Of the Civil Magistrate, XXIII:3

Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the Church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ has appointed a regular government and discipline in his Church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretence of religion or of infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any other person whatsoever: and to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance.

Here the Confession sets forth the proper role of the civil magistrate--what he may not do as well as what he must do. This is a lengthy paragraph and an even larger subject. Entire books have been written on the relationship of civil government to the church. I do not pretend to provide a comprehensive discussion here. But a few observations are useful:

1. Caesar may have what is Caesar's; to God belong the things of God. Specifically, God has entrusted the preaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments, and the spiritual discipline of Christians to his church. The civil government may not arrogate to itself these functions, nor is it permitted to interfere with them. The church rightly draws a boundary around these functions that the civil government may not cross.

2. Yet both church and state are secondary authorities under God who has established them. They serve a common Master. It only makes sense that the functions and activities of the two would be parallel. Both church and state exist to glorify God, to obey him, to encourage the growth of his kingdom (insofar as it lies within the power of men to do this), and to shed the blessings of God's truth abroad. Accordingly, the state should do what it can to protect the church, to give her every possible advantage to the accomplishing of her mission, and to prevent outside interference (for example, anti-religious persons attempting to disrupt worship services).

3. The state should be strictly neutral, not as to religion versus anti-religion, but as to the various denominations of the Christian faith. The great shame of our time is that the state pretends to be neutral toward religion as a whole, both biblical religion and bad religion, and in doing so is actually hostile to biblical religion because it pretends that there should be a "level" playing field.

There is probably a great deal more that could be said, but I will leave the subject there.

Tomorrow: The responsibilities of Christians toward civil government.