Jesus' views on civil government...
Jesus' actions toward civil government...
Continuation of a study on separation of church and state...
Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013
Christendom believes that Jesus Christ was/is God in human
flesh. As stated by ancient church councils, "He is fully God
and fully man." Granted; but this is, no doubt, a hard statement
and must be received by faith. In this mortal body, we will
never understand this divine mystery totally.
But what do we understand about the God-man--Jesus Christ? We
know how He viewed civil authorities. We know how He reacted to
the earthly-powers-that-be. Did He or did He not advocate
resistance against civil government? We know He could have, but
He did not lead a rebellion against Rome--one of the most, cruel
governments in history?
Let's take a look at the Book of all books--the Holy Bible--and
see what it says regarding this.
Gary DeMar writes in his book entitled, God and Government A
Biblical and Historical Study (American Vision, Inc. 2001), "It
is true that Jesus 'did away with' certain aspects of the Old
Testament law. Those laws dealing with redemption (especially
those laws having reference to the shedding of blood) have been
done away with in their outward form. This does not mean,
however, that the shedding of blood is no longer required by
God. Salvation can only come through the shedding of blood: 'And
according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are
cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is
no forgiveness' (Hebrews 9:22 cf. Leviticus 17:11)
"...The law was never to be a means by which an individual
obtains righteousness, but it has always been a standard by
which we measure righteousness. In the area of civil government,
if the law is done away with, then what will be the standard for
righteousness? (emphasis is mine) If it is not the law of God
then it will be the law of men." Good point.
Robert L. Dabney in his Lectures in Systematic Theology; page
357, states, "The very particulars in which it is pretended
Jesus amended, softened, and completed the moral law, are stated
just as distinctly, although perhaps not as forcibly in all
cases, by Moses and the prophets, in their expositions of the
Decalogue [Ten Commandments]...Christ, in His Sermon on the
Mount, then, and other places, rebukes and corrects, not the law
itself, nor the Old Testament interpretations of the law, but
the erroneous and wicked corruptions foisted upon it by
traditions and Pharisaic glosses. The moral law could not be
completed [added to], because it is as perfect as God, of whose
character it is the impress and transcript. It cannot be
abrogated or relaxed, because it is as immutable [unchangeable]
as He." Interesting, is it not?
So far we see Jesus upholding the moral law of God because He
was/is God in the flesh--same character and attributes as the
Father God. Therefore, He came not to do away with Old Testament
law, but to correct its godless application by the religious
element of the day--the Pharisees and scribes. These religious
groups had become a law unto themselves--interpreting it as they
desired to exact revenge or dole out a trumped-up justice. (They
later arrest Jesus on trumped-up charges.) Jesus was not
attacking the law of God but the religious element that made the
law a burden for the people. Jesus was not an anarchist but
acknowledged that all civil authorities were subject to God's
law.
Again, let's turn to the Book.
Jesus made statements throughout the Gospel books of the New
Testament, supporting civil government. He told tax collectors
for the Roman government that they should not get out of the
business. But, rather, just be fair in their assessments and
collections. He told those involved in military service--Roman
Centurions--that they should not use their position of authority
and power as a way of extorting favors from those under their
rule. Both these positions--tax collectors and military
personnel--are a legitimate occupation for the running of any
civil government (Ibid. page 108, Gary DeMar).
I think it interesting that the Bible never slanders a Roman
Centurion. As a matter of fact, every Centurion in the Bible is
spoken about in a favorable way, even the one who acknowledged
the Son of God on the Cross. Even Jesus said in regards to the
Centurion of Matthew chapter eight that He had never seen a
greater faith in anyone in Israel. The Centurion was a man under
authority; therefore, he understood how authority worked. He
told Jesus to just give the order, the command, and his servant
would be healed. He, the Centurion, was used to receiving orders
and giving them to young soldiers who would die in battle
because of the orders. His faith in Jesus caused Him to "marvel."
Further more, Jesus did not rebuke Peter for carrying a sword
that he used to strike the high priest's servant in the Garden.
He rebuked Peter for using the sword unlawfully. He said, "All
those who take up the sword [unlawfully] shall perish by the
sword [lawfully]" (Matthew 26:52). A man can not take action
against his enemies without lawful cause. The laws of the state
determine the rules of engagement. And the law of the state is
ordained or sanctioned by God (Romans 13). Men who fill
positions of civil government may be evil, but the civil
government as a whole is not evil but sanctioned by God Almighty
to keep and maintain lawful order in society.
More on this later...
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming one day to
correct the injustices of men. The Bible says so.
Pastor T.