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Civil Government | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform thinking. I'm really glad you're here with
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us today. We are doing something that
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might seem a bit daunting at first glance, but I promise you
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by the end of this you are going to see the world a little
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differently. We're taking a stack of papers
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that quite literally shaped the Western world, John Calvin's
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Institute of the Christian Religion, and we're zeroing in
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on one specific, and I mean highly relevant section, civil
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government. It is good to be here.
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And you're right about the daunting part.
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When people hear the name Calvin, they usually think of,
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you know, one thing, predestination, or maybe guys
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with big beards in Geneva. But his writing on how a
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Christian interacts with the state, with politics, with the
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law, it's some of the most practical theology he ever
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wrote. Practical is the keyword here.
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Think many of us listening and I definitely include myself in
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this. We struggle with the tension
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between our faith and, you know, the headlines we see on our
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phones every morning. Oh, absolutely.
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There's this constant question nagging at us.
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Do we withdraw? Do we try to take over?
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Do we just keep our heads down and hope nobody notices us?
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It feels like we're constantly trying to balance being citizens
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of heaven with being citizens of a very, very messy earth.
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And that is the specific tension Calvin is addressing.
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He isn't writing political theory in a vacuum or from some
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kind of ivory tower. He's writing to a church that
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was often under persecution, trying to explain how God orders
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the world. He wants to show that the
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magistrate, the politician, the king, the judge is not an
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accident. They are part of God's design to
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protect the church and, frankly, to keep humanity from just
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completely destroying itself. OK, so our mission for this deep
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dive is clear. We want to understand how a
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Christian lives as a citizen of heaven while residing in an
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earthly nation, and we are going to do this through the lens of
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Reformed theology. Using Calvin's text as our map,
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we have a massive amount of ground to cover, so let's jump
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right into the first major concept.
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Calvin starts by drawing a pretty sharp line between two
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types of government. Right.
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Section 1 begins with what Calvin calls the twofold
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government. And you really cannot understand
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anything else he says unless you get this distinction right.
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He says man is under 2 governments.
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There's the spiritual Kingdom and then there's the political
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Kingdom. OK, let's unpack this.
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When he says spiritual Kingdom, he is talking about the inner
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man, right? The soul.
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Correct. The inner man.
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This is all about eternal life, spiritual freedom, your
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conscience before God. This is the realm where Christ
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is king and where we have total freedom from the curse of the
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law. It's all about your soul.
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But then there's the outer man, and this is about civil justice,
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outward morality, and the physical necessities of life.
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Calvin actually lists things like bread, water, and sun to
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make his point. Is very earthy.
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That is a very physical list. It grounds it immediately.
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But here's where it gets tricky. And I think we're a lot of
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modern believers get tripped up. If I am free in Christ, if I
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have this spiritual liberty, why do I need to worry about the
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outer government? Does spiritual freedom mean I'm
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exempt from civil laws? That was the exact argument of
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the fanatics in Calvin's day. He calls them insane and
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barbarous, so he doesn't mince words.
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Because they were shouting that the Gospel abolished all earthly
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authority, they would quote Galatians 5.1.
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Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has
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made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
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bondage. And they saw civil law as a yoke
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of bondage. Exactly, They thought, hey, laws
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are a yoke of bondage. I'm a Christian, I don't need
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kings or judges. I could see the appeal of that
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argument if you just take that verse out of context.
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It sounds very spiritual to say I have no king but Jesus.
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It feels almost pious to say that human laws don't apply to
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me because I answered to a higher authority.
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It does sound pious, but Calvin says it is a massive, massive
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error. He argues that spiritual liberty
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can coexist perfectly with civil bondage, and he uses a very
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strong example from Galatians 3.28.
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Paul says there is neither Jew nor greet slave nor free.
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Now does that mean that if a slave becomes a Christian, he is
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suddenly legally free from his master?
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No, of course not. Not in the Roman Empire.
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Right. It means that in the Kingdom of
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God, his status as a slave is irrelevant to his standing
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before God, but in the civil realm he's still a slave.
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The inward status doesn't just delete the outward reality.
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So just because I am a citizen of heaven doesn't mean I can
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ignore the speed limit or stop paying taxes.
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My spiritual status doesn't give me a get out of jail free card
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for earthly responsibilities. Precisely.
