Nena Arias | January 29, 2018
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” —Alexander Hamilton—It is a given that government is a must for orderly living. God was the first one to establish his government from the outset of creation. But at that time, everything was so perfect that only one commandment was required, to not eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree. But humans could not even keep that one commandment and violated God’s perfect order by disobeying it. As a result, sin entered into the human chain and all of creation; life became very complicated, dangerous, disorderly and deadly.
Sin contaminated it all, mankind’s spirit, mind and body as well as all the earth. God in his mercy gave laws to help us live a peaceable and orderly life in spite of sin, they are known as the Ten Commandments. We have God’s law to follow, which would be enough if people abided by it, but now we also have man’s law through civil government. The problem is that man’s government tends to get corrupted while God’s government remains steadfast and unmovable.
God’s government is our friend if we abide by it, yet it has to become the executioner of justice if we disobey it. On the other hand, man’s government is to be limited, but the sinfulness of man causes them to corrupt justice and use it for their personal gain, so it constantly grows oppressive. It becomes our foe.
For an orderly society under God’s law, there are three types of government established by God—the family, the church, and the civil government—each given its own specific and limited jurisdiction. These three governments were intended to work in harmony with one another under the ultimate authority of God.
Unfortunately, that relationship of cooperation has been replaced by one of competition and contention. The state—having severed itself from all accountability to God—has increasingly seized control of areas that rightfully belong to the family or the church. But equally damaging is the way in which the church and family have voluntarily relinquished many of their responsibilities to the government bureaucracy.
The creeping statism of our society will never be stopped until Christians are ready to obey God’s mandate and take responsibility for the duties He has assigned.
To reverse this out-of-control “governance” we must take effective actions in the family and the church to wean ourselves from false dependency on the state (especially in the area of social services) and retake our claim to our rightful obligations. God’s Word, the Bible has been given to us to read, study and apply.
So do not kid yourself into believing that someday man’s government will get it right. They never will. All evidence points to the fact that human government is not your friend. Neither are they your partner in anything. Their agendas are not yours. Their only objective is re-election to retain their power over you. There is little evidence that governments are there acting in anyone else’s interests other than their own.
Only God’s government is your friend. Isaiah 9:6-7:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.