THINGS THAT BELONG TO GOD
1 Samuel 8:18
Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
A limited civil government is not one that excludes the priority of justice functioning in society; on the contrary, it promotes it. What it does do is free up the other governments to fulfill their responsibility without being illegitimately infringed upon. The responsibility of civil government is to maintain a safe, just, and righteous environment for freedom to flourish. Yet Jesus didn’t stop with His statement to give to Caesar what was his. He went on to make the same requirement when it came to the things of God. So the question is, what things belong to God? Scripture is clear that everything belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). So while Jesus’ answer in Mark 12:13–17 of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s legitimized human civil government, it also limited human civil government. That is, you only give to civil government that which God has authorized it to be responsible for.
The problem comes when civil government tries to be more than it was designed to be, or fails to protect or promote that which government was designed to protect or promote (personal responsibility, family, church, and other private local expressions of charity). Civil government was never created to be your parent. When civil government expands and reaches into the other three spheres of government God has instituted (personal, family, and church), tyranny results, reflected in high and illegitimate taxation, subsequently causing civil government to grow far beyond its divinely authorized scope—allowing it to both confiscate and redistribute that which is not lawfully theirs, as was in the case of 1 Samuel 8 (verses 10–18).
REFLECTION: What is the government’s legitimate function? What is the danger when government overreaches its function? How do we make sure we don’t credit the government with more authority than it has? Everything belongs to You, God. You are over all things. Yet You have also established government to serve the needs of the people. Help each of us to duly respect our government.
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