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And Calvin goes even further. He says that civil government is
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not just something we tolerate. He says it is as necessary to
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mankind as bread, water, sun and air.
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That is a high claim. I mean, I think most people
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today view government as a necessary evil, not as essential
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as sunlight. We tend to think if only the
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government would get out of the way, we would be fine.
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Calvin completely disagrees with the necessary evil idea.
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For him, it's a necessary good. He says that if you remove
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government, you deprive man of his humanity, and he lists
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specifically what this government is for.
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It is not just to keep our bellies full or to make sure the
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roads are paved. It has a religious function and
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a social function. OK, what are they?
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It exists to prevent idolatry, blasphemy, and offenses against
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religion. That's protecting the first
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table of the law, and it exists to maintain public peace and
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property rights. That is the second table of the
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law. I.
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Want to circle back to that idea of pilgrims?
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Calvin uses that imagery a lot, doesn't he?
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It feels like a very specific way to view our time here on.
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Earth he does. It's central to his thinking.
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He says that as long as we have pilgrims on Earth, we need these
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helps. We are traveling to our true
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Fatherland, but we are not there yet.
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And because we're not there yet, and because we are not yet
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perfect, we need laws. Calvin is a complete realist.
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He refutes the perfectionists who think the church is so holy
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it doesn't need external laws. He says, essentially, have you
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met people? The insolence of evil men is so
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great that they can barely be restrained by severe laws.
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If you take the laws away, you don't get paradise, you get
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chaos. That's the doctrine of total
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depravity coming through loud and clear.
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We aren't good enough to live without supervision.
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It's funny because we often think of the government as a
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problem, but Calvin is saying the government is the levy
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holding back the let of her own sin.
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Spot on. The government is a restraint.
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It is God's common grace to keep society from completely falling
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apart so that the church can exist and the gospel can go
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forth. Without that order you have
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anarchy, and an anarchy might makes right, which is rarely
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good for the people of God. OK, so we've established that
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government is necessary, it's a gift.
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But what about the people running it?
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In Section 4, Calvin talks about the magistrate and he uses some
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startling language here. He refers to them as gods.
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He's quoting Psalm 82.6. I have said ye are gods.
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Now we have to be very, very careful here.
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Calvin is not saying politicians are divine beings, Not by a long
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shot. OK, good.
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Because that would be a tough sell.
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He is saying they are vice jurants, they are deputies.
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Vice jurants. That's a term we don't hear
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often. It sounds like something from a
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fantasy novel or an Old English court.
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It just means they stand in the place of when a judge walks into
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a courtroom, he is not just a guy in a robe.
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He is acting as a representative of God's authority on earth.
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Calvin points to Romans 13, which says the powers that be
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are ordained of God. He lists examples like David,
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Josiah and Hezekiah, but also Joseph and Daniel who served
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faithfully in Pagan governments. The office itself is holy.
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That really changes the way you look at a politician, doesn't
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it? It is not just a career choice.
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It's a divine mandate. But I have to push back a little
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here. Year Gods.
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Have you seen the news lately? When we look at some of the
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people in power, gods is the last word that comes to mind.
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Clowns maybe, or villains. I get that reaction.
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It feels visceral. But Calvin is being very
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careful. He isn't talking about their
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moral character in that statement.
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He is talking about the seat they sit in.
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Think of it like a uniform. If a police officer walks up to
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your car, you respect the badge and the authority it represents.
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Even if the guy wearing the uniform is having a bad day or
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isn't a great person. The authority comes from the
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structure, not the personality. So it's about the office, not
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the guy. Precisely.
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And that brings a terrifying weight to the office.
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This is what Calvin gets into in Section 6.
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He pivots from the honor of the office to the burden of it.
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If you are a magistrate and you truly believe you are sitting on
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God's throne, that is the language he uses, God's throne,
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how careful must you be? That's an incredible image.
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Not just a judge's bench, but God.
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'S throne. Imagine the psychological weight
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of that. And he quotes Jeremiah 48.10.
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Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully.
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That is intense. It is a chilling warning.
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If a ruler is unjust, they are not just being a bad politician.
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They are insulting God directly because they are defiling God's
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own judgment seat. They are taking the image of
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divine justice and twisting it. So while the office is
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honorable, the person filling it is under a severe curse if they
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abuse it. That makes me think that running
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for office is not something to be taken lightly.
