“We have no king but Caesar!” John 19:15
Premise: all authority on earth is established and defined by God. This means that all authority, including and especially that of the state, is limited. The Bible marks out the boundary lines for the church and state and neither may trespass upon the other. By ordering the closing of churches, many states have crossed this line.
Here’s a very simple, yet important principle to know: there are no authorities on earth except those that God has ordained.
This means, so that we’re clear, that the underlying structure of each authority, primarily those of church, family and state, are defined by God. No authority is unlimited except God’s. If there’s an authority outside of God’s purview then that authority must be God, right? Due to a variety of factors, not least of which is the philosophy of secular humanism preached in public schools, most Christians today see the so-called separation of church and state improperly. They believe it means that the state, or Caesar, is lord everywhere and the church has their hour or so on Sunday. At best this means that the state is the co-equal authority with God. In practice, though, it means that the state is the real landlord of life on earth, renting space to the church just as it does any and every other enterprise.
This is a tragically flawed worldview, however, and greatly contrary to Scripture.
God is absolutely sovereign and has set everything in its place. Modern American Christianity has, by and large, become utterly unaware of this doctrine and its implications. God has divided social affairs for us so that the tumultuous waves of guess work don’t toss us to and fro. In rejecting these divisions, based on His absolute authority, we’ve created an authority vacuum. As a result, in need of order, citizens have embraced an ever larger state, never bothering to ask from where does the state derive its nature and mandate. Under God’s authority, civil affairs are in their proper order. But when we turn from God, we embrace differing forms of idolatry. Our modern idolatry is the government and you can see this in a thousand little ways. Chief among them is how in just a few generations the tide of state has risen so high as to flood into the family and church. Instead of relying upon the Lord and His provision, for example, most modern Americans, when confronted with a crisis of any sort, hardly ever think of the family or church as the answer. It’s always the state.
But the larger the state, the smaller our God.
This idolatry of the state, that is the giving to the state the things and powers that are God’s, has perverted our understanding of the Great Commission and the true path to social peace.
In the New Testament age, the church is established as the foreword command center where the saints (those saved by faith in Christ, by grace alone) are trained up and sent out into the world with the gospel to fulfill the Great Commission. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem was the center of the theological world. Israel was to be the light of the world, drawing the pagan nations to them, to the center. In the New Testament age it’s the opposite. The church goes to the world. The Old Testament, according to John Frame, was centripetal. All roads led to Jerusalem in regard to true worship. In era of the Great Commission Christian theology is centrifugal, going out from the church and bringing the gospel to all nations. In this way, Christians understand that life’s greatest danger, and the cause of every social ill, is sin. And sin is the rejection of God’s word. Therefore, the solution to this problem is to go and make disciples of all nations by preaching the word of Christ.
In light of this, we can understand that the state, or civil magistrate, has been ordained by God to keep order. How does it do this? By the will of the people? Certainly not because that would make the mob the moral equivalent to God, able to declare right and wrong. On the contrary, the state derives its power and authority from God himself. Its very existence is defined by God, just like that of the family and church. In the last half-century, the public school has virtually replaced the family and church as the primary authority in the lives of our children. Children are raised to think of their family and church now, if at all, as the structures where they are, but not who and what they are. The state has ultimate authority and the family and church dare not cross it. It isn’t the church or family that declares right and wrong, but the state. That’s idolatry.
This is the great antithesis. I’m afraid to report, however, that the Christian church appears to be either unaware of this issue or, worse still, unconcerned. The truth is spoken by our Lord in Matthew 6:33. He says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The things he references are the earthly necessities like food, drink, clothing and the like. The principle is clear. God is God and the other authorities are lesser than Him and get their marching orders from Him.
On this matter we must declare that the governments of many states in the U.S. have gone beyond their God-given mandates in response to the coronavirus. The government, as clearly defined in Romans 13, is God’s avenger on the evildoer – the criminal. The term “avenger” is critical as it supplies us with the prescriptive law governing the civil magistrate. The state is ordained by God – indeed, he is God’s minister – but this role is limited. The state is an authority under God just like every other authority. If there is an authority outside of God then God isn’t God. Period. The Scripture ordains the state to “take vengeance” on the wrongdoer, which is to say against someone who has violated the rights of another free citizen. Thus, the state enforces the “common” law of God written on everyone’s heart. Everyone knows not to steal, murder, rape, or assault their neighbor. The state may not, however, expand this mandate nor contract it (such as declaring that it doesn’t apply to certain citizens as happened under slavery, for example).
This is a wonderful law! It establishes the foundation for civil society. Without this commandment from God, civil life is literally impossible. And, to be clear, no other philosophy or religion gets this right. Everyone swings from political tyranny to anarchy – dictator or mob rule. No less of a mind than Plato studied this problem – basically of how we could all get along – and he arrived at the conclusion that we need a “philosopher-king.” Indeed! But we know that no man can do that except the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why politics are so contentious in our day. If the state is god on earth, his throne is in Washington and you absolutely must have your candidate on that throne!
