Human government must also bow to the Bible's authority. Although I agree with those who affirm that the United States Constitution is meant to protect the church from the state, rather than to require the state to isolate and discriminate against the church, this is not our present concern. In discussing the proper function and authority of government, we must remember that what is American is not necessarily Christian, and that there are many other countries in the world and throughout history whose laws are different from those of the United States.

So our first concern should not be the proper interpretation of American law, or even the views of the nation's founders, as if we should follow them even if they had been atheists, deists, or even Muslims and Buddhists! No, when it comes to thinking about human government, our first concern should be the proper understanding of Scripture on the topic. What we come up with from this perspective would apply to every country in every period of human history.

To begin, any human government should be established "by God's authority, for God's glory," and not "by the people, for the people." This is not to overturn the foundation of American government or the philosophy of democracy. Let me say two things about this to clarify.

First, the ideal human government is not democracy, but divine dictatorship – that is, to have Jesus Christ as the king of all. Dictatorship is in principle the most efficient form of government, but its success depends on the worth, ability, and character of the dictator. Only Jesus Christ deserves this level of exaltation, and only he can wield such power justly and wisely. His government would require no advisors, no inefficient political procedures, and no balance of power. And there would be no corruption, no injustice, no mistakes, and no failure.

Of course, God has always ruled the universe, and all things proceed according to his will. But our present discussion relates not to the ultimate reference point, but to a subordinate one, for we are considering human government only. And on this level, God has not given us divine dictatorship as a system of human government. Until heaven, there will be no government in which those who hold power are completely sinless and selfless, and in which all the precepts of God are perfectly followed. So to admit that ours is not an ideal system of government does not necessarily mean that it deserves to be overturned, and still less does it mean that we should adopt another form of government, such as human dictatorship.

Second, the principle of "by the people, for the people" is indeed acceptable and perhaps even preferable, but only when considered in a relative sense, that is, not relative to divine rule, but to a subordinate reference point. In other words, here we temporarily exclude the creator-creature relationship from our thinking, and instead consider only the relationships between men.

But what is relative is subordinate, so that it cannot be the ultimate foundation for government. Rather, since God is the ultimate reference point for all of reality, we cannot truly and finally exclude him from any aspect of our thinking, and thus he must also be the ultimate reference point for human government. Therefore, "by God's authority, for God's glory" must be the Christian philosophy of human government. Temporary compromises aside, divine authority and revealed precepts must make up the starting point of our thinking.

In the United States, the argument is often over the so-called "separation of church and state." The legitimacy of the phrase itself is in question, as the Constitution does not in fact include or assert it. But as mentioned, the Constitution is not the Bible. It has no necessary place in a discussion on the Bible's teaching on the government, unless the discussion has to do with whether the Constitution is biblical. Right now we are thinking about human government – all human government, and not just the United States.

(to be continued)

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