God's Tools for Government

[Read Romans 13:1-7 & 1 Peter 2:13-17]

One of the biggest lessons you learn while playing sports is the importance of doing the job that has been given to you. That's especially true when you're one of the biggest guys on the team and they make you a lineman, not just any lineman, but an offensive lineman. Offensive lineman are the one position on the football team that have absolutely no opportunity for glory. Every other position has an opportunity to be recognized for doing something great. Defensive lineman can get tackles and sacks, but an offensive lineman just blocks so that everyone else gets the glory. However, as everyone knows, if the offensive linemen don't do their job, nothing works. If the offensive lineman decides to be a tight end and go on a pass route, not only will bad things happen, but they will also get a penalty and the team will be punished. Everyone on the football team is given a particular job to do and they have to do that job a certain way. It's the responsibility of everyone on the team to know what their job is and how they are supposed to do their job, then work on doing that job. Unless that happens, there is chaos.

I remember listening to RC Sproul talk about an interaction he had with a US Senator. They were having lunch together and at one point in the conversation the Senator said, "I don't believe that any government ever has the right to coerce its citizens to do anything." Now, I think there's a growing sentiment in our country that might possibly agree with that statement. There's a growing uneasiness with any coercion coming from the government. Yet, when RC Sproul heard the Senator say that, he almost spit out his soup. He responded by saying, "That's a noble sentiment, Senator, but what I just heard you say is that no government ever has the right to govern." He goes on to explain, "If the governments don't have the right of coercion, what can they do but suggest? You have law without law enforcement." Government is coercion at some level. Or another way of saying that is, Government is force.

We see this in Romans 13 when we read this: “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God...he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:1, 4; ESV). Notice a few things about what this passage says. We've already looked at this passage at the beginning of the series as a reminder that all authority comes from God and is put in place by God. What tool has God given the government to carry out that authority? The sword. The government does not bear the sword in vain, which means they don't carry the sword for no purpose, but to use it to do the work they've been given. The Belgic Confession also recognizes this when it says, "For that purpose God has placed the sword in the hands of the government..." (Article 36). So, not only has God created the government and placed them in authority, he has also placed a sword in their hand to carry out that authority and do the job that God has given them to do. This is the force that I was talking about earlier: Government is force.

Yet, where are they allowed to use that force? Well, that's the big question, isn't it? The answer we gave to that question last week was, "in the sphere that God has given them." Here's what John Calvin says, "Magistrates may hence learn what their vocation is, for they are not to rule for their own interest, but for the public good; nor are they endued with unbridled power, but what is restricted to the wellbeing of their subjects; in short, they are responsible to God and to men in the exercise of their power." (Calvin, 481). Governments are not given the sword to do whatever they want to do with it. Another way of saying that is: Governments are not allowed to use that force however they please. There are limits and boundaries placed upon it. Calvin reminds governments that they are responsible to God and men in the exercise of their power and may only act for the wellbeing of the people they are governing, not their own well being.

Yet, we can be more specific than that. There's a close connection between this passage in Romans and our second passage from 1 Peter. Romans 13 says, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” (Romans 13:3, ESV). The idea is that rulers are not to use the sword toward those who have good conduct, but toward those with bad conduct. This is where 1 Peter comes in and says it even clearer. Peter writes, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” (1 Peter 2:13–14, ESV). Of course, we see the command to submit to our governing authorities again, but we're not going to talk about that yet, that's coming. Like we read in Romans 13, Peter tells us that governors have been sent by God, but then he uses the word "to" which is really important. The original Greek word is talking about purpose or an expected result. Peter is about to answer the question, "Why does God expect the government to do with the sword?" or "Where is the government allowed to use force?". His answer: to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. That's the boundaries placed on them. The Belgic Confession says this a little differently: "For that purpose God has placed the sword in the hands of the government, to punish evil people and protect the good." (Article 36). The Belgic adds the idea of protection because that's also connected with punishing evil. You punish evil in order to protect the good. I also think it's important to notice that the Belgic doesn't talk about praising the good because it's talking about why God has given the government the sword, and you don't praise with the sword, you only enforce with the sword.

I think it's also important to notice a couple things in this passage from 1 Peter. It says, “...sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” (1 Peter 2:14, ESV). Notice this is directed toward people, not concepts. The government is to punish those who do evil, not evil in general. They are to protect and praise those who do good, not good in general. The Belgic clearly says they are to punish evil people. Here's why this is important. The government is not given the sword to eradicate all evil from the world. They are given the sword to punish people who are doing evil and protect those who are doing good. When governments begin to think their job is to eradicate evil as a concept, they quickly overstep their bounds. They begin to act as if they are God, trying to usher in the kingdom. Often this is where totalitarian governments come from. They begin to think it's their job to reshape the world into their own image. Yet, God has not given them the sword for that purpose. They have been given the sword to punish evil people and to protect good people.

