Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
Romans 13:1-4
Paul’s words above were written to the church in Rome, the center of the Roman Empire. Those “governing authorities” were effective, certainly. But they were not exactly up to our current standards of democracy. There was an extensive system of laws and enforcement, even with some structure that all could understand. But that structure did not acknowledge God. It was not voted on by elected representatives of the common people. The enforcement could be arbitrary depending on the integrity of the judge in your jurisdiction. And, Christians were a disfavored minority. Still, God’s word through Paul was to be subject to government, to behave righteously, and not to revolt against the authorities.
We are more blessed: Our “founding fathers”, the men who hammered out the documents that form the foundation of our government, had a Biblical worldview. Not all were professed Christians (though many were), but all agreed on a system of values that has its basis in the Bible.
- They respected individual liberty to make choices and deal with the consequences.
- They understood that human beings are sinful, fallible, selfish and greedy.
- They knew the dangers of power concentrated in any one person or group.
- They were determined to escape from a government that was overbearing to its citizens
- …And then, to keep the one they were establishing from becoming so.
- They wanted a federation of autonomous individual states, with the Federal government limited to handling matters that required general action while the States governed what was done within their own boundaries.
The Foundation
To that end, they drafted documents that separated power, and that included checks and balances forcing all parties to compromise. Here are some excerpts:
Declaration of Independence 1
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States…
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Constitution 2
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America….
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives….
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States…The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative…
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State…
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America…. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.
Federal Powers (per the 10th amendment, all other powers are reserved to the States)
The Congress shall have Power
- To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
- To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
- To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
- To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
- To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
- To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
- To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
- To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
- To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
- To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
- To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
- To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
- To provide and maintain a Navy;
- To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
- To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
- To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
- To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And
- To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Are We Undermining the Foundation?
If we look at current events in light of these profound but surprisingly uncomplicated documents, we can determine where we have been true to their vision, and where we have strayed. Over our 250 years of history, our finest moments have been when we stayed most solidly planted on their foundation.
There is a correlation between our government’s faithfulness to this basis for its existence and our own faithfulness to God, the basis for our existence. Since “the government” is really a group of people, not an entity with cognition and volition of its own, it is those people who decide how that government behaves. The people making the decisions are elected by a consensus of all citizens. If the citizens choose to elect representatives who don’t believe in and carry out the values of our founders, we will naturally end up with a government that does not work the way they intended.
The three layers — free citizens; acting under the authority of the Constitution; based on God’s definition of morality, human nature, and individual value — have served us well for over two centuries. Two of those layers are still solid and have not changed. God is still God, with all the sovereign power that belongs to Him. The Constitution’s vision of a carefully-balanced blend of federal/state and executive/legislative/judicial power and responsibilities is still the ostensible basis for our government. But the people? Hmmm….
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.
John Adams, written to the officers of the Massachusetts militia, October 11, 1798
Can We Return?
As we have seen a retreat from respect for God among ordinary people, we have seen a matching erosion of the limited and balanced government that the founders intended. We seem to be set on a course for a different government, one with power concentrated in ways they were trying to avoid. Have we traveled so far along that path that we can’t return to the original design? Do we want to return, or do we not?
My hope and prayer is that the Spirit of God leads us back to a right relationship with Him, one individual at a time. My further prayer is that each individual, following their own leading from God, participates in our government to elect representatives true to the founding principles. Finally, I pray that those principled representatives make leadership decisions that move us ever closer to becoming a nation that lives up to its founding ideals, and to the blessings it has received.
Note: A similar post on this site is “Still a Great Country“.
P.S. After this article was written, but before it was published, I came across this interesting quote. It leaves me again wondering whether we have lived up to our principles, and praying that we will do so in the future.
…with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy & a prosperous people? still one thing more, fellow citizens, a wise & frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry or improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned. this is the sum of good government…
Thomas Jefferson inaugural address, March 1801
