abstract: all authority comes from God. Rulers, therefore, only have limited authority to govern. God delegates this limited sovereignty to every government (family, church, and civil). All governments represent (accountability to the rule of another) the sovereignty of a superior. All governments follow an ethical code (law), whether perverse or righteous.

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by Gary DeMar

Government is an inescapable concept and consists of sovereignty (legitimacy to rule), representation (accountability to higher authorities), law (a moral code by which to govern), jurisdiction (authority to enforce sanctions in the name of the sovereign), and continuity (stability and longevity). The principles of government are not the exclusive domain of the civil magistrate. Government is not a synonym for politics or the State. In biblical terms, civil governors are limited in their jurisdictional roles. The long-term effects of not defining the jurisdictional limits of civil government can be devastating since the civil magistrate has the power of the sword. Every time the people give up personal, family, or ecclesiastical sovereignty to the State, they can expect the State to enforce, with the sword, its newly delegated power. Before any lasting change can come to our nation, a proper understanding of the way government--not exclusively politics--works must be reached.

1. Sovereignty: Legitimacy to Rule

The Apostle Paul writes that all authority comes from God (Rom. 13:1), because only God is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent (1 Tim. 6:15-16; Rev. 4:8, 11). Rulers, therefore, only have limited authority to govern. God delegates this limited sovereignty to every government (family, church, and civil).

Nebuchadnezzar, ruler in Babylon and claimant of absolute and unlimited sovereignty, recognized the delegated nature of his governmental sovereignty when God made his "dwelling place with the beasts of the field" (Dan. 4:30-33). After being treated like an animal with no sovereignty (Gen. 2:18-20). Nebuchad-nezzar repented affirming that God's "dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation" (Dan. 4:34 [NASB, pass.]). It was after this that God reinstated him to his rightful limited sovereignty under God's absolute government: "My majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was re-established in my sovereignty, and unsurpassed greatness was added to me" (Dan. 4:36). To be restored and reestablished assumes an initial installation and establishment.

Having sovereignty to govern does not mean that rulers, whether they are fathers and mothers in family government, elders in church government, or civil servants in civil government, always exercise their authority legitimately. It only means that the government is legitimate and must be obeyed unless there is biblical cause for disobedience.

The biblical philosophy of sovereignty and legitimacy in government explains why rebellion against duly constituted governments (family, church, and civil) is sin (Ex. 22:28; Acts 23:5). "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Sam. 15:23). Governments that are formed are legitimate even though they may not be acting in a legitimate way. Who should determine when a government has overstepped the boundary of legitimacy? No earthly government is perfect. As Christians, we do not believe in the possibility of utopianism this side of heaven. When David was being pursued by King Saul, David had the opportunity to take the king's life. He could have claimed that he was doing it for "the people." He did not.

Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, "I will not stretch out my hand against my lord for he is the Lord's anointed" (1 Sam. 24:10).

Legitimacy in government is essential if any nation is to endure. If people perceive that their government lacks legitimacy, anarchy and revolution will result. Our world is filled with folks who believe that the citizens have a right to revolt against an oppressive government even though those in power claim their regime to be legitimate. King Saul was an oppressor, but David saw no justification in killing him, even when he had the opportunity (1 Sam. 24:11-14). God will be the One to deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressors: "The Lord therefore be judge between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause, and deliver me from your hand" (1 Sam. 24:15). Deliverance is to come God's way.

Wherever Christians find themselves under the rule of a tyrant, they are to live under it, but not with resignation (Luke 20:19-25; 1 Tim. 2:1-3; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). God has made non-revolutionary means available for the dissolution of tyrannical governments. In addition, God providentially works to overrule the works of men. Man proposes, but God disposes. "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Prov. 21:1).

2. Representation: Accountability to the Rule of Another

All governments represent (accountability to the rule of another) the sovereignty of a superior; that is, no single earthly government can claim to be the government independent either of God or other governments. In addition, every person and institution, civil government included, must answer to someone because those who rule represent a superior sovereign: children to parents (who represent God and are accountable to Him), students to teachers (who represent parents), employees to employers (who represent consumers),1 citizens to magistrates (who represent God) in civil government ("able men who fear God ": Ex. 18:21), 2 and magistrates must answer to the citizenry (who also represent God as self-governors under His sovereignty) at the voting booth (Deut. 1:13). Of course, we all must answer to God "as those who will give an account" (Heb. 13:17).

Accountability in government (not just civil) is found in a number of places in Scripture. Someone is always reporting to representatives of sovereignty (e.g., Matt. 10:1; Mark 6:7; Luke 7:8; 10:19; 19:17; John 5:27, 30; 19:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7). This is true even within the Godhead in Jesus's role as mediator: "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:3; cf. 3:23).

Exodus 18 is a lesson in decentralized politics and is especially appropriate in showing the nature of representation and accountability in the area of civil government and the relationship between self-government, family government, and civil government. Moses was given legitimate authority to rule (sovereignty), but he was unable, because of built-in creaturely limitations, to rule effectively and absolutely. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, gave the following advice to Moses: Put others in leadership positions under you as representatives and make them accountable to you, and the people accountable to their new rulers.