Also notice that they are not to use their sword to make people be good, but only to punish evil. I realize there's some nuance here, but I think it's really important. There's a difference between making a law to restrain evil, then enforcing that law to punish and protect from that evil, and forcing people to do good. Government has not been given the sword to force people to help little old ladies across the street. That's the distinction I'm trying to make. The sword has been given to the government to be used as a spur to make people do things, but as a restraint to prevent people from doing things and as a tool to be used in punishing those who do do evil things. I think that's a really important thing we need to understand in relation to the way the government uses the sword God has given them.

All of this is the reminder that God has given the government a sphere to operate within in the world. He's given them one particular job to do in the world, he's placed boundaries and limits on that job, and has given them a tool to use to accomplish that job. The government is only to use the sword--force--within that sphere. When governments begin to go beyond that sphere, and begin to use force in ways God has not given them and in areas God has told them not to use force, then things can get messy very quickly. This is what I was talking about at the beginning of my sermon, when talking about the importance of everyone on the team knowing their job the way in which they are to do that job. Everyone needs to stay in their lane for things to function properly.

That includes the church as well. Like I said last week, the church and government function in different spheres in the world, meaning that God has given us different jobs to do and different tools to do those jobs. Now, some may say that God has not given the sword to the church, but that's not quite right. God has simply given the church a different sword to use to accomplish its job: "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” (Ephesians 6:17, ESV). The Word of God is repeatedly referred to as a sword. Here's another one: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV). This is important in helping us understand the role of the church in the world. Our authority, our power, lies in the Word of God.

Here's how this looks practically. The church does not use physical power to prevent you from doing what you should not do or forcing you to do what you should be doing. You will not see me standing at the back door of the church with a physical sword, making sure you give your tithes and offerings. The church doesn't show up with a physical sword to prevent you from lying and cheating and stealing. The church doesn't use physical force to prevent you from adultery. The church doesn't physically force you to come to church on Sunday mornings or to believe in Jesus Christ. The church hasn't been given those tools. Instead, the tool we've been given is the Word of God. This is why we continually point ourselves back to God's Word. It's why I preach the way I do, by staying closely to God's Word. I have no authority apart from God's Word. It's why I will regularly bring God's Word up in a conversation. It's why we correct, rebuke, teach, and train this congregation according to God's Word. God's Word is the weapon we use in our warfare.

Now, this also helps us understand one of the ways the church is connected to the government. As I've already mentioned, we have different spheres in which we operate in the world, but that doesn't mean we're completely separate. The church is called to use its weapon of the Word of God to speak to the government. If the government has been instituted by God to punish evil and praise and protect good, they need to know what is truly evil and what is truly good. They need to be reminded of these things AND they need to be continually corrected and rebuked when they are praising wickedness, protecting evil, and even punishing what is good. When we see this happening, the church is not to try picking up the wrong sword, trying to use physical force to address these chances. Rather, the church is to pick up the weapon God has given us, and wield it with power by reminding the government what is truly wicked and evil and needs to be punished and what is truly good and beautiful and needs to be protected and praised. That is the role of the church in the world, to wield the Word of God powerfully and boldly in the world.

And, as I often like to remind us, we're not only to powerfully and boldly wield the Word of God against the government, but we're also to wield this sword against our own sinful inclinations and desires. As I've mentioned before, this is the weapon God has given us to use in our personal spiritual warfare. We need to be regularly coming to God's Word, reading it, praying over it, allowing it to cut us deeply to the heart and kill the sinful nature that still remains in us. We need God's Word constantly reminding us of what is truly good and beautiful and what is evil and wicked. We need God's Word constantly working on us and shaping us so that we continually run away from evil and wickedness and run toward the true, the good, and the beautiful. If we're not regularly convicted by God's Word, cut to the heart by God's Word, then it's a clear sign that our hearts have become too hard and we're in a very dangerous situation, and we need to be cut deeply convicted by the Holy Spirit so that our heart would be softened and we need to be cut deeply by God's Word.

Guess what happens when we're cut deeply by God's Word? We're reminded of our sinfulness and our failures, but it doesn't end there. As we're reminded of our sinfulness and failure, we're also drawn closer to the only one who can do something about our sinfulness and failure, the one who lived, died, and rose again so that we could be forgiven and set free from those sins and failures. God's Word reminds us that we no longer need to cling to the guilt and shame of our sinfulness, but that by faith Jesus Christ has already taken the guilt and shame and set us free to walk in freedom and in the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life that is true, good, and beautiful.