“The issue is not whether swords can make men Christian. They cannot. The issue is whether men can make swords Christian” –Douglas Wilson.1
“So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is righteous.’” (2 Chron. 12:6; NASB).
INTRODUCTION:
Christian Nationalism is still a hot potato topic that has managed to polarize a significant number of Christian thought leaders either for or against it. It’s been a minute since I’ve discussed this subject, but after listening to a number of dissenting voices over the last couple of months I’ve decided that I want to once again enter the fray. As I normally do, I want to assert at the beginning of this post that I never chose the moniker for myself, neither did very many others within the Christian camp, but I don’t have a problem with the identifier. I don’t care to distance myself from it, anymore than I want to wrap my arms around it in a warm embrace. In some respects, I find the debate silly. Of course, I realize that the separation of categories and spheres of authority (i.e., governance) are unquestionable realities. Meaning, when I speak of a Christian Nation I do not have in mind the erasing of jurisdictional boundary markers that have been established by God.
Things that you hear…
A popular argument that I have heard is that we do not want to have a Christian Nation, or a Christian magistrate, or what Stephen Wolfe refers to as a Christian Prince2, because we do not bring about belief through the State (i.e., civil sphere). “It is not the role of the State to baptize or proselytize, or administer the sacraments,” is a common refrain by some Christian leaders who oppose the idea of a Christian Nation. Or, “to use the sword of the state to uphold Christian values (i.e., laws, ethic and moral values) is a violation of the separation of church and state, an abuse that confuses the gospel with the use of power” as I have heard it reported by others.
Thoughts on Romans 13 and governing…
I see Romans 13 in the general sense as applying to all governing authorities authorized by the Creator to exercise judgment in terms of good and evil.3 I understand that the specific thrust of the verses that follow the first two have within the sights of the apostle Paul the area of civil governance. But, I do not think this more narrow sense mitigates against the broader application of the truth disclosed there. The civil magistrate is identified as a minister of God (in this sense a deacon, or servant) charged with applying God’s Law righteously, praising the good under their watch and punishing the evil.4 It is they that bear the sword, exercising the vengeance of God, in order to drive fear into the heart of rebels so that others may be less inclined to pursue wickedness openly in the public sector.5
Symbols of Judgment (Sanctions) in Family and Church…
However, this same truth is applied in two other God-ordained bodies of governance: the family and the church.6 Each ordained leader has a responsibility for leading well the sphere of authority that they have been granted jurisdiction.7
And, like the state they too have been given a sword associated with judgment, though, the manner and extent of the sanctions enforced in the family and church is markedly different than the State (i.e., civil sphere). Only the State has the lethal exercise of the sword; the physical cutting off from life to death for certain crimes.
Whereas the leaders in the home and the church use the symbolic sword of judgment in an effort to drive evil from being openly practiced within each institution; a non-lethal form of cutting off. So as not to confuse the reader, the use of the sword (i.e., judgment/sanctions) has the potential for lethal cutting off depending on the nature of the crime committed on the legal grounds of two-to-three witness in the civil sphere (the governing state). Whereas, the symbol of the sword in family government is referred to as the staff; and, the symbol of the sword in ecclesiastical government is referred to as the key(s).
A parent uses the rod out of love in order to teach the children in the manner that they should not go (cf. Prov. 22:6). An elder uses the keys out of love in order to teach the children of God in the manner that they should not go (cf. Matt. 18:15-18). Both rod and key may be used either as guide posts or no trespassing signs.
The child who listens to his parents instructions has seen the rod of the parent in the light of a shepherds staff guiding them along still waters and safe pastures. When the staff is used in a more harsh manner, it is meant to teach the child to keep from straying to the right or left of the path that God has instructed His own to walk in. The same may be said of the keys used by the elders in an ecclesiastical setting. The keys speak of repentance, of walking with the Lord, honoring His commands, being granted access to His covenantal family through Baptism enabling the believer to eat at His table. The keys of repentance/forgiveness grant fellowship with God’s people in God’s presence (cf. John 20:23). But the unrepentant sinner within the assembly of the church, if remaining in that state after being confronted, risks having the doors locked—barring them entrance—from fellowship and the Lord’s table.
