The fundamental, axiomatic truth upon which the Christian teaching of sphere sovereignty depends is that all authority (absolute authority) is given to the one, Triune God of heaven and earth. If you reject this truth, there is only tyranny. This is because true freedom is found in knowing Him and in obedience to His Word.
It logically follows, and it can be Biblically demonstrated with the greatest ease, that God delegates authority to men. Delegated authority is different than transferred authority in that delegated authority is under authority. Self-government is the authority to govern oneself in obedience to God. The father and mother in the home are designated early on in Scripture as authorities in the home, over their children (Exodus 20:12). As history develops we see various judges and kings who govern Israel. God delegates the role of the civil magistrate as His servant in Romans 13:1-7. We also see the prophets and priests of Israel who are meant to open the Scriptures and teach the Word. God delegates the role of the officers of the church in the New Testament - for example, in Hebrews 13:17, I Peter 5, I Timothy 3. We talk about these authorities as self, home, church and state.
Delegated authority is different than transferred authority in that delegated authority is under authority.
What is important here is that delegated authority is clearly distinguished from absolute authority. Delegated authority is limited authority. It is authority that is under authority. It is not transferred authority. It is when men seek absolute authority that they rise up in pride against God and tyranny expands it’s tentacles. We all have that tendency to seek absolute authority. You have seen it with a father in the home, with a pastor in the church, with a Prime Minister or some other head of state. Men must repent of those sins of pride and bring it before the throne of God.
It makes no sense when a man speaks of placing a home or a church or a state under the Lordship of Christ, that secularists will quickly call him an authoritarian. Yes, part of doing that well means that one needs a good theology. He needs to understand what matters lie in the field of liberty, what matters are clearly related to God’s law, what matters should be dealt with by the family or the civil magistrate or the church, and how they are to be dealt with. He needs wisdom and maturity. It is true that many of those who confess the Lordship of Christ with the mouth are neither mature nor wise. But to pursue the Lordship of Christ over all things is not in and of itself an authoritarian matter, when it is done in humble submission to Jesus Christ and seeking the wisdom of His glorious rule.
This is why for freedom to exist, the father has to have the authority to tell the magistrate “this far and no farther”. A self-ruled man (or woman) has to have the authority to determine what the doctors are allowed to inject into his body. The civil magistrate has a duty to punish crimes that happen in the church or in the home (or the state). The officers of the church have a duty to teach both fathers and magistrates the Law.
If an officer of the church had absolute authority in his own realm, that would be a problem, especially in a sinful world. The same goes for a civil magistrate or a father. But because God has absolute authority, it is the duty of each man to wield his authority in a manner that seeks to bring all into subjection to Jesus Christ.
This is where Calvinism has played a major role in defining & advancing the freedom of the Western world. Freedom is not the freedom to do whatever one wants. Rather, it is the freedom to do one’s duty, the freedom to take right dominion in the world in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The truth that God is God and man is not, puts a check on the god-complex that arises in all men, but especially the state apparatus. This god-complex has led to the great tyrannies of Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and now the various cruel medical and economic tyrannies of western governments.
You see though that this principle of sphere sovereignty precedes Calvinism. Kuyper did not invent it. Rather, he was repackaging an old theology for the modern world. You find a form of it in Augustine’s teachings and throughout Christian history.
Canada is the legal child of Britain. It is in England in the year 1215, that the nobles and the pastors bound king John to the law. The Magna Carta was released in June of 1215. A draft of the Magna Carta in 1297 began this way:
In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely. We furthermore grant and give to all the freemen of our realm for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity the liberties written below to have and to hold to them and their heirs from us and our heirs in perpetuity.
The idea that the king is not over the Law, but under the Law, is deeply entrenched in Western history, especially in documents like the Magna Carta. There must be a law to protect freemen and a free church from the god-complex of a state that wants to accumulate all authority to itself. The very fact that our current Prime Minister in Canada is at work to change the laws demonstrates not only that he believes that he is over the law, but that he finds himself within this history of the Magna Carta. He is rebelling against a distinctly Christian tradition in western law.
This basic concept of sphere sovereignty has been explained in different ways at different times in history. The language of the Belgic Confession is that the officers are directly answerable to Jesus Christ who is the sole Head of the Church. It also traces the authority of the civil magistrate directly back to God. Notice that God does not transfer authority to either office. Article 32 places checks on the authority of the church. Article 36 places checks on the authority of the state. Just as Adam was called to rule Paradise in submission to God, so all earthly authorities are called to rule this broken and sinful world in submission to God.
I see various Canadian movements calling for freedom and liberty. This is an innate desire in all men - to love liberty. Many Canadians who have been here for generations, even though not Christian, are operating on cultural concepts and values that are derived from the role that Christianity historically played in our great nation. We still feel the affects of the Magna Carta a millenium later. Let’s get to work before our nation rejects it all-together.
Sadly, our nation will not see a substantial return to proper principles for freedom and liberty until we see a mass return to the Lord in our nation and a submission to His authority over all.
it is important that Christians continue to set forth a framework of sphere sovereignty, of limited government, of the king under the law.
In the meantime, it is important that Christians continue to set forth a framework of sphere sovereignty, of limited government, of the king under the law. That is not possible until we humble ourselves before the holy Laws of God and truly believe that the principles of this Law really are the best law for any society. Once we humble ourselves in such a manner and look to Jesus Christ for His grace and the help of His Holy Spirit, then society will start to be transformed as we become self-ruled men under the Laws of God in the home, in the church, in the business, in the school, in the public square.
I encourage Christians to look into these historic teachings on limited authority. All those who want an extended teaching on this should start by looking into the works of Abraham Kuyper on sphere sovereignty. I encourage you to buy especially “Calvinism: the Stone Lectures” from Canon Press and “Abraham Kuyper: a Centennial Reader” from Eerdmans (edited by James D. Bratt). I have not read the book yet, but I have also heard this book from Kuyper is a really good book: “Our Program: a Christian Political Manifesto”.
Photo by Tom Carnegie on Unsplash
Excellent content. Keep up the good work!