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What things are Caesar's?
Matthew,
Mark, and Luke's Gospels all record that Jesus said, "Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and
unto God the things that are God's."
Some
claim this means Christians should not be involved in civil
government. Liberals always use the statement this way. But
following that logic, Christians should not be involved with
God, either!
In
fact, Jesus said that men have duties they must render to
both God and government. The Scripture tells us how to
fulfil these duties, both in principle and by example.
The
duty of man to God is a duty of love that leads to faith,
salvation, and obedience, as Jesus explained to a liberal
lawyer:
And,
behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying,
"Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
He said unto him, "What is written in the law? How readest
thou?"
And he answering said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself."
And He said unto him, "Thou hast answered right: this do,
and thou shalt live."
Peter
and Paul explained man's duty to government, and Peter and
John showed by example how we are to fulfill it.
Peter
tells us:
Submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake:
whether it be to kings, as supreme; or unto governors, as
unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of
evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pet.2:13-14.
This
passage sounds like it commands absolute obedience, but
notice what Peter and John said when the Sanhedrin, a body
that combined the power of church and state, commanded them
not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus:
But
Peter and John answered and said unto them, "Whether it be
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto
God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard." Acts 4:19-20.
When
the church at Jerusalem heard Peter and John's report, they
quoted Psalm 2:
"Why
did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord, and against his
Christ."
When
Peter was again brought before the Sanhedrin to answer why
he and the other apostles continued to teach in Jesus' name
in direct violation of their order Peter and the aposltes
said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts
5:29.
Man's
duty to government arises out of and is conditioned by man's
duty to obey God. It arises out of our duty of obedience
because God commands that men live under government -
government is "divinely instituted". It is conditional
because our duty to obey a particular government ends when
that government is not faithful to God.
Peter's
passage clearly expresses the conditional nature of man's
duty to government when you read it in harmony with what
Peter and John did in Acts. The duty to obey rulers and the
ordinances they make depends on whether they are faithful to
punish what God calls evil and to encourage what God says is
good.
Paul
imposes the same conditions. Our duty to obey rulers depends
on whether the rulers themselves obey God. Rulers who reward
evil and punish good are themselves resisting the higher
power and ordinance of God:
Let
every soul [rulers included] be subject unto the
higher power. For there is no power but of God: the powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that
resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are
not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then
not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God
to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be
afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the
minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that
doeth evil. Rom.13:1-4.
This
is the true meaning of the phrase "the Rule of Law." It
means that the people who wield the power of government are
bound by the same laws of God as those they govern. God's
law rules, not men.
Isaiah
confirms this when he says:
Woe
to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who
constantly record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the
needy of justice, and rob the poor of my people of their
rights. Is.10:1-2.
Rights
come from moral obligations. A ruler cannot deprive you of
your God-given rights unless he fails to follow or enforce
the obligations of God's law. Woe, not obedience, is due to
evil rulers.
Peter
and John teach us that resistance to tyrants - rulers who
violate God's law - is a duty to God. Part of our duty to
government is a duty to resist when government violates
God's law.
They
also teach us how to resist, and the church at Jerusalem
teaches us why this method of resistance is the only
effective way to correct bad government.
Peter
and John resisted bad government by continuing to teach in
the name of Jesus and bring people to faith.
This
is the only effective way to correct bad government because
government always reflects the moral beliefs of individual
citizens. The church quoted Psalm 2 because they recognized
that kings have little margin to disobey God unless the
people are first disobedient.
Government
is force. But to exercise coercive force it depends on the
consent and cooperation of citizens to be the agents of that
force. Kings have little margin to disobey God if citizens
refuse to enforce human laws that contradict God's
law.
In
the same way, when citizens disagree with God about what is
right and wrong human laws will depart from God's law and
government will be bad. To correct bad government you must
first bring a sufficient number of citizens to agree with
God about what is right or wrong by bringing them to faith
in God through Jesus and the Bible.
The
idea that the moral beliefs - or what is the same thing, the
spiritual condition - of individual citizens ultimately
determines the character of a nation's law and government is
a fundamental truth of God's law. Hosea tells us:
They
have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes,
and I knew it not. Ho.8:4.
God
tells Samuel that men do not put the power to violate God's
law into the hands of rulers unless they themselves have
already rejected God:
And
the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people
in regard to all that they say to you [about setting up
an absolute, arbitrary monarchy like that in the surrounding
countries], for they have not rejected you, but they
have rejected me from being king over them."
1Sam.8:7.
When
the Reformation came, people learned that they are
individually responsible for their own salvation and
obedience by whether they choose to accept Christ as Lord
and Savior and, with the Holy Spirit's help, continue in
God's Word.
The
Reformation brought to light the Bible truth that saved
Christians have their souls and mortal bodies quickened so
that they need not sin. They must not, therefore, allow
themselves to be forced by the temporal hierarchy of either
the church or civil government to tolerate disobedience to
God.
As
Calivin put it, "And indeed, how preposterous were it, in
pleasing men, to incur the offence of Him for Whose sake you
obey men!" Calvin never recognized that sovereignty comes
from God through individual citizens. But this must be so
because all men are equal in the eyes of God and because,
while the choice of whether to sin is an individual choice,
God deals in this life with nations as groups, rewarding
them or punishing them in accordance with whether the
general tendency of their acts honors or fails to honor Him.
Individuals must, therefore, have the authority to affect
the character and conduct of their government. Paul tell us,
"You were bought with a price, do not become slaves of men."
1Cor.7:23.
The
Reformation led directly to political freedom because when
the common man read the Bible he learned that God instituted
government to serve man, not the other way around.
Government only serves man when it allows God's truth to be
taught and enforces God's law.
This
idea is expressed by "the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness"
in the Declaration of Independence.
Both
Blackstone - a monarchist - and Locke - a republican -
taught that human laws must obey God's laws because God gave
His laws for man's benefit. They are good for
man.
Blackstone
explained that God made man in such a way that man cannot be
truly happy unless he follows God's law.
The
Right to the Pursuit of Happiness, then, as a political
right, is the right to be free from a government
that:
1)
commands - or just allows - man to do what God forbids,
or
2)
forbids man to do what God commands, or what God simply
allows.
When
government fails to follow God's law, people lose rights,
and with the loss of their rights they lose freedom,
prosperity, happiness, and peace.
The
only people who truly obey Jesus' commandment to render to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's are those Christians who
faithfully study God's Word to understand His laws and whose
faith is strong enough to compel them to speak the truth.
Only believers like these are worthy of - or can expect -
Godly government.
Scripture
teaches this, and history confirms it.
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