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First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way 1 Timothy 1.1, 2
As Paul explains in Romans 13:1-5, civil government is God’s servant for good. Society is good, in the first instance, when governments maintain order and civility – when people are able to live together in peace and quiet. Any government which, without repression or violence, is able to create an atmosphere of peace and quiet is serving the purposes of God, whether the powers-that-be acknowledge this or not.
Governments today, at least in the West, are secular; they feel no particular compunction to pursue policies in line with the Law of God. Nevertheless, the Law of God is holy and righteous and good. We should expect it to provide valuable insights and guidelines for creating a good and just society.
All governments, furthermore, are accountable to God and have been established to create and maintain just and good societies. Moreover, all people have a sense of what “goodness” and “justice” look like, and know when they are living in peace and quiet with their neighbors. This is because, at least in part, God has created people with the works of His Law written on their hearts. Something in the human soul – and in the corporate soul of society – inclines toward and yearns for a state of goodness, justice, peace, and quiet such as is encoded in the commandments, statutes, and rules of the Law of God.
To the extent that Christians, drawing on the Law of God, can influence the policies of government to promote a peaceful and quiet society, they must certainly do so.
T. M. Moore
Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.