Introduction

Two questions from last week:

• Should Christians have voted Republican on Tuesday? Another thought: Vote according to which candidate and party will do the most to restrain evil and promote the good.
• From last week: Was the American Revolution a sinful rebellion? 4 Christian answers:
  • The Scottish Covenanters (17th century) would have said NO. Armed rebellion is appropriate when a king defaults on a promise. A tyrant who claims to be a Christian is not owed allegiance and can be resisted with arms.
  • John MacArthur and many Christians would say YES. Romans 13 is contradictory to revolution.^[1]
  • Mark Dever would say NO. The American Revolution was NOT an action by individual Christians against their personal king (like an assassination attempt) but an organized, principled, legitimate action taken by a group of governing authorities against their king. Their resistance was rooted in centuries of common law in England and issues of natural law and justice.^[2]
  • Calvin/Reformed say NO. Calvin affirmed greater and lesser magistrates. Citizens can’t rebel individually, but lesser magistrates can resist when a greater magistrate is acting unjustly—in fact, they must! Following the lesser magistrate is not necessarily sinful for citizens.^[3] I lean toward views 3 and 4.

Two more for our morning today:

• Should the town of Cary pass a law to forbid the building of Mormon and Hindu temples?
• Is Cornerstone free to create a ministry team to lobby for the Rep. National Convention?

Last week we covered our first four Key Convictions:

1. Conviction #1: To Think Rightly About Government, Start with the Bible
2. Conviction #2: The State is God’s Idea, Not Ours
3. Conviction #3: The State is Necessary Because We are Fallen
4. Conviction #4: The State is to Punish “Evil” and Reward the “Good”

Now, 7 More. Ben Garner next week will have some more for us.

5. Conviction #5: The Church and the State Occupy Complementary and Sovereign “Spheres”

This is related to Conviction #2 that “the state is God’s idea.” God has hard-wired civil government into creation. It’s part of how creation is organized and how he rules over it.

ABRAHAM KUYPER (1837–1920) AND SPHERE SOVEREIGNTY

Iin the late 19th century, the omnicompetent Abraham Kuyper (pastor, theologian, newspaper editor, prime minister in the Netherlands) developed this idea of “sphere sovereignty.”^[4]

Summary of sphere sovereignty:

• God possesses all and supreme authority;
• God delegates authority to people in various “spheres” to be his vice-regents within those spheres: family, church, state, workplaces.^[5]
  • Family: Husbands over wives, parents over children (Eph 5:22–6:4), but all are accountable to God.
  • Church: Pastors to lead congregations (1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:17) but pastors will be judged by the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:1–4).
  • State: “Governing authorities” have authority to lead (Rom 13:1–7). But all authority is under God: Daniel 4; Acts 12:20–23).
  • Workplaces: Employers rightfully manage (Eph 6:5–9), but they’re accountable to God (Eph 6:5–9; Col 4:1).
• These spheres have real but limited authority and responsibility—none of these human authorities is absolute. Only God’s is absolute (Acts 5:29).

Jesus’s condensed version: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). There are “things that are Caesar’s,” though all is God’s!

SPHERE SOVEREIGNTY AND SPECIFIC CASES

• A dad buys his son Adidas Sambas on sale rather than more expensive Air Jordans. A proper use of his parental sphere of authority. The state has no authority over such an action. The church might speak to the father’s wisdom or the son’s response, but it doesn’t have authority over such a decision.
• A 17-year old church member gets caught shoplifting: Her parents will likely discipline the child. The church might begin formal church discipline if she’s unrepentant. The state might prosecute the minor. The incident could rightly involve all three spheres.
• The state requires a pharmacist to dispense abortive medicines: The church’s “sphere” preaches good and evil. The employer and state should be disobeyed (Acts 5:29).

SPHERE SOVEREIGNTY AND THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

In America, we don’t use the phrase “sphere sovereignty” as much as we talk about “the separation of church and state,” which has a long history.^[6] The concepts are related, however.