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It's not just about winning votes, it's about stepping into
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a role where you are directly accountable to God for how you
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represent His justice on earth. It should make anyone tremble,
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Calvin says. They should act with supreme
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integrity, prudence, mildness, self-control and innocence
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because they are representing the King of Kings.
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So we have the office and we have the person.
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Now let's talk about the system. In Section 8, Calvin actually
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breaks down the different forms of government, monarchy,
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aristocracy, and democracy. Does he pick a winner?
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Does he endorse 1? He does, but he's very cautious
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and very pragmatic about it. He looks at monarchy rule by 1
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and says it is very easy for a king to slide into tyranny.
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He calls it the least pleasant form because it brings a common
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bondage to everyone except the king.
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If the king is good, great, but if he is bad, everyone suffers.
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OK, that makes sense. Then he looks at democracy,
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popular rule. Right.
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And he says it's the easiest to fall into sedition and chaos.
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He calls it a gliding into disorder when everyone rules,
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nobody rules, and you end up with mob justice.
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So that leaves aristocracy in the middle.
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Right. Or a mixed system.
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He calls it aristocracy, bordering on democracy.
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This would be ruled by the best men, a group of people.
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And his reasoning is purely theological, rooted in his view
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of human nature, he says. And this is a key quote.
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Because of men's fault or failing, it is safer for a
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number of people to exercise government.
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Because power corrupts. Yes.
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If you have one guy, his willfulness can run unchecked.
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If you have a group, they can act as sensors or checks on one
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another. They can admonish each other.
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It's pragmatic wisdom born out of a belief in human sinfulness.
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We share power not because people are inherently good and
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deserve a voice, but because individuals are flawed and need
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to be restrained by their peers. That sounds a lot like the
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checks and balances we're familiar with in modern
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constitutional republics. It's almost like the seed of the
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American system is right there in the Institute's.
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It is definitely the seed of that idea.
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And notice what he says. The duty of these magistrates is
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he calls them guardians of freedom.
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That's their job title. And if they let the people's
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freedom diminish, he calls them traitors to their country.
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Strong words. Traitors.
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That implies that their job isn't just to rule, but to
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actively protect the liberty of the people they rule.
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Correct. They are stewards of the
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people's liberty. If they fail in that, they are
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betraying their station. I want to move to the laws
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themselves. We have the government, we have
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the rulers. Now the laws.
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In Section 9, Calvin talks about the religious duties of the
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state. In our modern context, we are
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very used to the separation of church and state, but Calvin
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seems to have a very different view.
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He does a profoundly different view.
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He believes the state must care for both tables of the law.
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The 10 commandments are divided into two tables.
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The 1st 4 are about our relationship with God.
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No idols, keep the Sabbath, don't blasphemy.
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The last 6 are about our relationship with our neighbors.
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Don't kill, don't steal. And Calvin argues the state is
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responsible for both. Both.
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He argues that no government is happily established unless piety
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is the first concern. He says it's folly to think you
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can have justice among men if you ignore the worship of God.
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However, he also emphasizes the second table justice, saving the
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oppressed, protecting the widows and orphans.
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He quotes Jeremiah 22.3 extensively here.
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He's not saying the state is the church, but he is saying the
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state has a duty to protect true religion and enforce public
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morality. Now this leads to a question
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that comes up all the time in reform circles.
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It's a huge point of contention. If we are a Christian nation or
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if we want biblical laws, does that mean we have to adopt the
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Mosaic law? Are we talking about stoning
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people for adultery? This is where people get really
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nervous about Reformed politics. This is a crucial section,
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sections 14 through 16, and Calvin makes a very, very
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helpful distinction between three types of law given to
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Israel, moral, ceremonial, and judicial.
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Let's break those down 1 by 1. The moral law is the eternal
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rule of love. Worship God, love your neighbor.
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That is unchangeable. It applies to everyone, every,
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everywhere, forever. It is the summary of God's
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character. Got it.
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That's the 10 commandments in principle.
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Exactly. Then there's the ceremonial law,
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the sacrifices, the dietary laws, the priesthood, Calvin
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says this was a tutelage for the Jews.
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It pointed forward to Christ. Once Christ came, those laws
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were abrogated. They were fulfilled.
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We don't sacrifice bulls anymore because the Lamb of God has
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come. Right.
