Neither the church or this country

are meant to be Israel

Now that the election has come and gone, I do not want to get into politics. However, it is vital for Christians to see the necessity of the separation of church and state. Many religious people want the United States to become like Israel of old. An examination of the New Testament leaves us with a necessary conclusion though – we will not succeed in creating a religious nation like the Israel was.

Genesis 12:1-3 contains the promises given to Abraham. One stated that a great nation (Israel) would be created out of his seed. They were promised a land, which was fulfilled during the time of Joshua (Josh. 23:14).  This nation of God’s people eventually had their own kings to rule over them – God was not pleased with this (I Sam. 8:4-7).

The ultimate purpose of these promises was revealed in the third one. Namely, someone great (Christ) would come from the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:10-29). Our Savior was not coming to build a physical nation like Israel. As a matter of fact, Jesus fled when people tried to take Him by force to make Him their king (John 6:15).  Nor was it His plan for the church to become a government for the people.

Few religious people today want the church to become an earthly government for all people, but many want the government to be religiously-based like Israel’s was.  Remember, Israel was guided by the Old Law and was expected to enforce it to the letter. Those who broke that law were punished. Is this viable today?

On the surface, this might seem like a good thing. If all government leaders including the President were Christians, we could do away with abortions and homosexual marriages as the Bible calls for. Great! However, we could not stop there. To be consistent, we would have to enact laws to punish every kind of sin. Would we arrest those who buy and sell liquor? All those who gamble? All those who commit fornication and adultery? Would pornographers be thrown in prison? What about those who curse, dress immodestly, lie, gossip, hate, and envy – do we throw them in jail too?

Do not get me wrong – abortion is murder, and murder is sin (Gal. 5:21). I would like for it to stop. As a matter of fact, I want everyone to stop all sin because of the consequences (Rom. 6:23). If our government were tasked with punishing sin though, this government would not work. If we follow the idea to its logical conclusion, this government would ultimately be tasked with trying to read people’s hearts. Only God can do this (1 Sam. 16:7, Prov. 21:2 Heb. 10:30).

Furthermore, who would decide how to correctly interpret and apply Bible verses? The religious division around us clearly shows that a single, centralized, earthly religious organization is unworkable.

If a forcibly “Christian government” is not workable, then what should Christians seek in government? To start, some nations give more earthly freedoms and rights than others. As Christians, we should want people in all 195 countries around the world to be able to worship God and live lives pleasing to Him.

There is a purpose of government. We are to respect it just like Christ did (Matt. 22:21).  As law-abiding citizens, we can expect to generally live quiet and peaceable lives (I Tim. 2:1-2). There may be times when we will suffer for being Christians (I Pet. 4:16), but this does not mean that we should seek to overthrow the government. Let us recognize the value in keeping Christ’s church out of the government, so to speak, and instead focus on serving the Lord directly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Chuck