To speak of the spheres of the church and the state is also to speak of a distinction between them and even some kind of separation between them.

An important caveat: This is not an argument for some kind of “secular state” where any and all religion is exorcised from the state and the goal is a religion-less public arena.

“The separation of church and state should not be equated with the separation of faith and politics.”^[7]

Additionally:

• We REJECT governments hostile to Christianity and religious expression.
• We EXPECT some expressions of true Christianity throughout public and governmental life (prayer, invoking God’s name).
• A government allergic to any and all Christian expression in public and commercial life is not “neutral” but advancing atheism or secularism.

6. Conviction #6: God Rules as King NOW through the state and on THAT DAY all states will bow before Christ as King

Connected to the idea (#5) of God delegating authority to various spheres of authority.

God reigns as King NOW and uses the instrument of civil authorities.

God is King—always was, is, and will be. Just as he is Creator of all things, he is also Lord and King of all things. Nothing in the visible or invisible universe is outside of his jurisdiction. He is the one before whom all people, creatures, angels, demons, and the devil himself bow as the supreme Lord.

Yet he rules over his creation through various delegated authorities, including the state. We saw that above with the family, church, state, workplace. We could add the angelic realm: Angels are organized in some way resembling an army with higher and lower authorities (Michael in Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; Gabriel in Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26).

Christ the King is Ruling now but on THAT DAY all kings and kingdoms will bow before him.

David in the Psalms writes,

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Ps 110:1)

“Until” (Heb. ’d) implies a future day. When will this take place?

Christ’s kingship and salvation history: 

• Old Testament: In the OT, Jesus was the Promised King (Gen 3:15; 2 Sam 7:12–14).
• Christ’s First Advent: In the New Testament, Christ comes as the Son of David, the true Messianic King (Matt 1:1–17), becomes the Anointed King with his resurrection (Ps 2:7; Act 13:33; Matt 28:18) and ascension (Ps 110:1; Acts 1–2; Rev 20:1-6)—but enemies remain!!!
• Christ’s Second Advent: One day he’ll return and crush all his enemies (Rev 20:7–15) and reign supremely as the Messianic King in all his power and glory (1 Cor 15:28).
• Eschaton: In the eschaton, he steps into a new fulfilled glory as the King, entirely equal to the Father (Rev 22:1, 3). After that, the saints will reign with Christ forever (Rev 22:5).

In this age, Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual realm (Mark 10:14–15; Rom 14:17). In the age to come, it will be a physical realm, too.

We enter Christ’s spiritual kingdom by being born-again (John 3:3, 5).

This spiritual kingdom is more important than any earthly physical kingdom: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33).

• Civil government is temporarily important, but God’s kingdom is eternally important (Dan 4:34–35).
• Civil government is never to be our highest priority (Ps 20:7–8), but God’s kingdom is always to be our highest priority (Matt 6:33).
• Civil government is not how we “build the kingdom,” but it’s a good work Christians can be involved in who are members of Christ’s kingdom.

7. Conviction #7: Within the State, a Christian is Different from a Church.

You occupy a place in many spheres. That reminds us a Christian is different from a church.

A Christian:

• A Christian can be a citizen of any state and has obligations to the state.
• A Christian must submit to his state obedience, honor, and taxes (Rom 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–14)—but never disobey God in the process (Acts 5:29).
• A Christian is to pray for the state (1 Tim 2:1–2).
• A Christian can run for office and may even be called by God to do just that.
• A Christian can vote or refuse to vote.

But a church is a different thing. A church has a biblical mandate that differs from a Christian.

A church:

• A church’s mission is evangelizing and discipleship among the nations (Matt 28:18–20)—it isn’t to be a Political Action Committee endorsing a candidate or party.
• A church must be ordered according to the Word of God with the kinds of church leaders God determines (1 Tim 3).
• A church is entrusted with the sound doctrine in the Bible, and it is to pass that sound doctrine along to the next generation (2 Tim 2:2).
• A church is specially tasked to teach and defend the true gospel (1 Cor 15:1–3).
• A church is called to minister to the poor (Gal 2:10; Matt 25:31–46) and “orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27).