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That part is usually clear to people, but the judicial law is
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where the debate happens. The judicial law was the Civil
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Code for ancient Israel, the specific penalties, the specific
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property laws, Calvin says these were formulas of equity for that
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specific time and that specific place.
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And here is his key argument. Nations are free to make their
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own laws. They do not have to copy the
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judicial law of Moses. So we don't need to copy the
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punishments. No, but, and this is a very big
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bun bun, but our laws must align with the eternal purpose of the
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moral law. He calls this equity.
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OK, hold on. This is where people usually get
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tripped up. Explain that concept of equity a
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bit more. What does he mean by that?
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Think of equity as the soul of the law and the judicial code as
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the body. The body can change depending on
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the climate, the culture, the era, but the soul.
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The soul has to stay the same. Give me a concrete example.
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OK, take theft. The moral law says thou shalt
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not steal. That's the eternal rule of love.
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It's always wrong. In ancient Israel, the judicial
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law body said if you steal an ox, you pay back five oxen.
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That was the specific punishment for an agrarian society where an
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ox was your tractor, your livelihood.
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Right, but we don't live in an agrarian society.
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I don't even own an ox. I drive a Toyota.
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Exactly so, Calvin says if a modern nation decides that the
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punishment for theft is prison time or a massive fine or
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community service, that is fine. The form of the law has changed,
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but the equity, the collective agreement that theft is wrong
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and must be punished to protect property and promote justice,
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remains. He's essentially saying don't
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confuse the specific punishment with the universal principle.
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That is really helpful. So a lot of it says theft is OK
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would be wrong because it violates the moral law.
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But a law that punishes theft with jail time instead of
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fivefold restitution is perfectly fine, according to
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Calvin. Perfectly fine, he says.
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We shouldn't get hung up on the diversity of laws as long as
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they all press toward the same goal of equity.
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He actually has harsh words for people who say we dishonor the
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Law of Moses by not using it. He calls that idea false and
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foolish. OK, that clarifies a lot.
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Moving on to Section 5, we have to talk about the sword.
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The government has the right to use force, but the Bible says
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thou shalt not kill. How does Calvin resolve that
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apparent contradiction? He resolves it by pointing back
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to agency. When a magistrate executes a
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murderer, he isn't acting as a private individual taking
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revenge. He is an avenger unto wrath for
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God, to quote Romans 13. He's carrying out God's
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judgement, not his own. Calvin says the magistrate must
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hallow his hands by this work. Hallow his hands.
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That implies that the act of punishing evil is actually a
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holy act. That sounds so different from
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how we usually talk about state violence.
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It is. He uses the example of Moses in
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Exodus 32. Moses was known as the meekest
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man on earth, yet he ordered the slaying of 3000 men who
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worshipped the golden calf. Calvin asks.
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I can, gentlemen, do that? Because he was executing
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vengeance ordained by God. And this leads to a powerful
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point. If a ruler fails to punish if he
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shows what Calvin calls cruel gentleness, he is actually
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harming the innocent. Cruel gentleness.
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That is a fascinating paradox. It means if you are too soft on
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the criminal, you are being cruel to the victim and to
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society. You are letting the wolves run
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free among the sheep. It feels nice and merciful to be
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lenient, but the result is more suffering for the good and law
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abiding people. And this logic extends to WAR,
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right? Sections 11 and 12 cover Just
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WAR. Yes, war is a essentially an
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extension of policing. Calvin argues that if a ruler
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has a duty to stop a robber inside the city, he also has a
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duty to stop an invading robber, an enemy army that threatens his
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people. So just war is primarily
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defensive for Calvin. Primarily, it must be driven by
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a public concern for the people, not by the rulers, private
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passion or anger. He warns against being carried
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away with headlong anger, but he is clear that the New Testament
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does not forbid war. He points out that when soldiers
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came to John the Baptist, John didn't tell them to quit the
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army. He told them to be content with
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their wages and do violence to no man, Meaning don't abuse your
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power but do your job. Speaking of wages, Calvin brings
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up the topic. Nobody likes taxes.
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Section 13. Yes, he validates taxes as
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lawful revenues that are needed to maintain the dignity of the
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office and the functions of the state.
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But he gives a very stern warning to rulers.
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He says this money is the very blood of the people.
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That is a visceral image, the blood of the people.
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It makes you think about every dollar the government spends in
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a different light. It is.
