Why I Believe in the Separation of Church and State

God established three basic institutions in scripture. The family, the church, and the state. For each of these institutions God gave responsibilities. In some instances he overlaps some of the responsibility, but in most cases the God-given role for the three institutions are clearly separated.

When these institutions operate within the parameters that God revealed in scripture you will find the greatest happiness for the most people. There will be no attempt to develop the systematic theology for these institutions, but several responsibilities for each must be cataloged to illustrate how God orders the culture.

The dominion mandate was given to the family. The family as a unit is to multiply, be fruitful and subdue the earth and all that is in the earth(Gen 1:27-31). The husband and wife are to leave their parents and cleave together(Gen. 2:23-25). The husband is to provide for his family (I Tim. 5:8). The family is the institution with the responsibility to teach the children (Deut. 6:6-9).

The church has been given responsibility to administer the sacraments, and church government, among other things in Acts 6:1-7. In Acts 15 and Revelation 2 the church is ordered to guard doctrine. The church is to maintain purity within the church (I Cor. 5:1-13). The church has responsibility to administer judgment amongst her members (I Cor. 6:1-8). Revelation 2:2 gives authority to the church to protect against false teachers, and finally the church has been given the responsibility to provide for the poor (Rev. 2:19, II Cor. 8:1-15, 9:11-15).

Finally, God gave authority to the state to protect the good to do good and punish evil doers (Roms. 13:4). The state has been given the power of the sword to fulfill this responsibility. Paul calls the civil magistrate the minister of God. A minister that attempts to fulfill his duties outside God's prescribed guidelines causes evil to fall upon those in his charge. Proverbs 29:2 states, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people sigh (1599 Geneva Bible).

God is sovereign; thus His three institutions must necessarily be under His authority. For the best order in a culture they must fulfill their responsibility without encroaching on the authority of either of the other institutions. The greatest good for all people, whether they be numbered among the elect or not, is for each institution to operate under the authority of God Almighty, and within the separate authority given to them by God.

The American system illustrates this marvelously. The more that the state encroaches on the authority of the family and the church the more the people “sigh.” Noah Webster closed his definition of sin, in his 1848 dictionary, as “whatever is contrary to God's commands or law,” listing I John 3, Matt. 15 and James 4 as references to exemplify this statement. When the state takes authority rightfully given to the family and church and when the state abrogates its God given authority it is doing what “is contrary to god's commands or law.” This is why the separation of church and state is necessary: not as understood by secularists, but as delineated by God, in scripture.

Davey Crockett Constitutional Congressman After Returning to Congress Upon Meeting Horatio Bunce

You may know of the political conversion of Davey Crockett by the dedicated Christian Horatio Bunce (if you do not you can read the first two installments in this series by clicking on the links below this story). The Congressman Davey Crockett learned the value of government based on law, the Constitution, over governing by the dictates of sentimentalism from the enlightened backwoods farmer, Horatio Bunce. In his book, The Life of Colonel David Crockett, Edward S. Ellis relates “the rest of the story”.

Davey Crockett was reelected to Congress. It was not long before he was faced with a vote similar to the “Georgetown vote”. A bill had been introduced to give $10,000 to the widow of a naval officer that had recently passed away. Crockett took to the floor against the bill proclaiming that, “Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity.” Claiming that, “Every member upon this floor knows it.” And reminding the members that, “We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money...” He finished by proclaiming his intention to give one week's pay to the widow, and challenging the rest of the members to, “do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.”

Even after waxing eloquent about the debt of gratitude that the nation owed this honored veteran, not one other Congressman accepted Davey Crockett's challenge to give a week's pay to the widow. He excoriated them, saying, “Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it.”

The founding fathers attempted to break free from the Religious Humanist policy of the
lordship of government. From the very beginning of the republic you see the tendency to look to this “great lord” to be the “great provider”. In 21st century America the state has grown to “behemoth” proportions. Even most Christians call on this man made god to provide their needs, and desires. It is not a surprise that this blatant idolatry would capture the minds of a Secular Humanist culture, but it is a mystery as to how the church has turned to government rather than God as their provider.

All is not lost though. The Christian can still repent of the sin of idolatry. A reformation of the church will defeat the march of the tyrants. Tyranny cannot stand when the church exerts its authority over all of culture. The Christian must turn to God, learn his Constitution, stop depending on government to provide his every need, and take up his responsibility to care for the “widow and orphan.”