The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now listen to me: I shall give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way they are to do. Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them, as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their place in peace (Ex. 18:17-23).

Lesser magistrates were appointed with ethical considerations in mind. They were to be "able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain." Each of these magistrates was responsible to the next higher magistrate: Magistrates over tens were accountable to magistrates over fifties; magistrates over fifties were accountable to magistrates over hundreds; magistrates over hundreds were accountable to magistrates over thousands; and magistrates over thousands were accountable to Moses who was accountable to God. Why the accountability? Because magistrates represent God in some way, similar to the way Aaron represented Moses to the people and the way rulers are described in Psalm 82, they are often accorded great honor by being given the lofty title of "god" (elohim).

Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, "Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he will speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him" (Ex. 4:14-17; cf.. Ps. 82:1, 6; John 10:34).

The Hebrew term for "gods" (elohim) in Psalm 82:6, for example, is a reference to those who exercise judicial authority in God's name. "The passage refers to the judges of Israel, and the expression 'gods' is applied to them in the exercise of their high and God-given office."3 To be brought before a judge was like being brought before God, because the judge represented God. The word translated "God" in Exodus 21:6 (from the Hebrew elohim ) is referring to a judge who acts in God's name. This can be seen in Exodus 22:8-9. The word translated "judge" is actually elohim, God.

The best men are to rule for the public good founded upon law, thus a republican form of government. God has ordained governmental "powers" (plural; Rom. 13:1). These "powers" are represented by men who are "ministers of God" (Rom. 13:3). This is why Scripture informs us that it is "in the abundance of counselors [that] there is deliverance" (Prov. 11:14b; 24:6).

3. Law: A Moral Code by which to Rule

All governments follow an ethical code (law). That ethical code may be perverse or righteous, but an ethical code exists, nevertheless. A perverse ethical code stipulates, for example, that women have a fundamental right to abort their unborn children. A righteous ethical code would protect the unborn (Ex. 21:22-25). The civil magistrate is to render judgment in terms of what is "good" and what is "evil" (Rom. 13:3-4). These ethical designations ("good" and "evil" are God's. Rulers at all governmental levels must seek out God's laws and apply them to their appropriate jurisdictions: family laws to the household, ecclesiastical laws to the church, and civil laws to the public sphere.

All citizens and nations are obligated to follow God's laws as they pertain to individuals in self-government, family members in family government, church members in church government, and citizens in civil government. No person is exempt. The stranger, an individual outside the covenant community of Israel but living under Israel's jurisdiction, was required to obey the law as it was given by God to Moses: "There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God" (Lev. 24:22; cf.. Num. 15:16; Deut. 1:16-17). Belshazzar, a Gentile who was not under the jurisdiction of the Israeli state, broke specific laws from the Mosaic legislation relating to idolatry and was punished for it (Dan. 5). A similar fate happened to Herod under the New Covenant (Acts 12:20-23).

There are those in our day who do not want to hear of man's duty, either personally or civilly, to keep the whole law of God.

It is characteristic of unbelievers to rage against Jehovah and His anointed King, wishing to cast off any bonds of political servitude to Jesus Christ. Psalm 2 explicitly tells us as much (verses 1-6). The gospels illustrate this same political rage. The chief priests bolstered the crowd's demand for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by insisting "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). The Apostle Paul's experience points to the same political fury. He taught that Jesus was "King of kings" (1 Timothy 6:15) --the primary political king under whom all earthly leaders, "the powers that be," are ordained as "ministers of God" (Romans 13:1-7). For this viewpoint he was run out of Thessalonica, daring to teach "contrary to the decree of Caesar" by saying "that there is another king, Jesus" (Acts 17:7). 4

Another king means another law. The citizenry knew this. Instead of doing homage to Caesar, they would have to "do homage to the Son" or "perish in the way" (Ps. 2:12). Caesar, too, eventually understood the implications of Jesus' government over all of life. In time, as predicted by God in Daniel 2:40-45, the Roman empire would eventually fall as God's kingdom advanced.

No magistrate is exempt from the demands of God's law. Even rulers outside of Israel were to hear and heed the law of God. In fact, it was David himself who was obligated to "speak of [God's] testimonies before kings" (Ps. 119:46), all the kings of the earth. Such kings are wise when they keep God's law: "By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and all nobles, all who judge rightly" (Prov. 8:15-16). As Paul shows us in Romans 13:3, "rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil" (cf. Prov. 21:15).

4. Jurisdiction: Authority to Enforce Sanctions

It is not enough to have a law, there must be legitimacy to enforce the law (sanctions) within specified jurisdictions. God has done this on numerous occasions. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for breaking God's law against sodomy (Gen. 13:13; 19:4-5; cf.. Lev. 18:22; 20:13). The members of Sodom knew their actions were unlawful, destroying themselves, their families, and the community (cf. Rom. 1:18-32). God had made His law known to the world: "Abraham obeyed Me, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Gen. 26:5; cf. Job 22:22; 23:12). These and other laws were eventually codified, written down for the world to see and learn, after the time of Israel's Exodus (Deut. 4:5-8).