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It reminds the ruler that this isn't play money from a board
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game. To waste it on luxury or to tax
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without just cause is tyrannical extortion.
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It is, in God's eyes, a theft from the very people they're
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supposed to protect. Let's bring this down to the
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level of the average citizen for a moment.
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Section 6 talks about litigation, lawsuits.
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I think many Christians feel guilty about suing someone
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because of Paul's words of First Corinthians 6 about believers
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taking each other to court. Kelvin addresses that head on.
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He says the legal process itself is a holy gift from God.
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It's a way to find a peaceful resolution.
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So using it is not a sin in itself.
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The sin lies in the heart. So it's about why you are suing.
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Exactly. Are you burning with revenge?
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Do you hate the person? Do you want to destroy them and
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see them ruined? If so, then the lawsuit is
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sinful, even if your case is technically just.
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But if you are seeking fairness, defending your rights without
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bitterness, and you're able to treat your adversary with love
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and be willing to reconcile, then it is permissible.
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Calvin admits that this is rare, though, doesn't he?
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Oh, he's very realistic. He says it would be a miracle of
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found. He knows human nature.
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He knows that once we get into a legal battle, our blood boils
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and charity goes out the window. So while he allows it in
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principle, he sets the bar for the heart Attitude incredibly
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high. He says a Christian must be
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willing to lose their property rather than lose their charity.
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That is a hard standard. Willing to lose the house, the
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car, the money, rather than lose charity towards the person who
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wronged you. That is the standard of Christ.
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It is. It forces us to check our
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motives constantly. Are we looking for justice or
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are we looking for payback? Now we arrive at what I think is
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the most challenging part of this entire discussion.
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Section 7. Obedience to the unjust ruler.
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It's easy to obey a good king, but what about a bad one?
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A really, really bad one. This is where Calvin is most
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counterpultural, both for his own time and certainly for
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hours. He states very plainly that we
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owe reverence and obedience not just to the office, but to the
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person in the office, even if they are wicked.
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Even if they are wicked, yes. His logic is strictly
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theological. God appoints kings.
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If a king is good, it is a blessing from God.
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If a king is wicked, it is a judgement from God, a whip for
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the people's sins. So if we have bad leaders, it is
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because we as a people deserve them.
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That is a very hard pill to swallow.
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That is Calvin's argument. He points to Nebuchadnezzar in
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Jeremiah 27. Nebuchadnezzar was a brutal
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Pagan conqueror. Yet God, speaking through the
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prophet, calls him my servant. And God commands Israel to serve
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the king of Babylon and live even more.
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Jeremiah 29 tells them to pray for the peace of Babylon, the
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city of their captors. That had to be absolutely
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galling for the Israelites. Here is the guy who destroyed
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your temple and your city and you were supposed to pray for
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his success. It was a profound test of their
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faith in God's sovereignty. If you believe God raises up
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kings and brings them down, then you have to believe he raised up
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this one too. For his own purposes.
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Calvin says we must not examine the men themselves, but look at
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the inviolable majesty God has imprinted on the office.
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He cites David refusing to kill Saul.
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Saul was actively trying to murder David.
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Yet David said I cannot touch the Lord's anointed.
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So does this mean we just roll over and accept tyranny?
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Can a private citizen ever revolt?
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Calvin says no, a private citizen must not intrude in
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public affairs. If something needs fixing, they
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must point it out to a magistrate.
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They shouldn't take matters into their own hands.
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That sounds like a recipe for absolute tyranny.
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If the king is a monster and the people can't revolt, what is
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left? It feels hopeless.
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Well, this is where it gets really interesting, and This is
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why you have to read Calvin all the way to the end.
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In Section 8 he gives us the guardrails.
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He introduces two major exceptions to this rule of
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submission. The first is the concept of the
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lesser magistrate. The lesser magistrate?
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It sounds like a mid level manager.
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You can think of it that way. It's actually the constitutional
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exception to the do not revolt rule, Calvin says.
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OK, you the private citizen, you can't storm the palace, but
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there are people whose job it is to protect you from the king.
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Like who? Who are these lesser
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magistrates? In his day, he was thinking of
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the tribunes in Rome or the E Fours in Sparta.
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In a modern context, it's Congress, it's the parliament,
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it's your state governor or your City Council, Calvin says.
