Politics From The Christian Worldview

The Christian worldview sees government as an institution established by God (Genesis 9:6; Romans 13) for the primary purpose of promoting justice for its citizens—protecting the innocent from the aggressor and the lawless. Without security, every other function of government (protecting life, liberty, property, reputation, etc.) is meaningless.

As Christians we recognize government as a sacred institution whose rulers are ministers of God for good (Romans 13). God ordained the state to practice godly justice and commands us to obey its rules and laws. Peter instructs us to “submit . . . for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men, whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13–14). As long as government is serving the purpose for which God created it, we must show our allegiance to God by submitting to human government.

We expect the state to accomplish limited, God-ordained tasks. Its two principle roles are to protect the innocent and punish the guilty (Romans 13:3–4). Government should adhere to the principle “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40; Exodus 18:19f) because order reflects God’s character. We know that power tends to corrupt, so a government that disperses power is better than one that gathers power into the hands of a few. As Christians, we should welcome opportunities to participate in government with the goal of influencing the state to conform to God’s will for it as a social institution (Proverbs 11:11). The Christian worldview does not single out any one form of government as acceptable, although a constitutional form is more likely to conform to biblical principles and respond to its citizens than are less democratic forms. One significant aspect of the United States’ government that conforms to biblical ideals is the division of power into three branches—executive, legislative, and judicial—along with its system of checks and balances. The three-branch model was patterned after Isaiah 33:22: “For the Lord is our judge [judicial], the Lord is our lawgiver [legislative], the Lord is our king [executive]. 

Perhaps the Christian concept our founding fathers best understood was the Christian understanding that although we are created in God’s image, we nevertheless have a fallen, sinful nature. Because they understood these opposing aspects of our nature, the founding fathers tailored a government suited to our rightful place in God’s creative order. Human government is necessary because of sin. Our evil inclinations toward sin must be kept in check by laws and a government capable of enforcing such laws.

Our founding fathers grappled with the problem of protecting ordinary citizens from the sinful inclinations of those in authority. The result of their efforts is our system of checks and balances among the branches of government. Each branch wields unique powers that prevent the focus of governmental power and authority from falling into the hands of a select few. By broadly distributing power and responsibility, the American system of government minimizes the possibility of an abuse of power because of our fallen nature. James Madison says, “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.”