The nations of the world are still obligated to follow God's laws. In our day, sodomy, while still considered a crime in many states, is rarely punished. But "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7). The AIDS virus is a testimony to the Bible's insistence that sanctions are still meted out prior to the final judgment. This shows God's jurisdiction to apportion negative sanctions on rebellion when His God-ordained civil ministers refuse to enforce the law.

Families, churches, and civil governments have legitimate authority to enact biblical laws and then to enforce sanctions if those laws are broken. Each government (family, church, and civil) is limited in its authority, however. Parents can only discipline members of their own family, the use of the rod being the most severe form of correction (Prov. 13:24; 22:15; 23:13; 29:15). Elders can discipline only their church members, excommunication being the most severe form of discipline (Matt. 16:19; 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 6:1-11). The State has a duty to punish criminal acts that are civil in nature, the most severe being execution for capital crimes (Gen. 9:6-7; Ex 21:12-14; Rom. 13:4; 1 Pet. 2:14). These are temporal sanctions that God has given to His lawful governmental institutions.

5. Continuity: Stability of Government

The historical landscape is replete with the strewn corpses of fallen dynasties and collapsed kingdoms. There is a reason for this. Every kingdom that has fallen in some way or another has transgressed God's commandments. They either collapsed under the weight of their own decadence or they were conquered by other hostile kingdoms (Dan. 1:17; 2:31-45; 4:28-37; 5:1-31). In either case, the reason for their collapse is ethical: They transgressed God's commandments and God judged them. Such acts of disobedience have repercussions for the continuity of nations and kingdoms. Nations that submit to God remain; those that rebel are judged. This was God's message for Jonah to take to Nineveh: "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me" (Jonah 1:2; 3:2). The repentance of the Ninevites spared the nation (3:5-10).

During Israel's occupation of the land of Canaan, God made it clear that the reason the previous occupants of the land were evicted was due to their violation of His law (Lev. 18:24-27). The Canaanites's refusal to obey God's law meant their removal from the land. They were dispossessed because of rebellion. This is why the Psalmist, using God's law as a standard, could assent to God removing "all the wicked of the earth" (Ps. 119:118-119).

There is a cause and effect relationship between obedience or disobedience and God's law. Obedience brings blessing (positive sanctions: Deut. 28:1-14) and disobedience brings cursing (negative sanctions: Deut. 28:15-68). The New Testament confirms this truth:

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same [positive sanctions/blessings]. But if you do what is evil, be afraid [negative sanctions/cursing]; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath [negative sanctions/cursing] upon the one who practices evil (Rom. 13:3-4).

"Righteousness exalts a nation [positive sanctions/blessings], but sin is a disgrace to any people [negative sanctions/cursing]" (Prov. 14:34).

During the period of the Judges, Israel's failure to heed God's warnings regarding His law brought judgment and temporary displacement from the full use of its land inheritance (Judg. 6:1). As time went on, Israel slowly lost its inheritance through repeated acts of rebellion (Jer. 25:1-11). Eventually the entire nation was exiled for seventy years and came under God's righteous sanctions (Dan. 9:11-16). One final act of rebellion, the rejection of the promised Messiah, meant disinheritance: "Therefore I say unto you the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it" (Matt. 21:43; cf. 23:28).

The principle of continuity affects all governments. Obedience brings blessing (inheritance/continuity), while disobedience brings cursing (disinheritance/discontinuity). This clearly can be seen in family government:

Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth" (Eph. 6:1-3).

This is why Scripture tells parents to teach God's laws and commands to their children "that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments" (Ps. 78:6-8).

Gary DeMar, well-known speaker and author, is the president of American Vision in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the editor of the Biblical Worldview Magazine and the author of over a dozen books, including Last Days Madness, Thinking Straight in a Crooked World, Ruler of Nations, America's Christian History: The Untold Story, and the popular homeschool and self-study three volume set, God and Government. He is also the co-author and editor of the To Pledge Allegiance American History textbook series.

Endnotes

1. In a free-market economic system consumers are ultimately sovereign.

2. There is no "divine right of kings." Although elected magistrates represent God, they do not do so autonomously. If a magistrate could claim a divine right, then there would be no need for him to "fear God."

3. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), 525. Leon Morris, The Biblical Doctrine of Judgment (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1960), 33-36; Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart, The Reduction of Christianity: A Biblical Response to Dave Hunt (Ft. Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1988), 76-83.

4. Greg L. Bahnsen, "What Kind of Morality Should We Legislate?" The Biblical Worldview (October 1988), 5.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Biblical Worldview, vol. 15, no. 7 (July 1999), and is used by permission of American Vision, P.O. Box 220, Powder Springs, GA 30127; (770) 222-7266; www.americanvision.org.