"he Ten Comandments are undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths...If the posted copies of the Ten Comandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and onbey, the Commandments. However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause."
U.S. Supreme Court, State v. Graham (1980)
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye parish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 2:10-12
It is no secret that civil government in the modern United States is generally hostile to Christianity. We can be thankful that it is not yet the overt hostility of the unregenerate Saul, who went "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1). Rather, the hostility is more subtle. It goes under the rubric of " benevolent neutrality," where all religions are to be accomodated, but none advanced. Secularism - the explicit rejection of religious faith in public life - is the standard by which all laws are to be measured.
Sadly, many modern Christians have accepted this false doctrine, and have unwittingly become victims of its slow but poisonous effect. When we see the obvious problems that result from this, we do recognoze that such problems are a result of sin. In offering solutions, however, we stop short of actually calling our government to active repentance and submission to God. We act as though we believe this would somehow violate the Constitution. We preach and apply the gospel to other areas of life, but we seem to think it has a very limited relevance in the civil arena.
Everyone can cite examples from history of the abuses which can occur when the church invades the sphere of the civil government. However, such abuses occur not because Christians applied their faith to public life, but because they did not apply it thoroughly enough. it is only when the different spheres of family, church, and state acknowledge their sovereign Lordthat such usurpations are prevented.
God established civil governors, as he established governments, as blessings. The civil governor is" the minister of God to thee for good" (Romans 13:4). As such, he is to be obeyed. We are not only to fear God, but to honor the king as well (1 Ptere 2:17). We are to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanks for "kings and all that are in authority; that we may lead a quite and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Timothy 2:2). This is so that the gospel might be preached tp the salvation of the elect. Our obedience to the civil government is also testimony "that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men..." (1 Peter 2:15).
Contrary to popular belief, however, the civil government is not the supreme authority on earth, nor does it govern autonomosly. It is God who is "King of Kings" (1 Timothy 6:15). In Romas 13, the civil governor is God's minister (literally, God's deacon), and holds his authority subject to God's law. He is answerable to God for any abuse of that authority. As God's servant, the civil governor must act according to God's standard of just government.
" And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him acopy of this law in abook out of that which is before the priests of the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn the fear of the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left;: to the end so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children in the midst of Isreal" (Deut. 17: 18-20).
It is impossible to exercise neutrality in political matters. All laws are based on some system of morality. It is therefore not a question of whether religious ideology will form the basis of government action, but rather which religious ideology. Consequently, if God's word is true, then it must be standard by which all actions are measured. We should not be afraid of government actions which are based on the truth of Christianity; we should be afraid of those that don't.
So what are Christians to do when the magistrate has turned from God? We are blessed in this country with a free political system, where we can remove from office those ministers who have rebelled and replace them with faithful servants. This we should do whenever possible.
But it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that this is enough. One of the traps we tend to fall into, is the belief that if we only nominate the write candidate, or confirm the right Supreme Court justice, then all will be well. But unless the chosen men actively and conscientously submit themselves to God's sovereignty, the most we will do is slow the rate of decline. " Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it..." (Psalm 127: 1).
We must do more than replace a liberal apostacy with a conservative apostacy. We must pray that God will grant repentance first to His people for our neglect of His righteous standard. We must also pray that God will grant That same repentance to those who currently occupy positions of civil authority, and that He will raise up men after His own heart who will faithfully excercise their duty as ministers. Obviously, this means that we must preach the gospel - it is the agency by which the call of repentance is made. We must soud the warning that a civil governor who fails to submit to God's standard will edn like King Saul, who thought it a small thing to alter God's law as he saw fit. We must learn the lesson of Saul's disobedience; his kingdom was taken away from him and given to another.
