What is the biblical form of Government?

by Matt Slick | Jan 3, 2022 | Government, Secular Issues

Does the Bible say anything about government? Yes, it does. In fact, it tells us what government is supposed to be, as well as not be? Biblical government institutes rules to govern the fallen. This is an important concept. Mankind is touched by sin in all areas: body, soul, mind, emotions, etc. So, we need to have laws in place to curtail the natural tendencies of the unsaved to act according to their sinful inclinations.
What is the biblical form of Government?

We are either ruled from within, or without. If God is living in us, then He guides our hearts and our hands. But, if He is distant and an afterthought to many, then they need to be ruled from the outside, from governmental restrictions and pressures.

1 Timothy 1:8–9, “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers.”

A representative form of government
1. Exodus 18:21-22, “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.”
2. Deut. 1:13, “Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’”
Self-governance
1. Matthew 18:15-17, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Private Property rights
1. Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
2. Acts 5:4, “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
The principle of liberty and freedom and the promotion of those
1. 2 Cor. 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
2. Gal. 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
3. 1 Peter 2:16, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
The principle of self-defense and the defense of others
1. Self-defense
  1. Exodus 22:2, “If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account.”
  2. Luke 22:36, “And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.”
2. Defense of others
  1. Psalm 82:4, “Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
  2. Proverbs 24:11, “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.”
Capitalist Principles
1. Matt. 25:14-30, This is the parable of the talents where the master gives to the servants, different amounts of money, and requires them to produce more out of what they have been given.
2. Matt. 21:33-41, This is the parable of the landowner leaving servants in charge of his vineyard. He owned the vineyard and required proper treatment of his people and his property.
Witnesses and fair trial
1. Deut. 19:15, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”
2. Matt. 18:16, “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.”
Right of taxation
1. Luke 20:24–25, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Limits of Government
1. Not have foreigners rule
  1. Deuteronomy 17:14–15, “When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.”
2. Do not follow if contradict God
  1. Acts 5:29, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
3. Do not follow the Government’s lead when…
  1. …it approves of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, socialism, etc.