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These people don't just have the right to stand up to a tyrant
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king, they have a divine duty to do it.
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So if the president or the Prime Minister goes rogue, it's not up
22:30
to the mob to burn it down, It's up to the other branches of
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government to say no, you can't do that.
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Precisely. And if they don't, if they just
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let the tyrant do whatever he wants, Calvin calls them
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traitors. He says they are guilty of
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nefarious perfidy because they have betrayed the liberty of the
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people God appointed them to protect.
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Nefarious perfidy. I'm definitely going to use
22:50
that. But seriously, that place is a
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huge responsibility on those lesser officials.
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It does. They are the shield for the
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people. So for Calvin, resistance to
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tyranny is lawful, but it must be constitutional.
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It must must be led by the lesser magistrates, not the mob.
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It keeps the order while allowing for justice and the
23:08
correction of tyranny. That is a crucial distinction.
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It prevents anarchy, but allows for correction.
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But what if the command from the top, from the king, for the
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lesser magistrate, from anyone, is to do something that violates
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God's law directly? This is the supreme exception,
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section 32, and it's the absolute line.
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Obedience to man must never, ever lead to disobedience to
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God, because God is the king of kings.
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If a ruler commands something against God, like Jeroboam
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setting up golden calves to be worshipped, or the law
23:38
forbidding Daniel to pray, at that moment the ruler has
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abdicated his divine authority. He has lifted his horns against
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God. God, as Calvin puts it.
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Exactly, at that point the ruler is just a man, not a vice Sharon
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to God, and the rule is simple. Acts 5.29 We must obey God
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rather than men. But notice the response here.
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It isn't necessarily violent revolution.
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It's civil disobedience. Yes, the response is refusal to
24:02
obey the sinful command and then suffering the consequences.
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We see this with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
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They didn't tack Nebuchadnezzar's guards, they
24:10
just respectfully refused to bow and they walked into the fire.
24:13
They accepted the penalty for their disobedience to the state
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in order to be obedient to God. That is the price of redemption.
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Calvin quotes First Corinthians 7.23.
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You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.
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We do not enslave our consciences to the impiety of
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men. It is such a power, powerful
24:31
balance. We honor the office, we obey the
24:33
laws, we use the legal system without hate.
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We pay our taxes. We are the best citizens.
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But when the state asks us to sin, we draw a line in the sand.
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Not because we are rebels, but because we have a higher king.
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That is it. The Christian is the best
24:48
citizen because he obeys for conscience's sake, not just out
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of fear of punishment, but he's also the most dangerous citizen
24:54
to a tyrant because his obedience has a hard limit.
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He fears God more than he fears the King.
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So let's try to summarize what we have dug up today.
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Government is a divine gift, not a curse.
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Rulers are God's deputies whether they know it or not, and
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we obey them as a way of obeying God.
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We use the law to uphold justice, but must check our
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hearts for hatred. And finally, we resist only when
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commanded to sin or through the proper constitutional channels
25:20
provided by the lesser magistrates.
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It is a robust, realistic and deeply theological view of
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politics. It saves us from the apathy of
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withdrawing from the world. And it saves us from the
25:31
idolatry of thinking politics can somehow save the world.
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I want to leave our listeners with a final thought to chew on.
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We talked about Calvin's view that a wicked ruler is God's
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judgement, a whip for a people's sin.
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It is so easy for us to look at our political landscape,
25:45
whatever country you're in, and complain about the quality of
25:48
leadership. We see corruption, incompetence,
25:51
or just bad policy. But if Calvin is right, then
25:54
those leaders are a mirror. That is a very hard mirror to
25:57
look into. It is.
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So here's the provocation for you to think about.
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If we are unhappy with our leaders, instead of just posting
26:05
about it on social media or arguing at the dinner table,
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should we be looking at the spiritual state of our
26:10
citizenry? If the leaders are the
26:13
judgement, maybe the remedy isn't just a new vote, but a new
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heart for the people. Maybe the path to better
26:20
government starts not in the voting booth, but with our own
26:23
repentance. That connects the political
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right back to the spiritual. A fitting end to a discussion on
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Calvin. Thank you so much for guiding us
26:30
through this. It is heavy lifting but it is so
26:33
worth it my. Pleasure is a great
26:34
conversation. And thank you for listening to
26:36
this deep dive into reformed thinking.
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We will see you next time.