THE GOSPEL AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
By R. S. Owen
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is God’s plan, and the only plan, by which sinful men can be saved from their sins, converted into good men, and prepared for heaven. It affects not simply the outward actions; but the sinful heart is subdued by its influence, so that the whole man is brought into harmony with God. The power by which this great change is wrought in the lives and characters of men is the power of love. God is love. He is constantly manifesting his love to men, and thus seeks their love in return. The greatest display of love ever witnessed was the giving of God’s Son for the salvation of sinners, and the first and greatest of all God’s commands to us is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” Matt. 22:37, 38. The gospel presents to the world this loving Saviour, who died to redeem men from sin and death. By beholding the Lamb of God they are led to love him. Loving him, they delight to obey him. His law is written in the heart, and is manifest in the life. God has ordained that such governments shall exist among men as shall be needful for their safety. These are to protect the lives, property, and all other rights of the people. The power of a civil government is the combined power of its citizens. They have an important and distinct work in regulating the affairs of the state, between man and man; and in their sphere their authority is to be respected and obeyed. The duties we owe to God, and the manner of discharging them, do not, however, come within the scope of civil government. The gospel system is the religion of Jesus Christ. It came from God. It is designed to prepare a people to dwell with God, and he is to be their final judge. Whether men shall obey the gospel is an individual matter. Every one must decide for himself. The gospel invites all, and extends to all the offer of free salvation, but compels none. “Whosoever will” may come, but unwilling service will not be accepted. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24. The work of the gospel and the work of civil government are distinct and separate. They should never be confounded. Our Saviour recognized this distinction in the saying, “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” Matt. 22:21. The civil ruler is not to take the place of God. In that which pertains to the worship of God, he has no place. In things pertaining to God, Cæsar has no more right to rule his humblest servant than that servant has to rule Cæsar. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Rom. 14:12. As one can not answer for another in the Judgment, so no one should ever try to rule the conscience of another. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth.” GOSPEL MINISTERS NOT TO USE FORCE.
While God has called men to preach the gospel, he has never authorized them to enforce it upon the disobedient. In sending out his disciples, Jesus bade them to be “harmless as doves.” Matt. 10:16. Gospel ministers are commanded to “reprove, rebuke, exhort;” but they are to do it with “long-suffering.” They are to “feed the flock of God;” not “as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” 2 Tim. 4:2; 1 Peter 5:2, 3. Jesus Christ in his life gave a perfect example of what the gospel minister must be. He preached, he prayed, he entreated, he wept, and he died, that sinners might be saved through the gospel; yet he said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47. On one occasion, when two of his disciples proposed to bring down fire from heaven to destroy those who rejected Christ, he rebuked them, and said: “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” Luke 9:55. When Peter drew the sword in defense of his Master, Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matt. 26:52. The gospel warfare requires all the courage of a true soldier; but the weapons are of a different nature. The gospel warrior is to be prepared with the girdle of truth, the “breast-plate of righteousness,” the “shield of faith,” and the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Thus armed and panoplied, the early Christians went forth in the face of strong opposition from earthly government and state-entrenched systems of error. They told the story of the Saviour’s love, of his power to save, and of his death upon the cross. Their lives were an illustration of the gospel of love which they preached; and they won from the ranks of the enemy willing subjects for the Master’s kingdom. Their weapons, though not carnal, were mighty through God. A DEPARTURE FROM THE GOSPEL.
As the first centuries of the Christian era passed away, there came a sad change among the professed followers of Christ. The love of many waxed cold. The spirit of worldliness came in, which resulted in that “falling away” foretold by the apostle. 2 Thess. 2:3. In this evil time the tempter offered to a fallen church the power of the sword, bidding her take it, and conquer the world for Christ. As the church grasped the carnal weapon, and united with the kingdoms of earth, she separated from the power of God. Religion as defined by ambitious men became established by law. It was permitted neither to teach nor to think otherwise than as the court of Rome directed. All who could not accept the established creed were doomed to banishment, to torture, or to death. The most terrible instruments that men could invent for inflicting pain, were used for the purpose of subduing the consciences of those who were condemned as heretics. During those dark ages millions of lives were sacrificed on the altar of their faith. The spirit of liberty was trampled in the dust. The gospel of love, mercy, peace, and good will toward men seemed driven from earth, or found refuge in the caves and dens of the mountains, whither the persecuted ones fled to escape the edge of the sword. It was the darkest period of the world’s history. A spirit of religious frenzy seems to have taken possession of those in authority, both in the church and in the state. The woman was “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Rev. 17:6. The Reformation of the sixteenth century finally dawned upon the world; and the light of God’s word then revealed the fact that those heretics, as they had been called, were the faithful followers of Christ. And thus was disclosed the awful truth that the professed church of Christ had been bathing the forbidden sword in the blood of Christians. The sad experience of those ages teaches a lesson that is much needed in the world to-day. The principles of religious liberty as taught by our Saviour, and which were revived during the Reformation, are again threatened. Men professing great zeal for the gospel of Christ are now grasping after the arm of civil power with which to enforce religious observances upon those who otherwise would not follow their teaching. The Sunday is the one great object of their anxiety. They say it is imperiled; and they ask the civil rulers to come to its rescue. Their church-members are lax in its observance; the ungodly do not keep the day holy; and Christians are divided as to whether Sunday is the Lord’s day, some claiming that God would have us keep the seventh-day Sabbath. To remedy this, they would have a law enforced that will bring all to the keeping of Sunday, whether they wish to keep it or not. Without stopping to question which of the two days is the Sabbath, or Lord’s day, we ask, Has the gospel become so weak that it can not maintain its doctrines or secure the observance of its ordinances without the aid of human power? Must it now lean upon the arm of civil law for support? Jesus stands ready to help in every true gospel work: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The angels of God are also at the service of those who are engaged in the work of saving souls. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1:14. The word of God is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Heb. 4:12. What need, then, has the church of Christ to appeal to the civil power for help? Every petition to Congress or to legislature, every resort to the arm of the law, in behalf of Sunday or its observance, is a confession of the lack of the power of God. Armed with his power, the Christian has no need of any other. Do we read of the apostles sending petitions to Rome asking Cæsar to enforce obedience to Christ? Did Jesus bid them apply to Rome, to be endowed with power from Cæsar? What a manifestation of weakness this would have been! Adopting the language of C. H. Spurgeon, “I am ashamed of some Christians because they have so much dependence on parliament, and on the law of the land. As to getting the law of the land to our religion, we earnestly cry, Hands off; leave us alone. Your Sunday bills and all other forms of act—of parliament religion—seem to me to be all wrong. Give us a fair field and no favor, and our faith has196no cause to fear. Christ wants no help from Cæsar. Let true religion triumph by the power of God in men’s hearts, and not by the power of fines and punishments.”