God’s Governments
Human
Government is the third Dispensation that began with Noah after the
Great Flood. From the beginning of the Dispensation of Human
Government, human government has evolved and corrupted itself and more
so with every generation. Much of this corruption has been
through various levels of influence in the development of paganism and
idolatry. The foundation of Human Government is found in Genesis 9:1-6
in the Noahic Covenant. There are a number of aspects of the
Dispensation of Human Government and the Noahic Covenant that continue
into all later Dispensations and covenants. There are a number of
things that are addressed in the Noahic Covenant that did not exist in
previous Dispensations. All the changes defined in the Noahic Covenant
will continue until the Kingdom Age where Human Government will cease
and a pure Theocratic Government will begin, which will be administrated
by glorified believers from the Church Age directly under the authority
of the reigning King Jesus.
“1 And God
blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread
of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of
the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of
the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that
liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you
all things. 4 But flesh with the life {a soul} thereof, which is the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives
will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the
hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life
of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed:
for in the image of God made he man. 7And you, be ye fruitful, and
multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein”
(Genesis 9:1-7).
The emphasis of Human
Government is that there are numerous levels of government within and
under God’s sovereign rule. Each level is ordained, or ordered, by God
for specific purposes. Every level of human government is
ultimately accountable to God. Therefore, obedience to God’s Word
ALWAYS carries the ultimate authority over all other levels of
government. There is an inner spiritual governance of God over the
human body, soul, and spirit that is always our first and primary level
of government. All other forms of government are various levels of
external and physical government. Paul addresses all these different
kinds and levels of human government in the first verse of Romans
chapter thirteen. Paul then expands upon the issue of human
accountability to these various levels of these numerous kinds of human
government throughout Romans chapter thirteen.
“1
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power
but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they
that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 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: 4 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. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath,
but also for conscience sake” (Romans 13:1-5).
Romans
13:1 establishes various levels of jurisdiction directly under God’s
supreme jurisdiction, which transposes into various levels of
adjudication. Adjudication means the righteous enforcement and
execution of the penalties of broken laws. Adjudication refers to the
whole judicial process regarding criminal and civil actions against
people. Adjudication is defined in detail in the Mosaic Law. However,
the extreme example of this is the never ending and expanding Case Law
system in most governments governed by the Rule of Law, which opposed
the divine right of Kings to rule sovereignly (meaning absolute civil
and judicial authority).
The primary sovereignty over all governments is stated in Acts 5:29.
The Apostles had just been commanded by the Jewish Sanhedrin to no
longer teach in Jesus’ Name. The Sanhedrin was the highest court under
Jewish authority in Israel. The Apostles refused the order of the
Sanhedrin because they were under the direct order of Jesus to teach in
His Name. God’s commands overrule the commands of men regardless of how
high their positions in human governments.
“26
Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without
violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council:
and the high priest asked them, 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command
you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled
Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us. 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to
obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:26-28).
The
governments to which Romans 13:1 refer by the words, “Let every soul be
subject {be subordinate or under obedience} unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of
God,” are civil governments. Whenever the laws of civil
governments do not contradict God’s commands, believers are commanded to
be in subordination to those civil governments. The first priority of
believers is to know God’s commands so that they be discerning regarding
the priorities of the moral responsibilities. Civil disobedience is
appropriate when civil government laws contradict God’s commandments and
moral code of ethics.
Civil government is external government, which rules only over the body. God’s sovereign government is spiritual government and has superior rule in that it rules over the heart and the mind.
God commands the believer to bring his thought life and emotions under
the control of the Spirit under the sovereignty of God in II Corinthians
10:3-6. The thought life and the heart life are intended to control
and dominate the body.
“3 For though we
walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down
of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled”
(II Corinthians 10:3-6)?
The most difficult of all governance is self-governance. Governing
the desires of the heart and guarding against the fantasies that fill
the mind are constant battlefronts against carnality. This warfare
takes place inside our bodies. Most, if not all disobedience,
originates in our minds (thought life) and in our hearts (our emotional
life). Keeping the carnality of our hearts and minds in abeyance is
difficult because the fallen nature is alienated against God and rebels
against being subject to God. The fallen character of humanity is by
nature anarchistic and rebellious against the will of God, or any
government for that matter. Anarchism is the Devil’s ultimate goal
because through Anarchism he will always rule through evil. Anarchism
always begins in the heart and is the natural outcome of rebellion
against God. In every society governed by the rule of moral Law,
Anarchists will fill the prisons until they overwhelm the culture and
dominate it.
