Calling the State to Be the State

Ultimately with R.C. Sproul

Ligonier Ministries

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2023

⏱️ 4 minutes

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Summary

The church is not overstepping its bounds when Christians speak out against the failure of the state to protect the lives of the unborn. In this episode, R.C. Sproul reminds us that the God-ordained purpose for government is to defend and maintain human life--especially the most vulnerable among us.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The principal justification for the existence of any state in this world is to protect, to maintain, and to nurture human life.
0:14.2	The church has its job to do, the state has its job to do, but the founders of this country recognize
0:19.4	that both the church and the state were under God.
0:34.8	When the church protests abortion on demand. What the church is doing is not asking
0:39.8	the state to do the church's work for the church.
0:45.8	No one's saying to the state, look state,
0:48.4	you have to preach the gospel, look state,
0:51.1	you have to administer the sacraments or any of that business.
0:56.0	The church is not calling the state to be the church.
1:00.0	The church is calling the state to be the state.
1:05.8	Because according to the word of God,
1:08.9	the principal justification for the existence
1:12.0	of any state in this world.
1:14.0	Its primary vocation, its primary task,
1:18.0	its justification for being
1:33.0	under God is to protect, to maintain and to nurture human life.
1:38.0	And when the state is derelict in that responsibility, not only may the church exercise prophetic criticism, beloved, but the church must exercise
1:46.2	prophetic criticism and call the state to be the state. But you see in our country, separation of church and state does not mean what it meant to Jefferson
1:57.3	or to the founding fathers who said that there are two spheres, two institutions, with distinctive job descriptions.
2:05.4	The state has its task to perform, the church has its task to perform, the church is not
2:10.2	given the sword, the church is not given the right to maintain a standing army the church does not have the right
2:15.8	to exact taxes from the citizens and so on those responsibilities and rights adhere to the
	...

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