The Authority of the Church and the Civil Magistrate©
A pastor’s confession in times of great danger
Rev. Douglas L. Schlegel
PREAMBLE
Being convinced that silence implies consent and, being zealous for the godly execution of all just temporal and spiritual duties laid upon me and, bearing sacred office in the Church of Jesus Christ and, being jealous for the crown-rights of King Jesus, I publicly and humbly offer my confession regarding the godly and biblical relationship of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities and the principles undergirding it.
PRINCIPLES
I. God is sovereign over all creation and establishes all authority and power in every sphere, both seen and unseen, and He determines the extent and bounds of that authority.
II. God’s supreme authority is commonly delegated by Him to humans to exercise according to His Law and they are accountable to Him. Thus, there is no just autonomous power outside of His revealed will regardless of the sphere of authority.
III. While the responsibilities and delegated powers ordained by the sovereign God in the various spheres intersect with one another in some circumstances, they have unique and discreet delegated authority which is not dependent upon the sufferance of the other spheres.
IV. Each power exercises its delegated responsibilities and authority as accountable to the Sovereign King of Heaven and Earth who has ordained them. He will judge them in righteous judgment when they defy Him and He will bless them when they are obedient to Him.
V. The unique and discreet authority of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities is represented by the sword and the keys, respectively. (Romans 13:1-7 and Matthew 18:18-20) The sword reveals the authority and responsibility to punish the evildoer or praise the good and is, by its nature, temporal. The keys reveal the authority to bind and loose and are, by their nature, spiritual. The sword is denied to the ecclesiastical authority and likewise, the keys are denied to the civil authority.
VI. The inspired Scriptures lay upon every Christian, whether a bearer of divine office or not, the duty to obey the civil power in all things lawful and in accord with the Law of God. (Matthew 22:21 and Romans 13:5-7)
VII. Nevertheless, the inspired Scriptures lay upon every Christian, whether a bearer of divine office or not, the duty to obey God rather than mere humans when performing that which is required of them by Him. Laws, dictates, commands, or any other act of the civil power which hinders the free and ordered duties commanded by God and which are delegated to the ecclesiastical power are invalid and are to be defied in good conscience. (Acts 5:29)
VIII. Thus, the just and delegated authority of the ecclesiastical power and its officers is a cooperative authority with the civil power; it is not a subservient one. Both are ordained by God and both have legitimate authority within their respective realms and within their respective bounds.
IX. Therefore, the ecclesiastical power rightly neither requires nor seeks the permission of the civil power to answer the summons to corporately worship according to the dictates of the inspired Scriptures, to evangelize the world according to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to raise our children according to God’s revealed word.
X. Among all people, Christians must be the best, the most loyal, and the most peaceful of citizens, but our allegiance is placed ultimately upon the sovereign God of Heaven and Earth and we will obey Him even though the nations rage. (Psalm 2)
CONFESSION
In application of the above principles, and as one who is charged with the oversight of the Lord’s flock, I make the following confession:
1. The recent actions of the civil power, in an attempt to protect the health of the people, has prompted that civil power to seek to arrogate to itself authority which is denied to it. If the ordained ecclesiastical powers suspended the formal gathering of God’s people out of a similar concern and on the advice of the civil power, they have not surrendered their authority to the civil power nor do they rely upon the permission of civil power to resume the public gatherings. This is true regardless of the claims of the civil power because the civil power has not been granted that authority.
2. While not having the authority, it is beyond dispute that the civil magistrate has the power to close churches and hinder the Lord’s people from gathering together. But the exercise of mere power apart from the divine delegation of that authority is to use that power in an unjust and tyrannical way and is to invite the severe judgment of the sovereign God of Heaven and Earth by setting itself up as an enemy of the God who will avenge Himself when His people are harmed. (Nahum 1:2, Revelation 6)
3. If those charged with the welfare of the church deem it wise and prudent to continue or resume corporate worship, and do so contrary to the desires and dictates of the civil power, it is not an act of civil disobedience in the common sense of the term since the authority to do so is delegated to them by the sovereign King of Heaven and Earth; it is done in obedience to Him, and is subject to His judgment. Rather, it is the civil power which is engaging in disobedience and defiance of the bounds of its mandate and regarding its delegated power. This is not casuistry or sophistry as some may claim. The civil power, if it engages in such disobedience, is required to repent of such disobedience and cease from it or be subject to the wrath of He who promises to avenge Himself upon them, (Psalm 2) even as the ecclesiastical power must repent if it abuses its authority.
4. Civil disobedience assumes that the actions are done (or not done, as the case may be) within the same civil realm. Also, so it is as ecclesiastical disobedience is pursued or not pursued within the ecclesiastical realm.
5. In civil matters, disputes are adjudicated in the civil courts and legislatures. In ecclesiastical matters, disputes are adjudicated in the ecclesiastical courts. (I Corinthians 6:1-6) While at times the spheres intersect, this does not invalidate the real, unique, and discreet authority of each. Both rightly share an interest in promoting righteousness and putting away evil.
6. These principles, and this confession based upon them, is not an innovation. Rather, it is the historic, classical, evangelical, and Protestant understanding asserted and summarized in the confessions of the church and in particular in The Belgic Confession, Article 36 (1561), and The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 23.3 (1647) thus:
Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline in his church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of religion or of infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any other person whatsoever: and to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance.
7. Since the inspired Scriptures reveal that all authority in heaven and on earth is mediated by the risen Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18); and since each human will stand before the perfect, divine seat of justice at the Last Day (Revelation 20:12); and since the church is the only institution among men for whom the precious blood of the Savior has been shed for its redemption and salvation (I Peter 1:17-19); and since the Church of Jesus Christ is a unique and precious possession of the Savior (Revelation 21:1-4); let the civil power take heed. He who watches over her will neither slumber or sleep (Psalm 121:4), and for her sake He will not hold His peace nor keep silent until His purposes are fulfilled (Isaiah 62:1). Take heed, for He will be zealous for His possession and will have pity upon His people (Joel 2:18).
Coram Deo et Soli Deo Gloria
Rev. Douglas L. Schlegel,
June, AD 2020. |
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