God's Fundamental Purposes for the
Civil Government and the Church
1 Peter 2:5,9,13-14
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Last time we looked at some biblical truths pertaining to government from Romans 13:1-5. Then we looked at the duty of Christians towards civil authorities from the epistles of Paul and Peter (Ro 13:1-7; 1Ti 2:1-2; Tit 3:1-2; 1Pe 2:13-14). From these four passages we get these 5 duties:
- To submit to civil authorities
- To pay taxes
- To render respect and honor
- To pray for civil authorities
- To be ready to do whatever is good
I believe that to be able to obey these duties, we will need to be born-again and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Read Eph 5:18 and see the subsequent results.)
Today, I would like us to see
1. What God's fundamental purposes are for civil government
2. What God's fundamental purposes are for the church
3. What are the implications of these truths? How then should civil government and the church relate to one another?
You will notice that I used the word "fundamental." This means I am going to focus only on the central and most basic purposes of the government and the church. There may be some other purposes that can be added, but the ones I will present are the most basic.
1. What are God's purposes for civil government?
I am not an expert in political science. Some of you know far more about government and politics than I do. I will give you, not what the Philippine constitution says, but what the Bible says. What are God's purposes for civil government?
1. To punish evil-doers (1Pe 2:13,14; Ro 13:4)
1Pe 2:13-14 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
According to Peter, one function of government is "to punish those who do wrong." God gives government the power to punish lawbreakers. The word "punish" in verse 14 means "to inflict retribution for a wrong done." It is just retribution for a crime.
Someone said, "Though some theories of criminal punishment maintain that reforming the criminal and protecting society from further crimes are the only legitimate purposes of punishment, Peter here includes retribution, the inflicting of just penalty on the one who has harmed others, as a legitimate purpose."
Though reform and societal protection are factors, they are not the primary reasons for dealing with criminals - punishment is.
Paul agrees with Peter in this function of government. He says in "Ro 13:4... But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
The "sword" is figure of speech for the right to punish. In this context it especially applies to capital punishment. God, therefore, has given government the right to punish criminals for wrongdoing.
2. To deter potential evil (Ro 13:3,4)
As government wields the sword by punishing evildoers it also discourages and prevents potential evil:
Ro 13:3,4 "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right.... But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing..."
Illustration
I have experienced this function of government firsthand. I remember a few years ago I and my wife came from Victoria Plaza and were going towards the direction of Gaisano Mall. That meant turning left from Victoria Plaza. There was a clear notice on the corner from VP: No Left Turn at a certain time. My wife suggested I turn left because the coast was clear of cars. But it was still within the no left turn period. [Now I know how Adam felt when Eve gave him the forbidden fruit.] When I turned left, suddenly an angry traffic aide appeared from a side of the street and motioned me to pull over.... That was the first and the last time I turned left from there.
Someone said, "We may not always agree with how certain governments function, but whether we agree with it or not, it does provide a deterrent to evil and adds stability to society. For that we should be grateful."
3. To reward those who keep the law. (1Pe 2:14)
1Pe 2:14 or to governors, who are sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
Romans 13:4 tells us that civil authorities are "God's servant(s) to do you good..."
We need to be reminded that government can be good. Often we focus on the corruption and deception we see in it and we become negative toward it.
Often times government even praises people who do good. For example I heard about a certain community in Metro-manila that was given P200,000 by government for doing good. BHW in Surigao was given by government P1M for its work.
We may think, "If the apostles only knew the corruption we have in our political situation today they would not have said that government is a minister of God for good." The truth is they lived in a Roman government that had more corruption than this nation. Many Roman emperors were open homosexuals, adulterers, and murderers. This Roman government would eventually put some of the apostles to death. But the apostles believed government accomplished good. Although the Roman government was corrupt, the peace that Rome brought to the world produced an environment that allowed for the quick spread of the Gospel. This does not mean that government is always sympathetic to the Gospel. On the contrary, many Christians have been persecuted for their faith. Still, a stable government does allow for the Gospel to be presented and spread.
Note: Peter says that God sends civil authorities "to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. Civil government should not give Christianity a favored status over other religions. Instead, a "principled pluralism" in which the state protects the freedom of all religions (as long as they comply with civil law) is the most biblical approach.
