The past few years have been a strain on the relationship between the citizenry and the state in many nations. Some citizens have interpreted the actions of their governments as overreach while others have waited with bated breath for the next federal dictate. This boundary-pushing exercise was felt acutely in the church. Can our federal overlords tell the church they cannot meet? Is there any authority overlap between the church and state? What is the nature of this relationship?
The Confession addresses this very issue, which is tied closely to the issue of religious liberty. In fact, religious liberty was a key tenet of early Baptist life. While the Anglican Church formed somewhat apart from the wider Reformation of the 1500’s and 1600’s, it did undergo a reformation of its own. There were those who sought to purify the Church of England from the remnants of Catholicism who were later known as Puritans. Out of this group formed a few others. One such group saw that there was no biblical support for a state-sanctioned and state-supported church. They believed that only the presence of the Holy Spirit made one a Christian, not the government. What business does a civil government have in ordering the church? All of these issues and more were deeply interrelated. This group could agree on the freedom of the church to operate according to biblical commands apart from state intervention, but they disagreed on other matters. The Congregationalists continued the practice of infant baptism, and the Baptists reintroduced the practice of believer’s baptism. In this regard, it is not difficult to argue that the Baptists carried this conviction to its logical conclusion. The Second London Baptist Confession is a baptized version of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is of Presbyterian heritage. In the Westminster Confession, there is a paragraph under this chapter that calls upon the magistrates and governments to exercise their power to preserve the order and discipline of the church. That paragraph is conspicuously absent from the Second London. This conviction gave rise to the 24th chapter of the Confession, Of the Civil Magistrate. It begins: God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under Him, over the people, for His own glory and the public good; and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for defense and encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment of evildoers. This first paragraph is nothing more than a mediation on Romans 13. Verse 1 is a masterclass on declaring two things to be true at once. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Yes, we are, by divine providence, under the authority of our governments. Also, those governments are under the authority of God. Local, state, and national governments’ authority is not to go unquestioned. Their authority is derived from God’s sovereign authority. This chapter begins by outlining the nature of God. He is the sovereign of all creation, full stop. Any lesser authorities proceed from his ultimate authority. While the Confession does not advocate any particular form of government, it does assert that governmental authority is not the product of majority rule or the consent of the governed. Government is not a human invention. The very fact that Adam was called upon to take dominion implies a magisterial order to human life. That being said, all lesser authorities, including federal governments, are not free to make the people bend to their whims and wishes. Governments are bound by the same will of God that all individuals are. As Romans 13:4 says, “for he (the ruler) is God’s servant for your good.” And “because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending o this very thing” (v.6). So how is the civil magistrate, or governmental authority, “over the people”? Romans 13:3 tells us, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval[.]” The role of civil authorities is to reward good conduct and punish evil. This also tells us what will happen when governments abdicate their divinely given authority and become a terror to those of good conduct instead of bad. When governments neglect their own laws and act by the opinions and impulses of their own parties, when governments neglect their citizens, and when governments advocate for perversions, abominations, and the neglect of any human life, said governments are under the condemnation of God. Why do we pray for those in authority? Because it is all to easy for them to cave to the darkest impulses of human depravity. Paul encourages us to pray for those in high positions so that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:2b-4). We must pray for our civil servants. Sometimes, God gives us the leaders we deserve. What does that tell us about our own country? It tells us that is why Paul continued in verse 5-6. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” The only government that will last is the kingdom of God. God has appointed civil servants in this age to bring about his will, which will be accomplished regardless of whether we have leaders who seek to serve God or not. With all this weighing on the mind of those in government, can Christians serve in high offices? Should they? We will turn to paragraph two of this chapter next time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2024
Categories |