Part 4: The Christian’s Relationship to the Civil Government: The Limits of Its Power
All authority has limits because it is a derived authority. That does not mean there is a place where the civil magistrate behaves perfectly. Since the fall, all authority is abused because it is exercised by sinful men. Today, governments are acting as a master over its people by assuming responsibility over its citizens’ consciences. Some will agree with what it is demanding and imposing, others not. The point is not agreement with policy, but limit of authority. Today, governments are failing to live under the laws of their own nations. In effect the government has become a law breaker. Again, some will agree with what it is demanding and imposing, and others not. The point is not agreement with policy, but limit of authority.
Whenever obedience to man is inconsistent with obedience to God,
then disobedience becomes a duty.[1]
At the start of this series, the mission statement was made: to help the Christian navigate an exercise of government power not previously experienced in my life-time. The virus that has troubled the world since the beginning of 2020 has subjected western society to a variety of mandates and restrictions, including businesses and churches. Christians everywhere have experienced these things, but there is disagreement about a proper response. There those who advocate for complete compliance, and those who have taken up what sounds like a Christian activism. This series represents an attempt to help Christians think clearly about this subject. Whatever our gut response may be, these articles are asking whether they are biblical. And to begin that critical assessment, this series began with a biblical study and the source and purpose for the power of the government.
First, we have seen from Romans 13 that all authority is given by God. That would include the authority that the civil magistrate has, even if behaving in an ungodly manner. Clearly, the biblical position of authority is that it is God-given. Second, we have also seen that the government exists as a servant of God. It is to carry out God’s vengeance on the wrongdoer and protect those who do good. The words “wrongdoer” and “good” are theological words, which must be biblically defined. A government will apply its power well, or poorly, and the report card is based on the biblical definitions of these words. And it is in this last observation that the problem arises. What does the Christian do when the government does not match up well to the biblical definitions of wrongdoing and goodness? Is there a point when the government’s authority is to be disobeyed because of its disregard for its function as God’s servant? What are the limits to this power?
To further complicate matters, there are other authorities in the world as well. That means there may be times when different authorities (all of whom God has provided) come into conflict with each other. For example, consider parental authority or church authority. This authority is also God-given, with its own set of responsibilities. These different authority structures further add to the difficulty of what may happen. For example, Colossians 3:20 says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” What happens if the demands of the civil authority conflict with those of parents? Which is to be obeyed? As an example, what should happen when the government mandates that a child in kindergarten participate in an explicit “educational” presentation on human sexuality. Even if it is only factual, without any propaganda about the perversion of human sexuality, does the government have the implicit right to overturn the parents’ authority over the child, simply because they have God-given authority? The bring some clarity, consider these possible limits to government authority.
Man’s authority is always delegated. God provides authority for specific reasons. Parents are provided to train up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Elders are given to protect the church from false doctrine and encourage it toward love and good works. The civil magistrate is empowered to provide necessary order in society. For each of these positions of authority there are limits. That is because a father is not the owner of his children and the elder is not the master of the congregants. These things are easily seen. For example, most would agree that parents are not free to force their children to marry against their will. Or elders are not free to require all congregants to wear a yellow suit to church each Lord’s Day.
-
Profane Sacrament
If you’ve gone to a clinic or hospital or pharmacy to try to erase what you thought was a mistake, if you’ve killed your child only to receive heartache, pain, remorse, and more suffering, that doesn’t need to be the end of the story. This universe was created by a God who chose to walk among His fallen creatures and wade through the demons and the pain to restore what has been lost. He’s a God who has made a way for restoration, and He offers that restoration through the means of faith and repentance. He offers us an alternative to the demons of the wild that we’ve been worshiping in our wandering. He gives us a way out of the darkness, and into marvelous light.
You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.
-The Didache
Deep Witchcraft
“Nobody likes abortion,” so says the bleeding heart. “It’s just a necessary evil, we need to have more sympathy for victims.” The victims in view, oddly enough, are always the perpetrators carrying out the massacre, never the children being slaughtered. So blow the winds of our time. If you’re a Christian who affirms what the historic Christian faith has to say about the killing of an unborn child, you’ve probably had an encounter like the one above. You’ve probably been told that you just need to try and empathize more with the suffering mothers, and then you would see that the issue isn’t as black and white as your bigotry has led you to believe. But what if the opposite is true? What if further reflection on the nature of abortion doesn’t lead you into lesser-defined gray areas and fluffy emotionalism, but into a deeper abhorrence for the practice of abortion?
