What Does The Bible Say About The Christian’s Relationship With The Government?

- We are going to dig into a subject this morning that is challenging. We are going to be talking about church and state. It’s one we don’t talk about particularly often.

- As we start, I want to acknowledge up front that these passages are difficult. I want to say that I don’t like everything that Paul and Peter teach us here. If I had the option, I would probably make a few changes, but the Bible is the truth whether we like it or not. And so we receive the whole thing and not just the parts we like.

- Given that, let me say a couple things as we start.

- First, if you don’t like something I say this morning and you think I have misinterpreted the passage, I encourage you to call or email me so we can work through the passage together. I am not inerrant in my interpretation and could certainly have made a mistake. I want to get my Bible exegesis right and so I embrace questions like that.

- Second, though, if you don’t like something I say this morning just because you don’t like what the passage says, then that’s a different matter. If you agree that it says what I preached, but you just don’t like what the Bible says, then there is no reason for you to contact me. If that’s the case, your problem is not with the messenger (me), but with the Author (God). Feel free to complain to Him in prayer and see how far that gets you.

- Now let’s get into these passages about church and state. We will start with the overarching point of these two key “church and state” passages.

THE CHRISTIAN AND GOVERNMENT: We are to submit to the governing authorities.

- Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17.

- Unpacking Romans 13.

a. v. 1a – We are called as Christians to submit to the authority of the government.

- Let’s acknowledge up front that we likely aren’t big fans of this command. We don’t like the word “submit” in any context. We like thinking about our rights.

- Why would Paul make such a bold statement? We’ll get into some more specifics as we go through the passage, but the starting point is the government is much preferred to anarchy. We don’t want chaos and a Lord of the Flies situation.

- The starting point for the Christian’s relationship to government is that we are to recognize their legitimate and God-given authority.

- We need to note that this doesn’t say “good government” or “democracy” or “government I like.” It just says government.

b. v. 1b – The government’s authority has been given by God.

- For the reason that we just noted (to preserve order), God has ordained government.

c. v. 2 – We are not to rebel against the government.

- Paul writes that the general rule on this issue is that rebelling against the government is like rebelling against God. When we hear that, we immediately cry out, “What are the exceptions?!” We will look here in a moment at what we do when the government isn’t doing right, but don’t rush past this important point: the authority of government is established by God.

d. v. 3 – No terror for those who do right.

- The general rule of government is that it will not be frightening if you’re doing what is right.

e. v. 4 – The authority of government (including “bear[ing] the sword”) is part of the authority God has given.

- In fact, in that sense, government is “God’s servant” to bring about justice, including punishing the wrongdoer.

f. v. 5 – For all those reasons, Paul says that we are to submit to the authorities.

- Here we see the second reason we should. The first was noted in vv. 3-4 – that we don’t want to be punished as wrongdoers. The second reason is noted here: because of our conscience.

- Look with me at a similar passage in 1 Peter 2.

a. vv. 13-14 – Peter starts with the same broad point: submit to the authority of government.

- Here we see the same starting point as Paul in Romans 13. We as Christians are to submit to the authority of the government for the sake of God.

b. vv. 15-16 – Our godly, orderly, good lives show us to be servants of God.

- We live as free men but we recognize that we are not to use our freedom as an excuse to sin.

- Now that we’ve looked at these two passages, let’s acknowledge a couple things:

1. Even though one is written by Paul and one by Peter, they are remarkably consistent in their main thought: we are to submit to the governing authorities.