Within the culture, what can a church do?

• Be a faithful church—faithful to Christ, faithful in doctrine and practice.
• Be a prophetic church—calling out the evils of a culture and its leaders. Using the pulpit and publishing.
• Be a compassionate church—taking up the cause of the powerless and oppressed, a historic concern of the church.

THE PHYSICAL “SWORD” vs. THE “SWORD OF THE SPIRIT”

You can see this Christian vs. church difference if you think about “the power of the sword.” Governments have “the sword” to punish evildoers (Rom 13:4). Christians might serve in government and therefore wield the power of the sword in that capacity.

But the church as the church is never given the power of the (physical) sword. Its tool to punish evildoers is church discipline and ultimately excommunication. Through excommunication it will “purge the evil person from among you” (1 Cor 5:13). As the church, we have “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph 6:17).

A PERSON BEING CALLED BY GOD INTO POLITICS

The difference between churches and an individual Christian is important when we consider a person’s calling from God. A church won’t ever be called to have an explicitly political mission. But a Christian might.

An individual Christian might be called to a career in politics or as a lobbyist or to start a Political Action Committee for a specific political party. There’s no inherent conflict here: yes, it has certain occupational dangers like all callings but no conflict.

Biblical examples: Joseph in Egypt, Moses in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Esther in Persia, Nehemiah in Persia, Roman soldiers ask John the Baptist God’s will for them as soldiers (Luke 3:14), Erastus the city treasurer “greets” the Roman Christians through Paul (Rom 16:23).

8. Conviction #8: No State will Flourish Without a Strong Church

A related point to #7. No state will flourish if the church within that state is weak and anemic.

A strong church:

• Will produce Christians with “a Christian mind,”^[8] saints who don’t just know the right answers but can think “Christianly” about the vast array of issues that confront us;
• Will produce Christians with a Christian conscience, saints provoked to act to see Christ glorified and righteousness prevail in our households and laws and society;
• Will speak prophetically to the culture, calling out the evil and praising the good and not doing what Isaiah condemns: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isa 5:20);
• Will live lives personally and as a church community that become a demonstration of God and his love that inspires others in the culture to live similar lives (Matt 5:16);
• Will speak in pulpits and published works about the good and evil of the day that needs to be addressed and will do so in a biblical and faithful manner.

9. Conviction #9: The State is a Servant of God but It’s also a Tool of Satan

These next convictions will go faster. We’ll basically just list them out because of time.

Conviction #8 reminds us that the Devil is at work in civil governments. He uses them to oppose Christ and Christians.

The book of Revelation makes this clear. Revelation presents the Anti-Trinity:

• Satan: the enemy of God and God’s people (Rev 12:1–9)
• The beast from the sea: He is governing authorities throughout the world and throughout history (Rev 13:1–10). He’s given “authority” from the devil and is “allowed to exercise authority” during this age and “allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.”
• The beast from the land, which is false religion (Rev 13:11–18). He “makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast” and Satan himself.

Ultimately, this Anti-Trinity will be destroyed, but not until the end of the age when they are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20; 20:10).

Till then, Satan has his ways of using governing authorities to accomplish evil ends:

• American slavery flourished with the full backing of governing authorities—defended shamefully by Christians, leading to the persecution of many Christians (slaves).
• Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries was filled with the persecution of Protestants by Catholics or other Protestants. Governments used their “sword” against Christians who were simply expressing their beliefs.

We never want to be naive about what governing authority can do to people, even Christians.