Abortion is a far deeper action with greater consequences than many understand. It is more than an ethical issue, a political issue, or even a religious issue – it’s deeply spiritual and cosmic in its reverberations. Even many Christians, who are entirely against abortion on theological and moral grounds, can often misunderstand how very profane the act of abortion is, and the implications it holds for how we view human nature and our world. Abortion isn’t just a personal act of sin that heaps condemnation on an individual’s head – though it is certainly that. Abortion stains the very land itself, it spills blood onto the earth, into the very soil of a nation, and turns God’s face against it. Look to the book of Leviticus, to the Law of God.
Moreover, thou shalt say to the children of Israel: Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. I also will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name. And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and put him not to death; then I will set My face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, to go astray after Molech, from among their people.
— Leviticus 20:2–5
The God of Israel in Leviticus 20 condemns practices associated with Molech worship – Molech being one of the many pagan deities worshiped by the surrounding nations, specifically in this case, Assyria. The central distinguishing feature of Molech worship was the “giving of seed,” or put simply, the offering of a child. Child sacrifice played a central role in the worship of Molech, as it did in many ancient pagan systems. Most of us will be familiar with Molech, as his worship has often been used by Christians today as a parallel for the modern atrocity of child sacrifice we see in our own culture. It will be worthwhile to look closely at exactly what’s being condemned in Leviticus, and why the worship of Molech – and therefore, abortion – is so profane.
When God issues His prohibition regarding Molech worship and child sacrifice, He doesn’t just forbid it in the same way He forbids plenty of other unclean practices in the Old Testament. He specifically forbids it by penalty of death, along with the penalty of receiving God’s hatred, or God “setting His face against that man.” He gives a twofold explanation for the severity of this sin: it defiles His sanctuary and profanes His holy name. It makes sense to us on the face of things that a sacrifice to a false God would defile God’s sanctuary and profane His name – after all, the Israelites were God’s own people, and to commit any idolatrous act of worship would be inherently blasphemous. But the act in question is being condemned more forcefully and clearly than plenty of other lesser blasphemous acts. How is it that the act of sacrificing a child to Molech profanes God’s name specifically?
I believe there are at least two primary factors involved that make child sacrifice – whether to Molech directly or via abortion – a heinous profanity toward God’s name. For starters, we know that a sacrifice to Molech, like any pagan worship, isn’t simply a meaningless act for a god who doesn’t exist. It is a sacrifice to a demon – a real, dangerous, and evil supernatural being. Paul tells us explicitly that offerings to false idols are offered to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20), and so we shouldn’t forget that demons and evil powers are not only real, but can play a significant role in atrocities that are acted out by human beings. The demons behind the false gods of this world are active, living, malevolent agents that seek worship for themselves, and seek to lead people away from worship of the true God.
The second factor in play is that child sacrifice – and especially abortion – is an act of blasphemy aimed directly at the face of the Most High. It’s an attempt to destroy not just a person created in the image of God, but to destroy the very image of God itself. It’s the closest a mortal can come to striking at God’s very nature, outside of Calvary’s cross.
This is My Body
Sacrament – (in the Christian Church) a religious ceremony or ritual regarded as imparting divine grace, such as baptism, the Eucharist…
Read More
Related Posts: -
Beware the Scarcity Gospel
Is it possible that some of us, having rightly rejected the prosperity gospel, have subtly succumbed to another insidious belief? I call it the scarcity gospel—the assumption that we should expect God to do little through our churches or in our lifetime. We don’t expect to see people come to faith in surprising numbers through our churches. We don’t expect to see a surprising work of God’s Spirit sweep through our churches and strengthen the faith of congregants. We don’t expect to see the gospel advance in places and among people where the church is underrepresented. We expect little.
I have watched the prosperity gospel grow in popularity during my lifetime. It used to be preached primarily in small Pentecostal churches scattered around the country. Now it’s the central message in some of America’s largest churches. It fills arenas and is the subject of bestselling books. It’s become so prevalent that its eccentricities are a key part of Righteous Gemstones, an HBO series.