“5 Now the end {the ultimate
point aimed at or the goal/purpose} of the commandment {referring to a
biblical mandate} is charity {sacrificial benevolence} out of a pure
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 6 From which
some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; 7 Desiring to
be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof
they affirm. 8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it
lawfully; 9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,
but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of
mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile
themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured
persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound
doctrine; 11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which
was committed to my trust” (I Timothy 1:5-11).
Until
the believer learns to govern the heart and the mind by the Word of God
and the empowering of the indwelling Spirit of God, he will never be
successful in being “subject to the higher powers” (Romans 13:1)
ordained by God in the numerous levels of civil governments under which
he lives. There are numerous levels of subjection to
government defined in the Word of God. Ephesians chapter five is a text
that gives numerous levels of government to which all believers are
responsible. It is critically important to see that every level of human
government comes with God ordained commandments of human
responsibilities.
1. The ultimate
example of subjection and submission to the governance of the will of
God is the sacrificial love exhibited by Christ.
“1 Be {present imperative} ye therefore followers {imitators} of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in {sacrificial}
love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians
5:1-2).
2. Then,
the believer is commanded to be in submission “one to another in the
fear of God” within the context of the local church. The idea
is that of servanthood to one another as opposed to lordship. Each of
the following areas of submission, or subjection, requires the filling
of the Spirit, which requires volitional yielding, or submission, to the
will of God in the Person of the indwelling Spirit.
“18
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the
Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear
of God” (Ephesians 5:18-21).
3. The
next level of submission is within the home as wives are commanded to be
in submission “unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Ephesians
5:22). This submission again is under the sovereignty of God.
Therefore, the wife need only be in submission to her husband when her
husband’s decisions are in alignment with the Word of God. She need not
submit to him in any form of ungodliness.
“22
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of
the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the
church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
in every thing” (Ephesians 5:22-24).
4.
Perhaps the greatest moral responsibility given to anyone is given to
the husband in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” The
example is sacrificial love that is willing to make the ultimate
sacrifice in giving his life for his wife. The details of this extreme
sacrificial love anchors its purpose to what is said in Ephesians
5:26-33 regarding the practical sanctification of the husband’s wife.
The example of Christ to the husband is that the husband should love his
wife in detailed consideration of her holiness before God. It is the
primary occupation of the husband to love his wife in that he is to
“nourisheth and cherisheth” his wife’s spiritual growth in holiness
before the Lord.
“25 Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy
and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet
hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This
is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as
himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband” (Ephesians
5:25-33).
5. The next level in God’s
chain of command of human government is given to children regarding
their relationship to their parents. This command is found in
Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is
right.” We notice in Ephesians 6:4 that fathers are warned against
abusing their authority over their children. Angry outbursts are a
contradiction against gentleness of nurturing and cherishing love that
is to exemplify the husband’s/father’s life.
“1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour {to give value or reverence; respect}
thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1-4).
6.
The last level of human government for believers is given to
servants/employees in relationship to their masters/employers in
Ephesians 6:5-9. There are key phrases that detail culpable
moral responsibilities that are seldom considered by believers as they
do their jobs each day. There is also a similar warning to believing
“masters” in Ephesians 6:9 as was given to “fathers” in Ephesians 6:4.
“Masters” who abuse their “servants” will answer to God for that abuse
and mistreatment.
“5 Servants, be obedient
to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and
trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with
eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the
Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or
free. 9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing
threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is
there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:5-9).
Romans
13:6-14 detail the believer’s responsibility to civil governments.
Some of these civil governments may not be sympathetic to the beliefs
and moral values of Christians. Regardless of what type or form of
civil government under which believers might live, they must try to live
in “peace with all men” (Hebrews 12:14).
Civil
government defines a culture by the laws the government enacts and
enforces. In most civil governments, laws governing morals have
dissolved away into obscurity. Regardless of how immoral a culture
becomes, the believer is commanded to obey the laws that do not
contradict God’s commands. Even though the civil government may not
restrict human behavior by establishing laws against that behavior,
God’s laws still govern the believer (Romans 13:9-10). These
commandments are individualized by the repeated use of the word “thou”
in Romans 13:9 even if civil governments do not outlaw these immoral
behaviors.
“6 For for this cause pay ye
tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon
this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom
honour. 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit
adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not
bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his
neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans
13:6-10).
Living within a culture where
just about everything and everyone contradicts the principle of
holiness and godliness can be very difficult. However, that is the
cultural and social construct of just about every generation of
Christianity since the beginning of the Age of Grace. The
“perfection of the saints, for the work of the ministry” (Ephesians
4:12) is to spiritually equip believers to function within ungodly
cultures so that these cultures can be evangelized and souls can be
harvested out of them. Local churches are grown by winning the souls
people who are living upon the dung hills of social corruption.