But the biblical definition of the civil magistrate is the only one that allows disparate people to coexist because it limits the state’s role as the defender of God-given rights only, not a giver of them. This shows God’s love for all society – believer and non-believer alike. In short, it means that an unrepentant sinner may be preached to – the gospel must go out to him – but they aren’t to be touched! If they’re assaulted, robbed, defrauded, raped, murdered…if they’re the victim of personal crime, the state is ordered by God to avenge them. The Great Commission goes out absent of weapons; its only sword is the Word of God.
This is one of the glories of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it’s meant to lead sinners to repentance and to glorify Him. Only Christianity provides for the safety of all citizens and the philosophical reason for it. We’re told in Scripture that it’s for this reason that we pay taxes. In other words, we pay taxes so that the civil magistrate acts to punish criminals. The state may not exceed this mandate any more than a private citizen may exceed theirs. A father, for example, has authority over his own children but not those next door. This is what’s known as “spheres of sovereignty.”
The problem is that sin is always trespassing. We see this clearly in the state’s recent actions in regard to COVID-19.
A church may very well decide to alter its worship schedule for the safety of its members. But the church is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It wields the gospel. The state wields the sword. The church preaches the gospel, it reasons, it debates, but it never uses force. No one can be forced into the church or to conform to the church. Any attempt to use the civil magistrate to enforce Christian law is contrary to Scripture. On the other hand, the state punishes criminals. It may not use its monopoly on force to intimidate citizens or punish them for not doing good. This is a critical distinction. Civil law, backed by government force (penalties, fines, imprisonment) may never demand that people do good, it may only punish them for crime.
This is the true doctrine of the separation of church and state and God is the one who separated them.
It is, therefore, an egregious sin for the state to close churches to public worship as has happened in many states. It simply doesn’t have that right. It just doesn’t. To do it under the guise of public health is a spurious thing. God gives the state no right to quarantine the healthy and the sick. To quarantine the ill is biblical. It was done to lepers and those with infectious diseases. But to quarantine the healthy is tyranny. There’s no precedent for it. Once the state puts a foot in this door, the church will never be safe. Governor McMaster of South Carolina is right when he says that the 1st Amendment prohibits him from closing churches. He offered guidelines but he has no authority beyond that. States that have ignored this limitation on its power should be called to account and resisted.
The greatest danger to liberty and the church is the tyrannical state. Sin is always trying to get power unto itself. What power does the state ever assume and then give up? Even now there is talk in Congress of establishing a national “health tracking” committee that uses apps and other technology to monitor private citizens.
Hebrews 10:25 orders Christians not to neglect the gathering of the saints. It’s no matter that we can use technology to see each other. That is not biblical fellowship! Jesus ate with his disciples. He walked along the road with them and broke bread. He was there in the flesh. He allowed Thomas, who doubted him, to touch him. Psalm 119:63 tells us that Christians are companions and friends – in other words, they are there. In James 5:13-16 tells us of how close our fellowship is to be, how we’re to literally be there for each other.
In light of this, and in light of the 1st Amendment, the government shouldn’t dare tread on the sanctity of worship. This is an intolerable intrusion. Pastors, even those that have taken health precautions in their manner of worship, have been literally arrested. In America! People can go to grocery store but not to church! Apparently, according to the government, man can actually live by bread alone.
To deal with COVID-19 a church might offer more services in order to keep members at a safe distance and many have done this, making sure social distancing is in effect. It should certainly encourage those that are sick, or those that are more susceptible to the virus, to stay home. People can refrain from shaking hands and so on . These are all reasonable accommodations. What isn’t reasonable is for the state to shut down churches and quarantine the healthy and the sick.
In all, it’s entirely reasonable for the church to make adjustments in the midst of COVID-19 but these should be made voluntarily. Joshua warned Israel,
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, chose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
When the Jews were asked by Pilate if they wanted Jesus to be pardoned, they yelled back for Barabbas. Pilate was incredulous. “You want me to crucify your king?” They replied, “we have no king but Caesar!”
So, yes, COVID-19 is scary. But it’s not nearly as scary as disobeying the Lord by granting the civil magistrate an authority it doesn’t have. When Pilate says to Jesus that he has authority over him to crucify or release him, Jesus corrects that false notion. “You have no power unless it’s granted to you from heaven,” he says. This is the meaning of give unto Caesar the things that are his. The state is subordinate to God and we must never forget that or we imperil our souls, our churches and our liberties.
Yes. Choose this day who is the Lord. It’s either the state or Jesus Christ.
Part 3 of this article will examine the fallacy of the state ordering citizens to stop working and the logical implications of that sinful order.
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