Church, State, and a Christian Empire?
Push an argument to its logical conclusion and true commitments are exposed. “No King but Christ!” “Separation of church and state!” “Muh Romans 13!” Every one of these warcries echoes forth from the streets of Christendom. Each one carries with it a measure of truth. As such, each ought to be embraced by the thoughtful saint within its intended confines. Yet they are pitted against one another as if they were the cries of foreign armies and not the chants of brother battalions. Each unit has its own mission. This is good, and right, and true. It ought to be remembered and embraced. Yet when a group of soldiers loses sight of the Imperial flag, the temptation exists to forget the larger battle and the singular mission that unites the bands of brothers. My particular warcry is “No King but Christ,” therefore I swing at false kings and declare Christ’s law. But in saying that Christ is King — or to be more specific, the King of Kings— we must remember that this is not placing him up as merely one King amongst many. It places him above the other kings. Calling Christ the King of kings is saying nothing less than, Christ is the Emperor. Emperor Jesus reigns supreme.
Our so-called modern sensibilities have conditioned us to recoil from terms such as monarchy and imperialism. This is a shame. There is nothing inherently wrong with either term. On the contrary, monarchies and empires are the natural order of the cosmos; both pre and post fall. If a problem exists it is not with the office. The problem is with the officer. When wicked men reign, judgment follows. When righteous men sit on the throne, the people flourish. If you don’t believe me, look at First and Second Kings. We live in a universe that is governed by federal representatives. The cosmos are hierarchical. This is just the way the cookie crumbles. It is good. Grab some milk and deal with it. No matter how much Uncle Samantha has washed your brain of its God given programming, we were all born into an empire. Not only that, we worship the Emperor of our kingdom. Emperor worship is inevitable. Either you can worship a sinful emperor or you can worship the Emperor who is the Lord of lords and the God of gods.
God is not opposed to empires. Neither should you be. Thrice in the scriptures we read of God ascribing the title King of kings. Thrice in the scriptures we read of God ordained emperors; Artaxerxes, Nebuchadnezzar, and Christ. The title was well worn by the time we read of it in the New Testament. Not only in the pages of scripture, but also in the pages of history. They are established concepts. And to understand these claims of Christ we should understand how those phrases were used by The Spirit earlier in redemptive history.
King of kings
Ezra 7:12- “Artaxerxes, king of kings…”
(referring to him as Emperor and political leader)
Fifth in a long line of emperors, Artaxerxes was used by the Lord to “beautify the house of YHWH that is in Jerusalem.” He ruled the Achaemenidian empire in Persia from
465 BC- 424 BC and was the successor to Darius the Great.
Eze 26:7- “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings…”
(referring to him as Emperor and political leader)
Nebuchadnezzar was called King of kings by YHWH himself and ruled over the Babylonian empire from 605 BC-562 BC.
Lord of lords
Deu 10:17 - For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe
Psa 136:3 - Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
Unlike the title King of kings, Lord of lords is reserved for YHWH alone.
Jesus occupies both roles
1Ti 6:15 - which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
Rev 17:14 - They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Or again in Revelation 19:16 we see Jesus, the one of whom Thomas proclaimed (John 20)
ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου
My Lord and my God
We see this spoken of Jesus…
” On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
So we see Jesus. God of gods. King of kings. Lord of lords. Maker of all things that have been created (Col 1. John 1) The one who holds the universe together (Heb 1) The one before whom angels cry “holy, holy, holy” (Isa 6. John 12:41) The one to whom was given all authority in heaven and on earth (Mat 28). Are we to believe that the God of gods, King of kings and Lord of lords who has all authority everywhere, has nothing to do with every area of life? Hogwash. Of course he does.
Jesus is God and has all authority in heaven. He is also man and has all authority over that which Adam was supposed to rule. Over that which Christ redeemed with his own blood.
But since the fall of man into sin, exercise of these once unified offices were divided. This was gracious of God and preserved the world until the coming of the messiah promised in Genesis 3. But even in the division of powers, it is the same God who is sovereign over it all. Adam was prophet, priest and king. He rebelled and turned the cosmos on its head. Whereas these offices were all occupied by one man prior to his treason, they were divided in the fallen world.
Let’s look at a few examples of division of powers from the scriptures where men with limited authority reached past what God had given them and were judged for it.
King Saul: (1 Sam 15:9-15,22) after being told “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”— Saul blatantly disregarded the commandment of the lord and kept the best of the Amalekites for himself. He even had the audacity to say… yeah but I kept it for God… uhm no! God told him what he wanted. Saul just wanted to justify his sin with pious language. — furthermore, Saul went on to sacrifice on the altar when that was Samuel’s job. Not Sauls. Because of this God removed Sauls authority and raised up a different king. He raised up David.
King Uzziah in 2 Chron 26:16 went beyond his legitimate authority in his pride. As king he was not allowed to serve in the Temple. Yet he “entered the house of YHWH to burn incense on the altar.” Because of this he was struck with leprosy and he remained an outcast to the day of his death.
God takes these jurisdictional separations very seriously. The Old Testament people as well as the new have often erred in this way. While Jesus is not a political savior as most think of it,his saving work impacts politics and ultimately redeems all things to himself (Col 1:19-20). Because, much as within the church, Jesus’ authority— his sovereignty— is ordained by God over all areas of life.
The imperial Law
In principle, all Christians should have broad agreement with what has been written so far. Jesus is Emperor. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. He reigns and rules with absolute authority over all things in heaven and on earth. But where the various battalions of the Church militant start pointing their swords at one another is when these realities are placed into practice. This is where the rubber hits the road. It’s the moment of truth. This is where the boots hit the ground.
