He’s the logic that’s holding all things together. He is pure logic and pure personality. He’s the answer to the Captain Kirk-Spock conundrum. Thus, we don’t play one Biblical truth over against another.
With this in mind we see the context of the Lord’s answer. Romans 13 teaches us plainly that we’re to pay taxes to fund the rightful duties of God’s avenger, which is the civil magistrate. The state may collect taxes through any means that’s morally consistent with God’s principles of individual rights and property. To pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s, therefore, means paying taxes in the context of Romans 13. The Caesar of Jesus’ time was clearly a tyrant. Likewise, many things our current tyrannical government does is unbiblical as well. Should we then resist paying taxes? No. Because of sin, a tyrannical state is better than anarchy. We’ll deal with civil disobedience and revolution elsewhere but suffice it to say here that God has decreed that the state has the power to tax.
What Christians must understand, however, is exactly what is Caesar’s and what is God’s.
Today Christians make virtually no attempt to put the flag of Christ down. The flag we carry is white. The flag of cowards, know-nothings, and traitors flies proudly in our churches. We are thus, it must be said, because we reject the absolute and radical sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who commands that we obey our authorities because all authority and structures of authorities comes from Him, so they reflect back to His glory. But we reject Him and embrace man’s self-worshipping state.
This is the greatest sin of our age. Most would say it’s sexual sin but these, as we saw in Romans 1, only follow after we suppress the obvious about God (Romans 1:18). And we must not dare to play stupid here for Scripture says that we’re without excuse (Romans 1:20)! Polytheism is adultery against God. Giving the state your allegiance over against Him is idolatry. We may not bow down to a statue but we’re committing horrific sin nevertheless. Should the Bride of Christ lay down and spread her legs in every public building, in every school, in every workplace?
Lest you think this language and imagery is harsh, even unbiblical, I refer you to Ezekiel 16. The entirety of the chapter is powerful. It’s a sledgehammer blow to the noggin of arrogant churchgoers impressed by their own reputation and good manners. Verse 25 reads:
“You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passerby to multiply your harlotry.”
Yes, we play the harlot and whore with the world today when we wholeheartedly endorse the humanistic belief in the separation of church and state. God calls us (the church):
“You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you form every direction for your harlotries. Thus you are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different. (Ezekiel 16:32-34)”
We give Caesar our children and pay him taxes for it. God asks us to tithe, the phony state-god demands it. God gives us beautiful children and the state demands them from us, taxing our income, our property, our investments, and our sales. Yes, we pay to be ravaged. We pay to be used. We pay to be debased. This is what sin does and it’s the message of the Harlot riding the Beast in Revelation.
Does he (the false state-god) fulfill his mandate with this largess? No. The civil magistrate is so bad at his actual calling that heavily taxed citizens must arm themselves, learn self-defense, have insurance for property they’re taxed on, which they’ll never recover if stolen, and keep everything under lock and key. We must pay for security cameras. We pay for all this extra protection on top of the taxes we already pay for something we aren’t getting. Does the criminal fear the police as he’s commanded (Romans 13:4)? No. The crazed false-god says that criminals have a right to break the law, fight with officers, and still expect not to be injured in direct contradiction to Scripture. For He says:
“But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Romans 13:4
We put stupid slogans on police cars that read: “to protect and serve.” The reality is that it should read: “Serving God by punishing evil. We don’t bear the sword/Glock in vain.”
This is the separation of church and state that God has made. Caesar is the punisher of crime, not the educator and benefactor of children. He’s not the perfecter of society. He’s not the savior. He can’t make straight what God has made crooked. He may collect taxes for the lawful work but not for anything else lest he become the criminal he’s supposed to punish.
What is Caesar’s? What God has given him. What is God’s? Everything. The state may not punish crimes against God, that is, sins. And the church may not punish crimes against men. This is the separation. The church punishes crimes against God in the New Testament era through church discipline. It doesn’t have the sword. It uses the sword of Scripture to judge sin. It uses excommunication for unrepentant sinners within the church. But the church may not, must not, and is forbidden from placing obligations on anyone under threat of force (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)! You are free in Christ, not a slave of the idolatrous state-god. You are free from sin. And the state is there to protect you (and everyone else too) from aggression.
Again, the church has no authority over non-members. It can preach the gospel (it must!) but it can’t initiate force against them. It can’t and must resist the temptation to use the civil magistrate (as previous generations did) to “make men holy”. Righteousness comes only from faith, not by law or sword. So, in the New Testament era, paws off your neighbor and his stuff.
“For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12
God’s separation of church and state is perfect and holy. It glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ in that it’s true. No other approach/understanding of church and state so emphasizes the gospel, which is how we know this is the correct philosophy. All other approaches are attempts by man to play savior/god over other men. All other attempts include the initiation of force (directly or through regulation/threat of force) against neighbors who disagree. This is how we know this is the right way…God’s way. It is gloriously wrapped in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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