In both cases, when the rod and the key are used within the family and church, the ultimate goal is bringing about humility of heart (contriteness) before the Lord and those whom He has placed in His stead, exercising His authority in the perspective sphere that they have been placed in. Yet, the fear of being cut off is ever in the background for the unrepentant, undisciplined, and stiff-necked among the child in the home or the brother/sister in the assembly.
The Limitations of the Tools of Judgment…
Does the use of the rod and the key secure true belief in the home and church? No. That is not the purpose of either use of jurisdictional authority. What such discipline does guarantee is a semblance of peace in home and church. The rightful exercise of these God-given tools brings about order in the home and in the congregation of God, but it does not save souls. They are a means that God uses to bring about His salvation, but they are not what actualizes the salvation of either the child or the parishioner. Only the blood of Christ Jesus can do that. Only believing in His work on the cross and Him being raised from the dead is powerful enough to guarantee this.
Do we then minimize the use of those tools provided by God for governing those institutions in a godly manner? No. Does their use in the home or the church minimize the message of the gospel? No. By appealing to the rod and key in either God ordained governing sphere, do we nullify the work of the Holy Spirit? Again, no. Nor can we say that by their use we somehow confuse the purpose of the one over and against God’s salvific work through Jesus, the blessed Son.
In the same way then, if we call on the civil authorities to honor Christ in the public sphere, to uphold His Law as holy, righteous, and good, and to punish evil doers as fitting with the crime that they have committed we do not minimize the gospel. To call a government to be Christian is not a violation of the Law-Word of God. To call a nation Christian, to have that goal in mind, is not a confusion of categories, but ought to be a desired outcome. If a nation becomes Christian, then it recognizes that Jesus Christ is King, and in time and space seeks to honor Him as such. A part of which is in the adherence of His Law-Word in every area where God has granted the state to have jurisdictional authority… but NO FARTHER.
ENDNOTES:
1Douglas Wilson, “On Making the Sword Righteous,” Blog & MaBlog: Theology that Bites Back, August 5, 2024,https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-fatal-confusion.html.
2“The prince, as a civil leader, holds an office on behalf of God, the creator… It is a natural office, required by the nature of man, whose function is ordering civil society for commodious and pious living. Civil power being original to God, the prince mediates God’s divine civil rule. He is not a steward or a simple administrator, as if he simply promulgates a divinely prescribed civil code. Rather, he makes public judgments in application of God’s natural law, effectively creating law (though derivative of natural law), and he has the power to bring about what he commands. Thus, the prince holds the most excellent office, exceeding even that of the church minister, for it is most like God. The prince, unlike the church minister, is a mediator—‘a vicar of God’—in outward, civil affairs.” Stephen Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2022), 286.
3 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” (Rom. 13:1-3a; ESV). The plurality of governing authorities in this passage touches on more than just the civil sphere of life.
4“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, and avenger to execute wrath on him that practices evil” (Rom. 13:3-4; NKJV; cf.
5“Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11). A government (or governing body) that does not take to heart the biblical instruction as presented in Romans 13 (specifically, vv. 3-4) will treat lightly those that ought to be punished in an appropriate proportion to the crime committed in a speedy fashion. Of course, this means that the case is fully weighed in the civil court, and that the requirement of two to three witnesses are met, so that the matter might be fully proved, but the quick judgment, righteously acted out against the perpetrator(s) in question will in turn drive fear into the heart of the public. “And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not against commit such evil among you” (Deut. 19:20; NKJV; cf. Deut. 17:7, 12-13).
6 “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord they God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Deut. 5:16; KJV; cf. Eph. 6:2-3; also see: Rom. 13:7). In terms of family government.
“But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you” (1 Thess. 5:12; ASV). “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who wil have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Heb. 13:17; cf. 13:7; Acts 20:28; also see: 1 Tim. 5:17). In terms of ecclesiastical government.
7 This is in terms of a particular domain (territory or area of influence) where the ordained authority (parent, elder, magistrate) is authorized to exercise godly dominion (rule or judgment in terms of sanctions). “Jurisdiction” is about the authority to speak into a specific area of life.
Kristafal's Musings 