A Primer on the Biblical Role of Civil Government

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. – Declaration of Independence

The modern conservative movement came to life in the 1950s and exploded onto the political scene in the 1980s and 1990s. It appeared conservatism might surpass progressive liberalism. Today, it is obvious that did not happen.

While there are many things we can learn from the conservatism of the past, one major lesson stands out: without Jesus Christ at the center of its message it was not enough. If we are going to truly restore the original constitutional structure for our nation, we must look to Bible to understand how God designed the world to work and civil government’s role in it, just as our nation’s Founding Fathers did. And then share this knowledge with the world around us.

This is a brief primer covering three foundational elements of a biblical civil government.

Liberty: The Purpose of Civil Government

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1

Liberty, which comes only from God, is the privilege of living under His blessings, which includes the freedom to worship Him, honor our obligations to Him and our neighbors, and exercise our rights given us by Him.

Government was given to us so that we might live out our liberty. We must remember, though, that there are four basic types of government that God created and gave authority to: self-government, family government, church government, and civil government. For many today, civil government is the only recognized authority in the world. But this perspective denies God’s design and authority, which our Founders clearly recognized, and usurps the authority of the other God-ordained governments.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the states that ratified the U.S. Constitution stated that civil government’s role was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty” for Americans, which included the proper functioning of these other forms of government. This can be seen in the text of the Ninth and Tenth amendments:

IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Liberty begins with the exercise of self-government—also called self-control (see Proverbs 25:28), something “the people” refers to in the Ninth and Tenth amendments. “The people” also refers to the people in families as they exercise their authority to worship, work, and enjoy their property. And to the people in churches as they exercise their authority to determine the place, time, and content of worship. Unfortunately, almost all branches and levels of civil government in the United States today ignore the preexisting powers and rights endowed by God to the people that are acknowledged in the last two amendments in the Bill of Rights. These the powers and rights must be acknowledged if American civil government is going to fulfill its purpose of securing liberty. Doing so will require all other provisions of the U.S. Constitution to be read in light of the Ninth and Tenth amendments.

Decentralization: The Design of Civil Government

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. – Colossians 1:16.

In all of creation, there is only one truly centralized government: that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All sovereign authority rests in them and in no other. This has not kept the rest of us, however, from attempting to consolidate authority. God knows man’s desire to gain power unto himself and has thus often thwarted man’s grasping for power while prescribing for us a decentralized form of civil government.

God scattered the people of Babel when they tried to “make a name for [them]selves” by forming a centralized government “with its top in the heavens” (Genesis 11:4). He also provided a picture of decentralized government through the independently ruled 12 tribes of Israel, through Moses’ power being shared throughout the tribes by the 70 judges he appointed (Exodus 18:21), and through cities that were ruled by their elders in the city gates (Ruth 4:1-12, Proverbs 31:23). This design proved to be a model for the United States system of federalism, with the tribes, like the states, coming first then later sharing authority with a central, or federal, government.

America’s founders went to great lengths to establish a system of government based on the biblical principle of decentralization. In Federalist 47, James Madison wrote, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” Brutus (Brutus 1) warned of a centralized national government in which “there is no need of any intervention of the state governments, between the Congress and the people.”

Using decentralization as our standard, we can see the problems with federal consolidation of power in the federal income tax, the welfare state, the Civil Rights Act, Roe v. Wade, and the courts’ tortured reading of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. We can also see problems with Texas’ recent attempts to take over the electricity, water, and broadband markets, as well as local government efforts to regulate businesses, drive people out of their homes with higher property taxes, and take people’s homes to benefit large, politically connected businesses.

Servant Rulers: The Limits on Civil Government

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. – Psalm 2:10–11

The Bible tells us that civil rulers “are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” They are “God’s servant for []our good. And are to “carr[y] out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13). It also tells us a civil ruler is required to “read [scripture] all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 17:19). Civil rulers, whether believers or not, are required to do what is good for those they serve by obeying what God their Creator has set down in the Bible.

The Bible also instructs rulers that there are some things which are not good that they must not do. A civil ruler “must not acquire many horses for himself, [or] many wives for himself, … nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold” (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). Neither shall he “oppress [his] neighbor or rob him,” do “injustice in court,” or “be partial to the poor or defer to the great” (Lev. 19:13-15). These, along with Romans 13 and other passages, clearly set limits on what government can do.

One of the limits on civil government is that it should not usurp the roles of the other God-ordained governments. Such as the family. Government schools routinely ignore parents in the education of their children. Parents, not government schools, are required to “train up a child in the way he should go, [so that] even when he is old he will not depart from it Proverbs 22:6). Neither should civil government usurp the role of the church, as it did when it prohibited churches from worshipping while allowing big box retailers and abortion clinics to continue business as usual. There will be little opportunity for civil liberty to thrive in a world where civil government expands its role in this way.

Conclusion

God ordained self-government, family government, church government, and civil government to give all people the structure we need to live in liberty. When one of these governments starts usurping the role of the others, the result is tyranny. Yet we cannot eliminate tyranny and restore liberty simply by our own efforts through the political process. God’s Son Jesus Christ is not only the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14); he is the Ruler of the world (Matthew 28:19). Until the world acknowledges and submits to Him (Philippians 2:10), our liberty will never truly be restored.

For more about the biblical role of civil government, click here.