The Lord has ordained civil government as a means of maintaining order in society. It is an act of grace on his part for without the restraining hand of the civil magistrate human society would dissolve into chaos. This is the truth as God’s word tells it and the truth as history has revealed it.
Despite all of the attempts on the part of various utopian dreamers, humanity will never come to a place where it is not in need of the power that the civil magistrate wields. Those who dream of a peaceful existence generated by the goodness of man who has been freed from the influences of religion, capitalism, and materiality (think John Lennon’s “Imagine”) do not take into account the depravity of sinful man. Sin is man’s big problem and left to our own devices we end up doing nasty things to each other. We need the restraining hand of government and God has graciously ordained it. Because of this, we are to obey the civil government and pay taxes for its support.
The question usually arises as to how far should our obedience go? Must we always obey everything the government tells us? Charles Hodge offers some help in this regard. He said, “Whenever obedience to man is inconsistent with obedience to God, then disobedience becomes a duty.” Hodge’s statement is consistent with Scripture when we consider the apostles’ actions before the Sanhedrin recorded in Acts 4.
Was it right for Christians who harbored Jews during the terror of the Nazi regime to lie in order to save some of their neighbors? Absolutely. The civil magistrate had overstepped its bounds and was abusing its authority. In effect, they forced the Christian to lie in order to combat the injustices of the Third Reich.
It will not always be black and white when it comes to our response to the State. There most certainly will be times in the future (as there have been in the past) when Christians will be called upon by God to bear with cruel dictators, humanly powerless before their atrocities. The Lord will have to give us wisdom at those times and he has promised to do so: “. . . you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:18-20).
Again, in principle, the authority of the State is a God-ordained good. We can thank him for it and seek to be those who “do what is good, and . . . have praise from the same” (Romans 13:3, NKJV).
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