5. Christians' Subjection to Secular Authority
he had shed much blood and had borne the sword;1 not that he had done wrong thereby, but because he could not be a type of Christ, who without the sword was to have a kingdom of peace. (2Sam 7:5 ff.)2 It must be built by Solomon, whose name means "Frederick" or "peaceful," who had a peaceful kingdom, by which the truly peaceful kingdom of Christ, the real Frederick and Solomon, could be represented. (1Kng 5:12 ff.)3
In like manner, during the entire building of the temple, not the sound of a tool was heard, as the text says (1Kng 6:7);4 all for this reason: that Christ, without constraint and force, without law and the sword, was to have a people who serve Him freely.
This is what the prophets mean in Psa 110:3, "Your people shall be willing"; and in Isa 11:9,
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain"; and in Isa 2:4, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and no one shall lift up the sword against another, neither shall they busy themselves in war anymore," etc.
Whoever would apply these and similar passages wherever Christ's name is professed, would entirely pervert the Scriptures; for they are spoken only of true Christians, who really do this among themselves.
5. Christians' Subjection to Secular Authority But perhaps you will say, Since Christians do not need the secular sword and the law, why does Paul say to all Christians, in Rom 13:1, "Let all souls be subject to power and authority"? And St. Peter says, "Be subject to every human ordinance," etc., as quoted above.
(1Pet 2:13) I answer, as I have said, that Christians, among themselves and by and for themselves, need no law or sword, since it is neither necessary nor profitable for them.
Since, however, a true Christian lives and labors on earth not for himself, but for his neighbor, therefore the whole spirit of his life impels him to do even that which he need not do, but which is profitable and necessary for his neighbor. Because the sword is a very great benefit and necessary to the whole world to preserve peace, to punish sin, and to prevent evil, he submits most willingly to the rule of the sword: pays tax, honors those in authority, serves, helps, and does all he can to further the government, so that it may be sustained and held in honor and fear.
Although he needs none of these things for himself, and it is not necessary for him to do them, yet he considers what is for the good and profit of others, as Paul teaches in Eph 5:21,
He serves the State as he performs all other works of love, which he himself does not need.
He visits the sick, not that he may be made well; he feeds no one because he himself needs food: so he also serves the State not because he needs it, but because others need it— that they may be protected and that the wicked may not become worse. He loses nothing by this, and such service in no way harms him, and yet it is of great profit to the world. If he did not do it, he would be acting not as a Christian, but contrary even to love; and he would also be setting a bad example for others, who like him, would not submit to authority, though they were not Christians. In this way, the Gospel would be brought into disrepute, as though it
1 1Chr 22:8 "but the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.
2 2Sam 7:12-14 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.
3 1Kng 5:12 So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
4 1Kng 6:7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.