Church and State

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” Thomas Jefferson, January 1, 1802

It seems that ever since the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision was handed down on February 10, 1947, Everson vs. Board of Education, used this personal letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, reinterpreting his assurance to them that the United Sates government was constitutionally bound to the Right of “Freedom of Religion”, a division intended for government not to interfere with the free exercise thereof has been turned around to mean that government has the duty to stop religious express in any and all government affairs and institutions. It may come as a surprise but, even a cursory reading of history would indicate, the current political debates over the relationship between the church and the state are not new but have existed in the West for centuries. In fact, the issue was addressed even before the rise of Western culture, as God’s people under the old covenant also were concerned with church-state relations. An article that read stated that during the old covenant period, the people knew nothing about the separation of church and state. Instead, Israel was a theocracy governed by a king who was appointed by the Lord Himself. That has changed under the new covenant, however, because the church now exists as a sanctified (separate) people who live within societies governed by civil magistrates who are not necessarily believers.

Romans 13:1-3a “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.”

The article explained that, of course, defining the church as a separate people does not in itself explain how it is to relate to the governing authorities. We must also understand something of the nature of civil government. Simply put, government is “legal force”. It has the authority to set laws that govern our behavior, punishing its citizens when they break the law. Such is the design of our Creator, for government is His invention and not something people came up with on their own. The Lord Himself is a governing authority with the right and power to rule over what He has made. Everything belongs to Him and is subject to His sovereignty (Ps. 24:1). In His wisdom, God has delegated some authority to human beings. He instituted the first human government, which consisted of Adam and Eve, when He tasked our first parents with taking dominion over the earth.

Genesis 1:28 God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

In his City of God, Augustine says that after the Fall of Man from the Garden of Eden, government took on the new responsibility of keeping evil in check. Ideally, the civil magistrate serves to help prevent wicked people from defrauding others of life, liberty, and property. In a fallen world, government is ordained by the Lord to punish evil.

There is much to be discouraged about when we look at the unjust laws that our ruling authorities have put on the books. However, we must also understand that even the most corrupt governments are signs of God’s grace. Anarchy is much worse because the lack of civil order makes it absolutely impossible for human beings to live and thrive. We should be aware of the faults of our rulers, but we should also thank the Lord that He uses them to restrain evil and that He is ultimately in control of the affairs of both church and state.

Blessings