Sphere of the Civil State
By W. F. Martin
Governments May Make Laws as Between Man and Man, but Not Between Man and God
“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.” Rom. 13: 1. THE greater part of Romans 13 is devoted to a discussion of the Christian’s proper relation to the civil government. That this is true is granted by all. There is another feature, however, in the chapter, that is frequently overlooked, and that is the proper attitude of the civil government toward the Christian; and not only toward the Christian, but toward all the citizens of the civil state. THE PROPER FIELD FOR GOVERNMENTS
In verse 8, we are bidden, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” This text recognizes the Saviour’s teaching in Matthew 22, where He divides the ten-commandment law into two sections, the first defining our duty to our God, the last defining one’s duty to his fellow men. In this verse, also, is the key to what has gone before, as well as what is to come. The central thought is the relation of man to his fellow man,—that which is covered by the second table of the law,—the realm occupied, and rightly so, by civil legislation. Then follows verse 9, quoting the last five commandments of the second table, closing with the significant statement, “If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” FORBIDDEN GROUND FOR CIVIL LEGISLATION
Why did not the apostle mention, in this list, the commandments of the first table? Was it because they were not to be obeyed?—Certainly not. He is not here defining duties to God, but duties to fellow men and civil government, and the realm of government. This not only defines the realm of government, but sets the bounds of the state. Legislative bodies can with propriety pass measures defining the outward acts covered by the second table of the law. If it were proper for the civil law to define and regulate man’s duty to God as set forth in the first four of the Ten Commandments, the first table of the law, the apostle would have mentioned them here. On the contrary, by his expression, “if there be any other commandment” than those mentioned in verse 9, he recognizes that the realm of the first table is forbidden ground for civil legislation. Well would it have been for all mankind, if this truth had always been recognized. The assertion has been truthfully made that when man sets himself as God’s avenger, he becomes a demon. Consonant with the above are the noble sentiments expressed by the Hanover presbytery in the year 1776: “We would also humbly represent that the only proper objects of civil government are the happiness and protection of men in their present status of existence, the security of life, liberty, and the property of the citizens, and to restrain the vicious and to encourage the virtuous, by wholesome laws equally extending to every individual; but that the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason or conviction, and is nowhere cognizable but at the tribunal of the universal Judge.” “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”