4. To collect taxes (Ro 13:6,7)
Ro 13:6-7 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
No one enjoys paying taxes to the government, especially when we feel it is too much. Yet the Bible tells us why we pay taxes. We pay taxes to compensate rulers who are "ministers of God" (Romans 13:4). God sees governing authorities as providing an honorable public service; therefore, they are worthy of compensation. Taxes are also necessary for running the government.
It is our duty, not only to government but to God, to pay our taxes. This does not mean that government always does what is right with our tax money. In fact, government often uses our money in sinful ways. But the government is the one ultimately responsible for how they use our tax money.
Rome obviously did not use Paul's tax money in a way he would have agreed with. We have seen last week how Nero, the emperor in Paul's time, bankrupted the Roman treasury with his extravagant spending. This empire that Paul was supporting with his tax money eventually put him to death. Yet Paul said "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." (Romans 13:7).
5. To preserve social order (1Ti 2:2).
1Ti 2:1,2-I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Protective order is one of main functions of government. It is the government's business to make certain that the nation was adequately defended against aggression and was capable of limiting the ravages of crime and enforcing civil laws guaranteeing safety and liberty. Government secures the rights of every individual including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The government works by check and balances, to keep all factions in their proper places. Our government is structured to keep any faction, including the majority, from becoming too powerful and lording it over other groups. This is the only way our freedom can be insured.
2. What are God's Purposes for the Church?
The church is to exalt the Lord, to uphold and preserve the word, to evangelize the world, to assimilate those who believe to the church and it is to edify the members. Everything the New Testament commands the church to do falls under these headings.
1. To know the Lord and exalt Him
Peter says in 1Pe 2:5 that the church is "to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
Peter adds in 1Pe 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
The ultimate purpose of mankind is to worship God and to enjoy Him. The greatest commandment is to love God with your total being and then to love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matt. 22:36-40).
The church's foremost calling is to know and exalt the heavenly Father and His Son the Lord Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Php 3:7-8 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things...
The church is to trust in Christ alone as Savior, to recognizing Him as Lord and obey Him, to have a vital and living relationship with Him, to exalt Him, to magnify His character, and to glorify Him before all creation.
The worship of the Lord includes both the individual and corporate aspect. We worship God individually in our private devotions and corporately in our Sunday or other Worship Gatherings.
In the NT we read that the believers worshiped the Lord by assembling regularly on the Lord's day and other appointed days (Ac 20:7; Rev 1:10), worshiping corporately (Ac 13:2) through singing to the Lord and to one another (Eph 5:19-20), preaching and listening to God's Word (Ac 2:42a), partaking of the Lord's Supper (Ac 2:42b,46), praying (Ac 2:42c), giving (Ac 2:44-45; 1Co 16:2), and offering other spiritual sacrifices (Ac 2:47a; Heb 13:16).
2. To uphold and preserve God's word
Ø Paul calls the church in 1Ti 3:15 as "...God's household,...the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth."
Ø 2Th 3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.
Ø 2Ti 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Ø Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Ø Php 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me.
Ø Gal 1:8,9 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
3. To evangelize the world
Another purpose of the church is to evangelize a lost world. The church is to be a community witnessing to the saving grace of Christ. The Gospels are unanimous regarding the Great Commission given to the church by Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; John 17:18)
Ø Mt 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in [a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Ø Mk 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Ø Lk 24:46-47 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Ø Jn 17:18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
4. To assimilate those who have believed into the local church.
The Lord wants all of those who were evangelized and saved to be assimilated into local churches. It is not the Lord's will for the converted disciples to remain as independent disciples.
We assimilate believers into the local church by baptizing them (Mt 28:18-20; Ac 9:26-28; 14:23) and helping them to become active members who worship the Lord, who are lovingly involved in the lives of others, (Col 3:12-15; 1Co 12:12-27), who are accountable to other members (Gal 6:1; Heb 3:12-13), who respectfully submit to church leadership (1Co 16:16; 1Th 5:12-13; Heb 13:17), and who willingly go through Church discipline when needed (Mt 18:15-20).
5. To edify the church
The next purpose of the church is to build itself up through the interworking of various members of the Body of Christ. The function of the Christian is to edify or spiritually build up fellow members in the Body of Christ.
The apostle Peter exhorts the pilgrims in his Epistle:
1Pe 4:10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul understood his pastoral ministry well, as he states in Col. 1:28-29: "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."
This passage tells us that the goal of the church is that it becomes perfect in Christ. It also tells us what the job description of the minister of the gospel.