10. Conviction #10: Convictions about the State are “Disputable Matters” Between Christians in the Same Local Church

Don’t put political opinions into the “Christian essentials” category, what we might call “Tier 1” issues. We (the elders) believe they are “disputable matters,” more like Tier 3 issues:

• Tier 1: What makes you a Christian (and is thus a divider between God’s people and those who are not God’s people). Disagreement likely means one person isn’t a Christian.
• Tier 2: What defines your church (and is thus a basis for separate churches). Faithful Christians can disagree but might not be able to be in the same church.
• Tier 3: What defines you personally but is variable between Christians (and is thus a dispute we can have between Christians in the same church). Faithful Christians can disagree and be in the same church.

And when you are disputing these “disputable matters,” act Christianly:

• Name-calling is wrong—and juvenile (Prov 12:18; Matt 5:22);
• Listen more than you speak (James 1:19);
• Gentleness is essential. Gentleness in a conversation is not the same as weakness. Weakness can look like being a bully or like being a punching bag, but gentleness is neither (2 Tim 2:24–25). It is strength under control;
• It’s possible to lose a battle and win the war. Your Christian character will help you win wars even when you don’t win all the battles (Prov 13:15; 15:1; 1 Peter 3:1).

11. Conviction #11: Our Final Hope is in Christ, Not the State

As Christians, we care about the state. We should invest in the state as God calls us to. But in terms of societal change, our hope is in Christ, not the state:

• Christ changes hearts, which leads to changed lives (Luke 6:45).
• Christ will one return and bring “the new heaven and new earth” (Rev 21:1), the true golden age!

Conclusion

Two more for our morning today:

• Should the town of Cary pass a law to forbid the building of Mormon and Hindu temples?
  • Actively resisting false religions is the work of the church, not the state.
  • The sphere of authority for the state would require any and every religion to live according to the laws of civil justice, though. No child sacrifice or exploitation, etc.
• Is Cornerstone free to create a ministry team to lobby for the Rep. National Convention?
  • The church’s mission is given to us in the Bible and doesn’t include such a secular political endeavor.
  • Yet, members of Cornerstone as an expression of their civic engagement could certainly join a PAC that explicitly works for the Republican party. I suppose even the Democrats, too. :)

A good place to end:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim 2:1–2)

Prayer

Q&A 

^[1] See MacArthur’s perspective at https://contrast2.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/is-john-macarthur-right-about-revolution/.

^[2] See Dever’s sermon, https://www.thebaptistreview.com/podcasts/mark-dever-are-we-celebrating-the-250th-anniversary-of-a-sin.

^[3] See his Institutes, Book 4, chapter 20, paragraph 31.

^[4] Kuyper, “Sphere Sovereignty,” the Inaugural Address for Free University, given Oct 20, 1880. Available at https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/24130543/SphereSovereignty_English.pdf. A good summary is at https://reformedperspective.ca/sphere-sovereignty-and-the-need-for-limits-on-power/.

^[5] John Murray limits the institutions to church, state, family. See Murray, “The Relation of Church and State,” In Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth, 2009), 253. Kuyper has many more. It seems right to me to add the workplace (Eph 6:5–9).

^[6]Some separation is certainly evident in the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Originally this referred to the federal govt, so some states had state churches into the 1800s (NH till 1817, CT till 1818, MA till 1833). Eventually it was decided that the 1st Amend also applied to states as well. See the Jefferson correspondence with Baptists where “separation between Church and State” was first coined: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists_in_the_history_of_separation_of_church_and_state.

^[7] Petri, Dennis P., and Frans Visscher, “Revisiting Sphere Sovereignty to Interpret Restrictions on Religious Freedom,” Philosophia Reformata 80, no. 1 (2015), 104.

^[8] John Stott, Between Two Worlds (Eerdmans, 2017), 128.

^[9] Wolfe, The Case for Christian Nationalism (Canon, 2022), 9.

^[10] Wolfe, Christian Nationalism, 292.

^[11] Accessible here: https://pcaga.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AICReport_CN.pdf.

^[12] Accessible here: https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/02195248/The-Rise-of-Right-Wing-Wokeism.pdf?.