The mission of local churches and individual Christians is not Kingdom Constructionism (Theonomy). The
mission of every local church is evangelism centered on making
followers of Jesus (discipleship) intent upon creating local churches
wherever a nucleus of believers can be formed. These local churches are
intended to be godly countercultures within the corrupt cultures
usually formed by corrupt civil governments. The darker a culture
becomes by its own corruptions the brighter will shine the light of
God’s children as these live in holiness within the counter cultures
created by sound local churches. This exposes the oxymoron of local
churches trying to become like the world to win the world. Here is
where the warning of Christ aptly applies. “But if thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness” (Matthew 6:23)!
As
Romans 13:6 says, the purpose of taxes is for government to enforce
laws that remove dangerous people from society; “for he beareth not the
sword in vain.” God has ordained civil government to execute capital
punishment against those that commit capital crimes. Capital crimes are
crimes deserving a death sentence under the Law of God. Such crimes
were murder, kidnapping, smiting one of your parents, giving a
purposeful false witness in a capital crime, rape, incest,
adultery/fornication, child molestation, homosexuality, and bestiality
to name a few. Civil governments were ordained of God to put to death
those found guilty of such crimes against their fellow man. Corrupt
governments become unjust and refuse to carry out the execution of such
offenses against God or to simply not enforce such laws if they exist.
The degree by which this corruption of civil government exists is the
degree by which the whole culture will be corrupted.
The
grave difficulty within this growing scenario of the corruption of
civil governments is the corruption of local churches in what those
local churches begin to accept. This is where Romans 13:9-14
intercedes. Each use of the word “thou” defines aspects of moral
government that should not be allowed within the lives of individual
Christians, within the Christian home, or within the local church.
Although the individual, the Christian home, and the local church do not
have authority to execute people for these crimes, they have the
responsibility to seek justice in these matters from civil government.
The local church has the moral responsibility to excommunicate
unrepentant members guilty of any issue of moral turpitude.
“11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time {ho’-rah; an hour or short amount of time left}
to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour
of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision
for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:11-14).
The
emphasis of the statement “now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed” in Romans 13:11 refers to the “day is at hand” of the
believer’s appearance before the Judgment Seat of Christ at the
believer’s resurrection/glorification. Each day of the Church
Age brings us one day closer to that “day.” Romans 13:11 is both a
reminder and a warning. The Christian lives each day within the context
of the imminency (any moment) of our Lord’s coming. This should be a
sobering thought that governs all that we do each moment of each day of
this life in that any moment might be our last moment on this earth.
One of the most difficult things for busy people to do is to wait.
Perhaps that is why they call people going to the doctor and waiting in
the waiting rooms patients. There is a danger when we wait for a long
time. We get bored and we begin to get weary. Then we fall asleep.
This scenario is not to be part of the Christian’s life as he waits upon
the Lord’s return. This is very similar to what Paul says to believers
in the church as Thessalonica in I Thessalonians chapter five.
“1
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord
so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not
in darkness {of ignorance}, that that day {second coming of Jesus}
should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and
the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6
Therefore let us not sleep {the sleep of ignorance}, as do others; but
let us watch and be sober {the responsibility of knowledge}. 7 For they
that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in
the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by
our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or
sleep, we should live together with him” (I Thessalonians 5:1-10).
“The
night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12)
has a twofold application. The darkness of human corruption
due to the fall of humanity into sin is far along and about to come to
an end. The “day” of the Lord is very near. The comparison is the end
of the night to the dawning of the Son of God in the second coming of
Jesus. The words “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the
armament of light” means to be prepared for the transition from living
within the curse of the corruption of human government to living in the
blessing of glorification under the divine theocratic rule of King
Jesus. The believer, although still living in the Church Age, is
commanded to “walk honestly, as in the day” (Romans 10:13). The point
being to live as if we are already in the Kingdom Age where King Jesus
and the faithful believer/priests of the Church Age shall “rule with a
rod of iron.”
The “armour of
light” in Romans 13:12 is the same as “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”
in Romans 13:14. To “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” is to be dressed
by the supernatural enabling grace of God with the character and passion
of Jesus Christ defined elsewhere as the “fruit of the Spirit.” Only
through this clothing of grace can the believer be light in the midst of
darkness. It is this grace that protects the believer from the
pressures of the world to conform to its ever growing aberrations of
spiritual corruption. The believer that does not understand how the
Devil works will not be the person who will “make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 10:14). The person who does
not understand the absolute necessity of the enabling grace of God to
overcome the pressures of the world will very gradually, but
progressively, be conformed to the world and the “works of darkness.”
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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