Summary:
The Purpose of Government:
1. To punish evil doers.
2. To deter potential evil
3. To reward those who keep the law
4. To collect taxes
5. To preserve social order
The means civil government uses to bring that about is by regulating outward behavior. God authorizes it to use external force to accomplish its purpose (Rom. 13:4).
The purpose of the church
1. To know the Lord and exalt Him.
2. To uphold and preserve God's word
3. To evangelize the world
4. To assimilate those who believe into the local church
5. To edify the church.
The primary mission of God's church is preaching and teaching the unadulterated Gospel in order to persuade people to receive God's salvation and by encouraging believers to pursue a more intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. The church is called to be ambassadors of Christ to reconcile men to God (see Cor.5:19) and not to wield the sword in order to bring down God's wrath upon lawbreakers.
3. What are the implications of these truths about God's purposes for civil government and the church?
1. How should civil government and the church relate to one another? They should be seen as complementing one another but they should never combine.
Someone said, "There is no intrinsic conflict between civil government and the church. The same God has called both of them to play different, though complementary, roles.
Jesus affirmed this in Matt. 22:21, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
When people tried to get him to choose from obeying God rather than obeying the civil authorities, he denied that there was an intrinsic contradiction. He affirmed that "Caesar" (civil government) has a proper role, and therefore has authority to demand from its subjects what it needs to discharge its role (taxes, etc.). But he also limited civil government's authority by saying "...and render to God what is God's." When the state usurps God's role as ultimate authority, it is out of bounds.
Trouble comes when either exceeds its boundaries. History proves this. When the state becomes subordinate to the church, the church uses external force to convert people or punish non-Christians (INQUISITION; CRUSADES). When the state grants the church favored status by establishing a state-supported church, this encourages nominalism (i.e., Christianity in name only).
Michael Moriarty
The New Charismatics
Emperor Constantine in A.D. 313 gave positive recognition to Christianity and allied it with the power of the state, thus making it the official religion of Roman Empire. Constantine's move to make Christianity the state religion resulted in a very complex and dangerous scenario. The Church was invested with political power, and it invested the emperor with religious power... Poisoned with political power, the church was able to easily spread the Gospel by force and use its influence to construct a "Christian state."
The tragic result of Constantine's efforts in legislating Christianity in pagan Rome was that the Church entered a period of corruption and disintegration and lost much of its spiritual dynamic. the church went from a zealous community of "soulsmen" and "disciplemakers" sent out to take the Gospel to a spiritually impoverished world to a persecuting institution that would march on the Arab world in the Crusades of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The church that was once an unjust victim of persecution had now become the victimizer. The church that once radiated peace and compassion had become corrupted by power and corruption."
2. These truths should be a lesson to the churches. Take for example on minister who is running for president claims he has resigned from the pastorate. For the sake of argument let us grant him the benefit of the doubt. I have nothing against his convictions. There is nothing in Scripture that says it is sinful for a minister of reconciliation (2Co 5:18,19) to change his calling into a minister of wrath (Ro 13:4). The context of the passage, "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" which is found in Romans 11:29 is not the pastoral call but rather the call of Israel as a nation in terms of her relationship with God.
This minister has left the pastoral office then he should be treated as any other presidential candidate. They have all entered into a vocation that has nothing to do with the purposes and mission of the church. But there is nothing sinful here. The Bible itself call civil authorities as "God's servant" (three times in Romans 13:4-6).
Since the calling of the president is so different from the calling of the pastor Christians should not expect this presidential candidate to act like a pastor or an evangelist. Confusion comes in when the church thinks that when a former pastor becomes president they can expect the following things to happen:
1. They expect government to act like the church.
2. They expect to see the government people to act like Christians.
3. They expect those in highest positions in government to act like elders or deacons.
4. They expect to see worship services in Malacañang.
5. They expect the president who is a Christian to evangelize.
6. They expect the Christian president to grant special favors to Christians.
If this is what Christians would expect of a Christian president, then they will begin to think that he has backslidden when, for example, he attends non-Christian functions such as those of cultic religious groups in his capacity as president. But there is nothing wrong with this. As president (a civil authority), he has responsibility to do good to all and not just to Christian groups.
Unless Christians see that the call of the president and government is different from the call of a pastor and the church, they will always feel confused, disappointed with or even betrayed by that minister.
