The Separation of Church and State
Roger Williams was the first public official to use the “church and state” figure of speech. He proposed that a real Christian church would be possible only if there was “a wall or hedge of separation” between the “wilderness of the world” and “the garden of the church.” He advocated that any government interference in the church would ruin the church. However, the most famous use of the phrase was spoken by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. Jefferson stated that when the American people adopted the establishment clause they built a “wall of separation between the church and state.”
People often quote Thomas Jefferson who talked about the wall that separates church and state. But they neglect to see that he wasn’t saying that religion should have no influence on the government. He was simply saying that the government should never dictate what the denomination of the state should be. Jefferson tried to protect the religious liberties from the involvement of the government.
The founding fathers did not seek to eliminate religion in America for the morals of Christianity and the Judeo-Christian faith must influence our government because they are the basic morals for any government in the world. No government can survive without keeping at least the last six of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The Lord wrote the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone. The first table of stone had the four commandments that deal with our relationship with God. The second table of stone had the last six commandments that deal with our relationship with man.
Make No Religious Law
The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Nowadays, there is a movement in America demanding that we legislate by law that people keep the Ten Commandments. But this is not right, even though we believe in keeping the Ten Commandments. The Law of God should not be kept by using civil laws. No Law should dictate who should we worship or how should we worship. The government should never be involved in enforcing with civil penalties the first four commandments.
But, on the other hand, if a government does not endorse the last six, societies will experience total chaos. If the government does not protect life, mandate the protection of property, support saying the truth…the society will fall apart. So the last six commandments should be upheld by the government. But that’s where we draw the line. That is where we enforce the separation of Church and state. The first four commandments that deals with man’s relationship with God should not be enforced by any government. That would go against the constitution and the freedom of religion that our founding fathers fought for.
A Christian must uphold the separation of church and state because when the state heads the church, the freedom of the gospel is obliterated. The Lord created Humans with the freedom to choose Him or reject Him (Joshua 24:15a). Any civil law that interferes with man’s relationship with God is not part of His plan. The Dark Ages is a prime example of the persecution that was the result of forcing the religious beliefs of the state (Catholic Church) on the citizens. Consequently tens of millions of martyrs died for their faith. And the survivors fled to America to establish a free nation from church tyranny.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
