As Christians, we may wonder how our faith fits with life in the world around us. Scripture gives us a comforting way to think about this. God rules all things! He does so in more than one way. Through the “civil realm,” God preserves order, protects life, and provides a measure of justice through lawful authorities. Through the “spiritual realm,” God brings sinners to faith and keeps them in Christ through the means of grace—the gospel in Word and Sacrament.
We can be thankful for the blessings God gives through government, courts, laws, and public service. These gifts help restrain evil, protect our neighbors, and provide daily peace and order. We may rightly honor lawful authority and serve our community as faithful citizens.
And we remember that no earthly authority can do what only Christ can do! The civil realm may preserve order, but it cannot forgive sins. Laws may protect life, but they cannot create faith. Saving grace comes through Christ alone, through Word and Sacraments.
This keeps the church’s calling clear and precious! The church does not rule by force or place its hope in political power. Christ gives His church a far greater treasure: “the ministry of His Word!” Through that Word, the church calls sinners to repentance, announces forgiveness in Jesus’ name, and comforts troubled hearts with the promises of the gospel.
And where God’s Word speaks clearly, the church teaches what God says about truth, justice, human dignity, and love for our neighbor. But carefully, remembering that the gospel is not a political program. Our confidence is never in earthly power, but in “Christ crucified and risen for sinners!”
This helps us see our daily callings with fresh joy! God serves us through parents and children, workers and employers, teachers and students, voters and public servants, not to earn God’s favor—for Christ has already won our salvation—but as meaningful ways God allows us to love and serve each other.
On this 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we give thanks for the good order God provides in the civil realm. We serve our neighbors in love wherever God has placed us. And above all, we rejoice that our forgiveness, life, and salvation rest in Jesus Christ alone!