I have traveled the world and have seen firsthand the devastating effects of the prosperity gospel in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It promises material wealth and physical health to those who trust in God. It implies—often insists—that a lack of wealth and health is tied to a lack of faith.
The greatest tragedy is that Christ is not central. His sacrificial atonement is replaced with our sacrificial giving. His glorious resurrection is replaced with aspirations of our glorious “success.” The prosperity gospel is indeed heresy.
And yet, I think some Christians reading this article might be missing a bigger danger closer to home.
The Scarcity Gospel
Is it possible that some of us, having rightly rejected the prosperity gospel, have subtly succumbed to another insidious belief? I call it the scarcity gospel—the assumption that we should expect God to do little through our churches or in our lifetime.
We don’t expect to see people come to faith in surprising numbers through our churches. We don’t expect to see a surprising work of God’s Spirit sweep through our churches and strengthen the faith of congregants. We don’t expect to see the gospel advance in places and among people where the church is underrepresented. We expect little. And that may be what we actually experience during our lifetime (James 4:2b).
We aren’t promised the church will advance or progress exponentially. Yet we should expect God to do more than we can ask or think (Eph. 3:20), while entrusting him with the final result.
Read More -
Obedient From All Eternity (2): 1 Corinthians 15:20–28
The notion of the Son as eternally equal to the Father in divinity, authority, and glory makes the most sense out of our Christian lives: we worship Christ as equal to the Father, all persons of the Trinity are active in our lives, and Christ came to save his people voluntarily. Christian, please accept nothing less than this, because this is what God’s own Word teaches.
What Do We Do With All of This?
If what we saw in part 1 is what the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions teach, and if this is where the biblical data point, then what do we do with all of this? I suggest that there are two doctrinal arguments that make the best sense of the biblical data.
The Covenant of Redemption
One historical Reformed doctrine in particular that provides a reason to reject the doctrine of the eternal subordination of the Son is the Covenant of Redemption.36 Theologians in the history of the church can and have explained the interactions within the Trinity without using the concept of covenant, but the Covenant of Redemption gives a surer foundation and makes the most sense of what the Bible teaches.37 When it comes to an adequate definition of this covenant, we need look no further than Louis Berkhof: the Covenant of Redemption is “the agreement between the Father and the Son as Head and Redeemer of the elect, and the Son, voluntarily taking the place of those whom the Father had given him.”38 This is able to balance four strands of biblical teaching.
First, it shows that the Son is true God just as the Father is true God.39 Christ prays in John 17:5 that the Father would glorify the Son once again with the glory they both shared before the creation of the world. In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18 we read that the Son has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Sharing in glory and authority indicate sharing in essence. Indeed, only God is able to possess all glory and all authority.40
Second, Christ’s obedience to the Father is voluntary, not necessary for him as Son.41 In other words, he was not forced into coming to earth and taking on flesh in order to live, die, and rise again for his people. Instead, he did this of his own volition. God the Son redeemed his people as a volunteer, not a hostage who was bound to submit to God the Father from all eternity.
Third, the obedience that Christ offered to the Father had to do with his earthly mission.42 In the Gospel of John alone, Christ explicitly states that he was sent by the Father thirty-one times, and these occurrences are all for the purpose of his mediatorial mission.43 He was sent to redeem a people for God’s great name.
Fourth, it avoids the tendency to imply an authority/submission structure within the Trinity. This is because the mediatorial office and function of the Son is the result of the covenant between Father and Son. In other words, the Son was not eternally subordinate to the Father’s authority, but rather voluntarily covenanted to become subordinate as mediator in order to fulfill his task as the Second Adam (Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:21–22, 45–49).44 Therefore “when we read about Christ’s work and His interaction with the Father, it takes place within a covenantal context.”45 The divine will is the foundation of redemption, and the persons who share this one undivided will covenanted together to accomplish it.
Fifth, and finally, the Covenant of Redemption avoids the temptation to make the Doctrine of the Trinity nothing else than an extended discussion of Christology.46 The Son covenanted to obey, and this covenant was made between the equal persons of the eternally blessed Trinity. The cross is not a scandal if it was necessary according to the Son’s Sonship, and it is not a scandal if the Son had already obeyed for eternity.47 Instead, it would be par for the course. J. V. Fesko argues for a “better way forward”—understanding the Son’s obedience to the Father within the framework of Deuteronomy’s covenantal context.48
Read More