Many brothers fancy themselves as two kingdom guys. Others see only one kingdom. Some hold to a form of Kuyperian sphere sovereignty. Recently the term Christian Nationalism has become a popular way of expressing Christian political theory. Allow me to throw a new term into the stew. Christian Imperialism (a term for which I have zero care if it is picked up by anyone else). I use this for shock value as much as I do to make a point. But the last thing we need is yet another theory of Church/state relations and I hope the term dies with me and goes no further.
What do I mean by this name? I mean that God has an eternal, unchanging, imperial law and this law is binding upon all persons and institutions at all times. Yet its expression is determined by the tools that God has given to each sphere of authority. This unchanging Imperial law is what has commonly been called the moral law. Everything in existence is bound by this law, and this law is summarized by the Ten Commandments.
Are you a Christian? You are bound by the Ten Commandments. Are you a Muslim? You are bound by the Ten Commandments. Are you an atheist? You are bound by the Ten Commandments. The civil realm, the church, the household, and any other institution that exists are all bound by this law. It is universal. It is rooted in the unchanging nature of the Triune God. It is binding, abiding, and relevant. We live in God’s world and can no more free ourselves from this Imperial law than we can free ourselves from the law of gravity. Dare I say, this law is even more binding than gravity, for it predates it.
Yet distinctions exist in its application. Some units have tanks, other units are in command of radios. When these roles are confused, destruction ensues. An individual, as an individual, does not exercise the sword of the state for example. Being the head of a household does not give you the keys to the kingdom. Being the king of a nation does not give you the father’s rod. Yet all of these people and institutions are called to live by and enforce the very same law, according to the tools that God has given to each sphere of authority.
Because Jesus is Emperor, it is his imperial law that rules the day. Likewise, in recognizing that Jesus is the King of kings, the King over other kings, those lesser kings must obey the great king. Those vassals must submit to their conqueror; if they refuse, their mantle shall be removed, perhaps along with their head. And even when heads roll, this serves as a vindication of the Imperial truth.
The false notion exists that certain kings and kingdoms must only obey the latter half of the Ten Commandments while others must obey the imperial law in its entirety. This is a false notion. the fact that the ecclesiastical realm is beholden to all of the moral law is generally granted, so I will not address this here. But those who are outside of the camp are generally the group that some say are obligated to only the last six commandments. I present to you three points that show otherwise; neither differing eons nor associations frees anybody from this law.
The moral law existed and was operational at every point of human history. Before Sinai, during the Mosaic economy, and in the New Covenant era.
1
The Moral law before Sinai
One does not have to get very far into their yearly Bible plan before running face first into the moral law; False gods, idolatry, the sabbath, dishonoring of parents, murder, adultery, lying, theft. The book of Genesis alone is packed with moral law as well as those who broke it. Likewise, we see God’s judgment poured out on those who violate this law. Every point of the 10 commandments can be found prior to Sinai. They are all operational during the Mosaic economy, they are all repeated during the New Covenant age. When a person lives has no bearing on the validity or applicability of God’s unchanging standard; it is applicable at all points of history.
Additional Scriptural proofs of the abiding nature of this Imperial law.
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mat 22:34-40)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deu 6:4-5)
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Lev 19:17-18)
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Mat 5:17)
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2
During the Mosaic economy even pagan nations were judged for violating the moral law.
10 “If a bman commits adultery with the wife of1 his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 cIf a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 dIf a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed eperversion; their blood is upon them. 13 fIf a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 gIf a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 hIf a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 hIf a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
17 i“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 jIf a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 kYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked lone’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 mIf a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 nIf a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity.2 He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
22 o“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not pvomit you out. 23 qAnd you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
Pagan or not, God was holding the nations accountable to upholding his law; a law they had never heard about or read.
How is this so?
3
Romans indicates that all persons know of God and his law (the first table) and are without excuse.
18 For kthe wrath of God lis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be mknown about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, nhave been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,7 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they obecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 pClaiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and qexchanged the glory of rthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore sGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to tthe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for ua lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, vwho is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason wGod gave them up to xdishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ymen committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, zGod gave them up to aa debased mind to do bwhat ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know cGod’s righteous decree that those who practice such things ddeserve to die, they not only do them but egive approval to those who practice them
They Knew…
If we are going to divide the moral law, this Imperial law, into bits and pieces we have a problem. Paul, by the power of the Spirit, had no problem lumping all persons into the category of violators of the first table of the moral law. And God held these people accountable. We should too.
Additionally
In the oft quoted passage from Romans 13 we must ask ourselves, “If the Civil Magistrate is God's servant operating under God’s authority to punish the bad and protect the good, who gets to define good and bad conduct?” Even pagan magistrates were appointed by God to carry out his Imperial law (whether they did so or not is another question).
Let every person pbe subject to the governing authorities. For qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you rwill receive his approval, 4 for she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Everything, everyone, everywhere, is under the Imperial flag whether they like it or not. They are without excuse.
Before we can get to the tedious work of applying Biblical truth to society we would be well served to recognize these truths. Jesus Christ is the Emperor of all. His Imperial law reigns over all men at all times in all locations. This should not be up for debate.
Only when we get this under our belts and into our hearts can we actually make progress. It serves no purpose to kill one another via friendly fire over such a clear truth. Do not recoil at his pronouncements. Accept them. Move on. And then have the discussion of how each sphere should apply the universal standard.