Sacralism in human governments, March 31st, 2025. Introduction. We see in scripture that there are three

distinct governments among men that were established by God directly. The first was the

government of the family, when God presented our first mother to Adam,

Genesis 2, 22 through 24, and the Apostle Paul delineates the hierarchical nature of that government for us.

Ephesians 524, 1 Corinthians 11. The second government established by God is civil government,

as Paul tells us, Romans 13, 1 through 7, and the third government he established

was the government of the church, Ephesians 4, 8 through 13. These three governments were

established directly by him, and so he writes the bylaws for them. He determines the legitimate

jurisdictions of each and the range of their respective responsibilities. The family is supposed to be

the Ministry of Health, Education, and Welfare. The civil government is the Ministry of Justice.

The Church is the Ministry of Word and Sacrament. Other governments can be formed by men, of course,

and as the creators, the founders of such governments get to write the bylaws for them. But these are lesser

forms of social organization and do not conduct their business with any kind of divine sanction.

They are lawful, certainly, but they do not come to us from the hand of God the way the others do.

I'm talking here about the bylaws for your Ham Radio Club or the rules for a ladies' book group,

or the expectations and standards for a signal group club or the rules for a ladies book group or the expectations and

standards for a signal group chat, like not allowing a journalist from the Atlantic.

The challenge. All nice and tidy, right? The difficulty is that in the pursuit of their duties,

these three governments have to relate to one another, and there are competing views on the

nature of those interactions.

Everything would be nice and tidy if everybody concerned was a Christian, and moreover, if everybody

concerned were thinking and acting like Christians.

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