It cannot be denied that Scripture ascribes some duties to the governments of this world and some duties to the church. For example, governing authorities of this world are said to bear the sword. Paul, in Romans 13:1-4, writes:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
This sword, while given to the state, is never said to be given to the church. Christ, instead, gives the church the keys to the kingdom of heaven. To Peter, Jesus says, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19).” So, the government has been given the sword, and the church has been given the keys to heaven.
Since the Scripture never gives either of these to the other, neither the keys to the government nor the sword to church, these powers ought to always be seen as distinct. Writing of the Reformed position in the post-Reformation era, Herman Bavinck writes:
Just as God had appointed the government as sovereign in the state, so he anointed Christ as king of his church. State and church, therefore, were essentially distinct from each other—in origin, nature, and government. To transfer the church’s power to the state was a violation of the kingship of Christ.
Speaking to the power of local churches, then Second London Baptist Confession reads:
To each of these churches thus gathered, according to His mind declared in His Word, He hath given all that power and authority, which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline, which He hath instituted for them to observe; with commands and rules for the due and right exerting, and executing of that power.
Notice how both Bavinck and the Confession are careful to observe and maintain the clear distinction in the Scriptures between the powers of man’s kingdom and the powers of God’s kingdom. To the city of God is given the keys to heaven; to the city of man, the sword of civil justice.
This is a simplified summary of what is sometimes referred to as two kingdom theology. The two kingdoms refer to the kingdom of God on the one hand, and the kingdom of man on the other. This distinction serves to highlight the circumstance of the Christian as he lives in this world. He is a citizen of heaven and he looks toward a heavenly country. Nevertheless, he has been given an earthly citizenship in an earthly country. The Christian has dual citizenship. He is at once a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and a citizen of the kingdom of man—and he has been given responsibilities accordingly.
Resources:
1. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 4, (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2008), 411.
2. 2LBCF, 26.7.
3. Sermon, ‘The Christian’s Dual Citizenship’