Government was instituted after the flood when God said to Noah, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen. 9:66Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:6)). This was not an idea that originated with Noah, but a divine command, and by it God placed the sword of government on earth in the hands of man. Prior to the flood there was no government on earth, and man became utterly lawless; corruption and violence filled the scene (Gen. 6:1111The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:11)).
The human race had followed a downward course from the day that Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden; this climaxed in a world of horrible moral corruption and human blood-shedding. Hence God intervened and cleansed the earth with the deluge, while He preserved Noah and his family alive in the ark. By them God gave man a fresh start, and the moral government of the earth was henceforth to be exercised under divine decree. This has never been abrogated, and “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:11Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1)).
The Christian’s Place
While the placing of earthly government in the hands of man has never been rescinded, it is rather remarkable that nowhere in the New Testament is there any instruction how the Christian should conduct himself in the place of authority. Not once is the Christian exhorted how to govern as a Christian. Surely this is no oversight. On the other hand, the Christian is exhorted how to behave himself toward those who are in the place of authority. He is to submit to every law for the Lord’s sake, to obey magistrates and to be subject to the powers that be. He is to pay his taxes, not because he cannot avoid doing so, but for conscience toward God. He is to recognize in the administrator of the law the minister of God to him for good (1 Peter 2:13-14; Rom. 13:16). He is also to pray for all those in authority (1 Tim. 2:2). (We must always, however, keep in mind that our first allegiance is to God and that should the government demand us to do that which His Word forbids us to do — for instance, to deny Christ — we must obey God and suffer the consequences.)
A Time to Reign
While there is no New Testament instruction how a Christian should govern now, it does suppose a day when the Christian shall reign: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you. . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6:23). It is evident from the Scriptures that God did not intend for Christians to seek to judge the world, but to be law-abiding subjects, just waiting for the Lord Jesus to come and take them home. When the Apostle Paul sought to correct the life of leisure and indulgence in which the Corinthian saints were living, he said, “Ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” (1 Cor. 4:8). The day for the Christians to reign had not come, for if it had, Paul would be reigning with them. The Christian who seeks to straighten out this world and engage in politics has missed this important lesson. He is as much out of place as Lot was when he sat as a judge in the gate of the city of Sodom. Lot had his righteous soul “vexed . . . from day to day.”
Judaism and Christianity
It is true that there are Christians in the place of authority who seek to act righteously before God, but their conduct in the exercise of power, if governed by scriptural principles, must be done on the basis of the Old Testament and not of the New. In the latter, the saint on earth is looked at as a stranger and a pilgrim, just passing through the world. The more that Christians seek a place in the world where they can exercise power, the more they have mixed earthly government and Judaism with the heavenly calling of the Christian, and then the distinctive character of each is lost.
We should not fail to discern the signs of these times when everything indicates the close proximity of the coming of the Lord. The world is being readied for those dreadful closing hours of man’s day, but our release here and our being with Christ is ever drawing nearer.
P. Wilson, adapted from
Christian Truth, 9:164-168